Leticia's Market

Markets define locales. My experience has been that if one wants to obtain an immediate feel for a place, walk its market. The market place in Leticia, Colombia, located on the bank of the Amazon, is no different. Except for the fact that a majority of its shoppers arrive by boat. This market place was obviously representative of the fruits of the Amazon -- fruits, vegetables and meats.

Leticia

If you ever make it to Leticia, Colombia, you will feel as if you've traveled to one of the more remote destinations on Earth. Reachable only via a 2-hour commercial flight from Bogota (Aerorepublica), this tropical town is the gateway to virgin tropical rain forests and several indigenous Amazonian tribes. For me, my visit to Leticia was my personal "National Geographic" moment.

Given its locale, it is surprising that Leticia has a population of over 35,000 inhabitants. It sits on the northern bank of the Amazon River and is the capital city of the state of Amazonas. The Brazilian frontier and the neighboring town of Tabatinga are very close to the east; Peru begins on the opposite bank of the Amazon.

As a last vestige of civilization, Leticia obviously has an airport, as well as a hospital, several hotels and restaurants. Telephone and Internet service are surprisingly good. But beyond the city's borders, it is literally the law of the jungle.

If you need a taste of nature in its purest form, Leticia is an impressive destination.

Turkey's Lycian Way

I have several friends and acquaintances who have transversed Turkey's Lycian Way. One of my friends, who is an amateur entomologist, spent a summer collecting insects along the trail and even discovered a new specie of ground beetle. But what caught my attention was the fact that The Sunday Times has listed the Lycian Way as one of the top ten walks in the world.

The Lycian Way is 500 km hiking trail which stretches from Fethiye to Antalya, around part of the coast of ancient Lycia. Let me think about this. I can wander along territory which was once the Lycian League -- the cities of Xanthos, Patara, Myra, Pinara, Tlos and Olympos and Phaselis?

Okay. The Lycian Way is now on my "to do list."

Saint Peter's Castle

Asia Minor is home to an abundance of historic Medieval fortifications. The Castle of Saint Peter (Petronium), located in the southwestern Turkish city of Bodrum, is a prime example. Built by the Knights Hospitaller in response to the threat of invasion by the Seljuk Turks at the beginning of the 1400s, its location has been a fortified site since 1100 BC. It is also the probable site of the King of Caria's Palace of Mausolos.

As was a common practice of the period, marble columns and reliefs from the nearby ancient structures were used during the construction of the castle. Unfortunately this included materials from the Mausoleum of Maussollos, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Although a few sculptures from the mausoleum were integrated into the castle for decoration, which justify a visit, in less than a century and a half, all remaining portions of the mausoleum had been demolished, removed or used as a building materials.

Within the castle walls, each regional sub-group of the Order had its own tower, each with its own distinct style. Hundreds of coats of arms and unique marks are scattered throughout the fortification -- symbols signifying areas assigned for maintenance and defence. Sub-orders were responsible for manning these areas with sufficient numbers of their soldiers and knights.

For over a century Saint Peter's Castle was an important castle of the Order and it served as a fortified refuge for all Asia Minor's Christian community. Today, given Bodrum's hot summers and mild winters, it is a perfect refuge for the intrepid traveller.

Graffiti, Belgium

Würstel Stand

Street food in Vienna, Austria, is special. Würstel stands -- hot dogs. In the bun or not. I prefer würstel without the bun. Whole or sliced. With mustard. Sauer kraut, bread. Stand and eat. Then move on. Hits the spot.

Vang Stave Church

The Vang Stave Church (Świątynia Wang), located in Karpacz in Poland's Karkonosze Mountains, was originally built in the Vang parish, Norway, around 1200. When the parish built a larger, more suitable church, it was sold and re-erected on the Continent in 1842. This structure is an 800-year old four-post single-nave stave wood church. Exquisite. Easily reached by car from Dresden, Prague or Wroclaw.

 

The Boxer

I'm not sure if it is still there, but the Boxer used to be in Berlin's Altes Museum. (Museums do that -- loan, borrow. Reinvent exhibits.) It is a life-size bronze portrait of an ancient prize fighter, a Hellenistic statue from the first century BC. This statue, one of two, is thought to have been a part of the furnishings of Constantine’s spas. Rome was enthralled with Greek art.

The portraiture's realism suggests that it is in fact a particular boxer, with his broken nose and unique scars highlighted in copper. One can see his exhaustion -- the swelling face, the wrappings on his bloody hands. Victorious, but at what price?

His fingers are also worn -- rubbed. Marked forever by countless passers-by. In antiquity, they had to have known of him. Or that for which he symbolized. Strength and honor.

Nameless today, yet still admired. Hollow immortality.

Ägyptisches Museum

The Egyptian Museum of Berlin (Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung) is home to one of the world's most important collections of Ancient Egyptian artifacts. The museum originated with the royal art collection of Prussian kings and the first objects were brought to Berlin in 1828 under Friedrich Wilhelm III.

My first visit to the museum was breathtaking. I experienced ancient Egyptian culture as I could not have imagined. I browsed through ancient sculptures, busts, masks, mummies. Human and animal. And common, everday personal items. Used eons ago. Combs, brushes, mirrors, jewelry, toys. I gazed upon the face of Nefertiti and was not distracted by the single eye. I contemplated Julius Ceasar's brow. And I strolled through the endless scrolls and hieroglyphs of the Egyptian underworld.

These were real people with sophisticated accoutrements. Thousands of years ago. This was not the beginnings of civilization, this is civilization. Evolution or de-evolution. I had to re-evaluate my historical paradigms.

I've heard that this portion of the museum in now closed. I hope this is not the case. Or at least it has been relocated and open to the public somewhere else.

Ishtar's Gate

In addition to the Pergamon Alter, Berlin's Pergamonmuseum houses a reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate, rebuilt from excavated materials (1899-1914). Several prominent museums around the world have remnants of the gate, mainly the glazed-brick reliefs. Archaeological diaspora.

Originally erected during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC), it is the eighth gate to the Babylon's inner city. Through this gate ran Babylon's Processional Way, leading to a seven-story ziggurat. The Processional is also recreated here, with friezes of the Lion of Ishtar, the Bull of Adad, the Dragon of Marduk. No doubt, the prophet Daniel and his fellow countrymen at some point walked through Ishtar's Gate during their period of exile (597-538 BC). For it was this King Nebuchadnezzar who sacked Jerusalem, destroyed its temple and carried away Judah's more prominent citizens.

Dedicated to the goddess Ishtar, and being part of the Walls of Babylon, it was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World -- until it was superseded by Alexandria's Lighthouse in the third century BC. What I did not know is that the Ishtar Gate was a double-gate. Before me stood the smaller frontal portion. The larger back was considered too massive for the museum and is in storage.

It is an amazing sight to behold.