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Saudi Arabia and Beyond

Traveling to places not often visited by Americans — e.g., Saudi Arabia and India — I didn’t pretend to understand the cultures but rather let them tell me who they are.  I watched, listened, and learned and, consequently, went back to absorb more. Here’s some of what I took in.

Be sure to click/tap on photos for a closer view. And check out Ireland. Barcelona, and  New York City.

Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf region is fascinating for its spectacular opulence of magnificent mosques and ambitious commercial developments, for the implosion of multicultural people in the “oasis” cities — Riyadh, Jubail, Dubai — by the graciousness of everyone, especially Saudis, and by the love for the desert.

Want to travel to other places?

Woman half-hidden by peppers in Barcelona marketplace

Barcelona

Barcelona is an explosive visual experience of architecture, markets, and street folks, dominated by the billiant imagination of architect Antoni Gaudí whose mystifying church, La Sagrada Familia, has been under construction for over 140 years. Then there is the brilliant colors of the marketplace and the absorbing daily lives of locals.

Ireland

This is my visual take of over 150 waking hours of experiencing the contradictioins of Ireland, a landscape strewn with rocks and bogs and yet stunning beauty; a history of internal conflict and surprising reconciliation; and interminable struggles with famine, money, and dependency and yet determined problem-solving and amazing business acumen. 

 

New York+

Do cities intimidate you? Cities scared me as a kid. It still takes some confidence-building to visit a new place. But after spending time in many of the world’s biggest cities — Tokyo, Bangalore, Riyadh, San Francisco — I now know how to see, really see, and enjoy the urban experience. Here’s what I recommend for one of my favorite metropolises: NEW YORK CITY.