Istanbul. September, 2014

Look at these beautiful items at the early Sunday morning farmers market in an Istanbul suburb. Growers from the Black Sea region drive all Saturday night to set up and sell their wares here in the big city. And shoppers have to get here early if they hope to score any of these freshest items. (I snagged the last loaf of corn bread for my friend Cenk's mother because I knew she loved it.) Here's a tip though: Don't buy any of the raw milk yogurt and bring it back to your hotel for breakfast. Not unless your system is stronger than ours. Just saying.

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NY. March, 2016

As Andy Warhol used to say, "Life's too short. Eat dessert first." So even though I plan to post about several of the dishes from this year's Easter dinner at my friend Nick's, I'll start with the chef himself holding up his magnificent Cassata alla Sulmonese. Several layers of butter cream, each incorporating a different mix-in (torrone, croccante, chopped chocolate, etc.) I confess that I picked a little at the crumbs during cleanup after the guests left.

Agrigento, Sicily. October, 2015

Last night at dinner, I learned that my friend Tim (renowned for his enjoyment of salt) does not like olives. How can that be? I asked if it was the pits, the taste, what? No answer, just a shrug. Here, some beautiful unripe olives on a tree in the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. If you've never had an unripe fresh olive, try one. You'll soon learn, as we did, how important curing (in oil, in salt) is to remove the intense bitter taste.

Leaving Napoli. October, 2015

By the last day of each cruise, people are so relaxed and accustomed to life on board ship, that they almost take for granted some of the sights that can only fully be appreciated from the distance that departure provides...like the view of Mount Vesuvius, seen here across the Bay of Napoli.

Sliema, Malta. October, 2015

I was killing time before a nearby meeting, just sitting on a bench along the waterside promenade in this resort town, watching all the people. These four Italian men stopped for a smoke and I thought of Stendhal's The Red and the Black. First I thought, OK, fathers and sons? Two couples? Then I wondered why were the two younger men dressed in red, the two older in black? (I think I may have worked on the PBS program Mystery! for too long.)

Leaving Napoli. October, 2015

When Jay and I were considering going on our first cruise, one of our worries was "the other people." Would we meet anyone we'd want to spend time with? Would our being a couple be an issue? Years have passed and we've been on many cruises, and we can laugh now at our initial concerns. We always meet some terrific people with whom we spend a lot of time. And Simon is one of them. Here he is (third from left) at our farewell dinner with the rest of his traveling party...and us.

Napoli. October, 2015

Whenever and wherever we travel, Jay misses no opportunity to pose next to larger-than-lifesize representations of food. Here he is with some unappetizing French fries that look as if they're made from either bricks or insulating styrofoam. (For a look at his posing next to a rather large fried calamari sandwich in Madrid, click here.) I thought this photo might be appropriate for April Fool's Day. Maybe that's a stretch.