When I posted the Autumn pictures from the MatSu valley and the archive pictures from the Alaska Highway I began thinking of fall experiences in Alaska. In August 2008 Suzi and I took the Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Denali Park. By late August the colors in Interior Alaska had started to change. Continue reading Autumn on the Alaska Railroad
These pictures are faded. We scanned them to put on this website. March 1997 There are fine monasteries, isolated in the mountains, and of only passing interest to the Turks, so they remain. We went to Rila. It is a four story arcaded and fortified place with fine frescos that have the faces of donors to the monastery depicted as saints, and demons. I don’t know if the placement has anything to do with the size of the donation. While we happily spent hours in the monastery on one fine Sunday, it is the mountains rising around it that … Continue reading Rila Monastery, Bulgaria, 1997
This is from October 2011. We drove back to Serbia by back roads. The main attraction was to be Belogradchik, an Ottoman fort built around a series of natural red rock monoliths. In pictures they look spectacular, but we had fog down to the deck so I really can’t testify to them first hand. Now I know how cruise ship passengers arriving in Sitka must feel. We also visited the Rakovishki Monastery, which was a center for Bulgarian Nationalism against the Turks. The Turks destroyed much of the monastery in 1850 but left one chapel from the 11th century unharmed. … Continue reading Rakoivishki Monastery, Bulgaria.
Sighnaghi, with only 2,100 people, is a mountain top architectural gem. Its name comes from the word siginak, Turkish for “shelter.” It was built in the 18th century as a fortified town on the frontiers of Moslem Azerbaijan and Dagestan. It main industries are wine making, carpet making and, now, tourism. The town is circled by about 4.5 kilometers of wall with 23 defensive towers. The wall winds around the mountain side. I walked along the top for about a half a kilometer between several of the towers with great views of vineyards running down the mountain. Continue reading Sighnaghi, Georgia
Bodbe, about two km from Sighnaghi, has a 5th century convent that shelters the remains of St. Nino, who converted the King and Queen to Christianity in the 4th Century. The convent was rebuilt between the 9th and 11th centuries. George tells me that all that remains from the 5th century is the foundation. It, and St. Nino’s spring, a constant source of holy water a few hundred meters away are pilgrimage points. The chapel’s frescoes are from the 1820s. The Soviets plastered them over and used the building as a hospital. Some of the frescoes have been restored. The … Continue reading Bodbe Monastery (St. Nino’s Convent), Georgia
At Alaverdi, on the other side of the pass we visited a monastery that has a cathedral within its walls. Until the new Tbilisi Cathedral it was the tallest Georgian church. It, like the Tbilisi church, has a soaring feeling of light even though the walls are decorated with frescoes. These frescoes were covered with whitewash or plaster by Moslem invaders, restored, and covered again by the Communists. A monk Joseph (Yoseb) Alaverdeli founded the cathedral. But Alaverdi has another meaning in Arabic “God Provides.” God provides good grape and Alaverdi Monastery is at the center of Georgia’s wine industry. … Continue reading Alaverdi Monastery and Cathedral, Georgia
I had waited for the number 4 minibus for a long time so I decided to spend 10 times the amount and take a cab to the Sameba (Holy Trinity) Cathedral. Georgians say it is the largest Orthodox Church in the world. Serbs dispute that saying St. Sava is bigger. Sameba Cathedral has a tall tower with a gilded cupola that reflects sun in the day and floodlight at night. It dominates Tbilisi. As the cab followed the route the mini-bus would have taken I discovered the problem. Police were rerouting traffic. The mini-bus was not going to stop at … Continue reading Sameba (Holy Trinity) Cathedral, Tbilisi, Georgia
The 14th century Gergetis Sameba (Gergeti Trinity) walled monastery sits above Kazbegi and below Mt. Kazbeg at 7120 feet above sea level – and reflects light from a glacier that hangs 2,800 feet above the monastery. The monastery was a place of refuge for icons and relics from the Mksheka Cathedral (Perhaps including St. Andrew’s foot) when southern Georgia was overrun by Turks, Persians or Arabs. In 1988 the Soviets built an aerial tramway to the monastery but when Georgia broke away from the Soviet Union the residents tore it down. For them pilgrimage should not be easy. The tramway … Continue reading Gergetis Sameba Monastery, Georgia
