Sicily, man-made and natural wonders: impressions from short three-day trip

Sicily is significantly different from northern Italy, mostly because of the organizational “chaos”, definitely fitting into the climate of southern Europe. However, during my short three-day trip I focused on visiting the most interesting aspects of the island: architectural monuments and natural wonders, e.g. Etna. Palermo is the biggest city of the island. The cathedral,…

Albania… What? (part 1)

14-16/05/2021 Tirana – Shkodër Our plane has arrived at Tirana very late, after midnight, so our first ride on the streets and main road from the airport, were not at all representative. Because we really thought that the roads in Albania are empty. In fact Albanian roads are always plenty of everything!!!! Not only of…

Tokyo – Asakusa. Where sacred meets profane

Asakusa, is situated at north-east side of Sumida river; also called by shitamachi which means “downtown”, in opposition to yamanote so the east part of Tokyo, or “low city,” because of its position to Sumida river. During Edo period (1600-1867) a former red light district (Yoshiwara) was created here in order to limit the practice…

Mysterious Virpazar. Montenegro. Lake Skadar.

In such a small village like Virpazar, which population in 2011 was around 300 inhabitants in total, you are not expecting to see such a variety of different professions and talents. However this lovely town can be proud of its local artists and artisans. One of them is Ljilja who is producing by herself very…

Lake Skadar (only images)

Sometimes the words are unnecessary, cause the place is talking to you in its own language (all photos: ©AS, 2020)

Budva Riviera …”I have shored against my ruins”

“I have shored against my ruins”, wrote T.S. Eliot in “The Waste Land”, suggesting that the only way to salvation from the chaos of modernity (and I would add, from any other kind of chaos, such as chaos of information, that we experience everyday), is through necessary confrontation with the labirynth of fragments and ruins…