Izmir

Turkey’s second largest city is so lovely, and not just because it is home to a long-time friend I hadn’t seen in a quarter-century and was so, so happy to see again.

Istanbul

Twenty-five years since I was last in this magical city, and it’s beautiful as ever!

The most famous horse

 All the iterations of ancient Troy have mostly been lost to time, earthquakes, and looting…but still surreal to be there and check out the modern city of Çanakkale. 

Hit the Turkish coast

Kuşadasi and the ruins of Ephesus: Two thumbs up!

Rhodes

 A day strolling within the medieval city walls: so charming!

Athens is a sight to behold on a sunny day

 Third time’s a charm. 

I Heart Hydra

 What a week of hanging with a good friend, sweet walks on narrow stone streets among donkeys, writing, beautiful views, kind locals, and all the other goodness of a Greek island. 

Happy Greek Independence Day!

 Sweet celebrations on the sweet island of Hydra….

Taipei to end

Just one afternoon to explore Taipei, but like everything else in Taiwan, it was delightful! Iconic skyscraper, delicious night market. Sad to leave this sweet island, hope to be back. 

Final resting

 Even the graveyards here are beautifully decorated. I stumbled upon this one in the Anping district of Tainan.

Happy Chinese New Year!

 

Yum

 A little Taiwanese culinary sampling:

Now by night

 Okay I know this is basically the same photo I posted two days ago, but don’t the Shennong Street lanterns look even more beautiful at night?

Temples of Tainan

 I’m here for just under two weeks, and as it’s sort of a working vacation (and I’m still recovering from having the plague all last month), I’m spending almost all of it just chilling (well, warming, compared with Alaska) in the southern city of Tainan. At some point I’ll look up how many temples there are in this town. My guess is four hundred million. ; )

Taiwan!

 I was supposed to be in Hawaii for this break from station, but it fell through, and the thing that happened to work out instead is: Taiwan! First time, and it is DELIGHTFUL so far….

Welcome back, Sunshine!

 The sun shone on Toolik for a couple of precious minutes at midday today, for the first time since late November. What a beautiful sight!