Tag: travel

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Kryptos: Written in Code

susanbassmarcus1

It was not a dark and stormy night. In fact it was a bright, sunny day that led to an odd and unexpectedly mysterious adventure hinting at certainty yet filling me with confusion. My husband Stephen and I were in Australia on our way in a private catamaran ferry to Berriedale, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania and bound for MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art. As we entered the boat’s VIP section lounge, happy fellow passengers were gobbling appetizer cakes and tossing back mimosas or something harder. Our Australian guide, Nate hurried to snag us a table. “Ovah … Continue reading Kryptos: Written in Code

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The Power of Place – ‘A Month in Siena’ by Hisham Matar

susanbassmarcus1

Having lived near Siena for a relatively longer time than Hisham Matar’s sojourn, which he eloquently describes in “A Month in Siena,” I appreciate his experiences there. As a college student, my encounters with the city were more with people than with a conscious engagement with art and architecture. So, I loved “living” there again through his eyes and his immersion in Siena’s interior life. Goodread’s book description summarizes this work well–[ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46064199-a-month-in-siena ]. I’d like to add a few passages from the book to that summary: I loved his description of Siena’s central square, La Piazza del Campo, where … Continue reading The Power of Place – ‘A Month in Siena’ by Hisham Matar

Ancient Greece, historical sitesLeave a comment

Dallying in Delphi

susanbassmarcus1

After an hours-long drive out of Athens, we reached the mountains. Parnassus came into view. Our ears popped with the change of altitude. We passed through a jarringly Nordic ski village, Arachova, before ascending higher on the sacred mountain, until a line of tour buses alerted us to our arrival at the Temple of Apollo’s complex where its priestess, the Delphic Oracle once moved men to make decisions, sometimes disastrous ones. A layer of blueish-gray clouds hung overhead, obscuring the sun and chilling the air. I zipped up my raincoat and shivered. With the sheer face of a mountain behind … Continue reading Dallying in Delphi