Let’s face it, summers are rather hot in Spain… but where can you escape the heat if sand, elbow-to-elbow towels and the built-up coasts don’t appeal? Go West! Trace the spine of the central mountain system as far and deep as you can get before you turn Portuguese and you’ll find the answer. In the…
The bullet holes you see in the sculptures at El Torno are real and recent. It has been more than 70 years since the guns of the civil war officially fell silent and more than 30 since Spain’s brutal dictator died peacefully in his sleep. Even after so many years, tensions here lie close to the…
Riding the Metro in Madrid and you suddenly turn around. Is it a new horror movie that’s just been released?
Fat Frog’s Legs For Sale It seems that there has been a seachange in finger food here recently. While frog’s legs have always been on the menu in this region, it’s generally something that was either common knowledge among locals or something that was tucked away in a lost corner of the menu. I’ve even…
Take a drive from the shores of the world’s biggest lake called a sea, through rice paddies that wouldn’t be out of place in Southeast Asia, and end up in a Central Asian village in mist covered mountains? It’s not teleportation, but the trip to Masouleh might be the closest thing. Up from the Caspian, a…
The book and ensuing film might have brought the name Persepolis back into vogue, but this place was already rocking when Alexander the Great came a knockin’ then burnt it down in the ensuing bacchanal. Superlatives don’t do what remains justice and if ancient ruins are your thing, then this is your Mecca. History lessons come to…
Walking through the small, lonely mountaintop village of Trevejo, you’ll often find yourself alone with the sheep and goats that roam among the ancient stone houses. Perched atop the mountain, the Templar castle of Trevejo surveys the Sierra de Gata along the Portuguese border. Built on the ruins of an Arabic fortress, this 15th-century castle…
In Bosra at a crossroads in the desert just an hour and half south of Damascus, the Roman world intersects the Arabic in an ancient theater turned fortress. You can imagine watching a classical play while a battle rages beyond the massive walls that were built around the free-standing amphitheater. Every summer international concerts are…
Call it hookah, sheesha, round these parts qaylan, but this is the way to meet and greet in Isfahan (Esfahan). Just above the entrance to the bazaar, climb up the incredibly steep stairs to the Qeysaieh Tea Shop. From this open air teahouse enjoy some orange flavored tobacco and get a magnificent view of the…
Up here the mythically infamous Tehrani smog thins out just enough to get an idea of how massive this city really is. Clear cool water rushes out of the mountain backdrop, down culverts lined with enormous green trees that would seem unimaginable just a few miles south. In fact this is a place where myths…