Last Tango

June 21, 2018 by Marc Moorghen in Culture, Opinion, Travel

During our last few weeks in Europe, we decided to make Buenos Aires ‒ known affectionately as BA ‒ in Argentina our last stop abroad, capping eight months of travel. By the time we landed at Ezeiza Airport, we were feeling a rush of emotions; mostly bittersweet intimations that our adventure was coming to an end. Our trip from the airport to our new, temporary home in Recoleta was wistful because we knew it was the last time we would feel that now-familiar jolt of disorientation of being somewhere new; at least for the foreseeable future.

Espanish Spanish

June 18, 2018 by Marc Moorghen in Culture, Opinion, Travel

During the entire time we were in Madrid, I had an near uncontrollable urge to say everything with a lisp. Even in English. You must understand that this comes not from a desire to make fun of "Spanish Spanish," as I like to call it (Español de España), but because I enjoy the sound so much. It tickles my ears and brings a smile to my face, especially when someone is being very earnest and speaking in quickfire Spanish Spanish, like the Madrileños, as the people of Madrid are known. Thankfully, they are wonderful people with a sense of humor. They made our transition from the mean streets of Paris very easy. The minute we arrived in Madrid, it was as if a weight had lifted from our shoulders.

Gallic humor

June 15, 2018 by Marc Moorghen in Culture, Opinion, Travel

Paris. The name alone evokes romance, beauty and fun, but it's a hopelessly outdated stereotype. The internet seems surprisingly uninformed about the origin of the saying "gai Paris," which denoted the fun-loving, but pre-sexual-revolution properties of the city. At the torn of the century--nineteenth to twentieth--Paris was the place to be. It was the center of the world, in terms of literature, visual art and Bohemian life, giving birth to many of the modern currents that shaped the last hundred-plus years. While there are traces of that world, if you look carefully, the city today is a very different place.