The Wheel: Travel

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Adega Marchada, which according to Google, is a "nightspot dating back to 1937 for fado music & local dishes, filled with historic photos & art." It made for a great night out in Lisbon.

According to "Wikipedia, "Fado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins...Fado is commonly regarded as simply a form of song which can be about anything, but must follow a certain traditional structure. In popular belief, fado is a form of music characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor, and infused with a sense of resignation, fate and melancholy."

"Songs of sea and loss.
Echo through the candlelight.
Lisbon after dark."
— h/t ChatGPT

Saturday, September 5, 2026

POTD: Christmas in Lisbon

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Praça do Comércio (Commerce Square) in Lisbon, Portugal. According to Wikipedia, it's "a large, harbour-facing plaza in Portugal's capital, Lisbon, and is one of the largest in Portugal, with an area of 175 by 175 m. Facing the Tagus river to the south, the square hosted Ribeira Palace, the King of Portugal's residence, until the latter was destroyed by the great 1755 Lisbon earthquake." (a tragedy that separates before and after in the city's history in many ways).

"Beneath winter stars
The great square faces the sea.
Christmas comes to Lisbon."
— h/t ChatGPT

Sunday, August 30, 2026

POTD: My Favorite Thing to Eat

Roasted chestnuts. Not really. But that's the judgment of Caterina, "a pround Portuguese blogger." According to her, "they're a delicious treat served roasted in special portable ovens in the streets of Portugal. They’re called castanhas assadas and I'm not exaggerating when I say this is my favorite thing in the whole world to eat."

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Lisbon during Christmas season. It shows one vendor selling chestnuts roasted on an open fire. Sadly, in America, the chestnut blight killed billions of American chestnut trees in the 20th century. In Europe, however, the tradition is still going strong on the streets of Lisbon (and elsewhere), not only just in song.

"Hot coals glow at dusk.
Chestnuts crackle in the cold.
The song comes alive."
— h/t ChatGPT

Saturday, August 29, 2026

POTD: Rossio

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the King Pedro IV Square in Lisbon, Portugal. According to Wikipedia, "The King Pedro IV Square, popularly known as Rossio, is a square in the Pombaline Downtown of Lisbon, Portugal. It has been one of its main squares since the Middle Ages. It has been the setting of popular revolts and celebrations, bullfights and executions, and is now a preferred meeting place of Lisbon natives and tourists alike."

Most buildings date from the reconstruction of the downtown carried out after the great 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which levelled most structures in the area. The earthquake shook European thought and literature, challenging the belief that everything happens for the best and prompting new debates about suffering, God, and the apparent indifference of nature. Voltaire famously responded by writing his satirical novel Candide to expose the gap between philosophical platitudes and real human suffering.

For us, the Rossio was just a big, beautiful plaza with the coolest cobblestone pattern that will always remind me of Lisbon.

"Waves beneath our feet
Where kings, rebels, crowds once gathered,
Crowds fill the old square."
— h/t ChatGPT

Sunday, August 23, 2026

POTD: Jerónimos Monastery

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, Portugal. According to Wikipedia, "The Jerónimos Monastery is one of the most prominent examples of the late Portuguese Gothic Manueline style of architecture in Lisbon. It was erected in the early 1500s near the launch point of Vasco da Gama's first journey, and its construction funded by a tax on the profits of the yearly Portuguese India Armadas. [Think of that as a tax on billionaires.] In 1880, da Gama's remains and those of the poet Luís de Camões (who celebrated da Gama's first voyage in his 1572 epic poem The Lusiad), were moved to new carved tombs in the nave of the monastery's church, only a few meters away from the tombs of the kings Manuel I and John III, whom da Gama had served."

"Da Gama rests here
Beside kings who sent him forth.
Untold wealth returned."
— h/t ChatGPT

Saturday, August 22, 2026

POTD: Lisboa

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Lisbon, Portugal, first stop on our New Year's trip this year whose highlight was a river cruise of Portugal's Douro River.

"New year, ancient town.
With streets washed in winter rain,
Lisbon wakes anew."
— h/t ChatGPT

Sunday, August 16, 2026

POTD: Uzbek Miscellany

Today's photo-of-the-day is of miscellany from Uzbekistan. First, a sign for a public restroom. Next, a fast food place. Last, a common sight along the highways — storks nesting on power poles, chimneys, or any tall extension offering safety for nests.

Bonus photos are after the jump.

POTD: Shah-i-Zindi Necropolis

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Shah-i-Zindi Necropolis in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. According to Wikipedia, the Shah-i-Zinda complex was formed over eight centuries, starting in the 11th century, and includes more than twenty mausoleums and other ritual buildings. "The name Shah-i-Zinda is connected with the legend that Qutham ibn Abbas, a cousin of Muhammad, is buried here. He came to Samarkand with the Arab invasion in the 7th century to preach Islam. According to one legend, he was decapitated during prayer, picked up his severed head, and walked to the deep well known as the Garden of Paradise, where he resides to this day."

Well, OK then. It's an impressive cemetery even without the legend.

A bonus photo is after the jump.

