Back streets

Glimpses of the back alleys behind the harbour - it looks a lot like I imagine Greece may have done in the days before mass tourism, but it was very Turkish also. And a bit British!

Kyrenia harbour

Some shots of the harbour in Kyrenia (Girne in Turkish), on both sides of the fort (photos to some of that too!)

Water week here in Stockholm

This week is the 17th World Water Week here in Stockholm, arranged by SIWI (Stockholm International Water Institute). This event gathers a range of important global actors dealing with water issues, year after year. Judging from the media coverage, issues of climate change and of sanitation are high on the agenda this time. Also the Water Prize is awarded during the week.

Bougainvillea and other flower favourites

It is such a kick every time you get to see your favourite potted plants in lifesize versions, and with such bright colours also - I love it!

Hammam

Another old church (St George?) had become a Turkish bath. We only saw it from outside, but the dome traditionally on a hammam was missing of course - but this roof should have been cool too! But why the street level had apparently changed so over the centuries we could not figure out.

Nicosia cathedral/mosque

Nicosia's old Gothic Lusignan-built cathedral (used for crownings of medieval Frankish Cypriot kings, efter their crownings as titular kings of Jerusalem in Famagusta) was made into a mosque in Ottoman times. It was difficult to get an outside view of it in the crowded streets, and it was less impressive than it's Famagusta counterpart, but still quite nice.

Nicosia sights

Northern Nicosia (or Lefkosa, in Turkish) gave a quite impoverished and rundown impression. We didn't think to bring passports and time wasn't enough for us to even get down to the "Green Line", but the upper quarters were pretty but unkept, I guess one could say. More to come...

This nicely restored Han was among the nicest sights actually, and the whole place had potential.

Fruits growing

Apart from the vines on the terrace, the hotel garden offered bananas, figs and pomegranates!

Harry Potter

Having now read the last (latest?) book on Harry Potter during my vacation, I have to comment on it for you. First, a personal coincidence is that I read the first one also on a Mediterranean island suring a nice vacation with a friend, and the last one on a beach in Cyprus.

I liked it a lot - it ties up nicely with the previous stories and the level of lessons and horrors escalate nicely as Harry and his friends grow older and mature. An interesting feature is the struggle between good and evil and the parallels to our muggle world - but here no-one ever prevails through force alone. Being loyal and caring carries a premium and an important feature of how evil cannot win is that evil does not understand the power of goodness, love and care.

But I have to say the end disappointed me, just a bit - by being too easy, cosy and uncomplicated. When the hallmark of the books really is the many dimensions they carry and how nothing is ever quite what it seems, wasn't that a bit too good an ending?

Anyway, some links here on Harry Potter also, of course. J K Rowling has an official site of course (but when I write this it doesn't seem to have been updated since 3 days before the book release last month...). I haven't really kept up on the Internet fan-discussions ever but there seems to be no end to the forums on this and a full virtual world to explore for fans - I've found 2 here and here for starters.


And lastly two literary critics/comments on it in Swedish, both from Svenska Dagbladet: here and here.

Frangipani

We had an abundance of frangipani or temple trees, my absolutely favourite flower ever, all over the hotel area. Lovely!

Vacation view

The top two photos are of the view from our Kyrenia hotel balcony, overlooking the small cove with the beach. Very nice, isn't it!

And these 2 are of the vine-covered terrace where dinner was served in the evening - lovely in the moonlight!

Vacation me!

Photos of me are fairly rare and I am really not a photogenique type - I vastly prefer to take photos before posing myself. But here are an assortment of me... note the surprise in the top photo!

DN-galan

Yes, this is where I spent yesterday evening in a sunny Stockholm at the DN-track and field gala! Swedish race results really lifted the ambience in the audience - as usual!

Black Madonna

Black Madonnas are mostly known from the south of France but are also quite prevalent in Poland - with which Lithuania has a long historical association. This one is from Vilnius, in a chapel near the city wall, overlooking a small street from above.

City bus

Vilnius has these cool electric city buses - I don't even know what they're called in English... Trolleybus?

Foreign policy days

Both Dagens Nyheter and Swedish radio have foreign policy theme days in the coming week, where you can meet their foreign correspondents.

Teaser

Just for the hoots ;-) of it - a brief look at Istanbul and at Kyrenia!

Bernadino

A very pretty medieval church - some a little blurry indoor shots and some very nice outdoor ones.

Back in business!

My computer is now up and running again so photos soon to come! I'll not confuse the chronology though and so go back to the last June photos from Vilnius first...

In the meantime, some reading links:

ICG has a new report on Gaza, warning the world for the consequences of seeing (too) positively on viewing the Palestinian rift positively for a renewed peace process.

A short MERIP followup on the Turkish elections.

Some comments on the morality crackdown in Iran, on clothes and parties.

And Newsweek on the booming development in the Gulf. The following 2 links are Newsweeks Internet-extra-material, on Abu Dhabi labour sources and on Sharjah's thwarted cultural bid.

Finally, MERIP also on Dubai.

And some travel tips in Turkey from the English-language Zaman: on Ishak Pasha's Palace near Mt Ararat and on lesser-known Istanbul favourites (even if some of them will be familiar to you through this blog!).

BBC on Alexander the Great's Kuwaiti legacy!

Thank you Carpet-blogger for this piece on a rundown Istanbul neighbourhood, but with both human and cultural potential.

Another photography volume...

... that I have glimpsed at lately is this - it even comes with a complimentary CD-rom (hopefully of photos).

Photo book recommendation

Lacking photos of my own right now, I will instead share this recommendation with you:


A magnificent-looking volume of early photos from Mediterranean historical sites. Click the photo and come to the amazon.co.uk purchasing page for it!

Spirit and Life

I really would like to see and want to encourage those of you who have the chance to visit London to go see the Spirit and Life exhibition on Islamic art over the centuries at the Ismaili Centre (Aga Khan Foundation). Here is an article from the BBC on it.

Back to posting

I've been away from the internet for over a week know and my computer needs intensive care - so I'm not sure when I can show you photos of what I've been up to! :-( I still have photos from Lithuania in June to show and since I've been briefly to Istanbul, and perhaps more notably on a week's vacation to a country that doesn't really exist - we spent time outside Kyrenia/Girne in Turkish north Cyprus... a very beautiful but vaguely unreal place. And the fact that we are cut off from some lovely examples (mainly architectural) of European cultural heritage present there is very saddening.

I'll keep up the web presence by posting links and books though - I promise. And I will post photos again as soon as I can...

For now, I'll give you a brief reflection of the meaning and importance of Turkish names, from Svenska Dagbladet...