Tag Archives: Architecture
Croatia’s Rock Star Island
Today, Hvar is a rock star of the tourism scene. Need a private anchorage for the megayacht you use to transport your harem? Hvar has plenty.
Take a Long Walk Off a Short Bridge
I will admit to some trepidation about it when I actually looked down at that river from the middle of the bridge. I measured it out and that’s about the same as jumping off a sixth or seventh story balcony. Not something I do every day. But hey, people aren’t killed from jumping that often.
Now Live: Istanbul Recap Video
After reviewing ~800 video clips and spending countless hours editing a fraction of those, the Istanbul highlight reel is finally here!
Spires Upon Spires: The Church of Our Lady Before Týn
Prague is a beautiful city, and rightfully known for its spires. One of its most striking buildings possesses some of the most soaring spires, and as an added bonus, spires upon those spires. How very Prague. This is the Church of Our Lady Before Týn.
All the Best from Budapest!
I realize that, with our sparse writing of late, it is probably difficult to tell where we are these days. Well, we have been in Budapest now for a few weeks, and we’ll be here until July. There is still so much to write about in the other cities we’ve been to, so it’s really quite difficult to catch up. On top of that, we visited several more cities along the way.
Byzantine Istanbul Part IV: The Church of Theotokos Pammakaristos
30 mile per hour winds shut down the Golden Horn ferry, so we ended up walking. This might have otherwise been a pleasant walk but for the evil weather, and I know that Michelle particularly didn’t enjoy having to constantly hold her skirt against the wind. Then I compounded the trouble by taking a quick detour through some of the least-welcoming neighborhoods of the city.
Byzantine Istanbul Part III: The Bukoleon Palace
The Roman Emperor Theodosius II was a prolific builder, and his fingerprints are all over modern Istanbul. This in spite of the fact that he was emperor some 1600 years ago. If you are a Byzantine buff, you probably know all about Theodosius II, who reigned when the empire was split between eastern and western […]
By the Beard of Mohammed! Inside Topkapı Palace
Topkapı is the site of many religious relics, of which maybe one or two are even plausible fakes. They have the staff of Moses, the sword of David, and my personal favorite, the saucepan of Abraham. (Four thousand years old! Have they ever seen artifacts that are four thousand years old? I have. They look like potsherds. Largely because they’re potsherds.)
Byzantine Istanbul Part II: The Great Palace Mosaics
The museum itself is small, including floor mosaics of about 250 square meters, or about 2700 square feet. But archaeologists estimate that only one-seventh to one-eighth of the floor remains. To put that into perspective, we are talking about nearly half an acre of mosaic flooring. That’s something like an area from the 50 yard line to the goal line on an American football field. Archaeologists have suggested that it may have taken 80 million tesserae, the small, square tiles of limestone, glass, and ceramic that make up the mosaics.
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