Going through Hezekiah’s tunnel is an exhilirating experience, and especially when you do it with family and friends like these. Read more

June 26th was supposed to be the night Ann and I finally got to see Paul McCartney. But Sir Paul hasn’t been well, and postponed until Oct. 28th. Stay tuned. Instead, we went and saw (here in Lexington) an even older performer—- Gordon Lightfoot, who is an amazing 76 years old, and still singing away (he bragged he was doing eight shows in ten days on this mini-tour). I must confess I would never have guessed that the man I... Read more

On the last afternoon of our pilgrimage, we went to the famous Istanbul Archaeological Museum, which is actually three museums in one— an Oriental/ANE museum, a tile museum, and the main archaeological museum…. It’s an embarrassment of riches… We walked down an old street to reach the main gate, passing various lovely old houses… Once you pass the gate, you run right into Aslan, the guardian lion (as I mentioned aslan is the turkish work for lion). Immediately to the... Read more

One of the more important churches (now a museum) in all of Turkey is the famous Chora Church, so-called because it was out in the country originally. Now it’s in a crowded Istanbul neighborhood, which makes it difficult to even get a picture of the building. So you have to settle for a picture from a distance… Or you have to settle for a picture of a picture… Then you run the gauntlet of the vendors, the hawkers of icon... Read more

By now you may be wondering—- o.k. we toured Ephesos, but where exactly did the temple of Artemis go? Glad you asked…. it’s long gone, after the earthquakes the spot where it sat turned into a mosquito filled marsh… and today there is exactly one column left standing, which we are viewing from high atop the hill where the Basilica of St. John is. But which John? There is a real problem in figuring which John we are actually talking... Read more

While it may boggle the mind of Americans, the Turkish government believes in supporting its important historic industries, for instance the Turkish carpet industry. While many countries in the Middle East have carpet makers, none have the quality and continuous heritage of making carpets that Turkey does. The problem is not mechanization, the problem is recruitment in this industry, because making handwoven carpets requires, thin, nimble, quick, mostly young fingers, and nowadays, most young girls (much less boys) in Turkey... Read more

Right across the street from the slope houses are the public baths and latrines. Men went at certain hours to the bath complexes, women at other hours. But of course only people who could afford it went. It cost money. The public latrines however seem to have been open to all. They look about how you would expect them to look, and BTW, no privacy in the privy. There is however an early image of Artemis by the door of... Read more