Zagreb (pop 790,000)
Republic of Croatia
May 25, 2015
Rain!
Every day. Day after day. Hour after hour.
Raining! Hard!
Will I ever see this city?
I do manage a slightly damp early morning stroll and find impressive Austro-Hungarian architecture.
When the sun makes a brief appearance, I venture up to the Antiques Market where I dig up some piano music. I pause at a café and nurse a cappuccino while taking candid shots.
Šibenik
Dalmatia
Croatia
May 28, 2015
Hello,
Driving south, between Zadar and Split, I stop for a coffee in the small coastal city of Šibenik.
Despite the fact that Šibenik is not even mentioned in my guidebook, I decide to take a stroll. No matter where, there is always something of interest to discover.
Šibenik will be no exception.
Longyearbyen
Svalbard (Spitsbergen)
August 7, 2015
Sawatdee krop,
I arrive at the airport in Longyearbyen.
It’s 10:00pm.
The evening sky is overcast. The clouds are bright.
A young guide greets me at the airport.
“When does it get dark?” I ask him.
He smiles and responds, “This is as dark as it gets.”
“Wow! I know my geography. I am above the Arctic Circle!”
Bangkok
15 Nisan 5770
Dear Family and Friends,
חג שמח
My best wishes to you and your family for a sweet and joyful Passover.
I will be attending two Seders here in Bangkok. The first night there will be a gathering at The Davis Hotel - 100-150 participants. The second night will be at the Shul - Beth Elisheva. Rabbi Kantor is an enthusiastic and brilliant religious leader. I am looking forward to both events where the Four Questions will be chanted in Hebrew, Yiddish (the Rabbi is a Chasid) and Thai (several members are married to Thai women).
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
May 22, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
Now here's a delightful stroll:
The broad, shady walkways around Independence Park are lined with university halls, government buildings, flower gardens and rose bushes. A statue of Marx has been replaced by a suitably patriotic statue of Amir Timur on horseback. At Independence Square, the new senate building is guarded by a tall gate with good-luck pelicans at the top. Near the gate, Lenin gave way to a large statue of a seated Uzbek woman gazing into the eyes of her infant child.
At the far side of the park is another woman, The Crying Mother Monument. The monument was built in 1999 to honor the four hundred thousand Uzbek soldiers who died fighting for The Soviet Union in World War II. In front of the statue is an eternal flame. *
The names of the fallen soldiers are engraved on brass plaques that swing like pages of a book. Many, many books. These books of the dead are attached to the walls of two parallel arcades. The Crying Mother cannot bear to face these pages...
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
23 April 2010
Dear Family and Friends,
Fifteen kilometers (nine miles) north of Kuala Lumpur, the Batu Caves lie inside a towering limestone formation.
Standing 42.7meters tall (140 ft) the Hindu deity, Lord Murugan welcomes the devotees and visitors to the caves and the shrines.
To get to the main cave, I climb the 272 steps, while the resident monkeys eye my water bottle.
The cave complex is filled with colorful carvings of the Hindu pantheon and scripture. I recognize my old friends Shiva and Ganesha.
