Author Archives: John Sloan

October 2025. This small place was one of four Michelin “bib gourmand” in town and the only one we were able to get to because of timing. Somehow the chef here creates wonderful mouthwatering food with nearly every dish using … Continue reading →

October 2025 We visited this town on our last day at the lake we walked south from the ferry terminal and eventually  sat down in the sun outside this place for a light lunch. A hurried waiter took our drink … Continue reading →

October 2025 We were in Milan overnight to make an early flight to Belgium, staying in one of those vapid hotels close to the airport. It seemed reasonable to expect no problem getting into the city and back easily and … Continue reading →

October 2025 We had a dreadful experience in this extremely self-important place. We were over a week in an air B&B in this touristy town, which turned out to be quite pleasant because we were able to travel the lake … Continue reading →

October 2025 The town is one of more than a dozen up and down Lake Como in northern Italy. There are three Michelin named restaurants in Cernobbio, more than any other town on the lake has, and this restaurant is … Continue reading →

September 2025 We are in a nice walk-up apartment in this very touristy town located onshore in the centre of Como Lake. Bellagio supports (seasonally I guess) about a  hundred restaurants, ranging from waterfront tourist traps to one quite phony … Continue reading →

September 2025 We were just two of a planned group of five, resulting from one of BC Ferries’ surprise mechanical collapses. We hurried to the terminal very early and did a five hour wait not to miss a flight the next … Continue reading →

Elliott, Julia. Hellions: Stories. Tin House, Portland, 2025. F;8/25. I was intrigued by Elliott’s The Wilds story collection back in 2016. The title story was relentlessly wacky but also seemed to carry tacit reference to coming-of-age and gender in an … Continue reading →

August 2025 This renovated eatery replaced another in the main area of a Sechelt waterfront hotel which has also been renovated. The Sechelt waterfront is partly indigenous reservation but I believe this section is public. We were here for the … Continue reading →

Anderson, Scott. King of Kings. Doubleday, New York, 2025. NF; 8/25. The subtitle of this history of the Iranian revolution neatly sums its cautionary message up: “The Iranian revolution: a story of hubris, delusion, and catastrophic miscalculation.” It’s presumed that … Continue reading →