On Polish independence day, Chen and I took our scooters over to Poland. November isn’t exactly the best scooter weather in Eastern Europe, but we made do anyways. On our way from Berlin to Frankfurt an der Oder, we passed through Fürstenwalde, the name means the forest of the prince. Read more
By: Jane Jacobs In fewer than 300 pages, Jacobs dispels the myth that cities grow as a result of rural work. She uses examples as ancient as Çatalhöyük from 7000BC to as recent as the stagnation of the American economy to support her thesis. She reasons that any city growth Read more
By Kate Ascher Penguin publishes a number of Ascher’s illustrated books on engineering such as The Heights, dissecting buildings, and The Way to Go, dissecting modes of transportation. The Works dissect how a city operates and combines elements from her other two books. It focuses on New York City to Read more
Except the Library of Congress, Massachusetts has two of the largest collections in the US. One in Harvard University and one in the Boston Public Library. Although its collection is immense, the impressive architecture is what draws people to the library from far and wide. It’s an amazing public space Read more
Personally, I’m a fan of rococo furniture and baroque art to the likes of Rubens, but sometimes I also venture into renaissance pieces by Cranach to appreciate their religious significance. Impressionism and pointillism, I’m afraid, are a bit too new for my tastes, as is most of Boston. Given my Read more
Systems of Survival By Jane Jacobs Jacobs’ most famous work was the Death and Life of American Cities, which anchored her as an influential thought leader on urban life in the 20th century and beyond. Systems of Survival, as stated on the cover, explores the moral foundations of modern political Read more
Yes. This is where Evian water comes from, but the picture of the mountains on the bottle had me fooled. Evian water is not from an alpine glacier but from protected sources of groundwater in the area. In fact, Evian water isn’t even from the town of Evian, it’s from Read more
The town of Bulle is in the Gruyère region where the cheese took its namesake. Being near the dairies and pastures that produce the famous Gruyère cheese, the significant Gruyère castle, and the nearby Cailler chocolate factory in Broc, has really stolen the thunder from Bulle. Bulle has been inhabited Read more
Just like the Glaubenbielenpass, the Glaubenbergpass connects the UNESCO Biophere Entlebuch with the Haslital valley. Being between Luzern and Interlaken (as well as on the way to Thun and Bern), it is a popular shortcut for locals. If you get down the southern end of the pass and head to Read more
Between Thun, Interlaken, and Brienz, Brienz is the littlest of the three siblings. Thun is a major city in the Bernese Oberland Region and Interlaken a traditional resort town, so the hotel proces in nearby Brienz can be a steal if you know where to find the right deals. Small Read more