The Orient Express

PRAGUE

2007-11-20T14:14:00.000-08:00

Bohemia, Czech Republic

VIEW FROM CHARLES BRIDGE
Construction of the Charles Bridge began at 5:31 AM on July 9, 1357. Enumerated, the year, day, month, hour, and minute appear: 135797531. This palindromic sequence of ascending (and descending) odd digits is carved out on the Old Town bridge tower.

TYN CATHEDRAL, OLD TOWN SQUARE
Tyn Cathedral was built in the late 14th century; its roof was completed in the 1450s.

CHURCH OF ST. NICHOLAS, OLD TOWN SQUARE
This Baroque church was built between 1732 and 1735.

KAFKA MUSEUM

“‘It’s a peculiar apparatus,’ said the Officer to the Traveler, gazing with a certain admiration at the device, with which he was, of course, thoroughly familiar.”
--Franz Kafka, In the Penal Colony

ENTRANCE TO PRAGUE CASTLE
Welcome!

CHARLES BRIDGE AT NIGHT

BERLIN

2007-11-18T12:20:00.001-08:00

Berlin, Germany (2006)

KAISER WILHELM MEMORIAL CHURCH
Built between 1891 and 1895. Destroyed during British RAF Bombing in 1943.

BRANDENBURG GATE
Commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II, and built between 1788 and 1791.

NEUE NATIONALGALERIE
Modern art museum. Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, opened in 1968.

REICHSTAG
Opened in 1894. Burned down in 1933. Rebuilt between 1961 and 1964. Wrapped by Christo in 1995. Reconstructed between 1995 and 1999. Current home to German Parliament.

WRAPPED REICHSTAG (1995)
In 1995, Christo and Jean-Claude wrapped the Reichstag in 1,076,000 square feet of polypropylene fabric. The artists struggled for 24 years to gain approval for this project. The building remained wrapped for 14 days. For more information and additional photos, click here.

Photo credit: Wolfgang Volz. ©1995 Christo.

BREMEN

2007-11-18T12:19:00.001-08:00

Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, Germany (2006)

BREMER RATHAUS.
The old town hall was built between 1405 and 1409. The facade shown here was reconstructed between 1595 and 1612. During World War II, more than half of Bremen was destroyed by bombs. Citizens of Bremen protected the Rathaus by boarding up the outer walls.

TOWN MUSICIANS OF BREMEN
Based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.

DRESDEN

2007-11-18T10:05:00.001-08:00

Saxony, Germany (2006)

Dresden was founded in 1206, by Dietrich the Oppressed. In 2006, The city celebrated its 800th birthday.

HOFKIRCHE
Built between 1738 and 1751, The Hofkirche was severely damaged during the 1945 firebombing of Dresden. It was restored in the mid 1980s.

DRESDEN IN 1900

DRESDEN IN 1945
Between February 13 and February 15, 1945, Dresden was firebombed by the Royal Air Force and the United States Air Force, leaving the entire city in ruins.

"I really did go back to Dresden with Guggenheim money (God love it) in 1967. It looked a lot like Dayton, Ohio, more open spaces than Dayton has. There must be tons of human bone meal in the ground."
--Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five

Photo credit: Ruins of Dresden by Richard Peter, 1945.

HAMBURG

2007-11-18T09:09:00.000-08:00

Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany (2006)

BRIDGE, ST. KATHERINEN CHURCH
St. Katherinen dates back to 1256. The Baroque spire seen here was built in 1657. The church was all but destroyed in a 1943 air raid, and was restored between 1950 and 1957. Hamburg has more than 2,300 bridges--almost twice as many as Amsterdam (1,200).

HAMBURGER RATHAUS
City Hall, built between 1886 and 1897. Currently houses Hamburg's senate and parliament.

RATHAUS (INTERIOR)

HEINRICH HERTZ TELEVISION TOWER
Built between 1965 and 1968, this is the tallest building in Hamburg.

ANNECY

2007-11-17T19:25:00.000-08:00

Rhône-Alpes, France (2005)

ISTANBUL

2007-09-29T07:52:00.000-07:00

Istanbul, Turkey (2007)

FIRST VIEWS OF THE CITY:

BLUE MOSQUE:

The Blue Mosque (formally Sultan Ahmet Mosque) was built between 1609 and 1616 during the rule of Ahmet I.

RAMADAN:

HAGIA SOPHIA:

Hagia Sophia (Turkish: Aya Sofya) was built as an Eastern Orthodox basillica between 532 and 537 under the jurisdiction of Byzantine Emperor Justinian. Sultan Mehmet II promptly converted it into a mosque, following the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Then, in 1935, the newly founded Republic of Turkey converted the Hagia Sophia into a museum. How Western of them.

All of Paris' Notre Dame could fit inside this dome. And the Statue of Liberty could do jumping jacks here.

GRAND BAZAAR:

The Grand Bazaar contains 4,000 shops. It was built between 1455 and 1461 (shortly after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople).

ORIENT EXPRESS:

Cafe at Sirkeci Train Station, terminus of Orient Express.

STREETS:

GALATA BRIDGE:

FISH MARKET:

FISH RESTAURANT:

HARDWARE BAZAAR:

OCCIDENT:

ORIENT:

LITTLE HAGIA SOPHIA:

The Little Hagia Sophia was built in 527 as a model for the large Hagia Sophia.

SEA OF MARMARA (as seen from roof of my hotel):

BOSPHORUS CRUISE:

Bosphorus Bridge, built 1973. The first bridge to span two continents.

Rumeli Fortress. Built by Mehmet II in 1452, a year before he seized Constantinople.

Rumeli Kavagi. Fishing Village on the Bosphorus.

Anadolu Kavagi. Another fishing village on the Bosphorus.

Yoros Castle, built to protect the Bosphorus.

Mouth of the Black Sea as seen from Yoros Castle. This is where Jason and the Argonauts encountered the clashing rocks. Remember? They released a dove to guide the way.

MOSQUE OF SÜLEYMAN THE MAGNIFICENT:

Completed in 1557, the Süleymaniye Mosque was designed by the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan.

View of the Bosphorus from Süleymaniye.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM:

Tiled Kiosk.

They recently started digging a tunnel under the Bosphorus to accommodate a new subway line, and they discovered all kinds of very old artifacts. They're still sorting them out. These crates are filled with chipped up ceramics.

A segment of the chain used by the Byzantines in the 1450s to protect the entrance to the Golden Horn from Ottoman invaders. It didn't work.

Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great.

SPICE MARKET:

ISTANBUL AT NIGHT: