Category: Contients

Top 10 Arts and Culture Destinations in Munich, Germany

“The city with a heart” as Munich is called, it is truly a small global city packed with roughly one million people. There is an old-world charm surrounding the capital of Bavaria; here, you can almost imagine you are a princess or prince stepping out of a fairy tale castle, as you walk about the cobble-stoned streets of this busy old-world place
If you love art and history, Munich is a wonderful destination. In particular, my top 10 favorite places to visit:
Munich is one of my favorite places in the world because it is so fairy-tale like and close to the Alps. While visiting Munich for the second time, also for three weeks (a good duration to see all the sights, and to take a few day trips to nearby towns as well), I’ve complied my top ten favorite tourist destinations.

1. The Residenz Museum
Situated in the square in downtown Munich, right next to Odeonsplatz, is the Muenchen Residenz. Inside, there are restored rooms and galleries upon galleries of paintings and furnishings from the Whittelsbach family’s old royal residence. Though the building was burned down, the interiors have been restored — behold, jeweled crowns and tiaras, old swords with gilt stones in their hilts, and winding rooms like a maze filled with rich colors and chandeliers from centuries past. My favorite place inside the Residenz? The Antiquarium, where the curved ceiling stretches from entrance to exit with rich frescos, and portraits in gilt frames and white busts line the room’s stone floors.

Inside the Munich Residenz
2. BMW Welt
Shaped like a new-age modern piece of art, the architecture of the BMW Welt is worth visiting, especially at night, when the twisted glass structure glows with a soft purple light outside, and inside, the cars gleam in the artificial lights. Any car lover will enjoy a visit to the BMW Welt, where small cars mix with new cars, and a range of models are displayed in a large, airy, two-leveled structure. Walking inside this place gives me the feeling of walking on the moon. Take a picture standing next to a car, or riding one of the large, super-fast-looking motorcycles. It’s free to browse inside the BMW Welt, but the car museum adjacent to it costs money if you want a guided tour.
Inside the BMW Welt
3. Neue Pinakothek
Who doesn’t love the famous painting of bright, cheerful sunflowers clustered in a simple urn by Vincent Van Gogh?
Print of Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh
You can see it in real life, with your own eyes, in the Neue Pinakothek, which contains galleries filled with collections of more “modern” painters. Situated in what I call, “Munich’s Art Neighborhood,” you can walk from the Neue Pinakothek to the Alt Pinakothek (where the “old” painters’ collections are displayed), to the Egyptian Museum, the Brandhorst Museum, and the Lenbachaus. Tip: go on Sundays to view art — most galleries (besides the Lenbachaus) can be viewed for 1 Euro.
4. Englischer Garten
Mother Nature’s art is often beyond compare, although art is in the eye of the beholder.
Walking through the Englischer Garten takes one back to an era long-ago, and transports the strollers, joggers, dog-walkers, and bicycler’s into the era of Jane Austen’s time. Imagine you are walking in the late 1800s in these natural gardens, which stretch along the Isar river on the east side of Munich. You can view large swans gliding like white apparitions in the evening darkness if you find the pond. Don’t expect to cover all of it in one go, however — like Central Park in New York, this city garden is really a large expanse of nature inside a concrete jungle.

Capturing the sunset on a bridge over the Isar
The Isar at sunset

5. Nymphenburger Schloss – “Castle of the Nymphs”

It’s hard to visit Germany and not visit an old palace.
This one looks like it comes straight out of a fairy tale, with a glittering ballroom inside the main palace that you can view when you tour the rooms, leading to galleries of the famous 30 beauties of Bavarian ruler Max Emanuel (his consorts). The main pavilion was completed in 1675 and the palace, itself, has been a favorite amongst Bavarian rulers for centuries. It is now a museum, and the immaculate gardens and acres of forest are open to visitors as well.
The ballroom inside Nymphenburger Palace
Nymphenburger Palace
Nymphenburger Palace
Inside the Nymphenburger Palace
A panorama view
Another view


