Author Archives: annablennow

A Bothersome Cold. A Stendhal-day in Regensburg

Posted on February 25, 2018

The nineteenth-century author and flâneur Stendhal once wrote that the best way to experience a new place is to wander aimlessly in whatever direction that whim dictates. Without planning and without knowing beforehand, the cognitive faculties turn acute, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Journeys, Roman ruins, The Journey to Rome

Alp Adventures (1)

Posted on March 2, 2017

When I arrived in Innsbruck it was already dark. Although it was mid-February, I could not feel any of that snow-cold winter air that I had been looking forward to. The train station was a modern creation, and stretched out … Continue reading →

Posted in Guidebooks, Journeys | 1 Comment

Everything is going to be OK. Uppsala and the 110-year-old guidebook

Posted on August 26, 2016

Since I often write about trains, some people assume that I am interested in trains. I am not. Trains are crammed, dusty, uncomfortable, full of noise and breadcrumbs and stains and toilets out of order. They wobble and toss from … Continue reading →

Posted in Journeys

Travel and the sense of time – with Baedeker in Italy

Posted on May 28, 2016

When we travel, something happens with our sense of time. We can travel fast, and stay for a long time when we get to where we’re heading. We can choose to travel slow, but stay only for a short time … Continue reading →

Posted in Journeys

Itinerary VIII, Ponte S. Angelo to Porta Asinaria, second part

Posted on April 26, 2016

Starting point: Piazza Pasquino Einsiedeln instructions: In sinistra                                                In dextra Sancti Laurentii in Damaso Thermae Alexandrinae   … Continue reading →

Posted in Itinerary VIII: A porta sancti Petri usque Porta Asinaria

Paradise, or Where Does Italy Begin?

Posted on February 27, 2016

For a traveller to Italy from the north, there is no possible way of ignoring the Alps. Whether you are Hannibal, a medieval pilgrim, a Grand Tour pleasure seeker or an airborne tourist of the 21st century, the Alps are … Continue reading →

Posted in The Journey to Rome

The low door. A mind-travel to Oxford

Posted on December 8, 2015

It began with a twig of ivy this dark December morning, a little piece of intense greenery in the bleak autumn grass next to a grey stone wall. ”The eye has to travel”, Diana Vreeland, legendary fashion editor, once said. … Continue reading →

Posted in Journeys