Nicholas Andriani Anthropology, Archaeology, Art, asia, Backpacking, Blogging, Culture, Hiking, history, memoir, Poetry, Sketching Sites, tbex, Travel, travel writing, Watercolor

Sketching Sights: Burma on My Mind

Before the world can truly reveal itself you must take a period of meditation. A time of reflection. To pre-game, to set a cosmic course of action by stating your intentions and making them manifest. This is the driving force behind Sketching Sights. To become one with the elements of each and every environment that strikes me. … Continue reading Sketching Sights: Burma on My Mind

Nicholas Andriani Anthropology, Art, asia, Backpacking, Blogging, City Guide, Culture, Food, foodie, gastronome, Gastronomia, Gastronomy, history, Islam, Istanbul, Jordan, Middle East, recipe, Travel, travel writing, Turkey

How To Kanafeh

This is how I discovered Kanafeh I had been in Jordan for several weeks and my love affair with Arabian sweets had reached a lofty peak. In fact, I would begin and end each day with a platter of pastries, smothered in honeys and syrups that would flood through heaps of pistachios on my plate. I had reached junkie … Continue reading How To Kanafeh

Nicholas Andriani Art, asia, Backpacking, City Guide, Culture, Europe, history, Istanbul, Middle East, Sketching Sites, Travel, travel writing, Watercolor

Sketching Sights: Galata Tower (Istanbul, Turkey)

Like a great minaret, the Galata Tower represents so much more than meets the eye. Built in 1348 as the re-imagining of an earlier structure the tower has gone from hosting inmates, as a prison, to holding great secrets as an observatory for the astrologer Takıyeddin Efendi. What's more, Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi the 17th century aviator... if you … Continue reading Sketching Sights: Galata Tower (Istanbul, Turkey)

Nicholas Andriani Anthropology, Archaeology, Art, asia, Backpacking, Blogging, City Guide, Culture, Europe, foodie, history, Istanbul, Middle East, Poetry, Sketching Sites, Travel, travel writing, Turkey, Watercolor

Sketching Sights: Istanbul, City on the Edge

The Bosphorus splits Istanbul in two parts. A rift in the madness of Europe and Asia, drifting between bodies of fresh and salt water cooling the heated passion of a most ancient urban jungle. The hot, hot, heat of human movement generates organized chaos as this great strait, this rift, cushions the blow, keeping this … Continue reading Sketching Sights: Istanbul, City on the Edge

Nicholas Andriani Art, asia, Backpacking, City Guide, history, Istanbul, Middle East, Turkey

On The Hagia Sophia

Istanbul, Turkey This is the day. When we siege the Hagia Sophia. From the rooftop of our Pension i'm fixated on the pink-ochre minarets visible just over the rooftops of our neighbors. All the while, stuffing my face on the complimentary hard-boiled egg and melon breakfast, desperate to get into the museum before the rush … Continue reading On The Hagia Sophia

Nicholas Andriani asia, Backpacking, City Guide, Culture, Food, gastronome, Gastronomia, Gastronomy, history, Istanbul, Middle East, Travel, Turkey

8765.81 days later…

Foolproof calculation suggests that I'm in fact 24 years old. 8765.81 days to be exact! Birthday celebrations always bring to mind the activities of birthdays past and the miles in between, many of which were spent among family back in Texas or as most recently over brunch with loved ones. A year ago however you … Continue reading 8765.81 days later…