Lyn Fuchs's Blog, page 23

Primal Wilderness Rambling From Minnesota

A gloomy fog was creeping down from the North, as I drove up from the South on highway 61. My morning began in Duluth with a clear and beautiful October day. The changing of seasons was visible on every tree. The previous night had been chilly, but “there’s nothing else like fall in Minnesota,” I found myself saying and believing.

I was living in Saint Paul, three hours South of here, but had to get away. I needed to escape the monotony. I’m not one for staying put too long, plus I’d...

Smooth Getaway Postcard From Rome Italy

Cramped into a one-hundred-year-old pasticceria along a narrow section of the Via del Portoghesi, I watched my frothy cappuccino arrive and take its place beside my chocolate tartufo: a heavenly over-priced truffle worth every Euro. A good meal is easy to come by here. Italian lessons are nearly as effortless when you’re immersed in the local environment. This little eatery is a wonderful place to find both. 

Recently, I discovered how to ask for an outside table with extra room for...

Oscar Contender Life Of Pi

An Indian boy played by Suraj Sharma survives a ship sinking, only to discover he shares the lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, not to mention the almighty sea. This is a parable of life. We are all stuck in the same boat with the forces of nature and the ultimate force. The film also helps computers to maximize their spiritual potential. No digital image has ever embodied the beauty and savagery of nature like this tiger. No blue expanse has ever exceeded the vastness and omnipotence of this...

Smooth Getaway Postcard From Oxford Street

Oxford Street in London is a popular tourist attraction and one of Europe's best places for going shopping. This high end locale offers many luxurious stores, restaurants, and hotels along the main stretch of the road. This is one of the hottest spots to find both current and classic fashion trends.

London’s Oxford Street hosts over 600 shops and many tourist attractions such as Hyde Park, Regents Park, Westminster Palace, and Westminster Abbey. This elegant boulevard more or less serves as th...

Road Babe Dispatch From Loveless Cafe

“My weaknesses have always been food and men ... in that order.”

- Dolly Parton

Can I get an Amen? As a female in my twenties, I can attest to sharing in those same struggles. I will also tell you that I am newly single. A friend once told me that whenever her relationships end, regardless of the who and the what and the why, she always celebrates the ending to its fullest potential.

“You’ve got to do it up big, even if your heart isn’t actually broken. Maybe you’re just kind of b...

Smooth Getaway Postcard From The Campo

It doesn’t take long to get acclimated to a new city. A good map and plenty of patience can get you anywhere you want to go. Most first-time visitors to Italy end up defaulting to the most popular choice, which is the Holy Trinity of itineraries: Florence, Rome, and Venice. Some may stop for a quick photo in Pisa, but for the most part, it’s a rushed trek through the Colosseum, a hurried tour through Uffizi, and an over-priced gondola ride through the Grand Canal.
However, if you look bey...

Brittany Murphy in Bimbo Does Tokyo

Coming-of-age films starring bubble-headed bleach-blondes aren't frequently reviewed here. There's a reason for that. Still, Brittany Murphy's Ramen Girl offers travel aficionados some tasty spiritual morsels to tuck into their noodles.

Our platinum hero hops a plane for Tokyo on a traditional chique pilgrimage. Like many sweet and silly young girls, she is seeking the holy grail of a cute boy willing to take a slight pause in his narcissism and fake a slight interest in her.

Can you smell...

Smooth Getaway Postcard From Belfast Ireland

It was a rainy grey day in Belfast and I arrived hours later than I anticipated. Too much of a smooth black elixir in a comfortable Irish pub with a handful of wonderful strangers delayed my arrival. The plan was to head out of Belfast immediately to tour the Giant’s Causeway, the Carrick-a-Rede and the town of Bushmills. However, set to leave for Scotland in the morning, I was left with no choice but to skip everything.

With some lingering regrets about the night before, I set off from the tr...

Road Babe Dispatch From Vietnam

Diving head first into a new culture, specifically an impoverished one, was quite intense. It shocked me, exhilarated me, and most importantly gave me a perspective on strange places and people who were vastly different but still presented familiar values I saw reflected in myself.

I experienced culture-shock as soon as I stepped out onto the taxi curb at Ho Chi Minh International Airport around 11:30 p.m. The air was thick with humidity and polluted with the bitter aroma of petrol fumes. If...

How To Find Peace At Christmas

Despite pastoral greeting cards, uplifting symphonic music and cozy comfort food, many people still struggle to find the peace on earth they hope for at Christmas.

Some seek peace by revisiting traditional religion, at least for a seasonal concert. However, the aural ecstasy of Handel's Messiah may not drown out the oral acridity left from a dose of bad religion administered in childhood. Candlelight and incense cannot make a sanctuary beautiful if it is also filled with messages of self loath...