POTD: Street Food in Samarkand

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken on the street outside the Observatory of Ulugh Beg in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. According to Wikipedia, "Ulugh Beg, the son of Shah Rukh and grandson of Amir Timur, became the ruler of Samarkand in the 15th century AD. Ulugh Beg was very skilled in mathematics and astronomy...[The observatory] could accurately measure the sun from the horizon, the altitude of a star and other planets. The duration of the year, period of planets, and eclipses were measured by this device. Ulugh Beg's measurements of planets closely relate to today's measurement."

Oh, the photo. It shows, not a model of Saturn's rings, but freshly baked bread offered by a street vendor outside the observatory.

A bonus photo of the observatory itself is after the jump.

POTD: Madrasa Interior

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the interior of the Tilakari Madrasa in Samarkand, Uzbekistan's Registan Square. It was built between 1646 and 1660. According to Wikipedia, "The Tilakari Madrasa is widely regarded as a masterpiece of Timurid architecture, a tradition deeply rooted in the Persianate architectural and artistic legacy that dominated Central Asia during the 14th-17th centuries...The madrasa reflects the refined aesthetics developed in Iran, Khurasan, and Transoxiana, where Persian cultural and artistic norms shaped the visual identity of the Timurid Empire."

"Samarkand still glows;
A thousand careful details
Defying the years."
— h/t ChatGPT

Sunday, August 2, 2026

POTD: Mausoleum of Tamerlane

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at the Mausoleum of Tamerlane in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. According to Wikipedia, "Timur (c. 1320s—1405), also known as Tamerlane, was a Turco-Mongol conqueror, first ruler of the Timurid dynasty, and the founder of the Timurid Empire, which ruled over modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia. He was undefeated in battle and is widely regarded as one of the greatest military leaders and tacticians in history, as well as one of the most brutal and deadly. Timur is also considered a great patron of the arts."

Surprisinly, this photo is not of his mausoleum. It's only the gate that leads to his mausoleum, which becomes visible after you walk through the gate. The photo of his actual mausoleum is after the jump.

POTD: Waiting for the Caravan

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at Registan Square in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It shows a wooden bench outside one of the madrasahs, where "L" sits at peace in a city older than time.

Bonus photos are after the jump.

POTD: Fashion Sense in Samarkand

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at Registan Square in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It shows two women very fashionably dressed and posing for a photographer. For what reason, we didn't learn. We just snapped our own photos.

Bonus photos are after the jump.

POTD: Registan Square, Samarkand

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at Registan Square in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. According to Wikipedia, it's "a historic public square [that] served as the heart of the Timurid Empire and later as the city's commercial, educational, and ceremonial center. The square is famed for its ensemble of three madrasas which together represent some of the finest achievements of Islamic architecture in Central Asia. Renowned for its soaring iwans, turquoise domes, intricate mosaic tilework, and geometric ornamentation, Registan is considered one of the greatest examples of Timurid and Persian-influenced architecture."

We visited the square twice, once during the day and again at night when it's the subject of a sound-and-light show.

Bonus photos are after the jump.

POTD: Uzbek Fashion Show

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in the courtyard of the Nadir Devanbegi Madrasah in the old city of Bukhara, Uzbekistan. A fashion show accompanied dinner.

"Ancient school at dusk.
Silk glides where scholars once walked.
Tonight, color speaks."
— h/t ChatGPT

Saturday, July 18, 2026

POTD: Uzbek Women

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at the Bahouddin Naqshband Memorial Complex outside Bukhara, Uzbekistan. According to Wikipedia, this complex "includes the tomb of Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari, the founder of the Naqshbandi order, who died in 1389... It has een a place of pilgrimage for many generations... During the time of the Soviets, it was forbidden to visit the grave here."

Out of respect, visitors to the site wear modest clothing. Still, that leaves a lot of flexibility in clothing style.

"A saint rests nearby,
while bright scarves catch morning light"
along the pathway."
— h/t ChatGPT

Sunday, July 12, 2026

POTD: The Ghosts of the Silk Road in Old Viewfinders

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken on the street in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, where a pile of old binoculars and cameras was spread carelessly on a table. I wondered about all the images that appeared through their lenses in the years and decades gone by. And whose eyes had framed those images.

"A faded minaret—
the tourist who framed the shot
has faded as well."
— h/t ChatGPT

Saturday, July 11, 2026

POTD: Bolo Hauz Mosque

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Bolo Hauz Mosque in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. According to Asian Historical Architecture, the mosque "stands opposite the Ark Fortress... Its name means 'above the pool', referring to the octagonal hauz, or artificial pond, located directly in front of it Begun in 1712, early in the reign of Abu'l-Faiz Khan (r. 1711-47), it is one of the last and finest of Bukhara's major buildings prior to the modern era."

"Pool mirrors the sky.
Carved wooden columns shimmer.
Ark watches silently."
— h/t ChatGPT

Sunday, July 5, 2026

POTD: Kalyan Minaret

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Kalyan Minaret in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. The minaret was built in 1127. According to Wikipedia, "About a hundred years after its construction, legend has it that the tower so impressed Genghis Khan that he ordered it to be spared when all around was destroyed by his men." The Mongols likely spared it because its height made it an incredibly valuable watchtower. "It is also known as the Tower of Death, because until as recently as the early twentieth century criminals were executed by being thrown from the top."

"Genghis spared the bricks.
Nine hundred years later on,
The story survives."
— h/t ChatGPT

Saturday, July 4, 2026

POTD: A Living City on the Silk Road