The Black Sea can only be accessed from the Mediterranean via a 61-kilometer long narrow strip of water called the Dardanelles Straight and this has been an area of strategic importance for millennia. Thousands of years ago the straight was busy with trading ships passing through and the great city of Troy grew and prosperedContinue reading “Trojan Horse”
Tag Archives: travel
The Last True Believer
Only two of the original seven wonders of the ancient world still remain in any form. In all my travels I have not yet seen a single one of these until now. And this one, the Great Temple of Artemis, has barely survived the ravages of time itself. Ephesus, founded by the Amazon queen EphesiaContinue reading “The Last True Believer”
City of Snakes
At one point in time the leaders of two countries sat down and signed a legal document, shook hands and then got started on some fully legal ethnic cleansing. To be exact, the plan worked out to be a religious cleansing more than ethnic. Millions of people would be forced out of their homes andContinue reading “City of Snakes”
The Real Santa Claus
Endless farms dot the rolling hills rising out of the Demre River Valley. An ancient port here was abandoned thousands of years ago when alluvial silts filled in the harbor. The once great port is now little more than marshland, but the silts have made for great farmland. After trying some fresh squeezed pomegranate juiceContinue reading “The Real Santa Claus”
The Lycian Way
The rock tombs have survived for thousands of years in the mountains of Lycia. Everything else has been lost to time so that very little is understood about the people that once inhabited this land. Once known as the Land of Light, the civilization that existed here thousands of years ago was quite a bitContinue reading “The Lycian Way”
Winter Wonderland
When we left the United States a bit over four months ago, I imagined we would be skiing somewhere in Europe in December. In fact, one of the suitcases that we have been lugging around is full of nothing but heavy winter clothes, gloves, ski pants and jackets. I never imagined that December would beContinue reading “Winter Wonderland”
Eternal Flames of the Chimera
I can’t tell if Turkey is an amazing place to be at this moment in time or not. Unlike Albania and Serbia, pandemic rules here are quite restrictive. There is a curfew in place and a complete ban on dining at restaurants. On the other hand, the sky is sunny, the sea is warm andContinue reading “Eternal Flames of the Chimera”
Thankful for Turkey
A couple of weeks ago we were planning to fly to Slovenia, where we would spend the Thanksgiving holiday and from there go on to Italy where we would be for Christmas and beyond. However, after a surge in Covid-19 infections and tightening restrictions in these two countries I changed our flight at the lastContinue reading “Thankful for Turkey”
A Library in Cyrillic
There’s no better way to enjoy a miserable day than a good book or two hundred. Belgrade, across the river, disappeared almost completely under a shroud of fog that has not lifted in days. Because the kids work on American time, we go to sleep late and wake late. But in the low light ofContinue reading “A Library in Cyrillic”
The Coronavirus Prophecy
Twenty years ago a fortune teller in Cambodia read my palm and told me that I would die when I’m forty. I don’t believe that nonsense, but I recently turned the prophesied age and, walking home from a bakery in Belgrade a couple days ago with a birthday cake for my daughter, the coronavirus nearlyContinue reading “The Coronavirus Prophecy”
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