Category Archives: Architecture I spent less than a week in the Sultanate of Oman, an Islamic Arab country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. In that time, however, I saw countless forts, castles, and towers (see: Oman’s Fortress Castles and Jabreen Castle). Perhaps this is unsurprising, as the country is called “the land of [a] thousand forts.” These […]  Puducherry / Pondicherry, in Peninsular India, is known for its colonial charm. The colonial period there began in 1521 with the Portuguese – the first Europeans to conduct textile trade in the region. The Dutch and the Danes followed in the 17th century, but it was the French who had the most enduring influence after […]  Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, my husband I were staying with friends in that enchanted, fairy-tale-land of mountains, lakes, and alpine meadows known today as Switzerland … It really does feel that long ago! That is what happens when you have too many external drives full of photos and memories. They […]  India is wildly colourful. This is true everywhere, but the Dravidian people of South India take it to new whole new levels. The ethnolinguistic family of people known as the Dravidians are considered native to the Indian subcontinent, although their pre-Neolithic roots are probably in Western Asia, around the Iranian plateau. The language family is […]  Crete, the southernmost large island of Greece, lives up to its reputation for having a breathtakingly mountainous landscape surrounded by pristine beaches and charming coastal villages. I booked myself a number of bus tours while I was there, and loved every moment I spent exploring the island. One of the trips I took was to […] |
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