Saturday Scenes

When I visited Egypt in 2008, one of my favorite experiences was visiting the Tombs of Nobles in Aswan, Egypt. Located on the far side of the Nile from the rest of the city, they were mentioned in my guidebook, but the tour manager leading my tour wasn’t even familiar with them. I convinced my […]

Outside of Istanbul, the city of Amasya was probably my favorite place in Turkey. Set along  river and surrounded by mountains, the setting could not have been any better. I took this shot from the ancient castle that overlooks the city.  

One of the most popular day hikes from Karakol, Kyrgyzstan is to Jeti Oguz and the Valley of the Flowers.  We took a taxi from Karakol (located on the far east end of Lake Issyk Kul) to Jeti Oguz village and from there, hiked up to the Valley. This horseman and his son befriended us

The Aral Sea is the sea that almost disappeared. Situated in both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the shrinking of the Aral Sea is one of the greatest environmental catastrophes in history. While crossing Kazakhstan, I stopped in Aralskoe More, once a port on the seashore, to take a tour of the area and see for myself

I spent 2 days in Nokhur, a small village in the Kopet Dag Mountains, which form the border between Turkmenistan and Iran. The people of Nokhur claim to be descended from Alexander the Great and some say the name of the village itself was derived from Noah. One of the most interesting aspects of my

Estonia’s capital city of Tallinn will always hold a special place in my heart.  Not only was it the second stop on my career break trip (and the first of the former Soviet republics I visited), I concluded my time there by running my first overseas marathon with a new personal best. I also adored

Sighnaghi is a small town in the Kahketi region of Georgia that sits high on a cliff over looking the Alazani Valley.  The town was constructed in 1762 by King Heraclius II of Georgia and was once surrounded by a fortress to protect it from attack. Remnants of the old fortress walls are still visible

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to take a helicopter tour of Chicago, courtesy of Viator.com. Despite the overcast skies, it was an unforgettable experience as we approached the city from the south, soared over the shoreline, made a pass around Wrigley Field and finally did a fly-by of the Willis Tower.

Lake Sevan was the first place I visited outside of Yerevan during my stay in Armenia. The lake is one of the largest freshwater high-altitude lakes in the world but, unfortunately, was once on its way to becoming an ecological disaster along the same lines of the Aral Sea. In the 1930s, Soviet engineers decided

A year ago at this time, I was sailing across the Black Sea from Odessa, Ukraine to Batumi, Georgia. This is the first shot I took after waking up and peeking out the window my first morning on the ferry.  I ended up taking far more sunrise pictures than I anticipated as what should have