Travelling with Mercury
Mercury is the patron of travellers, so in my department he is in charge of the travel section.
You can read straight through, or simply open a post at random (Mercury is the god of luck, after all) and follow the links to earlier, later and related pieces until you have had enough.
🇦🇲Armenia — 🇧🇾Belarus — 🇪🇹Ethiopia — 🇰🇿Kazakhstan — 🇷🇺Russia — 🇷🇸Serbia — 🇹🇳Tunisia — 🇹🇷Türkiye — and everywhere else!
Hestia’s Hearth — 🇹🇷Türkiye
This is where most of the material is, so it is divided by geographical region:
Hayk’s Anvil — Eastern Anatolia
(Van, Kars, Erzurum)
A Mosque That Names Itself
Two years after the Saltukids had married their way into three neighbouring houses, they began
Four Neighbours and a Ransom
Manzikert in 1071 is conventionally filed under catastrophe: the Byzantine army broken, Anatolia opened. For
Hellespontus’ Gates — Marmara Region
(Istanbul, Bursa, Thrace)
The Candid Faces of Rome
How I adore Roman portraits! Unlike their idealised Greek counterparts, they are brimming with life—somehow
Red Gold for Young Türkiye
Following centuries of military confrontation between the Ottoman and Russian Empires, Soviet Russia and Kemalist
Pontus’ Emerald — Black Sea Region
(Trabzon)
For the Average Visitor
At the entrance to the archaeology department of the Trabzon Museum the visitor is met
Enki’s Cradle — South-Eastern Anatolia
The Upper Mesopotamia (Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa)
A Spoonful Closer to Home
Today Türkiye marks the Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day. They do rather like
Cupid and Psyche: It’s Complicated
Edessa—not, one hastens to warn, to be confused with Odessa—is the ancient name of modern Şanlıurfa,
Apollo’s Lyre — Aegean Region
(Ephesus)
The Feline Olympus
Felines rule the entirety of Türkiye. In some regions they are more numerous, in others
Dido’s Land — 🇹🇳Tunisia
A holiday trip that yielded more than expected.
Pollice verso
Here I stand, amidst the weathered stones of an ancient Carthaginian amphitheatre—the very stage where
Memento Mori
To bid farewell to the outgoing year—and good riddance to it—I’ve prepared a small selection
Boreas’ Winds — 🇷🇺Russia
Not much here—because I now live in Türkiye, and writing about it is easier: it is right at hand.
Tengri’s Steppes — 🇰🇿Kazakhstan
The Saka: People of the Great Steppe
When we speak of the great nomads of antiquity, the Scythians are usually the first
What Does the Torsyq Keep?
In the Museum of Almaty, we stumbled upon an artifact I had never heard of
Istrus’ Banks — 🇷🇸Serbia
Two Gazes, Two Childhoods
In the Gallery of Matica srpska in Novi Sad there live two small people who
The Bearable Heaviness of Being: A Wedding in Vojvodina
This is neither a dream nor a scene from an opera. It is a wedding.
Cepheus’ Kingdom — 🇪🇹Ethiopia
We got to know its capital over New Year 2026.
Dust, Blossoms, and Vintage Ladas
At first glance, Addis Ababa feels like a living page out of Peter Kidi’s lines—where
Time Is Gold
In front of the National Museum of Ethiopia stands a monument. Emperor Haile Selassie aka
Vseslav’s Forests — 🇧🇾Belarus
Only two posts so far, but every journey starts somewhere.
On Ways, Quirks and Reversed Perspective
Inscrutable, as we are so frequently reminded, are the ways of Providence. Having duly paid
No Neglect to Negliubka
I recently popped over to Minsk on business while I was in memleket. That is
Aramazd’s Gardens — 🇦🇲Armenia
Also just a little so far—but only so far, I hope.
Tainted Classics and Soviet Relics
We recently took a flight to Yerevan for the express purpose of visiting the Opera
Roadside Herms
Herms stood at crossroads—they did not lead you into a country, they simply marked that someone had passed this way. This is where places end up when they have only one post to their name, or half a post: not enough for a section of their own, but no reason to let them get lost either.
To Touch a Breath
Tashkent in January. The Museum of Arts. An exhibition of contemporary South Korean art, which
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