Gruyéres - the misty mountains of Switzerland

When wonder | wander | women touched down in Switzerland for the very first time, it was the wettest, gloomiest day of the summer. Sometimes even storybook wishes can be granted in mysterious ways.

National Galleries of Scotland: Modern One and Two

Last October wonder | wander | women took the train up to Scotland for the second time this year to see our good friends the Milligans. They had generously offered to host me when I mentioned coming back to see the tapestries at Stirling Castle.

countryside flooding, seen from train

Of course we didn't expect when we booked the trip that I would arrive in the middle of Storm Babet, a massive rainstorm that battered the North Coast and turned the creeks and pathways of Scotland and Northumbria into rivers. 

the North Sea battering coastal villages

Half the trains running that day had been cancelled. Luckily ours wasn't, but it crept up the countryside delayed by almost an hour, advancing at a cautious pace through icy sheets of rain.

Peace Fountain at St John the Divine

wonder | wander | women travel back in time to the last tour we were on together, St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York City. We arrived early and spent some time in the sculpture garden beside the cathedral, home of the famous Peace Fountain.

The fountain was created by sculptor Greg Wyatt, artist-in-residence at St. John the Divine, in 1985. A gorgeous bronze edifice, it mixes mythological symbols with science: Michael defeats Satan over figures of the sun and moon, but there are also giraffes, crabs and a DNA helix to symbolise life.