When one day you decide to go trekking around the Annapurnas. When you have no fitness at all, but you somehow convince yourself it will work. It was back in 2007, when I was younger and believed there were no obstacles under the sky for me.You start the journey in Besi Sahar and, after two…
Category: route
Kyrgyzstan by night
I always had (and still have) a desire to take a good picture of the night sky. I remember all the nights when my father carried me on his shoulders as a little boy. And we would observe the stars and constellations. All those exotic names Aldebaran, Denebola, Ursa Major, Cassiopeia, the Milky Way rang…
Uncle Ray Solo
One Man Band Have you ever photographed something that seemed interesting to you at the time, and years later you realized that you had photographed a piece of history, a piece of urban legend, something that was left behind in another time?So I was walking through Fishermen’s Wharf in San Francisco back in June 2001….
Cats of Istanbul
The Aristocats American animated musical comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions was a popular film in the early 1970s. Set in Paris, the plot follows a family of aristocratic cats who are set to gain their mistress’s fortune, much to the dismay of her butler. Thrown into the countryside, the family is helped by…
Katz’s Delicatessen
Anyone who has seen the movie When Harry Met Sally should raise their hand. Well, I haven’t. But I’ve heard a lot about it. And Meg Ryan has always been my favorite.But first things first.Katz’s Delicatessen is a legendary, kosher-style (but not kosher) deli in New York City’s Lower East Side that has been serving…
Mexican Food
Do you remember when and where you first ate real Mexican food? And by that I mean Mexican, not some sub-genre, like Tex-Mex. Or even worse, some quasi-Mexican restaurant somewhere far away, in Europe or somewhere else… But first, let’s clarify what the difference is. Just briefly.Tex-Mex is a Texas-based fusion of American and Mexican…
Happy New Year 2026
Coney Island
Luna Park and Original Nathan’s Famous Frankfurters When I was a young boy, a traveling luna park came through Celje once a year. A carousel, a shooting range with balls, some tired exotic animals. And the world opened up. In our minds, we traveled to foreign lands with circus performers, observed unusual animals, foreign peoples….
Good Ale, Raw Onions, and No Ladies
McSorley’s—what can we say about this so-called institution in the East Village, NYC? So much has already been said, painted, and sung about it. And there are so many legends surrounding this Irish pub.The pub was founded by John McSorley in 1854 under the name The Old House at Home. It is considered the longest-running…
Oyster Bar at Grand Central Terminal
Whenever I came to New York, one of my first stops was Grand Central Terminal. And I always quietly walked past the Oyster Bar.Why Grand Central? Because it’s a magnificent building and it opened to great fanfare at 12:01am on Sunday, February 2, 1913. More than 150,000 visited on opening day. And as they say…