Nicolae Ceaușescu was a brutal dictator that ravaged Romania during his reign before being overthrown and executed during the Romanian Revolution. During his time in power, however, he began the building of an incredible structure though he never saw its completion. Originally called “The People’s Palace,” the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, Romania, is an…
Today was our first full day in Pamukkale, Turkey. The name means “cotton castle” and it is famous for its travertine cliffs into which Romans, and others, built baths. For centuries, the Pamukkale waters have been seen as a therapeutic treatment for various ills and people migrate here from around the world to bath in…
I had made plans to travel to and stay in London a few months earlier, but circumstances being as they were, I needed to change plans and decided to begin in Dover. What began as an inconvenience turned into one of my more amazing trips. Instead of remaining within the city, I explored the countryside…
There was some sort of celebration today that involved military displays with cannon fire. These girls danced wonderfully, for whatever the purpose, and shook their shoulders like nobody’s business!
On our way home from the French countryside, we stopped by Portbou for a celebration honoring the memory of Jewish philosopher, Walter Benjamin, who, while attempting to elude the pursuing Nazis during World War II, committed suicide to avoid capture. While there, we caught a glimpse of award-winning German director, Wim Wenders. That’s him near the…
Not to be confused with the city of Agadir that was destroyed by an earthquake and later rebuilt into a tourist destination, but rather, the traditional buildings that gave the city its name. Throughout southern Morocco are the remnants of what was once a thriving Amazigh (Berber) culture that extended over most of North Africa. Before the arrival…
After three months in site, it was nice to head out for some away time. The three months of mandatory integration was fascinating and fulfilling. We met innumerable amazing people who brought us into their homes and offered us friendship. But, Morocco is a large and diverse country, so I’ve been chomping at the bit…
Just over the Portuguese border from Spain is a little village with a big castle called Castro Marim. Tourist season was over, so we missed the shows that they apparently put on, which include dramatizations of medieval life and fighting knights. Unlike other castles we have visited, this one does well to show what life might…
Most people, me included, don’t seem to understand the extent of Phoenician, Greek, and Roman influence along the North African coast, but especially Tunisia. A Euro-centric bias makes us forget that the Mediterranean basin, symbolically “center of the Earth”, has a southern area that was, and remains, nearly as important and advanced as its northern…
Rabat, the capital of Morocco, is a beautiful, modern city on the coast. It has been a nice change from the more rural environment, but I am also eager to return to a smaller, less hectic pace, though the cats around Rabat seem pleasantly unaffected by the pace of life in the big city.
