The orld’s oldest shopping mall. During the Roman era Anatolia was the bread basket for the entire empire, and even today there are more Roman ruins in present day Turkey than anywhere else in the world. Even during … Continue reading →
The history of England is difficult to ignore whenever you travel there. More than most countries even around Europe, England has done a marvelous job of keeping its past alive, such that the pulse of the nation … Continue reading →
Wine and Food Excursion. It’s a sunny Thursday morning when I arrive at the Napa Valley Train Station located in the charming city of Napa, California. Napa is an American Viticultural Area and one of the premiere wine … Continue reading →
Save money with the Prague City Card. According to legend, the origin of Prague dates back the 7th century when a Slavic princess named Libuše had a vision of a great city whose glory would touch the stars. … Continue reading →
Is this Homer’s Troy? or some scholars there is speculation about the veracity of the Trojan War, even after the excavation of the Troja site (Turkish for Troy) by the German adventurer, Heinrich Schliemann in the 19th century. The … Continue reading →
The Richest Port In The Ancient Roman Empire. Hadrian’s Temple. Ephesus is as famous today as it was in the Greco-Roman world; the southwestern Asia Minor temples are engraved on the reverse of Turkey’s older 20 lira … Continue reading →
Venezia – Venice, capital of the Veneto region. Venice is known as ‘The City of Bridges” with over 100 of them crossing the famous canals. The main transport is by boat or by foot because cars are banned … Continue reading →
Acropolis Means Edge Of The City In Greek. The Acropolis rises 100 meters above Athens. The terminology of Acropolis consists of the Greek words Akron (edge, or summit) and polis (city). Consequently the Acropolis means … Continue reading →
Espana Road Trip Through History. Along the expressways of modern Spain you can drive from Leon to Valencia in about three hours. Five hundred years ago when Spain became a nation (i.e., when the name “España” was first … Continue reading →
Mount Vesuvius from Pompeii’s Forum. It was a bad day for Pompeii on August 24, 79 AD with great balls of fire. The 160 acre walled city had a population of about 20,000 in 79 AD. It is … Continue reading →
Epidauros, Home of Hippocrates. The Corinth Canal. The Peloponnese peninsula is literally chopped off from mainland Greece by the isthmus bisection of the Corinth Canal that connects the Ionian and Myleon Seaslike a pencil transit … Continue reading →
The Greek King who launched a 1000 ships. Agamemnon’s Palace and courtyard. In the Iliad, Homer wrote about many historical Greek characters that actually lived — in Mycenae, Sparta, and other villages of the Peloponnese, and none … Continue reading →
The First Olympics Were in 779 B.C. Oak and wild olive were sacred in the ancient Altis sanctuary of Olympia. The ancient Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece were a spectacle of sports, sacrifice, statuary, and suffering in a station … Continue reading →
Wild Bill Hickok Plays His Last Hand. I grew up in these Black Hills — and the history of the Old West hell raising mining camp of Deadwood is embedded into these hills as deep as the ore … Continue reading →
The Hamburger Was Invented in Hamburg. Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg, the largest port in Northern Europe. In the decade of the 1990s, after the Berlin Wall had come tumbling down and Germany was reunited, travelers began … Continue reading →
Villa Cafaggiolo, a Medici residence in the Mugello countryside. Portrait by Jacopo Pontormo. This autumn Florence and vicinity is honoring the ancient ties between the Mugello, that splendid pastoral landscape north of the city, and … Continue reading →
Tracing Jewish History in Berlin. Berlin unveils memorial to murdered Jews As an American Jew, the murder of six million Jews by Hitler during World War II in Germany kept me far away from this European capital. But curiosity to … Continue reading →
