If there is a corner of Turkey that blends ancient history, turquoise seas, forested mountains, and island-dotted horizons, it’s Fethiye. Tucked along the southwestern part of the country on the famed Turquoise Coast, Fethiye is serene and adventurous, a place for paddling across crystal coves, walking through Lycian ruins and, (one of my favorites) browsing […]
Blue on Blue on Blue: Amazing Fethiye and Its Islands Read More »
Ankara: Then and Now, Through My Eyes It’s hard to believe fifty years have passed since I first walked the streets of Ankara, a college student on break with waist length hair and a backpack stuffed with 6 weeks of “essentials”. The city was simple, yet magnetic and foreign. My traveling companion, a multi-lingual American
Ankara: A Fifty Year Lookback and Now Read More »
Turkey’s spirit is one of contrasts — the living mysticism of Konya and the haunting silent ruins of Sagalassos. One hypnotizes with the spinning, haunting prayer and poetry of Sufism; the other stands in solid, still testimony to the genius of Greek and Roman empires. Click on images below to enlarge. Sagalassos –
Whirling Spirits, Silent Stones: From Mevlana to Sagalassos Read More »
I had to remind myself to breathe. It was that amazing! Cappadocia appears pulled from a dreamscape, especially during the pre-dawn hours on an October morning. Located in the heart of Anatolia, the land ripples with rock formations called “fairy chimneys”, sculpted by volcanic eruptions and centuries of wind and water massage. Beyond the famous
Floating Over Turkey’s Moonlands: Ballooning in Cappadocia Read More »
To Start… A city forever suspended between east and west, at once Asian and European, one of the most historically textured cities I have ever visited! Magical, mysterious and crowded with over twenty million inhabitants. Called a “jungle” due crowded streets and traffic but clean with little street crime. I felt safe and welcomed throughout
Istanbul’s Magic Jungle: A City on Two Continents Read More »
The walls of the Khiva’s Ichan Kala or “Old Town” are a living museum and one of the most intimate ways to connect with the city’s soul is through its woodworking tradition, an ancient art form that continues to flourish today. A Legacy Carved in Wood Wood has long held a sacred and functional role
Khiva’s Ancient Art of Woodworking Read More »
There are places in the world that exceed your dreams. Registan Square, the architectural heart of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, is one of those rare places. It is the real world setting of the enchantment of One Thousand and One Nights and storyteller Scheherzade, one of the greatest Arabic, Middle Eastern, and Islamic contributions to world literature,
Registan Square: The Beating Heart of Samarkand Read More »
—solemn, symmetrical, and magnificent in its melancholy.” Lord Curzon, British statesman 19th c. The colors had begun to deepen in late afternoon shadows when we arrived in Samarkand, tired after a long bus ride through the desert but the mood changed instantly. We were in a sacred place, the burial monument to the legendary Tamerlane,
My Visit to “One of the Noblest Monuments of Asia” Read More »
Bukhara, one of the country’s oldest and continuously inhabited cities, a major center of trade, scholarship, and religion on the Silk Road for over two millennia. Today, it’s known for its remarkably preserved Islamic architecture, old city atmosphere, and its role as a spiritual and intellectual heart of Central Asia. Over 2,000 years old: Bukhara’s
Fairy Tales, Poets and Silks: My Love Affair with Bukhara Read More »
Khiva’s roots stretch back over 2,500 years, but its golden age began in the 16th century when it became the capital of the Khanate of Khiva. As a major oasis along the Silk Road, it prospered from trade — and infamously, from a large slave market that once operated within its walls. The real magic
Captivating Khiva: An Astonishing Life Inside the City Walls Read More »