'Staying Alive By Not Staying Still'
I’m back in Balat, my favorite neighborhood in Istanbul, biding time and getting some work done in advance of the Rolf Potts Travel Writing Workshop I’m attending July 30-Aug. 4 in Paris.
The Flixbus trip from Sofia, Bulgaria, to here was eventful.
‘Staying Alive By Not Staying Still’ Now that I’m all in on writing a memoir about my near-seven years of solo world travel, including the dramatic events that led me …
As the warmth of Spring arrives in this Baltic country of Bulgaria, where I’ve been a guest since April in the capital city, Sofia, I’m captivated by the easy-going, comfortable way of life and the warmth and friendliness of the many friends I’ve made here.
The eclipse that came to Kosrae by Nick Zoa On April 20, for the first time in recorded history, Kosrae experienced a total solar eclipse. Because the totality path of …
What good New Jersey native could pass up an opportunity to visit a genuine “New Jersey Snack Bar Coffee” in Tirana, Albania?
Well, I couldn’t, but I have to confess, I walked out thinking there was more going on there than met the eye.
My friend Peggy, whom I met in a cafe in the White Mountains of Crete, sent me advice in a cautionary email after reading a brief post I wrote mentioning my night in the Skopje bus station.
Skopje is the capital city of Northern Macedonia, one of the Balkan states in southeastern Europe. It was formerly part of Yugoslavia until it gained its independence by referendum in 1992 following the Yugoslav wars.
I was just passing through on my way to Sofia, Bulgaria.
I returned a week ago from a travel memoir writing workshop in Paris where a dozen participants, 11 from around the U.S. and one polite Canadian (thank you, Garrett), communed with fellow travelers, writers, and American travel writing legend and all-around good guy Rolf Potts who organized the event.
I been basking in the glow of that marvelous 6-day experience ever since.
India is fascinating, a country of many stark contrasts, and the images are stunning almost everywhere you turn.
Yet the fascination comes with a jumble of mixed feelings, as in the advantage I took in shooting the scene above of the beautiful Baha’i Lotus Temple.
I was there at dusk with the setting sun, good for taking a photo of almost anything, anywhere. And in New Delhi, with the most polluted air of any capital city in the world, shooting straight into the sun like that, I was able to use the pollution like a filter to mute the sun’s rays coming directly through my lens from behind the temple to capture the scene with dramatic effect.
At least I thought so. Let me know if you disagree.
“I have no objection to anyone’s sex life as long as they don’t practice it in the street and frighten the horses.”
– Oscar Wilde 1854-1900
Let me take you back to an amusing discovery I made in the excellent Acropolis Museum in Athens when I was there in February.