"Nonfiction" Chapters (2/6)

Chapter 18 of Nomad Life

We began our adventure in Scotland by hopping between islands in the western isles. Some of the passages took only twenty minutes and were operated by a small boat with space for half a dozen cars, while others lasted several hours and felt like cruise ships featuring restaurants and casinos.

Chapter 17 of Nomad Life

Our ferry from Holyhead, Wales docked in Dublin late afternoon. We were nervous about crossing the border into Ireland with Skutull for two reasons. First, Skutull had undergone foot surgery a week earlier and was still healing. Second, the language the Irish government used on their website was extreme with regards to importing animals. There were a host of requirements for entry, such as notifying their agricultural department, undergoing worming treatment 1-5 days before arrival, and having a fully updated vaccination record. It wasn’t the requirements, but the consequences of failing to meet all the requirements that worried us. Quoting their website, if you fail to meet all entry requirements “your pet may be euthanised.”

Chapter 16 of Nomad Life

I entered a large sauna. There were three levels of deep steps you could choose to sit on. I wasn’t a sauna noob. I knew that the higher up you go, the hotter the air, so I plopped myself down on the middle stair and immediately started sweating from every pore on my body.

Chapter 2 of Dishroom Blunders

When most people travel in search of good Italian food, they logically head to Rome, Naples, or Tuscany. To be clear, there is obviously a plethora of amazing Italian food to be enjoyed in Italy, but I was surprised to discover high-quality, Italian-inspired cuisine in Slovenia, a small country of former Yugoslavia that borders Italy, Austria, Croatia, Hungary, and a sliver of the Adriatic sea.

Chapter 15 of Nomad Life

Clouds sculpted from beige stone billowed up the altarpiece toward the heavens as a bevy of <i>putti</i> and angels floated through the air and around a robed Saint Peter. Gold was not just present, but pervasive. Baroque designs framed columns, windows, and a pulpit overlooking the altar, all of which were ornamented with gilded sculptures, carvings, and stucco. A pyramid levitating high above Saint Peter emanated rays of gold, piercing the clouds of rock and reflecting flickering candlelight. Overhead, a fresco depicting Christ crowning The Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven covered the interior of the church’s turreted dome...

Chapter 14 of Nomad Life

Šibenik’s coastline was vast, the sea flowing through inlets and channels around dozens of tiny islands in the distance. Even from the 1000-year-old fort atop the hill in the old town, I was unsure if I could see open water on the horizon or if another layer of islands lay beyond...