Category Archives: Architecture

Kashmir. That fabled landscape of snow-capped mountains and lush valleys – once a princely state under the British Raj – has long been on my wish list. Today, portions of the overall region are administered by China, India, and Pakistan, with the actual boundaries frequently in dispute. This often renders the area unsafe for tourists. […]

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It was still cool and dim when we loaded our suitcases onto a small bus: the pre-dawn light was too low for me to get much of an impression of Casablanca, that fabled North African city that lends its name to gin-joints, stories, and popular imagination. I had arrived in the city early-evening the day […]

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It is just breathtakingly beautiful! I couldn’t believe I had finally made it – made it to Santorini, the southernmost island in the Cyclades.  Santorini is the largest part of a circular archipelago surrounding the Santorini caldera in the South Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece. This was the site of the Minoan eruption about […]

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The American novelist, short story writer, and essayist, Henry Valentine Miller (1891-1980) was enamoured of Greece. I must say: I was too. I didn’t travel in the same style as Miller: he was there for nine months – originally at the invitation of author Lawrence Durrell – and spent his time in the company of […]

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I love how European cities have protected their historic centres. And, I love how one doesn’t have to forgo any modern creature comforts to enjoy these old quarters! Cahors, near Toulouse in the Occitan Region of Southern France, features an old-town centre of half-timbered houses, Renaissance windows, and narrow alleyways. I had never heard of […]

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