A delightful couple of hours touring the heart of the historic district in Charleston, SC.
I’ve been visiting Charleston, South Carolina for over 35 years, and yet feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface in exploring its 350-year history. Our focus while here is nearly always on family activities, and we have only rarely taken the opportunity to be tourists and tour some of the historic sights. This weekend we signed up for a walking tour of the core area of the historic district. Charleston is one of the oldest (European) cities in North America, founded over 350 years ago. Many of the earliest buildings still survive, despite two devastating wars, a citywide fire, an earthquake, and numerous hurricanes. The cobblestone streets, narrow lanes, and variety of architecture are truly breathtaking. See the gallery for a few photos of the highlights.
Every other year, our extended family gathers on a rural farm in lowcountry South Carolina outside Charleston, to celebrate Thanksgiving with family, feast, and friendly competition. My wife’s family prepares the turkey (130 pounds!) and the outdoor setting, and a hundred extended relatives bring potluck favorites … stuffing, corn pudding, collard greens, green beans, sweet potatoes, fish stew, cole slaw, and more. And the dessert table (shown)… pies and cookies and cakes galore. This year, 95 members of the family re-connect, and meet new relatives. Many huddled around the six-foot-wide diagram of the family tree to discover their relationship or to scribble in the names of new arrivals.
This year we were blessed with wonderful weather – sunshine and mild temperatures. As people finished their lunches and chatted in lawnchairs, another group set up for the skeet-shooting competition. This year, about 20 people competed, young and old, using a shotgun to shatter the clay disks as they flew away from them. It’s even harder than it looks! The old-timers taught the new-comers, some who had never shot skeet before, or perhaps had never shot a gun before. After several rounds of increasingly stiff competition, the best received the treasured felt hats – each scribbled with the winners’ names and dates going back almost five decades.
The prizes – Schiutzenfest.
Over the course of the weekend my father and I had a chance to explore Kiawah Island and Magnolia Plantation Gardens, also outside Charleston, to photograph the wildlife and scenery. Explore the photo gallery!
I was pleased to spend the past couple of days at Duke University to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of its Department of Computer Science. It was a fun opportunity to visit my PhD alma mater, to visit with some of my former professors and classmates, and to hear from some of the impressive alumni of this venerable department.
I was a student of the department from 1986-91, when it was a much smaller and younger department – less than a third of its history had passed when I arrived as a new student. During five years there I deepened my knowledge of computer science, developed into a computing professional, and formed lasting friendships with students and faculty alike. I also met my wife while there; this weekend, we toured some of our old haunts and homes in Durham and Chapel Hill; only one of our homes is still standing, and it looks exactly the same today as it did when we lived there 33 years ago. Lovely to be back!
We just returned from a lightning-fast vacation in Seattle, over Labor Day Weekend. We managed to pack into just two days some delightful meals and fascinating sight-seeing, all enhanced by some beautiful late-summer weather. Read on!
After our visits to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley, we returned to Lima for a Dartmouth Alumni event. We stayed in the beautiful Miraflores Park Belmond Hotel, overlooking the city and its coastline. Over the course of two days we had an opportunity to sample some of the gastronomic delights for which Lima is famous, and to visit some of the museums. Read on…
After leaving Machu Picchu we hopped on a train back to Cusco (Cuzco), a journey of several hours and passing through some of the most narrow ravines I’ve ever seen. In some places the train had to climb down switchbacks by going forward, backward, forward because there was no room for turns! Although we had only a few short hours in the city, it was fascinating. Read on!
Machu Picchu is one of those world-renowned, iconic locations that has long been on my bucket list. Despite having seen photos, videos, and documentaries about this marvel of Incan engineering and culture, for decades, none of those things can possibly prepare you for being there. We were fortunate to visit on a beautiful day with a chance to spend a couple of afternoon hours exploring the grounds. They did not disappoint! read on, and check out the photo gallery.
Until this year I had never been to South America. Astonishing, I know, given the amount of travel I have had the good fortune to pursue over the past forty years. Now, in just this year I have been to South America twice: in February to Buenos Aires (Argentina), albeit only for one night… and now to Peru for a nine-day visit to both Lima (on the coast) and Cusco (in the highlands). Our trip had four parts – so I will report in four posts. Our first stop was in the ‘Sacred Valley’ of the Incan civilization, outside the historic city of Cusco. There, we passed through small towns, toured some archaeological sites, enjoyed fabulous meals, and met with the delightful people of a small highland faming community. Read on!
Well, today we wrap up a fine week in Cyprus. We’re beginning our long journey home – 12 hours of flying, 5 hours of ground transportation, two 2-hour layovers and one overnight layover. Before we go, a few more observations about Paphos, about food, and other random thoughts… and of course, a gallery with a few photos and videos.
An eight-hour tour across three-thousand years of history.
For our final day in Cyprus we signed up for a bus tour to the east, along the coastline, to the city of Limassol. Along the way we were able to visit the legendary birthplace of the goddess Aphrodite, the ancient Greek acropolis of Kourion, the medieval Kolossi Castle, and the medieval Limassol Castle. We enjoyed our lunch in a breezy café beside the old harbor of Limassol city. Read on, and check out the gallery of photos.
David Kotz 