6. Museum Brandhorst
It’s worth it to visit the Brandhorst museum if you want a glimpse into the hearts and minds of modern art and their creators. Although some of the collections will make you go, “huh?” the point is to expand you mind and appetite for creativity, so give it a go. I would recommend going on Sunday, however, when entrance is only 1 Euro, to avoid the feeling of buyer’s disappointment if you don’t like what you see. Modern art, is, quite often, intended to shock, after all.
A sign of the times.
Image of Cy Tombly’s paintings in Museum Brandhorst, from munchen.de
7. Staatsoper – Munich National Theatre
It is difficult to buy a ticket to the prized ballet performances at the Munich Staatsoper, so check a month in advance, to be safe. Performances take place in a round theatre with gilt rococo decorations all over the interior, and plush red seats. You can still grab a spot in the balconies for 7 Euros, if you can’t find a place to sit, but beware, the view is not as good because you are in the galleries. It is worth it, however, any way you can get in, because the dancers are excellent and the music is impeccable. Often, the ballets will be famous classics like “Swan Lake,” “Giselle,” or “Romeo and Juliet,” so if you go, you will be treated to a life-changing artistic experience. Dress up, because everyone else does, too.

At “Giselle”
View of the Munich National Theatre
Standing by Odeonsplatz
8. Pinakothek Moderne
If you love art, and want to consider yourself a snob, wander around the rooms of the Pinakothek Moderne (Museum of Modern Art). There, you will find large, blown up photographs from the 1970s of street-scenes in Canada, crumpled metal from scrapped cars stacked in strange sculptures, a display of old computers, chairs, a 1960s mod living room, and much more. The more traditional “paintings” are in there, as well, so if you feel flummoxed by the display of rectangular cabinets or the rug, or even perhaps the large “omelet” painting-display, you’ll be rewarded for your efforts with lush colors of rich tones depicting dark-skinned women bathing or dancing, and plenty of long-haired maidens bathing naked.
What’s not to love about being a painter?

Painting in the Museum of Modern Art
9. Marienplatz
Just walking through Marienplatz will transport you to the “old world.” However, it is also one of the best places to go in Munich to see old architecture — look at the Old Town Hall and the New Town Hall — and the Fraunkirche is right around the corner, look for the two tall towers (this gave English bombers directions during World War II, which is why, unlike most of rebuilt Munich, this church was not destroyed by fire bombs).
Of the many places that do not accept credit cards, you can still buy food at Hans im Glueck, which is a popular burger chain in Munich that also serves vegetarian burgers.

Munich dress code in winter — long down coat, jeans, and boots. The more designer, the better.
Expensive fur coats and leather gloves were common Munich dress a few decades ago

10. Viktualien Markt

Food is an art form in and of itself, and if you are not shy, you can wander the many stalls of spices, fruits, nuts, vegetables, meats, and breads to find samples of these tasty offerings. Of course, you might be tempted to buy some of the food, so bring some cash with you. Although Munich is a global world city, “nubar” or “cash only” is still quite a popular way for vendors transactions.
Fruits at Viktualien Markt

Bonus places:

Angel of Peace — It’s a little park with stairs leading up to a painted stone building with a tall golden statue of an angel near Munchener Freiheit.

Next to the Angel of Peace, photo by Raphael Weiss
Enjoy Munich! Remember the Lenbachaus is not 1 Euro on Sundays, and dress up for the ballet!

Salzburg, Austria

The “city of salt,” Salzburg is located on the western tip of Austria, close to the German border.

From Munich, you can take a Flixbus, which is similar to a Greyhound or Megabus — buy tickets online and make sure you bring a passport or other government I.D. — for less than 25 Euros round-trip.

It’s called a Flixbus because you can buy your ticket and if you don’t use it, you can redeem your money for a different journey.

On the day I visited Salzburg in late-November 2016 with my travel buddy, here’s what we did:

9:15 am: we arrived at the Flixbus station, carrying our I.D.’s. I didn’t think this was so important until I saw a young German woman crying and pleading the bus driver to let her ride the bus. She had forgotten her ID. I watched her mother (or older friend?) forego her own journey to comfort her, while we were waved on to the back of the bus where there were still seats.

