July 2017 It was rebuilt as a castle in 1184 by Izz al-Din Usama, a general in the army of Saladin. The castle controlled traffic along...

July 2019 I was travelling back to Iraq after summer vacation and Perry Place in DC was not available for an easy stopover that summer,...

Pan Am Worldport (from internet - in its glory days) [from FB post: October 27, 2011] First off... let's talk AIRPORTS. I was in JFK,...

August 2020 Coming full circle On my forced layover in Istanbul during the start of the Coronavirus Pandemic I took multiple long walks...

July 2016. The tower is known to have existed by the 1st century, built or perhaps rebuilt under Trajan, possibly on foundations...

March 2016 Walking around the palace in Muscat [see: palace] these two old forts came into view, Al Jalali on an island and Al Mirani on...

Newport Bridge. July 1979 Newport Harbor. July 1979 The Rose. July 1979 Bowen's Wharf. July 1979 Cliffwalk. July 1979 The Breakers -...

Dubai Marina. October 2013 [from FB post: October 19. 2013] Different points of view.... but still enjoying the same scenery. I remember...

September 2008 Don't touch the water! With water from the stream Galadriel filled the basin to the brim, and breathed on it, and when the...

Mmmmm.... appetizers! at Roberto's. October 2013 Italian in Dubai Before Eataly opened a branch in Dubai, I craved some authentic...

NEPAL (October 1991) The bus from Gorakhpur to the Nepali border at Sonauli was disgusting. Very local, there was no other option. Even...

PROLOGUE Law school is hard. I saw Brian sacrifice a lot to make it through Columbia with high marks while working on a high-profile...

March 2015 Getting it right, for a price Souq Waqaf is the "traditional souq" (market) for tourists in Doha. If traditional Qatari life...

Zambian side Zimbabwean side Whitewater rafting. July 1996 When we were planning our trip to Southern Africa, friends who had traveled...

Train Station Town Square. March 2019 almost, but not quite Bratislava is in the extreme western corner of Slovakia which means that...

Original Starbucks near Pike Place Market. October 2011 coffee ground zero I grew up in a family that did not drink coffee. Mom was a...

August 2020 better than I remembered On my first trip to Istanbul with Brian in 1991 [see: Istanbul to Kushinagar (part I)], one of the...

Porto. July 2016 the little Frenchie Some cities have a food that is de rigueur - a cheesesteak sandwich in Philadelphia, champon in...

Roasted agave heart. Distillation. October 2011 We were on a cruise to Cabo and Puerto Vallarta from San Diego. As part of the shore...

Old, unrenovated building Restored building with wind tower. March 2015 My few days in Bahrain were very full even though the tiny...