The Tsarina’s Lost Treasure is one of the Smithsonian Magazine Books to Read in September! “By the end of her reign, Catherine the Great had acquired more than 4,000 paintings, 38,000 books, 10,000 engraved gems, 16,000 coins and medals, and 10,000 drawings. But…
Seemingly, lovers of history and devotees of pop culture can’t get enough Catherine the Great. As evidence, three popular television documentaries/series have come out in recent years. Ekaterina is a Russia-1 historical television series from 2015 (now available on Amazon) about the…
“What defines a treasure, and who controls its fate? Easter and Vorhees expertly weave the story of the ship and the painting into history. They plumb the two decades of drama that followed The Nursery’s rediscovery to combine important questions about…
Somerville, Mass – What? Why yes, that is Publisher’s Weekly calling our book a “meticulously researched history” and an “intriguing portrait of an art world mystery.” (It doesn’t really rhyme in the review. That was my unintentional poetic flare.) Read…
Rome, Italy – Today’s tip for traveling with kids comes to you from the Roman Forum & Colosseum: Ancient ruins are infinitely more interesting if they are climbable. The twins did not love the Roman Colosseum as much as the…
Verona, Italy – Verona is my favorite day trip from Venice. And as it turn out, it’s also a great learning destination. World schooling in Verona includes lessons on Ancient Rome, Shakespeare and oenophilia (the latter reserved for the adults,…
Boston, Mass – In honor of their world landmarks project, V’s class took a field trip to the Boston Public Garden. (Not exactly a world landmark, but certainly a local one! One of the classic recommendations for Boston for Children.)…
So what do we do for fun when we’re not traveling? We read about traveling! And sometimes we read about traveling while we are traveling. Because let’s face it, reading offers insights and experiences that are different than (and complementary to) what…
Somerville, Mass – I always liked the TV show Dinosaur Train, but my kids never really got on board with it. In fact, they were always ambivalent about the whole dinosaur thing. I mean, they liked examining the skeletons at…
New York, New York – What’s a weekend in the Big Apple without seeing a Broadway show (besides infinitely more affordable)? Since we splurged on spending Thanksgiving in the city, we decided to splurge all the way, and we got…