Category Archives: Uncategorized

Penang is a thumb-shaped island off the northwest coast of Malaysia. In 1786 the British East India Company founded a port there on the budding commercial shipping lane between India and China. Structured as a tariff-free port, it quickly became … Continue reading →

Today we started the long drive north that would end at the Athens Airport Hotel. After 90 minutes of twisting country roads up the mountains, we stopped at Mycenae, the ancient home of the House of Atreus, whose two sons, … Continue reading →

HOLISTIC HEALING IN ANCIENT GREECE I’m in the Peloponnese for three days, the mountainous southern mainland containing legendary cities like Sparta, Corinth, Olympia, and Argos. We drove up and around on steep, winding roads, finally arriving at Epidaurus. I was … Continue reading →

WAAAY BACK IN TIME Before Shakespeare, before Julius Caesar, before the Trojan War, before Abraham, there were the Minoans. They lived on Crete, traded around the Mediterranean, and used tools of bronze. Yes, they helped bring us out of the … Continue reading →

Exactly 75 years and two weeks ago, the Battle of Crete was the first paratrooper invasion in history, and the first battle influenced by decrypted German messages from the Enigma Machine. I spent today in western Crete walking the battlefield, … Continue reading →

On my last day in Rhodes I spent a looooong morning (until almost 3pm) puttering and reading an actual book (something I hardly ever do at home). By late afternoon the temperature had peaked and a few clouds provided some … Continue reading →

We last spoke from Thessaloniki about Macedonia’s favorite son, Alexander, and his father and son. Fly south with me now to Rhodes, an island half the size of Rhode Island (no relation) and only 11 miles from Turkey. Rhodes has … Continue reading →

Today I spent a day with Alexander the Great out in the Macedonian countryside. Of course, if you’re Bulgarian, Turkish, Albanian, or a citizen of FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), calling anyplace Macedonia is fightin’ words. First I went … Continue reading →

Somewhere in Macedonia TIME OUT FROM ANCIENT HISTORY En route to the ancient sites of Pella and Vergina I stopped at a makeshift camp for refugees and would-be immigrants. Several thousand men, women, and children are temporarily housed at this … Continue reading →

THE MANY LIVES OF THESSALONIKI Adorning Thessaloniki’s seaside promenade is a modern statue of Alexander the Great, sword drawn, facing east to fight the Persians once again. Tutored by Aristotle, king at 20, Alexander created one of the largest empires … Continue reading →

Walking in the footsteps of Socrates After an uneventful but interminable flight from SFO, I didn’t see much of Athens last night. Now it’s almost midnight, it’s 75 degrees out, and I’m barely awake enough to write. Outside my hotel … Continue reading →

Prelude May 1, 2016 Why Greece, and What Do I Expect? Four of my last five international trips have been to Asia, so I’m feeling wistful for Europe. And I’ve never been to Greece, although I’ve been to every country … Continue reading →