Forgotten Histories

When I came to Calabria I knew I was coming someplace smaller, to a place most of the world doesn’t know about, and if they did they have already forgotten. I knew transport in this region is limited and many places are impossible to reach by train. I don’t have a car, so I’m more […]

Leaving Guidebooks Behind

Lurching left and right in an unpredictable manner, the train hurried forward, going ever downward. We were in a hurry to reach our destination, so didn’t bother stopping at Napoli Centrale, which would have lengthened this already long 5-hour ride. We stopped at Salerno, the site of my infamous loss of consciousness, and I glanced […]

Diciannove

The last whispers of daylight were quickly disappearing into a rainy evening when the wheels of the big A330 skidded on the tarmac and I finally landed at Fiumicino airport after too many hours of travel. The night had, then, fully settled in as I stepped off of the Leonardo Express train and onto the […]

Exploring Asian Istanbul

I read somewhere that the Kadikoy neighborhood of Istanbul was once home to some of the oldest settlements in the area, with evidence of human occupation dating back thousands of years. It was the Greek colony of Chalcedon long before the Romans established New Rome (later Constantinople) on the opposite side of the Bosphorus. I […]

Sometimes the Goals Find You

Our hotel has a small fireplace in the restaurant, and I’ve tried to sit close to its warmth every morning. It’s been a cold few days here in Central Türkiye, and there’s no way to gloss over that, except to note that it’s been even colder back home. Usually I try to go someplace warm […]

Way Down Under the Ground

There were seven of us on the tour today, hurtling down the roads of central Anatolia, frost tipped grasses appearing as blurs out the window. We drove past the Kaymakli underground city, and kept driving into the chilly morning. Our guide today, Ali, explained that we were supposed to stop there early in the tour, […]