All posts in the ‘ Travel ’ Category

A few more photos from my recent trip to the Western Front. After World War I, sculptors memorialized the people who had been swept up in the cataclysm. Those who fought: And those who grieved: The “iron harvest” of shells provides materials for newer yet still anguished work. Photos Betsy Woodman Note: to enlarge, click on the photo and then again on the second one that comes up.  

What a beautiful September afternoon! All too well-fed from lunch, we set out to explore the Trench of Death in Diksmuide, Belgium. The view is deceptive. How could anything violent have happened here? In the distance rises the church spire of the town. The sun plays on the orange-red tile roofs. The Yser Canal flows peacefully by. But this was a site where Belgian troops held back the German advance in World War I. Only by a concerted …Read More

Everyone gets assigned a different war. My dad, Ev Woodman, served in the United States Navy in World War II and took part in the invasion of Normandy. Deafening noise, shells bursting on the beach, the ocean running pink with blood—he got the whole infernal nightmare. His dad, in contrast, didn’t get to France until shortly after the Armistice in World War I. James B. Woodman, M.D., was quickly put to work doing “reconstructive surgery” on the wounded, …Read More

Next week is a big week for me. On Tuesday, July 8, the third Jana Bibi book, Emeralds Included, comes out. Then, over the weekend, I go to the Friends of Woodstock School reunion, this year in Baltimore. I’m looking forward to participating in a panel discussion about literature. Moderator and fellow alum Jessie Lacy has asked three of us to comment on how the Woodstock experience influenced or informed our writing. Piece of cake. Have you got …Read More

On my recent India trip, I particularly wanted to visit Delhi’s Lodhi Gardens. During my childhood, my friends and I used to picnic there, plus play kickball on the lawns and hide and seek around the tombs. The gardens were even more spectacular than I remembered. The beautiful domed buildings predate the Taj Mahal and the whole place reeks of history. That day, the gardens were particularly serene and atmospheric. Few people were in view; my guide, Achla, …Read More

Walk by any little grocery store in India and you see the water, placed right up front so you can easily grab a couple of bottles—20 rupees each for the large size (about 30 U.S. cents.)     You’ll find bottled beverages even at the End of the World—i.e., at the café at Bhagsu Falls, outside Dharamshala.     On my recent trip, I bought my share of the darned things. On the Shatabdi Express train from Dehra …Read More

It was odd enough to be experiencing mental double-exposures of past and present during my recent India visit, but how about combining fact and fiction? Walking through the town of Mussoorie, I kept my eyes open for the fictional hill station of Hamara Nagar (“Our Town”), where I set my Jana Bibi novels. Granted, it was hard to screen out the automobile traffic. Motorcycles beeped incessantly and swerved by, apparently trying to get as close as possible without …Read More

I’m back from two weeks in India. Among other quests, in Delhi I searched for the two houses my family had lived in. I had done this on an earlier visit—in 1986—and found both houses almost exactly the same as in the 1950s and early 1960s. The streets they were located on were also little changed. Not now! Delhi’s a different city. There are roughly ten times as many people there as when I was growing up. Neighborhoods that used …Read More

Every couple of years, we came back to the United States from India for about three months. Some things my sisters and I loved about home leave: ice cream, television, and magazines to name a few. Other things we were less fond of, including running the gauntlet of inquiring relatives at family reunions. We could predict the questions: Have you ever seen the Taj Mahal? Have you ever ridden on an elephant? My sister Lee and I both …Read More

By the time the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel opened, I’d practically memorized the trailer. Who can resist Judi Dench mistaking a gin and tonic for a glass of water, or Maggie Smith refusing to eat something she can’t pronounce? So, hooray, last weekend, I saw the film, a gentle comedy about seven British retirees who travel to what they think is going to be a luxury retirement hotel in Jaipur, India. I loved it, just loved it. I …Read More