Thank you for your question. I almost feel like the capacity to tap into my dreams and wishes have been systemically removed from my psyche. Your question stimulated that soulful and spiritual desires if only for a reckless moment.
Thank you for the history lesson and beautiful photo. I would like to visit Wales and Ireland to see where two of my great-grandfathers immigrated here from. I’d also like to visit New Zealand, Iceland and Bears Ears National Monument. The last one seems financially doable the others will likely remain a wish.
Hagia Sophia is so beautiful. I have a friend who bought her husband a large (coffee table size) magnificent book which had photos close up of the icons and architectural and other details. It’s so mammoth inside, it’s difficult to see all the details with the naked eye. They also went there many years ago. Unforgettable experience!
What a beautiful photo and description. Thank you for reminding us of the beauty of travel. I am always so thankful when I travel. I wonder if travel is a right or privilege but right now we should all try. One of the quirky places I would most want to visit is where my g-grandmother came from & all those before her -- back to 1605-ish, the Isle of Mann in the Irish Sea. An island of rocks I wonder how they made a living, and they must have been so independent and inter-dependent on each other. No one ever hears of the Isle of Mann so it's a romantic mystery to me. My g-grandmother only lived to be 49 y.o. and in that time, born on the Isle, she relocated to Liverpool, then Chicago (the year after the Titanic -- how frightening!!, as a widowed single mom of 5) and then onto Seattle. Travel is marvelous, life-affirming and eye-opening. - - - makes me wonder if those Americans leaning extreme right, ever travel --- with an open mind?
As an ex-pat living in the Mediterranean area more than half my life, I know well the draw to the history of this area. The blue of the sea and sky and the green of the olive and pistachio trees all give one pause. Haghia Sophia is a marvel, as is its neighbor, the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet). Alexander the Great passed through Ancient Smyrnh. The towns in this land were ancient before Rome existed. Sephardic Jews have been my friends since my arrival. "See Rome and die" but visit Turkey and wonder.
thank you for the vivid description of the colors. I will never get to visit Turkey but your description and Ruth's photo and the history (history lover am I) make me wish I was 30 years younger and could expand my bucket list even more.
Oh, yes, Jan. I'm surrounded by the remnants of at least 7 civilizations and 3 empires. I lived in Italy 18 months, 15 years in Greece and now Turkey after my first retirement in 1987. Now, I live 1/2 mile from the Gulf of Izmir with a view of the water from my living room window and my expatriate friends and I shake our heads in near misbelief of our good fortune. And, NO, we don't have mass casuality daily shootings. Turkey ain't heaven but you can just about see it from here.
Walking barefoot on a sandy, Oregon coast beach is my special place. Visited there maybe 20 times in my 70yrs … haven’t been for almost a decade since moving to Oregon 30yrs ago, 60 miles inland. Feeling the cool sand between my toes, the salty air tingling my skin, hearing the waves and the gulls and wind thru the grasses, inhaling fragrances with each breath …. the volume of my loud, incessant mind is dialed waaaaaaaaaaay down … I viscerally reconnect with the womb that created me, and feel once again the creative possibility and Hope of the Moment … yes, time to go back!!!
I would like to go to China to marry & live with my fiancee, who is not allowed to leave the country. I would also like to visit Thailand again but am anxious over the lese majeste law.
Thank you for your question. I almost feel like the capacity to tap into my dreams and wishes have been systemically removed from my psyche. Your question stimulated that soulful and spiritual desires if only for a reckless moment.
Thank you for the history lesson and beautiful photo. I would like to visit Wales and Ireland to see where two of my great-grandfathers immigrated here from. I’d also like to visit New Zealand, Iceland and Bears Ears National Monument. The last one seems financially doable the others will likely remain a wish.
I may be overthinking, but do you think travel will be curtailed in the near future?
Hagia Sophia is so beautiful. I have a friend who bought her husband a large (coffee table size) magnificent book which had photos close up of the icons and architectural and other details. It’s so mammoth inside, it’s difficult to see all the details with the naked eye. They also went there many years ago. Unforgettable experience!
What a beautiful photo and description. Thank you for reminding us of the beauty of travel. I am always so thankful when I travel. I wonder if travel is a right or privilege but right now we should all try. One of the quirky places I would most want to visit is where my g-grandmother came from & all those before her -- back to 1605-ish, the Isle of Mann in the Irish Sea. An island of rocks I wonder how they made a living, and they must have been so independent and inter-dependent on each other. No one ever hears of the Isle of Mann so it's a romantic mystery to me. My g-grandmother only lived to be 49 y.o. and in that time, born on the Isle, she relocated to Liverpool, then Chicago (the year after the Titanic -- how frightening!!, as a widowed single mom of 5) and then onto Seattle. Travel is marvelous, life-affirming and eye-opening. - - - makes me wonder if those Americans leaning extreme right, ever travel --- with an open mind?
As an ex-pat living in the Mediterranean area more than half my life, I know well the draw to the history of this area. The blue of the sea and sky and the green of the olive and pistachio trees all give one pause. Haghia Sophia is a marvel, as is its neighbor, the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet). Alexander the Great passed through Ancient Smyrnh. The towns in this land were ancient before Rome existed. Sephardic Jews have been my friends since my arrival. "See Rome and die" but visit Turkey and wonder.
thank you for the vivid description of the colors. I will never get to visit Turkey but your description and Ruth's photo and the history (history lover am I) make me wish I was 30 years younger and could expand my bucket list even more.
Oh, yes, Jan. I'm surrounded by the remnants of at least 7 civilizations and 3 empires. I lived in Italy 18 months, 15 years in Greece and now Turkey after my first retirement in 1987. Now, I live 1/2 mile from the Gulf of Izmir with a view of the water from my living room window and my expatriate friends and I shake our heads in near misbelief of our good fortune. And, NO, we don't have mass casuality daily shootings. Turkey ain't heaven but you can just about see it from here.
I love you can see the Gulf of Izmir from your living room window! Reminds us life is meant to be good. Kind regards,
Thank you, Ruth, this is an important reminder. I would also add: Go visit the people you care about while you can.
Walking barefoot on a sandy, Oregon coast beach is my special place. Visited there maybe 20 times in my 70yrs … haven’t been for almost a decade since moving to Oregon 30yrs ago, 60 miles inland. Feeling the cool sand between my toes, the salty air tingling my skin, hearing the waves and the gulls and wind thru the grasses, inhaling fragrances with each breath …. the volume of my loud, incessant mind is dialed waaaaaaaaaaay down … I viscerally reconnect with the womb that created me, and feel once again the creative possibility and Hope of the Moment … yes, time to go back!!!
A wonderful photo! I would like to go to Ireland as relatives did, to the towns of my ancestors on both sides of my family.
I would like to go to China to marry & live with my fiancee, who is not allowed to leave the country. I would also like to visit Thailand again but am anxious over the lese majeste law.