Gaia

Valhalla On Ice

Culture, Europe, History

It was a foggy June day in the year 793 A.D. when several longboats with dragon’s-head prows silently appeared out of the fog bound for the Lindisfarne monastery off the Northumbria coast. Howling like wolves, the Vikings methodically set about the business of slaughter. Some monks were killed midway through their prayers. Others were felled trying to defend their hand-lettered vellum books. Those who failed to die quickly suffered “the blood eagle,” a terminal torture in which a man’s lungs were ripped from his chest and allowed to flap like crimson wings until the screams subsided. And then, just as quickly as they had come, the Vikings disappeared into the cold gray mist of the North Sea, taking with them golden chalices, silk tapestries and intricately carved triptychs while leaving behind a legacy of fear. For the next 300 years, nobles and clergy alike ended their nightly prayers with the whispered supplication: A furore Normannorum libra nos, Domine – “From the fury of the Northmen deliver us, Oh Lord.”

Turkish coffee TGA

Turkish Coffee Enjoy!

Culture, Europe, Middle East, Travel

By Cynthia David My first Turkish coffee arrived dark and steaming hot from an electric coffeemaker at Espressolab on Istanbul’s historic Istiklal Avenue. The Espressolab had a long, curved marble bar, high ceiling beams and an Art Deco espresso machine. The 20 and 30-somethings around me chatted and sipped their cappuccinos and pumpkin spice lattes…

Oberkirch

GERMANY’S BLACK FOREST HAS MORE THAN CAKE AND CUCKOO CLOCKS

Europe, Travel

The Black Forest got its name from the Romans, who found the woods so dark and dense that they named it Silva Nigra, a “black forest” that suggested otherworldliness. After serving as Germany’s biggest source of lumber during the Industrial Revolution, the Black Forest’s 2,320 square miles have thinned to a shadow of their former impenetrability. Today, the area is a mix of forested mountains laced with river valleys, vineyards, lush meadows, streams, and towns with ubiquitous flower boxes overflowing with geraniums, says writer Beth Reiber. Measuring just 100 miles long and up to 25 miles wide, the forest is a cathedral for solitude that conveys feelings of contentment and remoteness as shafts of sunlight settle upon fern-lined pathways that spiral down from the summits past vineyards and orchards to medieval villages dating from the mists of time.

Old Town

Estonia’s Soviet Flashbacks

Europe, History

Travelers to the Baltic city of Tallinn immediately notice that Estonia is one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies. Perhaps that’s because until 1991 it, too, was occupied by Russians. To find out what life behind the Iron Curtain was like join a Soviet Flashback tour to visit an old hotel specifically built for guest surveillance and a recreated KGB command center.

cat in Gazientep

Sounds of Türkiye: Minarets and the Cats’ Meow

Asia, Culture, Europe, Middle East & Africa

The eminent archeologist was explaining how the discoveries at Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Türkiye were changing the way people understood Neolithic history. But most of my attention was directed toward an affectionate tricolor tabby posing coquettishly in the foreground of the ruins. This is a common occurrence in Türkiye, where an estimated five to 10 million cats, ranging from domesticated to feral, roam urban boulevards, lavish resorts, trendy shopping centers and country lanes. In Istanbul, you’ll find street-dwelling felines lurking in and around structures that include Byzantine cathedrals, spice markets and Ottoman palaces.