Gallic humor

June 15, 2018 by Marc Moorghen in Culture, Opinion, Travel

Paris. The name alone evokes romance, beauty and fun, but it's a hopelessly outdated stereotype. The internet seems surprisingly uninformed about the origin of the saying "gai Paris," which denoted the fun-loving, but pre-sexual-revolution properties of the city. At the torn of the century--nineteenth to twentieth--Paris was the place to be. It was the center of the world, in terms of literature, visual art and Bohemian life, giving birth to many of the modern currents that shaped the last hundred-plus years. While there are traces of that world, if you look carefully, the city today is a very different place.

The Land of Milk and Honey

May 06, 2018 by Marc Moorghen in Culture, Opinion, Travel

It's hard to convey just how nervous and excited we were at the prospect of entering Europe. Until now, we had relied on one-way tickets to make our way across the world. This meant always having a ticket to exit the country we were about to enter. While world travel is fun and romantic, this is the kind of detail that can bog down even the most seasoned traveler. After reading an excellent LinkedIn article on the subject of traveling with dual passports, we decided to enter Greece without having our next trip planned, relying on my British passport, which still gives me access to the European Union. For now…

A day in Abu Dhabi

April 30, 2018 by Marc Moorghen in Culture, Opinion, Travel

Our departure from India marked a turning point in our trip--from Asia to Europe. At the last minute, we decided to stop in the Middle East on the way. While Dubai is a more popular destination than Abu Dhabi, we were swayed by the idea of avoiding the crowds and commotion in the United Arab Emirates' other great city. While in Thailand, we had watched the news of the grand opening of the Abu Dhabi Louvre and knew that there were some great mosques in town. As we didn't know whether we would enjoy UAE and we were in a hurry to fly to Greece and begin our European adventure, we only booked a quick stop of two nights and one day.