Tag Archives: Architecture
Lost in the Orientalist painting that is Gjirokastër, Albania
Our furgon (minibus) arrived in Gjirokastër, Albania in the lower part of town and since we didn’t have a map and the old city is built on a steep hill we took a taxi to our guest house. When I say we took a taxi I mean we paid a guy who was using his […]
Post-communist rainbows fade to hipster in Tirana
Here’s what happened to Tirana, Albania: communism screwed it over for 40 years, destroyed much of its historic architecture—mosques, Orthodox cathedrals and an Ottoman era baazar—and then replaced those once beautiful buildings with architectural train wrecks. Architecture train wreck case in point: this so-called Pyramid of Tirana was originally the Enver Hoxha Museum. (For those of you […]
Starlit xhiro in Berat, Albania
Now if I told you that there’s a town called Berat in Southern Albania with UNESCO protected Ottoman era houses, a romance novel-worthy castle, and an exquisite icon museum, you’d probably want to go, right? Berat is gorgeous but also relaxing and super-duper friendly. Let’s make that gorgeous, friendly, relaxing and budget friendly too—-our lovely guest […]
The Baha’i temple reminds me of….something
The first time I visited the Baha’i Temple, about ten years ago, I said “Wow! This building is so symmetrical” and then didn’t think much of it afterwords. I’d like to believe that my architectural frame of reference is more sophisticated these days, so I made another visit to the temple. This time my reaction was “Wow! […]
Transfiguration in Tbilisi
I can never resist a thrift store. Walking through a thrift store door is an act of optimism, a confidence that a few minutes of digging through racks will unearth just what I didn’t know I was looking for but what I most desire. It’s more than finding a treasure; it’s an act of recognition, […]
The Gelati Monastery in Kutaisi and an incident in our hostel involving a certain husband imbibing too much wine
I almost missed seeing Gelati Monastery because of HOB’s hangover. We’d arrived hungry in Kutaisi, Georgia, the night before and couldn’t find a well stocked grocery store. This was not a problem as the restaurants were quite cheap. We stopped in a decent looking place, and since I couldn’t read the Georgian menu, I ordered several […]
Ushguli: you will be astonished, you will be covered in mud
My hands tingled in Ushguli. Technically, this was due to the altitude: Ushguli is said to be the highest permanently inhabited location in Europe. Though these tingly fingers and my shortness of breath seemed more like symptoms of astonishment than of altitude sickness. Austere. Astonishing! Ushguli is made up of four villages strung together in the mountains of the […]
Waylaid by a flock of sheep on the road to Jvari Monastery in Mtskheta
Church builders in Georgia must have all had the same thought process: “Hmmm, I think I’ll build a church. Better put it in an impressive location. How about here? No, not dramatic enough. Over there? Well, nice, but still, does it scream ‘magestic’? No, try again…….Ah, there it is, the perfect hill! Everyone will bug their eyes […]
Michelangelo’s strange stairway at the Laurentian Library, Florence
How can a stairway start an architectural revolution? When it’s designed by Michelangelo. Construction on the Laurentian Library of Florence began in 1525, and plans for the vestibule and stairwell to the reading room were conceived by Michelangelo when he was 50 years old. Several architects continued the project, keeping with Michelangelo’s design concept, until […]
Just sleeping in Diocletian’s Palace, no big deal
This is where we’re sleeping tonight in Split, Croatia: Up a steep flight of stairs, on the left, is our room tonight— inside Diocletian’s Palace. Diocletian–just your run of the mill nasty Roman emperor–retired here in the early 300’s AD. As a lover of classical architecture, I’m pretty stoked about it. But not as stoked […]
Picnic at the Cathedral 