Ananuri, a citadel used to sit on a ridge above a river that has been dammed so now sits on a point in the Zhinvili Reservoir. The town that it towered over is underwater. The Church of the Assumption was used as a barn in Soviet times and the frescos were whitewashed. Some have now been uncovered. The carvings on the outside walls of the Assumption Church include a huge cross visible from the highway and grape vines loaded with fruit. Nicholas says the reason Georgians greet guests with wine is in commemoration of the Eucharist. Each greeting is a … Continue reading Ananuri Citadel and the Church of the Assumption, Georgia
Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mksheka is the mother church of Georgian Orthodoxy. St. Nino converted the King and Queen there. I posted pictures from here in May but I had no pics from inside the church. Nicholas, my cab driver, spoke good English and he arranged permission for me to take pictures if I did not use a flash. There was a service in progress. It was conducted in Russian but the choir sang Georgian hymns. Nicholas pointed out one very strange and old fresco with three concentric circles. The Trinity sat in the bull’s eye, between the inner and middle circles, the … Continue reading Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, Mksheka, Georgia
At noontime we were heading for an organ recital at the Lutheran Church. We were stopped in our tracks when the bell tower of St. Michael’s erupted in glorious change bell ringing. I had not heard the bells in years, mostly because we have been out of Sitka for years. The Lutherans had to wait while we enjoyed the joyous sound. We arrived at the recital late. After the recital we noticed a sign on St. Michael’s Cathedral saying that for the first time we could see the altar. Each time in the past when I had been in the … Continue reading St. Michael’s Cathedral, Sitka, Alaska, June 2013
Jvari (Holy Cross) Church is near Tbilisi, about a three hour walk or half hour drive. It looms over Mtskheta. Before Georgia became reasonably prosperous it used to be a full day excursion, now it a common picnic spot for people wanting to get out of town for an hour or two. It is the spot where the King Mirian, who was converted to Christianity by St. Nino and, in turn made Georgian a Christian nation (Georgia was a “Christian” country before Rome) erected a cross to mark his, and his nation’s conversion. The church itself was built to shelter … Continue reading Mtskheta and Jvari Church, Georgia, 2013.
Text for this post is under Georgian Road Trip. Continue reading Bagrati Cathedral and Citadel, Kutaisi, Georgia, May 2013
May 11, 2010 Dear Friends, On Friday afternoons I would go to my grandparents’ flat in Jersey City while my parents had their night out. Grandpa Brew would tell me stories. He was raised in Ireland, ran away to sea … Continue reading Iron and Glass, Flowers and Trains
The first time I was in London my grandfather and I stayed at the YMCA. We have stayed at the “Y” with our kids and Suzi and I have, in the past, stayed in the BBC Hostel, but this time … Continue reading London 2013, St. Pancras
Dear Friends, In Greek and Roman mythology the Mediterranean was a closed sea. In a battle with another God Hercules struck the mountains closing off the Med from the Atlantic with his mace, opening a passage to the Atlantic creating the Straits of Gibraltar (although it did not get that name until much later, during the Arab conquest, when “the Rock” was named Tarik’s Mountain, “Jebel Tarik,” shortened to Gibraltar.) The straits are framed on each side by the “Pillars of Hercules.” Both pillars are geopolitical anomalies, The European pillar, Gibraltar, is physically attached to Spain but is ruled by … Continue reading Gibraltar, 2013
On Palm Sunday we ventured into the old town a second time. Poland is not the land of palm trees, although Charles De Gaulle square has a huge plastic palm tree. (It is a work of art. Before the war … Continue reading Warsaw, Palm Sunday, 2013
Note, many of the photos for this post are contained in the posts “Shadows of the Wall,” “East Side Gallery.” and “Bernauer Str.” Pictures on this post are general Berlin tourism shots. March 22, 2013 Berlin, Germany Dear Friends, In … Continue reading Berlin, March, 2013
Text for these pictures is on the post “Berlin, March, 2013” These are pictures from the area of the old wall. Panels of the wall have been re-erected near “Checkpoint Charlie” and feature dictators still waiting for falling. The man … Continue reading Shadows of the Wall, Berlin 2013
The text for these pictures is in the post “Berlin, March 2013.” The East Side Gallery is the longest stretch of the wall still standing. One side has been painted by famous artists. The other side is a “free … Continue reading East Side Gallery, Berlin, 2013
This is Bernauer Str. The Wall used to run along this street, not it is a memorial to the wall and there is a park where Berlin has its Sunday flea market. The Text for this letter is in the … Continue reading Berlin 2013, Bernauer Str.