Kayakoy, Turkey. In the green hills by the sea, you can walk to the shell of what once was a church. Why was it abandoned? The surrounding ancient stone houses too seemed devoid of life, save an occasional roaming turtle. This…

Berlin.  The German Parliament Building is a one of a kind. But like other capitol buildings, it had a dome. Unlike other capitols, it had a huge metal dome, over 150 feet high. I had to send away for an…

I visited Helsinki for a weekend in 2006. It is a flat city by the sea and filled with excellent museums and beautiful buildings. The public library’s ceiling has colorful paintings of stories featuring the Norse Gods. Seafood is plentiful…

♠I was walking through the market and admiring the metal objects made at local workshops. As I was considering a coffee grinder, the vendor came over and demonstrated how it worked. He told me that you can always tell the…

In Mexico City, I picked out an evening tour that included Luche Libre. The guide described it as Olympics wrestling with chili sauce. At a Luche Libre match, there are the good guys (the technocrats who mostly wear masks and respect…