11:20 am: we arrived in Salzburg, at the Hauptbahnhof. After walking in some direction towards a beautifully forested mountain that loomed ahead of us, we asked direction at a hotel and were pointed in the direction of the promenade in the Altstadt (old town) on the left bank of the Salzach River. The medieval and baroque architecture makes this city a very quaint and beautiful tourist destination.

IMG_20170116_160725
In Salzburg

Nested up on a mountain above the Salzach river across from the Altstadt, is a fortress that has guarded Salzburg for about five centuries. No one thought to attack the town because of the fortress, and the city prospered by trading salt. Now, it is still a very “small-town” atmosphere, with plenty of tourist attractions in the older districts.

 

We walked around the narrow, cobble-stoned streets on the right-bank of the Salzach, closer to the cliffs, for a while, taking in the street vendors selling salt pretzels and other small broetchens and the small shops selling Weihnachten (Christmas) ornaments, eggs, and other trinkets.

We ate lunch at the Hotel Goldene Ente, a 14th century hotel that serves traditional Austrian food on its menu. I ate a salty goulash with hot water and copious slices of lemon, and my travel companion had the classic roast pork with a light and tangy golden beer.

Afterwards, we took a turn on the outdoor ice-skating rink in Mozartplatz, which stands right outside a museum and an old church. Admission is 5 Euros per person, plus 4 per pair of skates. There is a slight discount if you are a student.

Iceskating in Mozartplatz

Stepping into a small cafe nearby the ice-skating rink, we drank small cups of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream, which come with a glass of cold water.

Austrian hot chocolate

We walked around the bazaar afterwards, which sold all manners of roasted chestnuts, Weihnachten decorations and ornaments, traditional Austrian souvenirs, salted pretzels, and traditional hot Austrian foods.

After petting the horses that draw the old-fashioned carriages that you can pay to ride around the old city in (they were too expensive for my budget, being 60 Euros for an hour), we headed towards the cliffs and took an elevator to the top that takes one to the Museum of Modern Art.

Stepping out, you can look all over the brightly-lit town of Salzburg from this vantage point, and walk to the old stone fortress located nearby the Museum of Modern Art. You can walk through the forested paths, or sit on the bench, overlooking the city below, eat at the restaurant by the Museum of Modern Art, or even walk down the cliffs.

Mountains across from the fortess
Salzburg from the mountain

After more wandering through Salzburg, we ate at a Chinese buffet in the old-town touristy district near Mozartplatz, owing to the lack of places that accept cards.

Walking by the Salzach river at night, we were awarded with a brilliant display of lights in the dark water — the lights from the church and the many old buildings that were reflected in the glistening glassy surface.

Salzach at night

Back at the Hauptbahnhof, the bus gathered its passengers up, and we were transported back to Munich. Bring your passport — there is a border-control check where the guards will ask you just why you’re visiting.

Enjoy Salzburg! Bring a camera to take pictures, and Keep Traveling!

Top 10 Arts and Culture Destinations in Munich, Germany

“The city with a heart” as Munich is called, it is truly a small global city packed with roughly one million people. There is an old-world charm surrounding the capital of Bavaria; here, you can almost imagine you are a princess or prince stepping out of a fairy tale castle, as you walk about the cobble-stoned streets of this busy old-world place.

Inside the ballroom at Nymphenburg Castle
Munich is one of my favorite places in the world because it is so fairy-tale like and close to the Alps. While visiting Munich for the second time, also for three weeks (a good duration to see all the sights, and to take a few day trips to nearby towns as well), I’ve complied my top ten favorite tourist destinations.

Flying over Europe at night towards Warsaw, Poland
If you love art and history, Munich is a wonderful destination. In particular, my top 10 favorite places to visit:
1. The Residenz Museum
Situated in the square in downtown Munich, right next to Odeonsplatz, is the Muenchen Residenz. Inside, there are restored rooms and galleries upon galleries of paintings and furnishings from the Whittelsbach family’s old royal residence. Though the building was burned down, the interiors have been restored — behold, jeweled crowns and tiaras, old swords with gilt stones in their hilts, and winding rooms like a maze filled with rich colors and chandeliers from centuries past. My favorite place inside the Residenz? The Antiquarium, where the curved ceiling stretches from entrance to exit with rich frescos, and portraits in gilt frames and white busts line the room’s stone floors.

