Nazareth was captured by the troops of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799, during his Syrian campaign. Napoleon took the time to visit the holy sites and then moved on to new conquests… This is what Nazareth looked like a little less than one hundred years after Napoleon visited: And this is what Nazareth looks like when … Continue reading
In the hills of Italy’s Lazio region one can find the small town of Bomarzo. Bomarzo’s main attraction is a garden, sometimes called the Bomarzo Sacred Grove, but more commonly referred to as the Bomarzo Monster Park… The garden takes its name from the many over the top sculptures, some carved right into the bedrock, … Continue reading
Located in Sierra County near the town of La Porte (which is not a ghost town), Port Wine had its beginnings in early 1850. Stories about the naming of the town include miners finding a barrel of Port hidden in the bushes and another story tells of finding a keg of cognac. No one knows … Continue reading
As mentioned previously, I shall allow my last post on the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela to serve as a segue into a discussion of Lalibela itself. And, frankly, I found Lalibela and its environs more interesting than the churches the town is famous for. A little background: Lalibela (also known as Lalibala) was the most … Continue reading
With all of this talk of nomadic watering holes, I realized I should discuss the nomads themselves some more. The nomads in Sudan were very interesting to me. I’d first encountered nomads in Afghanistan and have been fascinated by them ever since. Perhaps it is the simplistic beauty of their minimalist lifestyle or the fact … Continue reading
I put off working on this one for a while because this is a damned complicated conflict and I knew it would be a lot of work to try and present an accurate description of events. However, it is time to tackle the Bosnia conflict… Now, if you just want to look at pictures or … Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 