Category: travel blog

I have not had the “pleasure” of rowing a boat for a few decades. It used to be one of my favorite pastimes in the “old country” to row a leaky old boat to a thin slice of empty dirty…

The country of Georgia is blessed with a cool masculine name, yet it shares it with a far-away state in America. This coincidence kick-starts an inevitable conversation as soon as one mentions: “I’m going to Georgia”, which is always followed…

“Nothing is so firmly believed as what we least know.” Michel de Montaigne Shortly before visiting Ukraine I told a gathering of friends and relatives in LA about our plans to tour Chernobyl, the site of a major nuclear accident…

I grew up on the banks of Dniepr, the greatest river of Ukraine, and the question “Where does my water come from?” was one of the most immaterial issues of my youth. As I fast forward a few decades and…

“Give me a word, any word, and I show you that the root of that word is Greek.” Gus Portokalos, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. May my Turkish friends forgive the above quote from a film about a charming Greek…

Paris, as always, is beautiful, wonderful, elegant, interesting, delicious… and expensive! A taxi ride from CDG airport to the city center will set you back $80, a four-star hotel room – around $400 per night, a simple lunch for two…

The darkness has fallen rapidly in Botswana’s Chobe National Park and our Land Cruiser is racing toward the exit gates. We are bouncing up and down the bumpy dirt road, yet no one is complaining – our mission is to…

How many “edges of the world” are there? A whole bunch, if you ask me. I’ve visited a number of them already, but I’ve never been to the end of the world that feels so much like home! Yes, I’m…

Part 6 of 6: Beijing Notes: June 3 – 9, 2011 Photo Album Usually it is fairly easy to catch a cab in central Beijing. The cabs are always clean, efficient and affordable as long as you can explain to…

Part 5 of 6: Xian Notes: June 1 – 2, 2011 Photo Album Having visited many places around the globe, I must confess that the feeling of excitement of seeing an attraction sometimes looses its intensity. This is one of…