Time Keeper

Time Keeper

Sarajevo Rose

Boy and pigeons against the backdrop of Sebilj, Baščaršija, Sarajevo

It was 1993. Our dorm in India had just installed a 10 foot satellite dish to catch the US cable channels and it was welcome change from the 1.5 channels of State run Doordarshan and it’s melancholia. CNN had just become…

An Austro-Hungarian State of Mind

Sunset across the old town and city walls of Dubrovnik, Croatia

Our experience with Ottoman (Turkish) flags in Bosnia left us a little curious about the leanings of the people of Croatia and other Yugoslav states. Were people happier in modern day states? Did they prefer the erstwhile state of Yugoslavia?…

An Ottoman State of Mind

Sign of "Don't Forget", a carpet and souvenir vendor in Mostar

The tourist season had not begun yet in Mostar, and there were a sprinkling of mostly eastern European tourists getting a head start on their vacation. As we were wandering around the Kriva Cuprija, or the crooked bridge – that…

A diamond is for a Moment

The (diamond) ring is fleeting

A few years ago, we drove 4 hours to Chico, California, to witness our first (technically, second, but I was too young to remember the first one) solar eclipse. That was an annular – where the Moon does align completely…

Marketing in Paradise

Town of Perast along the Bay of Kotor, at dusk

What do you sell when you are already in Paradise? As we crossed over the dry high plateau that covered most of the Republic of Srpska into Montenegro, all we encountered was an hour long wait, with none of the…

Welcome to Bosnia, Mr. Trump

The Ottoman Old Bridge (or Stari Most) across the Neretva River in Mostar

We left the hip town of Split quite early in the morning, and hurriedly drove to the Croatia-Bosnia border. I wanted to cross the border, drive through the town of Pocitelj and reach Mostar well before sundown. It was as…

Rovinj to Goa

The town of Rovinj floating in the Adriatic at dusk

Our last evening in Istria was spent wandering around the artistic and beautiful streets of Rovinj, slowly making our way up the narrow alleys to the top where the Church of St. Euphemia stood with its imposing bell tower modeled…

The Crow and the Egret

Matsumoto (Crow) castle on a freezing December night, Japan

Photolocations: [36.239098, 137.968744] and [34.839906, 134.693582] There are 3 premier castles in Japan – all UNESCO World Heritage sites – Kumamoto, Himeji and Matsumoto. From what we had seen in Google Maps, Google Images and 500px, the two castles definitely…