You’ve been waiting for your summer vacation all year, dreaming at your desk of scenes straight out of a feel-good 80s movie. The day finally comes and the deep blue of lake Okanagan stretches out over 80 miles before you. But wait…where are you going to throw down that newly bought beach towel? Seems the…
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…
Writing in the local paper. Local issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs. I was sitting in a bar in the Calle Moret having a midday caña (little beer) when I heard the news. One of the older…
Writing in the local paper. Local issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs. It’s the time of year for cherries, little sailor suits, Playstations and travel agents with deals on trips to Euro Disney. I happened to be…
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…
Writing in the local paper. Local issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs. Thank goodness the powers that be have followed through with their promise to make us all more efficient and Nordic. No more of those useless…
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…