I’m enjoying the historic medieval French city of Carcassonne. It is perfectly formed, with magnificent double curtain walls, a grand fortress, tall round towers with spiky roofs, portcullis gates, the works. It is very cool! Note that this is not like one of those recent Chinese “restorations” of Ancient City Walls. Mais non! This is […]
Browsing Posts in Travel
Carcassonne: Medieval Walls
September 19, 2017
Idaho: The Black Sun
August 21, 2017
I was in Idaho Falls for the 2017 US Total Eclipse. The local authorities had been unsure what to expect: hotels had sold out far in advance and there were fears of a vast insurge of eclipse watchers up Interstate 15 from Salt Lake City. So Starbucks and the local police had all hands on […]
Kosovo: Bill Klinton
May 19, 2017
I’m in Prishtina, Kosovo, on “Bill Klinton Boulevard” admiring the Bill Clinton Statue. A few feet away is the “Hillary” dress store, which proudly displays photographs of a visit by Hillary herself in 2010. Why are the Kosovars so fond of the Clintons? The answer is on the document in Bill’s hand, dated 24 March […]
Temple of Poseidon
May 7, 2017
I’m at Cape Sounion, near Athens, visiting the Temple of Poseidon. In ancient times its splendid white marble columns were visible from far at sea and it was a very welcome landmark for sailors returning to Athens. The surviving columns and base are still an impressive sight. Poseidon has been kind to California recently, […]
Vietnam: Cu Chi Tunnels
March 11, 2017
I’m at the Cu Chi Tunnels museum outside Saigon. This area was a Viet Cong stronghold during the “American War” with a network of over 200km of low-tech tunnels. Most tunnels entrances are tiny and well hidden. And the tunnels themselves extremely narrow. But my guide showed me one tunnel entrance that was poorly hidden […]
Addis Ababa: Red Remnants
December 29, 2016
From 1974 to 1987, Ethiopia was ruled by a ruthless Marxist-Leninist regime known as the “Derg”. They renamed themselves in 1987, but were only finally overthrown in 1991. There are still odd traces of them in Addis Ababa. The statue of Lenin is long gone, toppled in 1991. But a striking Soviet-style obelisk, known informally […]
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