Category Archives: Uncategorized

July 11, 2009 · 3:19 pm

Mystery Snapshot Revealed!

Congratulations Tom H., Allison B., and Dawn R.! The mystery photo is of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. (I’m impressed!)

As an archaeology minor in college, I had quickly become familiar with its name, meaning “Holy Wisdom,” but the true impact of such a famous building doesn’t hit you until you walk through its original doors (some 1,500 years old) and look up. Only then does the color and light of a building so old become significant and real.

One of my favorite moments in Turkey was when I stood dead center on the ground floor of Hagia Sophia and looked straight up at the oculus above. No slide show in an archaeology class can elicit how exciting it is to stand in a building you once studied in a country far, far away. Obviously, not everything can be learned in a classroom…

Here are a few more photographs of the beautiful Byzantine building which, for almost 1,000 years, was the biggest cathedral in the world!

*NOTE: If you didn’t get a chance to guess the Mystery Snapshot, don’t worry! Wednesdays are now Mystery Snapshot days, so there will be plenty of opportunities to get an honorable mention. Stay-tuned!

Jesus HS

Interior HS

Blurry Oculus Under Construction

Light HS

HS Door w Orig Floor

Hagia Sophia

Side view of Hagia Sophia, with Turkish rugs and lights for sale

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July 9, 2009 · 10:22 pm

Random Shot

While wandering through a market in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, I came across an unusual combination: four ripe bananas placed nonchalantly on a pile of fresh garlic. And somehow, it works. Do you agree?

Bananas and Garlic, Zihuatanejo

Introduction

Hello everyone!

I’m Rachel, more commonly known as Tavel. Allow me to explain what “Travels with Tavel” is all about…

On the surface, this is a blog dedicated to the one feeling that I cannot seem to shake: wanderlust. It is also a celebration of how close my last name comes to spelling out the activity I am most passionate about… travel!

Below the surface, it is my dream job. The more I peruse the internet (or, even more challenging, my own soul!), the more I realize that my dream job just might not exist out there. This means one thing: I have to create it for myself.

For years, I have wanted to start a “Travels with Tavel” blog. But only recently did I ask myself, what are you waiting for? As I explore the most inconvenient and impractical of all careers — travel writing, ideally combined in some enigmatic way with helping people (and actually making money) — I have decided to take matters into my own hands.

This blog is an outlet for my aching curiosity about the world, my appreciation of its surprising colors and scents, and my inexplicable desire to write about all that traveling encourages me to feel, think, and see. (And have I mentioned I love to take photos while I travel?) All the writing and all the photographs are my work, unless otherwise specified. Hopefully, they capture some of the wander and some of the lust that keeps me from settling for anything less.

Obviously, “Travels with Tavel” is a work in progress, but I know that I want others to be a part of it. As I discover its place in the universe, I hope that this blog becomes an e-quilt of people’s quirky travel moments, beautiful photos, crazy stories, and surprising discoveries. These things, though seemingly insignificant to some, deserve to be shared, if only to appreciate them in their disarming simplicity. I want “Travels with Tavel” to have attitude, to be informative, to be silly, and perhaps most of all, to be inspiring. But for now, I’m just glad it finally exists.

For anyone experiencing the invigorating yet often inconvenient buzz of wanderlust, this blog is for you. Let’s be giddy about travel together, and let’s forget the unfortunate reality that we (ok, I) cannot possibly travel as much as we’d like to, but now you can “Travel with Tavel” wherever and whenever you want.

No longer just a daydream, welcome to my e-adventure.

-Tavel-

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July 8, 2009 · 9:10 pm