Located near the town of Sheki, this abandoned fortress was actually one of my favorite sites in Azerbaijan (and by “this” I am including the hike in as well as Gelersen-Gorersen itself)… A fragment of the fortress now almost lost to the forest: Although the fortress dates back to the 8th or 9th century, the … Continue reading
Amber, that lovely fossilized tree resin, that is found in the Baltics and Kaliningrad is particularly noted for its quality… There is also a lot of it. Therefore, it should probably not come as a large shock that amber mining and the sale of amber is a big part of the economy in Kaliningrad. Given … Continue reading
The majority of the articles I write for outside publication (stuff outside of The Velvet Rocket) have been printed in Italian newspapers. This makes things relatively easy as I can simply post the English version here and not conflict with a publication that would be upset about the duplicate content. However, the main eastern Ukraine … Continue reading
Good material on Ukraine coming soon… Continue reading
Salem, Massachusetts is undoubtedly best known for its relation to witches and its deadly witch trials… Such a history, naturally, calls out to The Velvet Rocket team and so when two of us recently found ourselves in Massachusetts, it was perhaps inevitable that we would pass through this infamous town. I shall not bother to … Continue reading
This is the English version of our short article that recently appeared in Italy’s LiberoReporter: North Korea has been busy recently… Early in September North Korea conducted its fifth (and most powerful to date) test of a nuclear weapon. Then, just days ago, North Korea tested a high-powered rocket engine that could be used on … Continue reading
This is the English version of our article just published in Italy’s Il Giornale newspaper… Although largely out of the headlines now, Yemen continues to be battered by a conflict initiated in 2014 when Shiite Houthi rebels formed an alliance with loyalists of ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh to seize large swaths of the country, including … Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 