My Seven Links

One of the most lovely things about the blogosphere is that sometimes, although you don’t really personally know someone, you sure know a heck-of-a-lot about them and you’re positive you could be friends. My former London blogging comrade Gourmet Traveller (in the UK, they spell traveler with two lls) just tagged me in TripBase’s 7 Links Project (an excellent link-building project if ever I saw one) and although I don’t think I’ve ever done a meme here, I just can’t say no to GT and her awesome blog.  Seriously — if you are planning a trip anywhere around the world, definitely consult Gourmet Traveller.

So here’s out it works…I need to nominate one of my blog posts in each of seven categories put forth by TripBase. And then I invite five other bloggers to do the same. Easy. (And a nice way of resurfacing old content.)

My most beautiful post: A Designer, Some Tapas, a Photographer and a Very Good Day. I’m not choosing this post for the pictures. It’s for the prose. It just reminds me of what my writing can be like when I’m not distracted or bored or otherwise engaged. This was one of the most wonderful of days and I often wish every day could be just like it.

My most popular post: My Top 10 Restaurants in London. I do despair that this list will grow sadly out of date over time now that I’ve repatriated, but I do love all of these places still and I’ve generally hit at least three each time I’ve returned to London. None of these places are super fancy, but they are all dependably good.

My most controversial post: Morgan M, Plus Some Thoughts on Freebies . I thought I was finally tired of talking about the controversy, but I’m seeing the same things now in Chicago and it just bugs me. Whether a blogger accepts freebies when when freebies are offered is one matter, but to suggest that you are owed anything because you write a blog (particularly when your blog is visited by two people day — one of which is your grandmother and the other of which is someone google’ing “fat man standing on his head”) is ridiculous.

My most helpful post: Where to Eat Around Leicester Square. I STILL to this day refer to this post when I’m hungry and hanging around the tourist nightmare that is Leicester Square in London. (What I still don’t understand is WHAT IS THERE TO SEE IN LEICESTER SQUARE?? Why do tourists go there?? WHY??)

The post whose success surprised me: Tortas Frontera, O’Hare. I visited during the Great Chicago Blizzard of 2011, a day I never want to relive ever ever EVER again. Like never ever. This post gets a lot of Google love on a daily basis. Apparently, everyone who flies through O’Hare wants a Rick Bayless torta, which is good because it sets the bar even higher for restaurant food elsewhere in O’Hare.

A post I feel didn’t get the attention it deserved: I am kinda in love with my recent Ten Photos around London post. I am also kinda in love with Instagram. I was hoping I’d get lots of people saying “I love Instagram too” or “Your photos are like so totally awesome.” But they didn’t.  Thank you, however, as always to the lovely Ms. Gourmet Chick for commenting.

The post that I’m most proud of: Syria, 2010. In May of 2010, I spent an unforgettable week in Syria. (The stomach issues I had at the end of the week were also quite unforgettable, but I am thankful to the lovely pharmacist around the corner from my hotel who spoke perfect English and hooked me up. I am also quite thankful to the climate-controlled Four Seasons Damascus, who took lovely care of me when I moved in after I got tired of the bathroom floor in my other hotel.) Anyhow, this post isn’t about my stomach issues or the Four Seasons. It’s about a beautiful country where evil still lives, but beauty still lives too. I hope that comes across.

And now, if I may ask the following five blogs to participate…

Gourmet Chick
Paige Worthy
Shanna Quinn
My Posh Jeans

And because I needed a dude — and he doesn’t know this yet — I’m also nominating my fellow Chicago restaurant blogger (and traveler extraordinaire) Jeff from I Like to Eat.

Fun times. Thanks, all!