No Mafia Memorial

By Marla Laine Brown:

After five days in Istanbul, it was time to bid farewell and embark on our two hour flight to Palermo. Initially, we had rented an apartment for our stay in this Italian city. However, at the last minute, we managed to secure a tour that would allow us to explore more of the Sicilian island.

Istanbul not Constantinople

By Allan Brown and Marla Laine Brown:

In 1877, Italian writer Edmonds de Amici wrote: “Istanbul, a universal beauty where poet and archeologist, diplomat and merchant, princess and sailor, northerner and westerner scream with the same admiration.” His Constantinople travelogue, published long before the city was officially renamed Istanbul, played a significant role in shaping the perception of this unique city. 

The Accidental Tourist

By Marla Laine Brown:

I could feel an ever so slight breeze on this humid day as the café’s canopy shielded us from the setting sun. As we sat there sipping our evening coffees, we surveilled this little historic center of Málaga. Things are the same, yet different. I couldn’t quite place it. Maybe it was the tourists that drifted by as their guides directed them towards the Roman Theater while simultaneously pointing to the Alcazaba above. We used to be those people. But there is also a new police presence here and a larger homeless population than I remember. Perhaps I just never noticed. Where were all my beloved street performers?

Machu Picchu and the Lost Inca Empire

By Marla Laine Brown:

The oncoming coach could barely squeeze by as our own bus pulled closer to the edge. My thoughts of plunging down the ravine on this narrow unpaved road were undeniable. Latter I confirmed there had been fatal accidents on this stretch of the road.

As the bus continued to transverse up the numerous switchbacks, I thought of how the early explorers must have felt in their quest for this Lost Inca Empire. Thick foliage would have overtaken this abandoned city making it virtually impossible to see. Perhaps only a few indigenous people knew of its location. Or, maybe they thought its existence was only a legend.

City of Tenochtitlan

By Marla Laine Brown:

Once upon a time in the Valley of Anahuac there lived Indigenous groups who built grand temples to their gods. Then not so happily ever after in the 14th century these hunter-gatherers came to be dominated by a people known as the Mexica, otherwise known as the Aztecs.

The Aztecs had migrated to this “Land of Lakes” following their God of War Huitzilopochtli, who they believed had led them to their promised land. They erected magnificent pyramids and created islands in the middle of Lake Texcoco.

Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park

By Marla Laine Brown:

When a ship anchors offshore, a tender is used to transport passengers to the dock. This was precisely our predicament during our visit to Bar Harbor, Maine. Fortunately, our tender arrived promptly, allowing us ample time to check in for our tour and visit the nearby Walgreens.

Our planned excursion stated it would whisk us off to explore Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. Honestly, after a series of substandard tours, the “Bar” (no pun intended) was set low. So, after checking in, we wandered over to our transport vehicle, which turned out to be a brand-new luxury minibus. Ummm… are we in the right place I asked? Yes, you are, and please have a seat, the tour guide responded. Alrighty!

Good Morning Egypt!

By Marla Laine Brown:

It was nearly 5:00 AM when we awoke to a crowing rooster and shortly thereafter the Call to Prayer. This time the mesmerizing sound was different because not only could we hear the prayer from the local Mosque, but an accumulation of haunting calls from distant minarets. Our cabin was still dark as we laid awake listening to these melodies before they quietly transitioned into the clip clop sound of a man and his donkey. Good morning Egypt!…

To The Bat Cave

By Allan Brown:

You will typically regret the things you didn’t do more than the stupid things you did do. With this in mind we made another trip to Xcaret Park with the goal of doing the third and last underground river.

We got there early, as the Browns do, jumped in using our floating on our backs with our modified half-assed breast stroke technique and off we went.

Cambodia

By Marla Laine Brown:

I admit we had reservations about visiting Cambodia, a country with a tragic past. The Khmer Rouge 1975-1979 wasn’t that long ago and I felt sorrow with the realization that while I was in high school fretting over my inconsequential adolescence, the Cambodian people were being massacred and an entire culture destroyed.