Inside the Munich Residenz
2. BMW Welt
Shaped like a new-age modern piece of art, the architecture of the BMW Welt is worth visiting, especially at night, when the twisted glass structure glows with a soft purple light outside, and inside, the cars gleam in the artificial lights. Any car lover will enjoy a visit to the BMW Welt, where small cars mix with new cars, and a range of models are displayed in a large, airy, two-leveled structure. Walking inside this place gives me the feeling of walking on the moon. Take a picture standing next to a car, or riding one of the large, super-fast-looking motorcycles. It’s free to browse inside the BMW Welt, but the car museum adjacent to it costs money if you want a guided tour.
Inside the BMW Welt
3. Neue Pinakothek
Who doesn’t love the famous painting of bright, cheerful sunflowers clustered in a simple urn by Vincent Van Gogh?
Print of Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh
You can see it in real life, with your own eyes, in the Neue Pinakothek, which contains galleries filled with collections of more “modern” painters. Situated in what I call, “Munich’s Art Neighborhood,” you can walk from the Neue Pinakothek to the Alt Pinakothek (where the “old” painters’ collections are displayed), to the Egyptian Museum, the Brandhorst Museum, and the Lenbachaus. Tip: go on Sundays to view art — most galleries (besides the Lenbachaus) can be viewed for 1 Euro.
4. Englischer Garten
Mother Nature’s art is often beyond compare, although art is in the eye of the beholder.
Walking through the Englischer Garten takes one back to an era long-ago, and transports the strollers, joggers, dog-walkers, and bicycler’s into the era of Jane Austen’s time. Imagine you are walking in the late 1800s in these natural gardens, which stretch along the Isar river on the east side of Munich. You can view large swans gliding like white apparitions in the evening darkness if you find the pond. Don’t expect to cover all of it in one go, however — like Central Park in New York, this city garden is really a large expanse of nature inside a concrete jungle.

Capturing the sunset on a bridge over the Isar
The Isar at sunset

5. Nymphenburger Schloss – “Castle of the Nymphs”

It’s hard to visit Germany and not visit an old palace.
This one looks like it comes straight out of a fairy tale, with a glittering ballroom inside the main palace that you can view when you tour the rooms, leading to galleries of the famous 30 beauties of Bavarian ruler Max Emanuel (his consorts). The main pavilion was completed in 1675 and the palace, itself, has been a favorite amongst Bavarian rulers for centuries. It is now a museum, and the immaculate gardens and acres of forest are open to visitors as well.
Add caption
Nymphenburger Palace
Nymphenburger Palace
Nymphenburger Palace
Inside the Nymphenburger Palace
A panorama view
Another view


6. Museum Brandhorst
It’s worth it to visit the Brandhorst museum if you want a glimpse into the hearts and minds of modern art and their creators. Although some of the collections will make you go, “huh?” the point is to expand you mind and appetite for creativity, so give it a go. I would recommend going on Sunday, however, when entrance is only 1 Euro, to avoid the feeling of buyer’s disappointment if you don’t like what you see. Modern art, is, quite often, intended to shock, after all.
A sign of the times.
Image of Cy Tombly’s paintings in Museum Brandhorst, from munchen.de
7. Staatsoper – Munich National Theatre
It is difficult to buy a ticket to the prized ballet performances at the Munich Staatsoper, so check a month in advance, to be safe. Performances take place in a round theatre with gilt rococo decorations all over the interior, and plush red seats. You can still grab a spot in the balconies for 7 Euros, if you can’t find a place to sit, but beware, the view is not as good because you are in the galleries. It is worth it, however, any way you can get in, because the dancers are excellent and the music is impeccable. Often, the ballets will be famous classics like “Swan Lake,” “Giselle,” or “Romeo and Juliet,” so if you go, you will be treated to a life-changing artistic experience. Dress up, because everyone else does, too.

