the bitchy byzantinist

Göreme Valley Church Complex (7th-14thc )

June 2011

Peru - Cuzco, Lunahuaná, Machu Picchu

(March 2009)

I’ve been everywhere. You’d think after traveling internationally since infancy you’d get immune to the awe of it all.

Peru is one of those places that stayed with me for the long-haul. It’s been two years and I can still smell the spicy fry bread in the mercados, feel the icy winds upon my face from atop Machu Picchu, and hear the rusty looms as Quechua women effortlessly weave colorful tapestries. There was a great sense of calm in the Peruvian Andes, but also one of grandeur, (if that makes sense). Though I’ve travelled to every place significant to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism Peru was the only place where I felt the presence of something magnanimous, something I could describe as… well, “God”. Everything slowed down and made sense in its simplest form. My neurotic self was finally silenced. And I often caught myself smiling for no apparent reason. 

Then again, Peru is also where I first tried ayahuasca, so that might have had something to do with the spiritual enlightenment.

The Many Uses of the Vatican…

(Rome, August 2010)

I arrived in my old friend Rome after a rather troublesome trip to France. Trust me, after climbing 320 stone steps through the narrow, spiraling passageways in the walls of the Cupola atop St. Peter’s Basilica (in August!), you’ll get over anything that’s bothering you really quick.