Tag Archives: sculpture

If you start typing “Reykjavík” into a Google search, the second thing that comes up – after “Reykjavík” itself – is “Reykjavík weather.” No surprise, really. When I visited Iceland’s compact coastal capital city at the tail end of the nordic winter mid-March last year, he things that stood out to me most were the […]

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Xiamen, an island-city on China’s southeast coast, has been ranked as China’s second “most suitable city for living” … as well as China’s “most romantic leisure city”, making it a popular destination for domestic tourists. It is reasonably accessible to foreign tourists, as well. Some time ago, while my husband was busy with meetings in a nearby free-trade zone, I […]

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“Good morning,” said the little prince. “Good morning,” said the merchant. This was a merchant who sold pills that had been invented to quench thirst. You need only swallow one pill a week, and you would feel no need of anything to drink. “Why are you selling those?” asked the little prince. “Because they save […]

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Inle Lake, in the Shan Hills in central Myanmar, is a unique environment. I’ve written before about it’s floating villages (Life on the Water) and about it’s distinctive leg-rowing fishermen (Iconic Images). Most of the lake’s 70,000 residents live in villages and towns on the shore line, where everyday life includes bustling local markets and quiet Buddhist worship. My time on […]

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It is pretty impressive: the world’s tallest brick minaret, set in a complex of archaeological ruins dating back to 1193 AD, on a site that is much older than that. The stories behind it are quite something as well. Qutb Minar, sometimes spelled Qutub or Qutab, was started in 1192 by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, the first Sultan of Delhi and ruler of North India from 1206 to […]

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