by Helen Kain | Feb 21, 2026 | Churches and Monasteries, Featured, Recent, Scotland
Visiting Rosslyn Chapel was like being admitted briefly into a secret. Nestled in the Scottish countryside near Edinburgh, the chapel is known for its unparalleled architectural splendour, rich history, and intriguing legends. Founded in 1446 by William Sinclair, 1st...
by Helen Kain | Feb 8, 2026 | Featured, Italy, Recent
From the outside, the Pantheon is frankly unprepossessing. A heavy cylinder with a classical porch awkwardly grafted on. It bears a striking resemblance to a hedgehog house with columns. And then there is the inscription on the portico—M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM·FECIT....
by Helen Kain | Feb 8, 2026 | Carousel Ideas & Systems, Italy, Recent, The Continental Thread, Themes in History
My first trip to Rome included our son Adam and his then-fiancée Annie. They had both been before—Annie in particular is travel-obsessed in the most admirable way—and they undertook to show us Rome in a single day. Though (probably because) we were neophytes, Glenn...
by Helen Kain | Feb 8, 2026 | Carousel People & Ideas, Fascinating People, Recent
Cicero is one of those names that once mattered enormously and now means almost nothing to most people. He isn’t a conqueror, didn’t found a religion, nor did he leave an empire behind. If his bust appeared on a shelf, many would assume he was simply another marble...
by Helen Kain | Jan 27, 2026 | Carousel Ideas & Systems, Greece, Recent, The Continental Thread, Themes in History
My working impression of Greece was embodied in the Vatican’s fresco The School of Athens by Raphael. In it, Socrates (left) argues in the crowd, Plato points upward toward higher truths beyond the visible world, and Aristotle, his hand held level, grounds philosophy...
by Helen Kain | Oct 12, 2024 | Castles & Stately Houses, England, Gardens and Flowers, Great Gardens of England, Home, Recent
There’s something magical about walled gardens — so ordered, protected and private. Ever since consuming The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett as a child, I’ve been fascinated with them. The high walls, usually brick, create a warm...
