More than anyone, I’ve always felt that Bourdain always grasped the essence and raison d’ etre of travel. It’s like throwing a pebble in the ocean. The waves move outward and change everything they touch. So, too, with travel. We change those we meet and are changed by them. Hopefully for the better.
On our honeymoon, Erin and I went to a restaurant in Reykjavik, Iceland that Bourdain featured on one of his shows. It was amazing, right down to the fermented shark, which wasn't an experience I'd care to repeat, but was worth trying. :-)
I suppose my favorite remains, "We're not in Kansas any more." I've actually had occasion to use that one. For instance, in an open-top double-decker bus on the banks of the Liffy, heading into downtown Dublin, a kid with a mohawk rockin' out on his earphones in the seat in front of me, a 12th C. cathedral to my left, a 21st C city hall to my right on the opposite bank, the Guinness distribution warehouse just behind with barrels stacked at least 12' high. And me, just nodding and looking around, and thinking, "Yup. Definitely not Kansas." (In contrast, there was the week I spent in Topeka one afternoon.)
I don't know if it counts as a travel quote, but the opening line to Isak Dinesen's "Out of Africa" has always haunted me: "I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong hills." Of course, what makes that line so striking is all that comes after it. (And Meryl Streep's delivery certainly helps.)
That film! I saw it when I was a kid, and I loved it even then. You're right about Streep's delivery. I wonder if I have the emotional courage to watch it again.
More than anyone, I’ve always felt that Bourdain always grasped the essence and raison d’ etre of travel. It’s like throwing a pebble in the ocean. The waves move outward and change everything they touch. So, too, with travel. We change those we meet and are changed by them. Hopefully for the better.
Bourdain may have been a flawed human, but he was a brilliant inspiration. I really do miss watching him and hearing his thoughts on the world.
On our honeymoon, Erin and I went to a restaurant in Reykjavik, Iceland that Bourdain featured on one of his shows. It was amazing, right down to the fermented shark, which wasn't an experience I'd care to repeat, but was worth trying. :-)
Person #1: "Let's face it, we're lost."
Person #2: "Yeah, but we're making great time."
I suppose my favorite remains, "We're not in Kansas any more." I've actually had occasion to use that one. For instance, in an open-top double-decker bus on the banks of the Liffy, heading into downtown Dublin, a kid with a mohawk rockin' out on his earphones in the seat in front of me, a 12th C. cathedral to my left, a 21st C city hall to my right on the opposite bank, the Guinness distribution warehouse just behind with barrels stacked at least 12' high. And me, just nodding and looking around, and thinking, "Yup. Definitely not Kansas." (In contrast, there was the week I spent in Topeka one afternoon.)
I don't know if it counts as a travel quote, but the opening line to Isak Dinesen's "Out of Africa" has always haunted me: "I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong hills." Of course, what makes that line so striking is all that comes after it. (And Meryl Streep's delivery certainly helps.)
That film! I saw it when I was a kid, and I loved it even then. You're right about Streep's delivery. I wonder if I have the emotional courage to watch it again.