Tokat headscarves
There’s a lot of fuss about headscarves at the moment, in Germany as well as in Turkey and elsewhere, but they’re hardly a particularly Islamic issue. I remember in the […]
Socks with a hidden message
For me, one of the most fascinating of Turkey’s many traditional folk arts are the knitted woollen socks that you find everywhere, and whose vibrant and beautiful colours and often […]
Ingratitude in Judaea
One of the more spectacular views in the Eastern Mediterranean, in a region hardly short on them, is the drive through the Judean Hills down the gently sloping foothills to […]
Heat and dust in Alex
To be perfectly honest I was somewhat less than impressed with Alexandria when I stopped off there during a trip around the Eastern Mediterranean last year. After being bounced between […]
Turkish bird-houses
‘Kusevi’ (koosh-evvy) are Turkish bird-houses that are very often built into the walls of buildings, especially mosques. I spotted one particularly ornate one in Istanbul years back and since then […]
Mother love
The ruins of Troy in Turkey’s Troad region are a bit disappointing, even worse than the Roman Wall in Northumberland and not at all like the still awesome land walls […]
14 fabulous Teutonic nights in the beautiful Baltic – bring your own armour!
The Baltic crusades were just one of the myriad elements in the gradual Christianisation of northern and central Europe during the 13th century, and were really a chivalric veneer that […]
St George to the rescue
The Princes Islands in the Sea of Marmara – in ancient times called the Propontis – lie close to the Asian coastline of Turkey just off Istanbul, and to the […]
All the time in the world
Apart from the massive walls of the Alhambra, which are reminiscent of the Krak des Chevaliers crusader castle in Syria, Granada most impressed me by the quality of its air. […]
We will rack you
The leg irons recovered from liberated Christian prisoners of the Moors that decorate the walls of the San Juan de los Reyes monastery in Toledo are a shock reminder that […]
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