Welcome to Judith Works' Website!

BLOWNBACK: Trying to see Quebec in a Nor’easter

By
judithworks

on

November 9, 2014

Trying to see Quebec in a Nor’easter isn’t easy, it turns out. My first try out the door resulted in being blown back inside. The wind sent people rushing either backwards or forwards or even off their feet, and the few remaining brightly-colored leaves whirling off the trees. It was freezing with the wind chill.

I had not been in the beautiful city of Quebec for many years and was looking forward to enjoying fall color while strolling in the sun through the upper town and the Plains of Abraham where in 1759 Generals Wolfe (British) and Montcalm (French) led their troops in the battle to control Canada.The

Share this:

READ ARTICLE

Post a Comment

museums Rome

MACHINES AND GODS IN ROME

By
judithworks

on

September 29, 2014

One of the twenty museums managed by the city of Rome, is the Centrale Montemartini. It’s also one of the most creative. I don’t know who thought up using the city’s first public electricity plant, built in 1912, to display works from the “basement” of the Capitoline Museum, but whoever it was a stroke of genius.

While other old buildings along the Via Ostiense were torn down, this one was saved because of its architectural significance.

Share this:

READ ARTICLE

Post a Comment

Alaska Russian Alaska Sitka

SITKA: Kale Smoothies and Cathedral Bells

By
judithworks

on

August 28, 2014

Sitka is a small town with a big history. There has been human activity for the last 10,000 years when it was settled by the Tlingit people, but is best known to American history students as the capital of Russian America. The Russians arrived in 1799, naming their fur trading outpost Fort Saint Michael. The Tlingit managed to throw them out in 1802, but not for long. Alexander Baranof, the Russian governor, won the Battle of Sitka in 1804 and renamed his nascent town New Archangel.

Share this:

READ ARTICLE

Post a Comment

Alaska

THE COLORS OF ALASKA

By
judithworks

on

August 1, 2014

After watching gigantic cruise ships sail past our home on Puget Sound every summer for years we finally decided to try an Alaska cruise ourselves. But we didn’t want to be with three or four thousand people on a fast round trip from and back to Seattle. On the other end of the scale are expedition ships that focus on a specific area and we wanted an overview. We settled on the Navigator owned by Regent Seven Seas Cruises and which operates on one-week cruises from Vancouver BC to Anchorage or the reverse.… Read more

Share this:

READ ARTICLE

Post a Comment

Necropoli Portus Project Roman Cemeteries Rome

ROMAN REMAINS

By
judithworks

on

June 27, 2014

When in Rome it is always fascinating to follow the lives of ancient Romans. We read and see so much of corporate grandeur that it is easy to forget that individual Romans were real people with families. Families who had a preference for staying together in life as well as in death. When the inevitable happened the remains were often kept in mausoleums so the living could gather in memory of the deceased.

The best preserved of these memorials is the Vatican Scavi underneath St.

Share this:

READ ARTICLE

Post a Comment

China Shanghai Zhujiajiao

SPRING IN ZHUJIAJIAO

By
judithworks

on

May 30, 2014

Shanghai can get pretty frantic with all the skyscrapers and crowds. If you are in need of a quick change of pace, a good choice is the quiet “water town” of Zhujiajiao, about an hour from the city by bus.

The area around Zhujiajiao was settled thousands of years ago, and the town itself has been around for about 1700 years, new in Chinese terms. Formerly a trading center for cloth and rice, it is now a getaway for tourists and locals who come to enjoy the peaceful watery setting.

Share this:

READ ARTICLE

Post a Comment

Castel Sant'Angelo Hadrian Hadrian's Villla Pantheon Rome

A DAY WITH EMPEROR HADRIAN

By
judithworks

on

May 4, 2014

Rome is so filled with treasures that it is often hard to know where to start. Sometimes it is easier to concentrate on one artist like Caravaggio or architect such as Bernini (who is almost impossible to avoid anyway). The last time we were in the city we decided to give one day to a Roman emperor, Hadrian, who ruled from AD 117 until his death in AD 138.

One of the few emperors who still gets good press as an administrator, he was a great traveler and builder, particularly in Rome.

Share this:

READ ARTICLE

Post a Comment

Hiroshima Japan Miyajima Shinto Temples

THE SACRED ISLAND OF MIYAJIMA

By
judithworks

on

April 23, 2014

The ferry that leaves from a little port thirty minutes north of Hiroshima, Japan transports passengers to another dimension where the city’s memorials to the holocaust caused by the Atomic Bomb are left behind in spirit if not in physical distance. A first glimpse of what awaited us on Miyajima Island came in the form of origami paper cranes, symbolizing peace and memorializing the end of World War II. They were gracefully given out by smiling and bowing students at the ferry dock.

Share this:

READ ARTICLE

Post a Comment

La Conner Quilts Skagit Valley State of Washington

EARLY SPRING IN THE SKAGIT VALLEY: DAFFODILS AND QUILTS

By
judithworks

on

April 2, 2014

After what seemed like 40 days of rain the sun came out, warm and spring-like. It was the signal to take a drive an hour north of home to the small town of La Conner, located where the Skagit Valley meets saltwater in the form of the Swinomish Channel. The town was founded in 1867 and many of the original buildings remain. But instead of housing banks, churches, and butchers, they are clothing stores, art galleries, antique shops and restaurants.

Share this:

READ ARTICLE

Post a Comment

Etruscans Italy Lazio Tuscania

THE CYCLE OF TIME – Tuscania

By
judithworks

on

March 5, 2014

My friend and I drove to Tuscania through the countryside full of empty carved rock tombs, some so eroded that the steps leading to them now only reach empty sky – the heavens where perhaps Etruscan souls reside. But as we neared the town we could see that some of the tombs alongside the road were still in use, the hollowed area blocked off with doors hiding small cars or vats of wine.

The small city, in business since about the 8^th century BC was founded by the Etruscans is interesting with its medieval and Renaissance buildings, although our visit would be focused on two churches now located about a mile from the walled old city.

Share this:

READ ARTICLE

Post a Comment

worksjudith