Columns

by Julie Skurdenis (Second of three parts)

The following describes the middle part of an odyssey that began in Sidi Bou Said, a suburb of Tunis, capital of Tunisia, and at the nearby archaeological site of Carthage.

During the first seven days of our 22-night private guided trip, my husband, Paul, and I visited seven archaeological sites (three of them UNESCO World Heritage Sites) plus the picture-postcard village of Sidi Bou Said, overlooking the Gulf of Tunis; the world-famous Bardo museum; the Medina of Tunis; the mountains and cork oak forests of northwestern Tunisia...

The Kingdom of Jordan may not have the oil wealth of its Middle East neighbors to its east. It does, however, have wonderful art and historical riches available now for ordinary travelers to view in this troubled area. Petra is certainly Jordan’s crown jewel and a must for every tourist, but, having gone that far, travelers shouldn’t bypass Jerash, Madaba (July ’99, pg. 146) and Jordan’s capital, Amman. To these treasures, we’d add another site.

Several years ago, due to airline schedules, my wife, Moreen, and I arrived in Amman two days before our tour began. Instead of staying in...

by Julie Skurdenis

Coudenberg was one of the most important palaces of its time, comparable to the great royal residences in other European countries. On a hill overlooking Brussels, the Dukes of Brabant built a small castle in the 11th century. By 1250 that castle had become their main ducal residence as Brussels emerged as the political center of Brabant in what is now Belgium.

As the power of the dukes grew, especially after Philip the Good inherited Burgundy, so did their castle, gradually becoming transformed from a fortified residence into a palatial one. Philip the...