Page 8 October 21, 2021
Travel from page 2
Harbor woke up one Sunday morning to all
hell raging overhead?
Are you a foodie? Do you want to finally
figure out the difference between Tuscan, Roman,
and Sicilian pasta? Burgundy and Bordeaux
wines? Mandarin and Cantonese soups? Turkish,
Lebanese, Greek, and Israeli skewers? And
what’s that curry powder all about?
Are you keeping up with the travelling Joneses
after years of suffering through their tackiest
selfies and videos? Are you finally going to
prove what you suspected all along—that they
really just holed up in a motel in Newark and
sent away for all those images?
Are you bored? Do you just want to get out
of the damn kitchen?
We’ve travelled for all of the above reasons,
and all of them—even simple boredom—are
valid. But what they all have in common is
that they require the next step in any plan,
which is (silent groan)…
Research:
If you’re not really committed, research might
involve tossing a dart at a map, buying a glossy
guide book, listing the more familiar sites, and
programming them into Google maps for maximum
efficiency. We see people do this every
day, and if it works for them, that’s okay. The
Joneses will squirm and silently accuse you of
holing up in that motel in Newark. But you’ll
have gone to all the trouble of nudging your
family through Versailles without understanding
how that particular pile of rocks empowered
one generation of rulers and utterly broke the
spirit of another. And worse yet, you’ll never
know why it matters—to any of us!
So yes, we’re jaded when it comes to guide
books. The ancient Murrays and Baedekers
make for fun reading, but they say more about
19th century England and Germany than they
do about their destinations. If you want to
understand Americans, read the Fodor and
Rick Steves guides to Outer Transylvania.
But before we set foot on a plane these days,
we’re spending weeks figuring out the subjects
that really matter to us and what we need to
know about them.
For Example:
Ancestral and family searches have taken us
to hillbilly Kentucky, Scotland’s Isle of Skye,
the Yorkshire of the Bronte sisters, and the
elegant 19th century spas of Baden-Baden.
But the searches started years earlier at the
feet of our grandparents and continued with
official record caches and all those online
ancestry services.
Every foodie trip starts with cookbooks,
whether the baguettes of Paris, the stews of
Corsica, the tagines of Morocco, or the curries
of Kerala.
Childhood adventure books never get old.
Neither does Shirley Temple.
We try to work on the next language in
Rosetta Stone. Numbers and money, hello and
goodbye, the meaning of life (just kidding!).
Phrase books are great, but some phrases are
more powerful than others. Parlez-vous Anglais?
Habla Ingles? Sprechen Sie Englisch? Amazing
how many doors open with that one, even
when it’s obvious. On our last trip to Mumbai,
Glinda discovered the phrase “No, but happy
New Year” and worked it into every negative
shake of her head. The Indian hawkers, with
their love of impeccable manners, didn’t know
what to do with her.
But mostly, we read books and watch
movies—histories of course, but mysteries,
romances, spy novels, comedies, biographies,
and autobiographies, serious and otherwise,
current and ancient. Newspapers and glossy
scandal rags from our future host country.
By the dozen.
And for this we have to thank my mother.
The first time she took me to Paris for a long
weekend, she handed me five books and insisted
that I immediately inhale them: Madame
Bovary. A Tale of Two Cities. A Moveable
Feast. Is Paris Burning? The Fall of the Dynasties.
She wasn’t about to shell out all that
cash just to trudge past a meaningless heap of
easily forgotten stones.
Next up: This Travel is a Risky Business.
Or is it?
Ben & Glinda Shipley, published writers
and photographers, share their expertise
and experience of their many world travels.
If you have any questions or interest in a
particular subject, please email them at
web@heraldpublications.com. •
Instant BFFs on the holiday ferry to Elephant Island off Mumbai.
Renting royalty for a night—the lighthouse from the Palace
at Biarritz.
At last, the genuine article—legally certified Bouillabaisse at le
Miramar in Marseille.
Home sweet ruined home—dawn over Rubha an Dunain on
the Isle of Skye.
Housing Protection Department
One Manchester Blvd., Suite 602
Inglewood, CA 90301
Office: (310) 412-4330
Fax: (310) 412-5681
Email: housingprotection@cityofinglewood.org
The City of Inglewood Housing Protection Department was
established in May of 2020, and is responsible for monitoring
and enforcing the City’s rent regulations and just cause eviction
protections. The Department’s initial launch date for the program
begins on October 1, 2021, with registration commencing in
January 2022. The Inglewood City Council has waived the fee
for all residential units registered between January 7, 2022
through March 31, 2022.
The City Council created the Department to assist its residents,
both landlords and tenants, and we are here to help!! For
any resident who has questions or concerns regarding rent
increases and eviction procedures and protections, you are urged
to contact the City of Inglewood Housing Protection Department
at 310-412-4330 or housingprotection@cityofinglewood.org.
Shopping for true Persian saffron at Mısır Carsısı in Istanbul.
Searching for Italian volcanic action—first Vesuvius, then Stromboli, and now the abyss at Mt. Etna.