At “Giselle”
View of the Munich National Theatre
Standing by Odeonsplatz
8. Pinakothek Moderne
If you love art, and want to consider yourself a snob, wander around the rooms of the Pinakothek Moderne (Museum of Modern Art). There, you will find large, blown up photographs from the 1970s of street-scenes in Canada, crumpled metal from scrapped cars stacked in strange sculptures, a display of old computers, chairs, a 1960s mod living room, and much more. The more traditional “paintings” are in there, as well, so if you feel flummoxed by the display of rectangular cabinets or the rug, or even perhaps the large “omelet” painting-display, you’ll be rewarded for your efforts with lush colors of rich tones depicting dark-skinned women bathing or dancing, and plenty of long-haired maidens bathing naked.
What’s not to love about being a painter?

Painting in the Museum of Modern Art
9. Marienplatz
Just walking through Marienplatz will transport you to the “old world.” However, it is also one of the best places to go in Munich to see old architecture — look at the Old Town Hall and the New Town Hall — and the Fraunkirche is right around the corner, look for the two tall towers (this gave English bombers directions during World War II, which is why, unlike most of rebuilt Munich, this church was not destroyed by fire bombs).
Of the many places that do not accept credit cards, you can still buy food at Hans im Glueck, which is a popular burger chain in Munich that also serves vegetarian burgers.

Munich dress code in winter — long down coat, jeans, and boots. The more designer, the better.
Expensive fur coats and leather gloves were common Munich dress a few decades ago

10. Viktualien Markt

Food is an art form in and of itself, and if you are not shy, you can wander the many stalls of spices, fruits, nuts, vegetables, meats, and breads to find samples of these tasty offerings. Of course, you might be tempted to buy some of the food, so bring some cash with you. Although Munich is a global world city, “nubar” or “cash only” is still quite a popular way for vendors transactions.
Fruits at Viktualien Markt

Bonus places:

Angel of Peace — It’s a little park with stairs leading up to a painted stone building with a tall golden statue of an angel near Munchener Freiheit.

Next to the Angel of Peace, photo by Raphael Weiss
Enjoy Munich! Remember the Lenbachaus is not 1 Euro on Sundays, and dress up for the ballet!

Louisville, Kentucky (the Indiana side)

Louisville at night, stock photograph
On the Ohio River at sunset

There is that rocking feeling.

It persists for several hours after stepping off the boat, but perhaps that’s why sailors drink so much — if you’re already a bit tipsy, you don’t really notice the side-to-side motion as much.

A friend of mine from college bought an as-is pontoon boat he’s fixing, and invited me to spend some time on his boat. I drove down to Louisville and was overjoyed to spend the day on the gently-rocking waves, with a grand view of the bridges and the city-line of Louisville nestled behind it across the river. We kayaked down the river and back, ate some really over-priced calamari and steak with potatoes at a restaurant (Flat 12 Bierworks) up the street with a beautiful view of the river from its outside patio, and watched some fun movies — King Pin and Frida (Frida was my pick). The next day, I explored around the neighborhood and walked into a novelty party store, a novelty card-trading shop, a small sweetshop (truly the definition of a corner bakery), and recharged my phone at took a rest at Too Tired, small, hipster-esque coffee shop. Life on a boat really isn’t that bad.

It’s fun, that is, until you start to miss running water and the solid ground of being on land.

To be honest, I really didn’t mind the rocking feeling, or get sea-sick, being one who loves being by the coast and seeing the gentle break of the waves to the shore. I love mountains and coastlines equally, but the four seasons are truly my favorite.

That’s getting off-topic. The point is, being on a boat is really fun — I can imagine what owning a yacht must be like from this short experience — and I would do it again.

Maybe, next time, in the Mediterranean, scuba diving and skinny dipping by day, and dancing and enjoying festivity at night.

Walking along the bridge
View of the Ohio River at night

Los Angeles, California #2

Just a quick recap of a brief four day trip out to Los Angeles. I visited some cool spots!

While I did have the chance to go on an adventure to Long Beach to shoot on the Queen Mary with highly interesting photographer I’ve shot with before (Kevin Weinert, if you want to check out his work), I mostly explored around Venice Beach, watching tennis pros play paddle tennis at the courts there, and going on a Vesper ride around LA with a young MBA student from Paris who was my age. We went to the Hammer Museum and up and around in the Palisades.

