Plentiful and long is the list of cities with rich histories and surprising tales, but none, perhaps, can match the Queen of Two Continents, Istanbul, straddling both coasts of the…
Rocks and Stones – Athens
Scant and scarce is the evidence for a city more ancient and foundational than Athens, amidst freckled islands and the hills of Attica, for over two thousand years a centre…
In Paris with an Italian Woman
An evening in Montmartre always has a lot on offer. We dined large snails and onion soup in a traditional bistro and slowly strolled towards Sacre-Coeur, with its white domes…
Finis Terrae
Where the European map shows a colourful puzzle of interlocking nations, historically competing and fighting for supremacy, building alliances only to enact great betrayals in hopes to come out on…
Where reality turns into something different
Italy is a strange country. In more ways than one it towers over its peers. The food is world renowned, its cultural heritage spans millennia and has a broader reach…
Onder de Spaanse Vlag
Ik verken het reguliere stratenplan van Madrid, gelegd na de reizen van Columbus naar het metrum van de koloniserende Romeinen, dat wil zeggen, recht op recht, een mooi ruitenrooster, want…
A Hidden Piece of Paradise
As is said among the Georgians, on the seventh day, the day of rest, after God had created all the animals, the land they populate, its mountains and river valleys,…
Cats in the Forest
The quaint town of Luxemburg rests upon rocky bends of the Semois and the Alzette, a point since time immemorial easily defensible against marauding bands of Germans or French. The…
Nepalese Nostalgia
At the end of three weeks in Rajasthan, my mother and I arrived at Delhi’s enormous airport, both of us exhausted by the continuous heat and humidity. We had planned…
Spiritual Plethora of India
India hardly is a country. With a population close to double the European landmass, with more languages and ethnicities too. Only under the British did it fall under one government…