Jews of the Balkans Part 3: Thessaloniki, Greece
I did not quite realize when I planned this trip, how fitting it would be to end in Thessaloniki. In few other places has the 2000-year in-gathering of the Jewish diaspora been so sustained, so diverse and rich, only to be destroyedin 1943. After World War II,…
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Jews of the Balkans Part 2: Plovdiv and Sofia, Bulgaria
Part 2 of my travels through the Jewish history of the Balkans: Plovdiv and Sofia, Bulgaria.
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Jews of the Balkans Part 1: Edirne, Türkiye
Sometimes when you travel, you go somewhere to see a thing and find an encounter with a place you did not plan. My trip to learn about the Jews of the Balkans began with a hankering to see the Grand Synagogue of Edirne, gloriously restored in 2015…
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Dinosaurs, Jesus and Texas Hill Country
The western terminus of our three week road trip in April 2026 was Austin Texas. After a long leg from Hot Springs Arkanas, we made our way to Glen Rose Texas for a short break in the country. We found Skybox Cabins, intalling ourselves in a charming…
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Strolling Through the Past in Asheville
At least three of my friends started researching Blue Ridge retirement real estate after visiting Asheville North Carolina. My son had his bachelor party there. Everyone seemed to fall in love with Asheville. It was high time I figured out what the fuss was about. So, this…
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Four Days in Cedar Key
I am still finding it hard to believe that the state that is home to the grotesque vulgarity of Mar-A-Lago and the rapacious artificiality of Orlando still has Cedar Key, a place that is tranquil, unchanged, and vulnerable. I came in search of the “old Florida” and…
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A Homestay in Siem Reap and Lessons in Buddhism
I recognized Bun immediately at the Siem Reap Airport—his eyes creased and mouth wide in his perpetual smile, the red Cambodian woven scarf around his neck, his face beaming with energy. I had seen Bun only on his YouTube videos: Bun handing out food after the monsoon…
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Two Days with the Red Dao Women
I awoke this morning to a thick grey mist covering the abundantly green valley below me. A thunderstorm had roared through last night, leaving everything glistening in the muted sunshine. I was in the village of Tà Phin, about seven miles out of Sa Pa, in the…
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