History Archives - Page 4 of 5 - Katherine Dolan Writes

Belfast: Troubles on My Mind

History February 24, 2021

We weren't looking for trouble, honestly. We arrived in Belfast in early July, after months of hunkering down in Portland. Apart from the fact...

The Joanna-of-Naples Cure

History November 3, 2018

I don’t know about you but reading about antique hardships really warms my heart. It’s not Schadenfreude exactly; the pleasure comes not from the...

Witchery in Piedmont

History November 1, 2018

Seeing gleeful clots of tiny vampires and witches at a Turin mall tonight, I was pleased to see the local youth honoring its patrimony....

Lonely Planet Guide to Eternity, on Foot

Essay October 26, 2018

Our Life's Journey Halfway along the journey of our life I woke to find myself in a dark wood, For I had wandered from the straight path. The...

Catania: Tits Galore in the DBC

History October 17, 2018

You know the feeling when a word is repeated so often it starts to lose all meaning? That happened about five minutes into the...

How We Got Tragedy and The Persians

Ancient October 3, 2018

Some of the greatest works of Greek literature are by-products of a big penis festival. We tend to think of tragedy as something appalling...

Last Night at the Etruscan Museum

Ancient February 24, 2021

The Etruscans are a tantalizing mystery. No one knows where they came from (“or what they were doing” to quote Spinal Tap). They were...

Slow Train to Susa

Europe February 25, 2021

Summer is winding down in Turin—the breezes are getting cooler, and there are already crisp brown leaves covering the sidewalk here. Holiday makers have...

Girart de Vienne and Stack o’ Lee

Europe February 24, 2021

It's August in Turin, and last week most people are still away for their summer vacation. The streets are ghostly quiet and there are...

Wise Women’s Works

History February 24, 2021

In 1946 the Torinese scientist and author Primo Levi was working at a paint factory in Avigliana. It was here that wrote the first...

Happy Camels at the Library

History February 24, 2021

The other day we visited the local library to do some work in a cool, non-home space (this is always a good idea because...

A Last-Minute Visit to Avignon

Europe February 24, 2021

Last Monday, our second-last day in Montpellier before going to Turin, we finally went to Avignon. It had pretty much been our whole reason...

History

Portal to Ur

The Other Gallipoli

Beach Walk

Tolkien in Italy