Category: History
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Heart of Glass
Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~~Anton Chekhov [Our glass horse from Murano, Italy. Photo is mine.] Sometime in the ancient distant foggy and shadowy history of human existence, someone discovered how to make glass. This is thought to have occurred around 4,000 years ago.…
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Last Thoughts From The Cathedral Crypt
[One of the many small chapels in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral. Photo is mine] I’m sitting with Mariam in a small chapel in the crypt of this amazing Cathedral. There are several reasons why I’m sitting here on a small very hard wooden chair. One is that the temperature is probably close to 65º…
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It’s The End, But It’s Far From Over
I wish, I wish, I wish in vain I wish, I wish I was a youth again But a youth again I can never be Till apples grow on an ivy tree. ~~”Love Is Pleasing” The Dubliners [The Bridge of Sighs, Venice. Photo is mine] I didn’t think I could do it. I worried that…
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Como: Love, Clooney, Tragedy And Death
[Piazza Mazzini, Como. From our hotel window. Photo is mine] Beautiful, even on rainy days. ~ ~ Anon. Part One: Como & Beyond If you found this post by finding “Como” and are expecting to hear a YouTube video of Perry Como singing “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas”, I’m very sorry. You’re…
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Rome: Antiquity, Beauty & Faith
Men did not love Rome because she was great. She was great because they had loved her. ~ ~ G. K. Chesterton [One of the iconoclastic images in the world. The Colosseum of Rome. What is not so famous is the construction equipment in the foreground. Photo is mine.] Part One: The City As A…
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Messina, (Sicily) Italy: Of WWII & The Godfather
[I haven’t spoken Latin since I was an altar boy…About fifty years ago. This statue greets our boat as we entered the Harbor of Messina. Photo is mine.] After an entire day at sea, we tied up at the dock in the city of Messina. It is our only port-of-call in Sicily. We paid 15…
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Rovinj & Split: Olive Oil, Cobblestones, Thrones and Holy Bones
[The closest to Dubrovnik, Croatia that I will get on this journey.] I’m sitting at a desk in Suite 137 on board the Wind Surf (Wind Star Cruise Lines). The level of the mineral water in a glass next to my mouse pad gently tilts, back and forth, like I am playing with a level…
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Midnight Thoughts of Venice
[San Giorgio Maggiore in the distance. Photo is mine.] Venice has been said to be the most romantic city in the world. I can think of one famous resident who certainly thought so, Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (b. 1725). He should know a thing or two about romance. He claimed to have slept with at least…
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Dear Greg
[Greg (R) and myself on some forgotten peak in the Keene Valley Region of the Adirondacks. NY. Date: 1970’s. Photo is mine.] It’s coming up on a year now since you left me on the trail. You needed to climb one more mountain…at the time, I didn’t want another summit, but you had other thoughts.…
patrickjegan 