I stood staring upwards at the chandelier in the dome of the Saltan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat Oman admiring its soft glow. I was slightly surprised that it gets the dubious title of 2nd largest chandelier in the world. It didn’t seem that large to me, but as our guide Rob was pumping out […]
“Lady, Lady – audio tour – you want audio tour?” the man behind the counter urgently asked as I briskly walked past the booth. As others were lining up to get their audio tour devices and handing over their lira to learn more about Istanbul’s biggest tour attraction – I decided I didn’t want to […]
We arrived at the Dervish Lodge of Karabash-i Veli and I was full of anticipation. Intrepid Travel had arranged for us to see a very local experience of Turkey’s whirling dervish culture. I was busy trying to arrange my scarf over my head in order to be in compliance with the cultural norms for this […]
“You have to go to the islands! You have to go to the islands!” everyone kept telling me. Clearly they didn’t fully appreciate my neurosis regarding how stubborn I am. I can’t help it, if everyone keeps telling me to do something, then I really am skeptical about it and the less and less I […]
With one of the biggest religions celebrating their revered holiday this weekend, I thought it would be fitting to show you some symbols of Christianity I have encountered around the world on this Good Friday Photo of the Week edition. I have been lucky enough to see some of the most famous churches in the […]
I listened to man in the suit in front of me and really tried to concentrate on what he was saying. I took notes rapidly about dates, religious timelines, leaders, and wars. He authoritatively stated the names and periods as if he had given this lecture a thousands times. My mind started to wonder how […]
The cemetery in the Testaccio neighborhood in Rome has many names; Campo Cestio, The Protestant Cemetery, The Non-Catholic Cemetery for Foreigners, or the Cat Cemetery. It holds the grave of the poet John Keats, the famous pyramid of Rome, about 40 cats, and most importantly it holds the grave of Emelyn Story. What’s that, you […]
The first thing you need to know about islands is that there is a windward and leeward coast. The windward coast is pretty self explanatory, but the leeward coast is basically the downwind coast and therefore generally the more calm side of the island. For Oahu, when you mention the leeward coast you normally have […]
Footprints seem to mark the beginning of life for humans. We are born, and soon our little foot is being dipped in ink and imprinted on our birth certificates – marking our ‘official’ beginning. In Sri Lanka the birth of the main religions also came to life with a footprint – a sacred footprint. However […]
The crouching lion was still as a stone and surrounded by the jungle below. I approached it cautiously, wiping the sleep out of my eyes wondering what I had gotten myself into so early in the morning. I proceeded as the clouds overhead darted by the sun making the whole scene ahead of me change […]