Now that we are in Istanbul, it is time to write my last blog before sailing. There are a few topics left on my list of legacies of...

The classical Fez is a red dyed Felt Hat from Morocco with a Tussle on top The dispute around headscarves tends to make headlines....

The Statue of Saint Helena in Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican in Rome, 1635 by A Bolgi Three days into this summer’s journey, on...

Always wondered why Zeus and his family lived on Mount Olympus in Thessaly in northern Greece. The world’s religions know many sacred...

Emperors assemble armies, build fleets, conquer countries, build new capitals and have a knack for leaving behind monuments – Napoleon...

Sunday’s piece about Russia’s presidential flag made me wonder about the Greek and Turkish Flag. The horizontal stripes of the Greek flag...

When Catholics and Protestants think of religion, they usually think of places like Rome or Jerusalem. That there could be holy places in...

Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill meeting in Cuba in 2016 Media these days are full of news of the horrors of war in the Ukraine. The...

Turkish coffee or Greek coffee? If you order Turkish Coffee in Greece, the waiters tend to ignore you or look at you with big eyes. How...

On a single trip one often learns more than reading many books. This wisdom came to my mind when travelling from Bodrum to Istanbul a few...

During Feast of Saint Paul on 10th of February his statue is carried through Malta's Streets One of the things on my to-do list is being...

When writing my pieces on Greek theatre, I realized that Dionysus, the Greek Good of wine, was also the God of pleasure, festivities and...

Always had a fascination with the Quadriga, the four beautiful horses on the porch of the Basilica San Marco in Venice. Admire them since...

Since we celebrate Easter this weekend and sailing 2021 starts in precisely100 days, am going to stop updating my blog site for a day....

Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople meeting on 17 Sept 2019 Had Emperor Diocletian (244 – 311 AD) looked in his...

Raphael: Saint-Paul preaching in Athens In the middle of our fourth week of sailing, we are going to reach Corinth. The town was the...

The Piazza Del Duomo in Syracuse, Sicily, with its Baroque Buildings Am a bit behind schedule this week. The ICRC meetings over the last...

Title Page of the Video "Why did the Ottomans not conquer Italy?" Speculating about alternative outcomes in history is a bit esoteric but...

Photo taken two weeks ago on the Bürgenstock, about half an hour from Lucerne Christmas provides the perfect excuse for deviating from my...

In the blog about usury, we talked about the Council of Niceae in 325 AD, which unified Christian doctrine and decided which books form...