You (and everyone) need to look at this and scroll through the whole thing – it will take you 10-15 minutes, but it may be the best chance to ever understand just how obscene the inequality of wealth really is. https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/
Month: April 2020
Alternative New York City: What to see when you’ve been there before
New York City is packed with world-famous attractions; tell someone you’re going there on holiday and they’ll immediately start talking about sites like the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty and Rockefeller Center. But if, like me, you’ve been before and seen all the most famous attractions, you might be wondering, ‘what’s next?’. So, I’ve…
The Oregon Country Fair
Every Summer in the woods outside of the little town of Veneta, Oregon – hordes of hippies, puppeteers, musicians, acrobats, nudists, herbalists, and assorted other oddballs assemble for a spectacular show unlike any other – The Oregon Country Fair. For three days there are concerts, dance, homemade soap vendors, and the heavy smell of patchouli and…
Goreme to Ankara to Istanbul
From the Otogar in Ankara which was truly massive with hundreds of buses going to all points in Turkey, we followed Ramazan and got into a cab which took us to the modern and architecturally interesting train station. It was situated near a giant amusement park that made me remember going to Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm when I was a kid.
Fethiye – Tourist Trap?
Our friend Darren had told us before we left Morocco that the one place we didn’t want to miss was Fethiye so despite having quite a few other recommendations from other friends, we decided we wouldn’t miss Fethiye. I’m not convinced that it was a terrible place, in fact, it seemed like a very nice place- I just think that maybe having great expectations and coming from our great time in Koycegiz sort of meant Fethiye was destined to be disappointing.
Mud Baths and The Best Boat Tour on Lake Koycegiz
I don’t recommend dunking your whole head under the mud since I got plenty of it in my eyes, ears, and nose. Instead it is better to just rub the mud on your face. It was fairly surreal to climb out and look at all the other mud covered people drying in the sun. Like being on another planet. The mud is slightly radioactive and contains many minerals which are supposed to be very good for your skin and health.
Koycegiz – Our Favorite Place in Turkey
Lake Koycegiz is incredibly gorgeous. The water is rich with minerals and so has a pale turquoise color that reminds me of glacial lakes in Alaska. As we biked around, I though to myself, “This is the real Turkey” because we passed kids on bikes, old guys coming down to the lake shore after work for a swim, friends sitting in the shady grass along the shore, and guys drinking beer on park benches (though these didn’t look like the bums in Union Square of Seattle.)
From Yenikapi to Yalova to Bursa by Ferry and Bus
Bostanci is the big ferry port on the Marmara Sea which has all the ferries out to the Prince’s Islands. We hope to make it out to the Prince’s Islands someday on another trip. As it was we said our goodbyes to Alp and used the time before our ferry to Yenikapi on the European side to try to figure out how we were going to get to our next stop, Bursa.
The Hippodrome of Istanbul
What I saw as a nice rectangular park with some old monuments in it was actually a Byzantine race track which used to have two levels of seats on the outside and where chariot races used to excite the crowds for more than 1200 years. The chariot teams were really political parties called ‘Greens’ and ‘Blues’ and so it was part politics and part sport for the Byzantine Emperors and chariot fans.
Bologna, Italy – Pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca
The Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca is a destination for pilgrims from all over the world and while I was in Bologna primarily to worship the food and architecture, I decided to make the trek to the magnificent sanctuary which sits atop the Guardia Hill and serves as the most prominent landmark in the beautiful city of Bologna.