This site is kept in loving memory of Trish Reske, who passed in October of 2021.
Trish was a writer - this site captures a bit of her incredible sense of humor.
You can read Trish's full obituary here.

Travel

I Spy Butterflies!

I Spy Butterflies! Butterfly Gardens in Massachusetts show kids metamorphic magic up close Published in baystateparent magazine Who isn’t amazed at the captivating beauty of a butterfly, or the unique metamorphosis that transforms a caterpillar into a graceful and gorgeous winged insect? While you don’t have to travel much farther than your backyard to spy New England butterflies, there are opportunities for your child to learn about and see a variety of both local and tropical species up close at ..read more

Knights!

Knights! Worcester Art Museums’s new collection spans the ages – for all ages Published in baystateparent magazine The new Knights! exhibit at the Worcester Art Museum heralds in a new, fresh approach to the beloved medieval collection of arms and armor acquired from the Higgins Armory Museum, which closed its ornamental doors at the end of 2014. While the collection is the same, the context in which it is presented is very different: arms and armor are paired with ..read more

Pools, Penguins, and Pasta in Paradise

Pools, Penguins, and Pasta in Paradise Last week, I flew down to Key West to spend a quiet weekend with my husband. I left behind four kids and four-degree weather in Boston. Our plan was to relax by the pool, soak up any precious sunshine that came our way, and pretty much do nothing. That all changed when I arrived at Key West, and decided to try to share a cab ride from the airport. Always the enterprising one, I spotted a woman and asked her if she ..read more

Ich Bin Ein Berliner

Ich Bin Ein Berliner Berlin is a fascinating city of contrasts and change. When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, David and I had just been married a few months. I still remember watching film footage on TV of that historical moment when the people of East Berlin were finally able, after 40 years, to climb over the wall without fear of being killed. Dave’s mother left East Germany and crossed via Berlin into West Germany in 1958, three years before the ..read more

A Warm Viennese Welcome

A Warm Viennese Welcome Vienna is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. As the center of the Austrian Hapsburg Empire for 640 years, Vienna has a rich history, culture, and tradition of elegance and refinement. It’s also the home to relatives on my Mom’s side of the family, which made this visit particularly special. We spent two days in Vienna, exploring its many museums, royal buildings, shopping and eating areas. Then we spent our evenings visiting with my second cousin Peter ..read more

The Music and Mountains of Salzburg

The Music and Mountains of Salzburg When the average American thinks of Salzburg, they think of The Sound of Music. The classic film about the Von Trapp family was filmed in this beautiful mountainous city in Austria. Salzburg is also known for its famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was born and lived here until he moved to Vienna. In history, Salzburg was given to Bishop Rupert in 700 A.D. by Bavaria in order to evangelize the area. It remained a peaceful, independent state for 1,200 years,, ..read more

Many Munich Memories

Many Munich Memories We spent a day and a half in Munich, and found it a lovely city to visit. I really didn’t know what to expect when we got to the city, but Munich is very friendly, sophisticated, Americanized (because of the occupation after World War II) and interesting. Now that I’ve been to Munich, I can see why some compare it to Boston. Munich was created when a toll road needed to be established for the salt trade going ..read more

Dachau Concentration Camp

Dachau Concentration Camp We spent a morning in Dachau, one of the more well-known concentration camps during Hitler’s terrorizing rule.  As we drove in, I wondered what we would see and experience. And I also wondered what it must be like today to live in Dachau, with such a horrific stain on the town and association with the name. Dachau is still today, as it was in the 1930s and 1940s, a suburb of Munich, Germany. The people who lived there, surveyed later, knew for ..read more

Viva La Venezia

Viva La Venezia I had always wanted to go to Venice one day, and now I have – in a day and a half. We drove into this watery city of islands via a causeway, parked our car at a modern garage, then boarded our first vaporetto ( boats that provide public transit) to float into Europe’s best preserved big city of a hundred islands connected by 400 bridges and countless narrow waterways and alleys. We disembarked at the center of the island, at ..read more

Bella Vista Cinque Terre

Bella Vista Cinque Terre Driving to Cinque Terre, Italy (named for its five fishing villages connected by panoramic cliffside walking trails) was an adventure in itself. Italian roads resemble its pasta: thin and twisty. We headed toward the town of Vernazza, the fourth town on the Cinque Terre hiking circuit. Vernazza is a picturesque town, where locals pull up their fishing boats onto the streets to “park” them at night. We stayed at Trattoria Gianni, after we parked the Mercedes Boxvan outside the town ..read more