Kaleidoscop #culture #world #travel

KAVALA, XANTHI and the Greek Muslim community The narrow streets of the old Panagia seemed partially deserted - the only permanent and omnipresent inhabitants were the numerous cats... cars were sometimes cruising the stone labyrinth of the old town built around the walls of the Acropolis of KAVALA - the settlement was originally founded in 760 B.C. by the Ancient Greeks, and was afterwards dominated by the Romans, Byzantines and the Ottomans, who conquered the city named Neapolis in 1391. This is an ageless, timeless place taken right from the writings of the past… Perhaps from Halide Edib Adıvar novels, from the old Istanbul, or how it'scalled here, Costantinopoli… an illustration of what the entire Balkan region used to look like - now there's only Thrace, the Bulgarian Plovdiv, Koprivshitsa, and small villages at the border between Greece and Turkey that remind one of those times... The Ottoman houses in Kavala and Xanthi (as I was to see) have been restore

BACK TO #POLAND : #GDANSK No matter how much we, Eastern Europeans, would try to live up to Western expectations and absorb as much of that lifestyle as possible, there's something we cannot ignore: our roots. As a "licensed" geographer that I am, I've always believed that in order to be able to grasp the wide world, you must first get to know your own home land/region, its history and culture - that is not only the most logical, but also the most efficient approach to traveling; only then can one be ready to explore the rest of this world... Bearing that in mind, after having “combed” my own country in search of travel adventures, I first set out towards foreign cultural horizons some 15 years ago - and my first destination was exactly one of the historical neighbours: Poland. Well, I've been regularly returning ever since - why? Because the country never seizes to surprise me. And because it's the closest Eastern Europe neighbor I've got

#NewYORK & #Manhattan below 0°C It's been one month since I've last been in NEW YORK and it feels as though months had passed… naturally, that's what happens when you live with several different realities every day: time expands... The memory of my recent stay in NYC is now composed of fabulous & unconnected pieces of different puzzles impregnated with a sense of joy and inspiration. That's what I felt the first time I took a good look at a skyscraper… a crave for heights, sheer positivity - taken as literally as possible. In NYC I've always felt like home - I felt I somehow belonged there. Whether on 3rd or the 8th Ave, on Broadway, looking at the Flatiron or at the Chrysler Building, sitting on a bench near City Hall or having a cup of coffee somewhere in East Village - I've always adored contemplating and walking around that urban captivating jungle… I've never been a fan of the Stock Exchange /Wall Street area, but I’ve always