Travel | Travel
Jul.31.2012
The tourist buzz about Venice says don't go there. Word on the street: It's an overcrowded, overpriced tourist trap. But when I told my sister and her husband--long-time residents of Italy--that I was skipping it, they were aghast. To say they dragged me there would be an overstatement. Let'...
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Jul.30.2012
Sometimes, when you read an novel, you come across a described incident which you know just has to be true, because even the most inventive author could not make it up.
I will now describe an encounter I had on a five hour bus trip over the weekend. It was a fairly full bus to begin with and I...
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Jul.30.2012
Flames have destroyed the ancient souk of Aleppo, burning medieval storehouses, countless small shops, a hammam, and once elegant courtyards. The troops of the Syrian president-for-life and the desperate rebels determined to end his...
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Jul.27.2012
As we left the cliff-side town of Artvin in Eastern Turkey, we passed a pair of life-sized statues of ferocious looking, massive-shouldered bulls squaring off opposite each other. Unfortunately, we’d missed the bull wrestling matches that are popular...
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Jul.26.2012
July 26
TO SLOOP
When I was a tanker I carried such a heavy load. The diesel cycle ran, combustion occurred at regular intervals and my internal temperature was terrific. The fuel sprayed and things went round and round; the cost was high. Now my principal...
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Jul.23.2012
Greetings. If you're new to the blog, I've been writing from Italy for the past two weeks. I'm now at a workshop for recorder at the Italian Foundation for Early Music in the little city of Urbino. Join me!
My workshop is set up so that each student has a 45-minute lesson every other day. In...
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Jul.22.2012
This place at least I knew. I knew if I followed the river I would find the mosque and in an interesting way my life seems to work the mosque would serve as a guide for this lonely Jewish traveler. I needed a rest though, the past twenty minutes had left me mentally exhausted and the heat of the...
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Jul.22.2012
I noticed by the increase in traffic that it was getting nearer and nearer to five thirty in the evening. I could potentially back track but I could tell by spotting some familiar landmarks in the distance that I was running parallel to my correct course. So I decided to press on.
The first signs...
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Jul.21.2012
“Excuse me” a young voice said from my side “would you mind if I asked where you are from?” I turned around and saw and old man. I looked for the source of the young voice and was puzzled. The man smiled and then I realized he was the owner of the young voice.
“Me-goo-ah” I answered in...
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Jul.21.2012
My new book DELPHINE takes place partly in Turkey, one of my favorite countries of the Middle East -- or anywhere, for that matter. On my third trip to Turkey, I explored some remote areas in the eastern part of the country. One morning,...
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