Venice, Italy

(go directly to photo gallery of Venice)

Venice has only approximately 55,000 full time residents. 20 million people visit Venice annually. 20 million. Many people only visit on day trips as the harbor can accommodate all but the most behemoth of cruise ships. In many ways, Venice is one of the greatest tourist traps in the world.

Despite the hellish masses of people during the day and boat traffic on the main canals, there's a certain quiet due to the absolute lack of cars; its nickname is, after all, La Serenissima. Part of this city's charm is getting lost in the labyrinth of bridges, piazzas and streets and finding your way back to your hotel. It is also almost magically beautiful. Normal life in Venice looks like artwork. The light is clear and crisp and shimmers off the water almost everywhere. People dressed up for Carnival do not seem out of place at all. Spend a day or two there and you somehow don't mind paying a premium for mediocre food served by surly waiters that don't really want you there.

On one visit I decided to walk across the city at night and photograph it. What surprised me most was just how silent the city was at 3:00 in the morning. From the Arsenale to the train station, I met only two other people: one security guard in front of a hotel and one very drunk tourist trying to get into his hotel. Piazzas dressed up for parties were deserted and a giant pair of lips hovering mid-air welcomed me to the end of my walk.

Here are more photographs of Venice. Here are some of Rome and Grosseto.

Pawnee National Grasslands, Colorado

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Heading north on I-25, then east, few traces of either urban Denver or the Rocky Mountains remain. You're suddenly on the often overlooked and flown over prairie side of Colorado. Small towns centered around farming and cattle spring up and you pass signs that read "no gas for 60 miles." Two hours north-east of Denver, near the borders of Wyoming and Nebraska, two parcels of land called the Pawnee National Grassland are tucked into this slightly out of the way section of the state. Before moving here, I had never heard of the Pawnee; I first learned of its existence when I noticed two green squares on the map.

Wildflowers and rain clouds over the Pawnee Grasslands

Some simple research taught me that these are some of the few areas of native shortgrass prairie left in North America. I was immediately intrigued and wanted to explore - we simply don't have land like this where I come from. They were set aside by the federal government after the dust bowl in the 1930's. Over the years, they became a refuge for wildlife and internationally known in the birding world. Within the past 10 years, however, development by the energy industry has increased to the point that some parts of the western section of the national Grassland seem more managed than the surrounding farms. Traces of drilling or fracking are impossible to ignore, as are the giant windmills that are the new backdrop for the Pawnee Buttes. Gas trucks roll by, each trailed by a pillow of dirt.

Pronghorn, seen within 1/2 mile of entering the park on CO-14 near Keota.

Mailbox, tumbleweeds. Pawnee National Grassland.

Cattle, windfarms, on the road to Grover from the Pawnee Buttes.

Wind farms are impossible to miss near the Pawnee Buttes.

Despite all of the human activity, it is still stunningly beautiful. This is where the buffalo roam(ed) and the deer and the antelope (still) play. You can still see vast, undulating vistas to the horizon without roads or industry. Quick and driving rains pass through, leaving behind colder air and rainbows. Pronghorn, prairie dogs and abundant bird life still live here, especially in the few parts of the western tract that I saw on my first visit. You can still get glimpses at this extraordinary, dramatic and beautiful landscape while we still have it.

To see more of my photos of the Pawnee National Grassland, click here.

Practicalities: If you go, be prepared to bring anything you'll need for the day. Hiking boots, a walking stick (rattlesnakes are common), sunscreen, water, food, and a full tank of gas are essential before you go. The only facilities I saw were standard park issue latrines in the parking area by the buttes. No stores, no gas stations, nothing of note once you're past Greeley. Once your in the grasslands, most roads are dirt and are a mess when it rains - it takes longer to get around than you would think. Cellphone coverage was surprisingly strong and Google maps worked for most of the day, even if some recommended routes weren't possible as I don't have 4 wheel drive. Bring warm clothes even on warm days - the temperature can drop very quickly.

If you want to read more about recent changes at the Pawnee, Westword wrote a very interesting piece on it last year.

A sense of place, or I love Ziad's

As I stand idly in our apartment watching the movers do their thing and finish boxing, wrapping and carting away our worldly goods, the past 14 years of my life are replaying through my mind as if on an old, static ridden television screen.

Brooklyn, like any city I truly love, has a real sense of place. When you're in a city like Paris, Montreal, or Cape Town (among other cities), you realize that you're in a place to which other places are compared.

NYC has traditionally been full of small, independent businesses that give each neighborhood a distinct personality. Over the past few years, both Brooklyn and Manhattan have changed drastically as rents have sky rocketed and much of the quirk and grit has been replaced by international gloss and sheen. While evolution is the norm, NYC has been going through gentrification on steroids.

Through it all, bodegas remain and are as iconic to NYC as are the wooden water towers. Ziad's is your quintissential NYC bodega. If you're not sure of what a bodega is, you're not a New Yorker. It's not just the Spanish word for store, it's so much more.

A bodega isn't fancy. Nothing that can be described as artisanal is usually sold in a bodega, although you can buy organic milk. You have your typical deli counter and shelves filed with basics, soda, beer, cigarettes, candy and chips. You buy toilet paper and garbage bags there on the way home from work, or sometimes ice cream or sandwiches at 4am, stumbling home from the subway.

So it's a convenience store? No, it's more. They're about as local as a business can be. There are bodegas two blocks from us that I've never been in. Bodegas are the micro-local business that fill the void in the big city that diners and cafes in smaller towns.

People like Rajab know their customers by name and shake your hand when you walk in. You can leave keys here for your friend who's staying with you but will arrive before you get home from work. Bodegas aren't antiseptic and without character and some even have cats.

And then there are the sandwiches.

Wonderful, honest sandwiches on good Kaiser rolls that are never served the next day. This is the great difference between a NYC bodega and other sandwich shops around the country. No one else really uses rolls like we do here. They're crusty and chewy, but soft. The mayo never seeps through and the sandwich never falls apart. Ziad's sandwiches are a thing of beauty, especially chicken cutlet with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, mayo and cheese

A certain right wing national chain has absolutely nothing on this.

I've loved how I've been able to live my life here in Brooklyn. I've been able to do all my shopping at Paisano's, (a local butcher), Sahadi's, farmers markets and even a Trader Joe's - all within walking distance of our place. It would be tedious to continue on about all the things I know I'm going to miss.

But I'll miss Ziad's most.

68 Dean St is where this blog starts

I moved into this building in March of 2002 and will very soon be leaving to move from Brooklyn to Denver. That means a road trip and I need a place to talk about it and to share some photos. This blog is that place. I'm guessing that most images will be from my iPhone and that some higher quality photos will make an appearance at some point too. This is going to be an adventure! #roadtrip2016 #lmtc

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