marinero en tierra

Berlin

2010-06-03T03:26:00.000-07:00

A year later, and I've decided to use this blog to keep up-to-date with post-SAS travels. Now I am in Berlin at the beginning of an impromptu voyage with Stephen Miran and Gabe Katsch. On arrival, I met Stephen in Tegel airport and bussed it to Baxpax hostel. We are busy planning our first adventure, about which I will post later.

One More from Egypt

2009-08-19T12:41:00.000-07:00

Riding the camels.

Street Tour: Casablanca

2009-08-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

More interesting than the tour guide were these two kids biking through the empty streets on Sunday afternoon. One of the more peaceful tours in all the voyage.

Markets in Marrakech

2009-08-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

I didn't buy the hat despite insistence.

Inside the Alexandria Library

2009-08-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

Much bigger than Alderman...(but not necessarily better).

Market Goods, Alexandria

2009-08-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

Watching the Whirling Dervish on the Nile

2009-08-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

Six Million Dollar Library in Alexandria

2009-08-18T09:36:00.000-07:00

From the outside.

Peggy

2009-08-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite travel companions, Peggy has been known to leave bags of chocolate, peanut butter and Bulgarian marmalade on my doorknob. In return, I have ventured out into the filthy Alexandria streets to buy her gum and English language newspapers. Here, peggy is outside of one of the palaces in Alexandria.

Looking Back

2009-08-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

On the trip across the Atlantic and reflecting on the last eight countries visited. Some students have been clamoring to turn in final papers while others have been striving for their final tans on deck seven. Internet bandwidth is at a minimum, but in the next few days, I will try to post some more on Egypt and my final photos on Morocco and the return.

Whatever Happened to the Sphinx's Nose?

2009-08-02T02:36:00.001-07:00

The Rise of Ziggy Stardust

2009-07-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

Goofing off in Varna, friends and I found a bar where they were playing 70s, 80s, 90s music. All the above, live band. Lovers of music. Random music, but all in English.

Russian Orthodox Church

2009-07-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

Picture taken then prohibited.

More Verboten Bulgaria

2009-07-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

Couldn't bring my ice cream in or shoot pictures in most sites in Varna, Bulgaria so you'll not be seeing much here. Some students compared Varna to Panama City Beach spring break. Right next to port was a beach with a volley ball tournament, bars, the Golden Sands Resort. In deeper conversations with locals, however, some on this trip learned about the ambivalence some Bulgarians feel towards being in the EU post communism (1989) due in part to the higher cost of living.

Goodbye Istanbul

2009-07-29T09:16:00.000-07:00

My last meal in Istanbul included four pieces of baclava, Turkish ice cream and a glass of fresh-squeezed lemonade. Forbidden foods...

Underground Cistern

2009-07-29T09:13:00.001-07:00

The Roman cistern existed untouched 100 years after the invasion of the Ottoman empire when it was finally discovered when a man discovered he could catch fish through a hole in the ground.

Target Practice

2009-07-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

Windows Beneath the Dome

2009-07-27T17:16:00.000-07:00

Note the windows that separate the dome from the architecture below. Seen in the right light (and without current construction) architects have said the rotunda in the Hagia Sophia gives the impression that it is floating above the mosque, held by angels. I have no adequate picture for this.

Blue Mosque Tours

2009-07-27T17:11:00.000-07:00

Divisions between men and women seem less defined when a Mosque becomes a tourist site and not a place of prayer.

Inside the Blue Mosque

2009-07-27T17:03:00.001-07:00

These beautiful geometric designs were everywhere.

The Blue Mosque

2009-07-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

Peggy and I shot up here one day for the Blue Mosque and Haiga Sophia, already sweating like pigs at 9.30AM.

Turkish Baths

2009-07-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

These age-old relics are a pain in the neck. For 95 lyra you get a fat old man in a striped towel (towels pictured above) to scrub you down after laying on a heated marble slab, looking into the rotunda's dome. The fat man will spit on the ground you will walk on, and he will bend your body in half while trying to crack your back. If you are anything like me (and afraid of popping your shoulder blade out of place) you will scream, because he will be pulling your left arm up behind you while he pushes the rest of your upper body down. Then--critical moment--he will laugh at you, say in broken Turksih, "you have nothing," grab your head, and snap it left, successfully proving he can crack something in your body. Two days later, you, like I, will not be able to lift yourself out of bed because your neck and right shoulder hurt too much. You will take handfuls of Ibuprofen, go to the doctor, get a bag of Codeine, and finally sleep well--all night, in fact--and then walk around Varna, Bulgaria, still unable to turn your head, but happy you are well rested. You will find a Bulgarian pharmacy with a box of "Nuroflex," sporting bright flashing lightning bolts flying out of a white pill and the word, "Forte" written next to it. This, the monoglot Bulgarian will assure, is Ibuprofen. And whatever it is, it will help you, almost cure you of your pain on the sixth day of immobility.

Last night, I had the pleasure of finally resting my head, without pain, on the beach in Varna--to see the stars. On my walk back to the ship, past all the bars and clubs on the beach where SASers were dancing, I noted a couple snorting coke off the side of a trash can, and I had enough flexibility to turn my head and look back.

Turn Your Love Light On

2009-07-24T18:32:00.000-07:00

Some students, back from getting drunk at The Golden Sands resort, Bulgaria, knocked on my door, waking me up at 4AM. Apparently, at the Golden Sands you can get something like 10 shots for a few Euros and then about 20 more shots for a few Euros more or something like that. So I'm posting Turkey photos instead of killing someone; one of my students was particularly impressed by these inappropriate nut-filled figs, about which he spoke elegantly in class two days ago, using the subjunctive without any mistakes. At the beginning of the semester, he couldn't speak a word of Spanish, so I guess he finally found something he was interested in. I'm on Codeine (I'll tell you why in my next post), and it's starting to kick in--goodnight, moon.

Cool Cat about to Attack

2009-07-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

Polyglotism

2009-07-23T10:19:00.003-07:00

One of the venders in the market told me he could sell in 11 languages. Spanish prevalent.