For the past 15 years my family along with our close family friends would retreat into the mountain of California for a weekend of camping. The goal initially was to rekindle in my parent’s generation the lost memories and feelings from their time in Kashmir, before they had to leave. Eventually it grew to have […]
Today Philip and I started a bit earlier, and while the girls slept we slipped out to pick up some bread for breakfast. Little did we realize the festival from last night had a second full day’s worth of events, starting with the arrival of the local brass bands. Each town in the valley had […]
After a good night’s sleep, we got to a slow start with some lazy but filling breakfast. Since it was poor weather for hiking, we decided to instead visit some local towns, including one of the many castles in the region. While these castles are not the behemoths you might expect, they were still functional […]
Having completed my thesis at the end of July, I was left with a week with which to relax and pack for my return home. I chose to spend four of those days visiting my friend Philip at his home in the Italian Alps. Though technically I was in Italy, the region is primarily German […]