One of my main challenges in maintaining my blog is my inability to quickly reflect on what I have seen and experience. During my travels, I’m constantly listening, reading and digesting information while simultaneously analyzing and contextualizing it within my existing knowledge set. This helps me process and retain what I’m learning. Which is why […]
Egypt
We idolize and idealize people and places, and are frequently let down when in crashes reality. But there are those rare instances where reality exceeds our fantasies and expectations. Such was the case of Egypt. For as far back as I can remember I have wanted to go to Egypt. Walk in the footsteps of […]
Jordan
In March we celebrate women: Women’s History, International Women’s Day and for several countries Mother’s Day. With my “wintering in the Middle East” quickly nearing its closure, I’m reflecting on the inspiring women I have met. Below are two stories of women inspiring women from my adventures in Jordan. Traditional crafts lay the foundation for […]
Turkey
After Dubai, Istanbul felt like an old sweater with fraying cuffs and collar. It was comfortable. Even though I had never been there before, it was familiar in a way that many European cities are. There was a glorious hodgepodge of architecture ranges from the Hagia Irene, the first church built by Constantine I in […]
Turkey
Topkapi Palace was the primary residence of the Ottoman sultans in the 15th and 16th century. It isn’t a single building, but a sprawling complex of different pavilions separated by three terraced garden courtyards all connected with marble pathways and has an amazing view of the European and Asian sides of Istanbul. The interior design […]
Turkey
Note: In January and February there was a COVID curfew for everyone: 9 p.m. – 5 a.m. daily. For residents and citizens there is also a 9 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday curfew, but not for tourists. Which means some sites are open with very little crowds on the weekends. The original Hagia Irene […]
United Arab Emirates
Beyond the extreme rich and poor dichotomy that pervades the UAE, there is another extreme dichotomy – the landscape. For miles upon miles you are surrounded by glass and steel canyons on the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, but if you exit the road and drive inland within 20 minutes you are surrounded by desert […]
United Arab Emirates
Sidewalks like a baby’s skin: clean and unmarked from the ravages of time and age. Buildings made of glass and steel rising from the literal sand. Scores of cranes dot the unimaginably long skyline. Ribbons of highway snaking through purpose-built under development mini-cities, that are the size of most cities’ “downtowns.” This is Dubai. Some […]
United Arab Emirates
2021 New Year’s Eve in Dubai: the glamour, the spectacle, the sheer ostentatiousness. That’s what I hoped for, and that was what was delivered, and then some. Welcoming 2021 in Dubai, has been the only part of the original “My Grand Adventure” plan that has not changed. After a year of significant uncertainty and calamity, […]