Dakar train station (Image: ginaber.blogspot.com)
Dec8
Vanishing train to Bamako
Dec1
San Juan, the walled city
Puerto Rico’s San Juan is a microcosm of the history of the Americas. First sighted by Europeans on Columbus’s second trip to the New World in 1493, the island became the gateway to Spain’s American empire. It was the easternmost island large enough to supply plentiful food and water to Spanish ships sailing from home to the Caribbean and beyond to the riches of Mexico and South America. San Juan remained Spain’s mightiest stronghold in the area for the next 350 years, only briefly occupied by the English in 1598 and by the Dutch in 1625, until Puerto Rico became a U.S. possession following the 1898 Spanish-American War. Read the rest of this entry
Nov2
Honolulu – always good to be back
A statue of surfing champ Duke Kahanamoku welcomes visitors to Waikiki
Fortunately, no comparably long periods of time are required of a modern traveler. But it’s still a looong trip from pretty much anywhere. In fact, Hawaii is the most isolated population center on earth: 2,390 miles from California; 3,850 miles from Japan; 4,900 miles from China; and 5,280 miles from the Philippines. It’s a strange feeling to fly for so many hours from the U.S. mainland and not need to pull out a passport. But once you’re here, you know you’ve arrived. A puff of warm tropical air penetrates the jet-way. The hot sun starts its labor of love on pale skins of temperate zone individuals. And the beach awaits. Read the rest of this entry
Oct14
Polish connection in Rapperswil
Old Town Rapperswil
Surrounded on three sides by Lake Zurich, the castle is a view to behold. Built in the shape of a triangle, each corner is defended by a mighty tower. Perched on a high hill, it rises above the medieval Old Town – an ancient beacon on the lake. Over the centuries, the castle had many owners as the tides of history changed. It also had a stint as a military base and prison before falling into disrepair in the 1800s. And that is when the Polish connection happened. Read the rest of this entry
Oct6
A different look at Mombasa
Stereograph viewer (Image: http://www.opb.org)
Sep22
Hundertwasser encounter
Friedensreich Hundertwasser was a character. Painter, architect, ecologist, he was born in Vienna in 1928 and during a long career created some of the most original works out there. I’m not intimately familiar with his paintings but I fell in love with his architecture. Quirky, eccentric, dream-like – these are some of the words that come to mind to describe his style. Some years ago I saw his most famous building, Hundertwasser House in Vienna, and was really mesmerized by it. In that unusual structure with odd-shaped windows and undulating floors, Hundertwasser’s unique style was clearly on display – and I wanted more. So I was delighted to have another opportunity to see a Hundertwasser building up close and personal last summer in Darmstadt, a city in the German state of Hesse.
Hundertwasser painted his first spiral in 1953 and it had been his artistic credo of sorts ever since. “Gegen die gerade Linie” (against the straight line) is the philosophy that encapsulates his approach. Hundertwasser considered straight lines “the devil’s tools,” associating them with the ills of modern civilization: coldness and sterility of industrial design, detachment from nature, and cruelty of wars fought with man-made machines. He had strong views on the subject: Read the rest of this entry
Sep8
The sound of Nairobi
Sauti Sol (Image: http://www.kenyan-post.com)
Sep3
Un-Conventional Tampa
Downtown Tampa
Tampa is not necessarily on Florida’s A-list of destinations. It doesn’t have the vibrancy of Miami, history and natural charm of Pensacola, or Orlando’s Disney World (ok it has Busch Gardens but it doesn’t quite measure up). When I was there is also felt in a large part under construction with street closures and cranes dotting the landscape. So to me the highlights were a few special, memorable places rather than the city as a whole. Read the rest of this entry
Aug25
Hong Kong by night
English speakers aplenty, great public transportation system AND metered taxis. What else can you ask for when exploring a new city? That’s Hong Kong, which I dubbed “user-friendly Asia” because of the qualities that make it so easy to get around and enjoy. A crowded place of seven million people squeezed on slightly more than 400 square miles feels like New York in more ways than one. Busy streets, stunning sky scrapers, great restaurants on each city corner… Tsim Sha Tsui (or TST) on the southern edge of Kowloon Peninsula, and Central just across Victoria Harbour on Hong Kong Island are the two major hubs of activity, day and night. And it’s at night in particular when the city pulsates with the special rhythm of a metropolis that never sleeps. Exploring Hong Kong by night is…
“… a fine way to capture a piece of the magic of a unique city. The drama, the charm and the beauty of Hong Kong is all here ― just as is its breathless energy.”
― Nury Vittachi, Hong Kong: The City of Dreams
Aug11
Prizren – waiting for a rainbow
“March snow swirled across the ancient city of Prizren. Churches and mosques blend here in perfect harmony against a backdrop of narrow hill-climbing alleys, tiny coffee shops, barbers, old-style draper’s shops and jewelers specializing in the delicate filigree work that Albanians love so much. In his office a prosperous Albanian businessman said that if people would just get on with producing things and making money then ‘we would not be in the situation we are now.’”
That was Prizren seen through the eyes of journalist Tim Judah who witnessed first-hand the upheavals of the war he described in his great book Kosovo: War and Revenge. When I was there it was April rain rather than March snow drizzling upon the ancient city. But otherwise the landscape looked the same. Read the rest of this entry
