When Julius Caesar was looking for places to conquer at 58 BC his options were somewhat limited; huge parts of the world as he knew it back then had already been conquered, most by non other than his childhood hero, Alexander the Great. So he went to North, to the land of the Gaul where…
In order to escape the spring rains and kick-off summer properly we decided to fly to Crete for a short holiday. It’s a land full of hills and gorges, rocks and beaches, Venetian castles and Minoan ruins and miles and miles of winding roads surrounded by oleanders. As such, Crete is a challenging geography to…
Continue reading ➞ Kalo Kalokeri / A Very Happy Summer from Crete
Now that spring is here we have decided to escape the city and explore the Trakya region, famous for its beautiful scenery, colorful culture, tolerant people and fertile vineyards. Our first stop was Vize, just 138 kilometers from Istanbul and a world apart. It's one of Turkey's expanding network of Slow Cities or CittaSlow. Slow…
Before Tenerife was an island it was a giant volcano. During millions of years and countless explosions, the mighty El Teide erupted itself to create the island that we know today. It still remains the highest volcano this side of Atlantic, and at 3718 meters, the third highest volcano of the world. Its sharp summit and surrounding…
Are you rich enough to commission your own Matisse ? Or fill the walls of your palace with art so dense that it will be a challenge to distinguish one painting from another ? The man who answered positively to both questions was named Sergei Shchukin, a turn of the century Russian business magnate who…
Continue reading ➞ Matisse over the stairway, Gauguin under the curtains
There are some cities in this world that are so rich in history and culture and every kind of human emotion from greed to purest kind of love that they evoke a certain excitement even to think about, whether you've been there or not. Through their history they attract intellectuals and fanatics, kings and pirates…
Where in France a Parisian is regarded an expat, or you can go to a restaurant to taste some local specialities like baeckeoffe or flammekueche? In Alsace of course. Guarded from the rest of France by the Vosges Mountains –ok, high hills really – and from Germany by the Rhine River, Alsace is a land of…
