Topkapi's Second Courtyard and Harem
This past Wednesday, I introduced Topkapi Palace as the home of the sultans of the Ottoman Empire from the 1460s until 1856, when a new...
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The Blog.
I post bi-weekly about writing, editing, teaching, and travel.
Mar 30, 20232 min read
Intro to Topkapi Palace
Topkapi Palace is huge, and, as it is Wednesday, I do not have to go over all of it today. Instead, I will provide a brief introduction...
Mar 26, 20232 min read
Hagia Irene
My second day in Istanbul started with a peak inside Hagia Irene. The Eastern Orthodox Church, which sits in Topkapi Palace's outer...
Mar 15, 20233 min read
Old City Sights
Old City Corner I spent three full days in Istanbul. At 8 a.m. each day, I met my tour guide, Gamze, at the Starbucks at Taksim Square. ...
Mar 12, 20234 min read
The Basilica Cistern
To examine the history of a civilization, first consider its water. Ancient civilizations formed on the banks of rivers. The ancient...
Mar 5, 20234 min read
The Hippodrome of Constantinople
Ruins of the Hippodrome, from an engraving by Onofrio Panvinio in his work De Ludis Circensibus (Venice, 1600). The same morning I saw...
Mar 2, 20231 min read
Perspective
Hagia Sophia from the Bosporus Strait. I had a birthday yesterday. Getting older every year. I got the cutest card from the cutest...
Feb 25, 20236 min read
Hagia Sophia
Note: I am no historian or expert on this structure or region. As such, I am referencing History.com for most of the information...
Feb 23, 20232 min read
A First Look at Istanbul
The Republic Monument in Taksim Square. The sculpture commemorates the foundation of Turkish Republic in 1923. After spending a little...
Feb 16, 20231 min read
Brasov, Remembered
In today's post, I'm going to share the last of my photos from Brasov. Brasov is so full of character. I loved it. On Saturday, I'll...
Feb 12, 20232 min read
Mount Tâmpa
The city of Brasov cannot be separated from the mountain around which it was built. The first thing a visitor notices, in fact, is the...
Feb 9, 20232 min read
Sinaia
In my last post, I talked about Peleș Castle in Sinaia, but I didn't talk much about the city of Sinaia itself. Although I was only...
Feb 5, 20234 min read
Peleș Castle
I've been thinking about how buildings tell stories. Like novels, buildings tell stories about who we are, what we value, what time...
Feb 2, 20232 min read
The Cetatuia Citadel
Towards the end of my stay in Brasov, I found myself rushing to get to the last of the many sites I wanted to see. Brasov's Cetatuia...
Jan 26, 20232 min read
The White and Black Towers
The White Tower (Turnul Alb) The Black Tower (Turnal Negru) Sitting beside the Council Square (Piața Sfatului) in Brasov are two striking...
Jan 18, 20234 min read
The Black Church of Brasov
At the end of 2022, I spent one month traveling in Romania, Turkey, and Greece. I spent a little over two weeks in Brasov, Romania,...
Jan 12, 20233 min read
Bucharest, the "Little Paris of the East"
The Arcul de Triumf in Bucharest As promised, here at the start of 2023, I've decided to revisit Europe with you, my readers. Each...
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