Blog Archives

Resuming Sojourner’s Journal

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I’ve received many questions from readers asking why I’ve not posted to Sojourner’s Journal for the past few months. Also received some complaints, innuendos and even accusations that I’d been slacking off, and exhortations to get with it. Guilty as … Continue reading->

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Entering Bulgaria

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On a sunny morning in early March, ML and I left Istanbul on a comfortable air- conditioned bus. We traveled to the Bulgarian border over smooth four lane freeways running through rolling hills and fields of grain, stopping at rest … Continue reading->

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The Grand Bazaar Istanbul

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Overheard conversation, woman in a tour group, ‘It’s a tourist trap. Everything’s over priced. Bargain to get the prices down. Be careful. Watch for pickpockets.’ Of course it’s a tourist trap, has been for over five hundred years. It’s also … Continue reading->

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Securing the Perimeter

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ML has been in full Miguel Mouse mode this evening. Miguel Mouse makes do with what she has. Better than Mickey. We’re renting a village house in the hills above Kas Turkey, no screens on windows, major attack of insect … Continue reading->

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Traveling To Summer

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It was a long winter. Everyone agreed on that. It was dark and cold and went on and on and on and everyone was glad when it was over. Spring came fitfully and teasingly to Bulgaria. A few bright hot … Continue reading->

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First Night

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First night in and I awake at 05:00, December dark, crouching facing the door of the hotel room, heart beating fast, respiration elevated, skin tingling, hair standing up, all senses on alert, carpet underfoot, cold air and scent of sea … Continue reading->

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Ibrahim’s Ax, Fetma’s Hands

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Ibrahim chops wood with style and grace. Like a martial artist deep in practice or a dancer working his way through a choreographed routine, each movement is smooth and practiced. Ibrahim swings a straight handled ax with a long curved … Continue reading->

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Building With Stone

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                                      Building With Stone Here men build with stone. All around us are stone walls, steps, plazas, verandas and houses. Over the past … Continue reading->

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Buyuk Cakil Days

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Buyuk Cakil Days During the month of December, I am awakened each morning in this Turkish village at 05:00 by the muezzin’s call to prayer, a long wailing cry that penetrates my dreams, sometimes musical sometimes not, depending on who’s … Continue reading->

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Byzantium

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Istanbul is a city of worn marble steps and crumbing stone walls, ramshackle wooden houses from the Ottoman era and the grandiose architecture of religion – in the streets the mingled scents of smoke from braziers, grilling meat, perfume from … Continue reading->

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Traveling Light

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As perennial nomads we travel light. Once we traveled with enough gear to equip an airborne battle group, but then we were on business and dragged with us the tools of our trade around the planet. We also had a … Continue reading->

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The Bar That Never Was

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During the past few months, as I walked by The Hotel San Andreas in Xlendi Harbor on my daily rounds I would glance through the window and refresh myself with a view of a proper hotel bar – polished wooden … Continue reading->

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The Dimming Of The Light

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The bright smiling girl flew away and the sky turned dull and gray. Birds fled the island. No song was heard. The shaman’s fire burned low and the tribe gathered by the sullen sea to watch for her return. It … Continue reading->

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A Roadside Encounter

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Thanksgiving this year was different than last year. No turkey, no long table with twenty or thirty family and friends. Being an American holiday, Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated on Gozo, or anyplace else in the world, except by expat groups and … Continue reading->

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His Mojo’s Working

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Steve Elvis Allen’s got the magic, the mojo, the voodoo, the power – the power to banish cares, transmute sadness to joy and fly people through the sky on his magic carpet. Steve is a musician, vocalist, performer and entertainer … Continue reading->

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Being Local

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Today we strolled along the Xlendi waterfront, then through the village, its streets almost empty now that the tourists have fled. I paused to talk with Phillip who has an art gallery and runs an English language book exchange while … Continue reading->

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Summer Wine: From The Wino Papers, Number 8

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Yes, that’s an ice cube in my wine glass. Before you oenophiles fire up your keyboards and castigate me for being a tasteless prole, consider this: the room temperature at which wine is ’supposed’ to be served is derived from … Continue reading->

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Mediterranean Autumn

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Mediterranean Autumn On this tiny island south of Sicily and a rifle shot from Africa, autumn is not a matter of falling leaves and plunging temperatures. Here the onset of autumn is marked by the departure of tourist hordes, occasional … Continue reading->

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On The Beat

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On The Beat Most of the good people of Malta, should be weeping and wailing because most of them missed the most uplifting event to take place on the lovely little island of Gozo since the Knights of St. John … Continue reading->

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Summer Is Over

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Summer fled this island like a thief in the night. Yesterday was hot and still, the sea flat, the water translucent turquoise in the harbor, deep marine blue from the harbor’s mouth to the horizon. The evening was balmy with … Continue reading->

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