We were among the twenty two passengers who left the cruise ship Wednesday morning for an intensive overnight tour of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth. We did not know any of our fellow travelers, but it was a congenial group and we enjoyed their company. As usual, the group was a mix of Americans, Brits, Canadians,…

We have this thing at home that looks like an old fashioned wooden fold-out ruler—you know, the kind of ruler/yardstick thing your parents had. I think it may be called a carpenter’s ruler. Only ours is not a ruler; it’s a timeline of the history of the world. We found it in the gift shop…

Breathtaking. There is no other word to describe it. Petra is Jordan’s treasure, its pride, its joy. Once home to thirty thousand people, this massive city arose in the high desert of Jordan in the heart of the Shara Mountains several thousand years ago, although it’s hard to get an accurate timeline for Petra’s history.…

”Midnight at the oasis—send your camel to bed—shadows painting our faces—traces—of romance in our heads!” I‘ve got an earworm. (It’s a real thing, you know!) Never had one this long before, but as soon as we stepped out of the hotel in Dubai and were welcomed to the city by the heat and sand of…