I wore this Ralph Lauren dress to the wedding

The real reason I spent a few nights at the Riviera with my brother was because it was my cousin’s wedding. It was a magnificent wedding, overlooking the coiffed green grounds of the Riviera Golf Club nestled in the heart of Los Angeles, and I was happy to have the chance to see her looking so radiant on her special day.

 

A beautiful day for a beautiful wedding at the Riviera

New York City, New York

Welcome to Manhattan!

New York City is so big, there’s a lot to see and do here, and you’ll always have a different experience depending on season and what you do here.

I’ve been to NYC twice, and had different impressions both times.

The first was in 2011, for a few days, when I stayed downtown in someone’s apartment for a few nights off of Airbnb. It was a cool location near the United Nations headquarters and I spent my days wandering around the city, going in and out of shops, museums, and enjoying Central Park, and at night, discovering different pale ales in Irish pubs.

The second time, in 2016, I went in April for a short two night stay. In my free time, I walked around downtown in Times Square, visited the Met, spent time in Central Park, and browsed the wares in the shops. It was nippy outside when I went, so I didn’t really wander around so much this time around.

NYC is expensive, so I don’t really recommend going here unless you want to spend some money going around, as nearly everything requires a fee. However, it is worth visiting, even if only for a few short days.

St. Louis, Missouri

Welcome to St. Louis!

 

Inside the photography studio where I did a couple shoots

It’s worth it to see the Arch as you drive in to the city, among other things. So cool!

While I didn’t spend more than a few days in St. Louis in 2016, I enjoyed the hours I spent here in this down-to-earth Midwestern city. I shot a few times with a photographer and his awesome make-up-artist, and loved both the pictures and the laid back vibe of this city. A place I’d like to spend more time in, St. Louis has a certain atmosphere that captures a sense of retro-chic.

If you’re wanting to take a short weekend trip, consider St. Louis. It’s a fun place to explore.
Just thought I’d mention it!

Munich, Germany

Munich, wow, what can I say.

It’s like going back in time to the land of princes. Bavaria is such a royal land, and the people are very proud. You’d have to understand a bit of German history to understand why, but Germany used to be full of small kingdom-states before it was unified into Germany, and Bavaria was the biggest and most powerful of them all. There’s a lot of magic still in Bavaria, where the mountains border Switzerland and Austria.

In Munich, you can see the Alps in the distance to the south, and if you go up St. Peter’s Tower, you can see all of the city stretching out around you. Every day, I tried to visit somewhere new — art museum, neighborhood, famous tourist spot, and so on. I saw the Swan Lake ballet there in the beautiful Opera house, toured the Royal Munich Residence, went to the Neue Pinothek and Alte Pinothek (art museums), BMW Welt, the Olympic Stadium grounds, and walked miles around the town, hopping on the metro and hopping off as I wanted.

The metro was so easy to use that you could get practically anywhere in Munich. I stayed a hostel, Smart Stay Munich, which was cozy and centrally located, clean and quiet. I recommend it to anyone wanting a cheap place again.

Photos of Munich:

Walking around in Munich

 

The street trains

 

View of Munich from St. Peter’s Tower

 

Sunset over Nymphenburg Palace
Swans at twilight in the Englischer Garten
Marienplatz
Nymphenburger Palace
Swans from Nymphenburger Palace
Harps in the Munich Residenz
Living room in the Munich Residenz
A hallway in the Munich Residenz
A bed in the Munich Residenz
Inside the Portrait Room in the Munich Residenz
The Antiquarium in the Munich Residenz
A ballroom in the Munich Residenz
A large painting over an ornamental desk in the Munich Residenz
Inside the Munich National Theatre
Outside the Munich National Theatre, standing next to the Munich Residenz
Watching the surfers at Eisbach, in Munich
The Jean-Paul Gaultier collection exhibition in Munich
Marienplatz at night

Istanbul, Turkey

I stayed in Istanbul from October to December in 2015, and was not bothered by any political conflict because Istanbul is located so far west in Turkey, so I recommend going here even if you are a little scared, because the sights and the experience is well-worth the visit. 

Istanbul has a sense of nostalgia, being part of the Ottoman Empire, and a historical city in many ways. Separated by the Bosphorous, there is a Europe side and an Asia side. Visit Istanbul to see its bazaars, especially the Grand Bazaar, the old city with is palace and mosques, Golden Horn, and the seaside.

Below, some photos from my own trip, although I am sure you will take many from yours.

The Bosphorous

 

The Bolu mountains

Yet, Istanbul is Istanbul, and it’s a beautiful city with plenty of magic. For romantic idealists, they practically wrote the book in Istanbul — go anywhere and you’ll learn of beautifully sad tales of princes and lovelorn ladies who were destined to love apart from one another. Or so it seemed.

I immediately fell, grudgingly, in love with Istanbul, the moment I was able to explore on my own. The Hagia Sophia stands directly across from the Sultan Ahmet (the Blue Mosque), and the majesty of the blue tiles inside, called iznek tiles, made my heart stop for just a few beats. I loved walking around on my own through the streets, which were reminiscent of Cairo’s, but vastly different. The sellers of Turkish delight and other typical Turkish wares, the music, the restaurants everywhere, Turkish coffee, Turkish tea — I loved them all.

The Blue Mosque

Because I was there working, however, in Istanbul, I didn’t get so much chance to explore, but on the weekends I would take the metro and wander around Taksim, Golden Horn, or my favorite, the Old Town where the Blue Mosque was.

Because of a show I did for L’Oreal Paris, I was flown to Cyprus, along with 10-12 other models from various agencies, for a few nights. I got to walk around a little bit, but most of the time, we were rehearsing in a grand hotel and casino called Cratos Hotel & Casino, where the show took place. Afterwards we had to stay for photographs for some magazine to show off the people who were at the party.

The view from my room in Maslak

 

Flag of Istanbul waving in the breeze

Orhan Pamuk’s books capture the sense of Istanbul’s nostalgia perfectly, for it’s truly a world empire that’s crumbling and decaying.

Market fruits on the street

I am glad I got the opportunity to go to Istanbul. The beauty of the old-world city I experienced there, and the people I met, truly changed my life yet again.

More photos from Istanbul:
In front of the Blue Mosque, the Sultanahmet
Turkish lamps in a shop in Golden Horn
More Turkish lamps
Standing underneath the Turkish lamps
Walking in Taksim
Turkish delights sold by a street vendor
Embroidered pillows, rugs, hats, and souvenirs in a shop near the Hagia Sopia
The Iznik tiles inside the Blue Mosque, the Sultanahmet
View of Halig, Golden Horn, from the train as it stopped at the station
View of the Blue Mosque from the outside
After a photoshoot at Atolye Gri studio with head photographer Bora Balbey
Cty of Istanbul at night from a tower rooftop
The fountain in the square between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque

Red River Gorge, Kentucky

Clip in and climb on!

Red River Gorge is only an hour and a half – two hours away from Louisville by car, so if you’re there, it’s worth a day trip. You can hike, kayak, camp, etc. without having to climb. Since it’s a popular climbing spot, however, I’ll talk about that.

Lead climbing/top-rope climbing is one of my favorite sports, along with tennis and distance running, so after visiting the Gorge, I highly recommend it to others.

The Red River Gorge is a popular spot for lead-climbing enthusiasts to go test their skills on the real rock walls. I’ve had the pleasure of climbing here several times.
If you go to The Red, bring plenty of water, hiking shoes until you reach the pitches, some food (enough until to tide you over until the pizza at Miguel’s pizza/campsite), and if you’re looking for climbers, simply head over to Miguel’s, as that’s where most climbers camp and eat, anyway.

Other than that, bring chalk, as the sandstone is a delight to climb (it’s like velcro for your fingers and shoes), and a guide book. A lot of climbs are intermediate level (5.9-5.10 range) but a lot of them are advanced (5.11 and up) so the guide book will save you a lot of problems. Or, simply check out this website for Red River Gorge route information. Happy climbing!

All opinions are my own.