The Great History Travel Blog

Truffle Hunting (Umbria, Italy)

2010-10-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

Truffles have been called, the “diamonds of the kitchen.” These edible fungi that only grow underground are highly prized because of their ability to enhance the taste of food.

A favorite in ancient times, the truffle was “lost” during the Middle Ages, only to be re-discovered during the Renaissance.

Truffles are extraordinarily expensive because they can only be harvested by specially trained pigs (or more recently truffle hunting dogs). In 1825 the epicure Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin noted that truffles were so expensive that they were found only at the dinner tables of great nobles and kept women.

Truffle hunting trip in Italy:
http://www.love-umbria.com/custom-tours_26.html

Santa Anna's Missing Legs

2010-08-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna has long been vilified in American history for the massacre of the defenders of the Alamo. The flamboyant Santa Anna had an on-again-off-again relationship with the Mexican people during the course of a forty year career during which he served as President of Mexico on eleven non-consecutive occasions.

During one of his more popular cycles, Santa Anna became a heo to the Mexican people for resisting French forces that landed in Mexico to collect debts owed to French citizens. In the ensuing battle Santa Anna lost a leg and subsequently used a cork leg, and on occasion a simpler wooden peg leg. Both of these legs were captured by the 4th Illinois Infantry during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) in a surprise attack which sent Santa Anna galloping away without them.

Both legs are now on display. The cork leg pictured below is on display at the Illinois State Military Museum, 1301 N. MacArthur Blvd, Springfield, IL. The peg leg is on display at the Oglesby Mansion, 421 West William St., Decatur, IL.

Potomac River Blockade (Civil War Travel)

2010-04-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

In the hazy light of a hot summer morning you can see the rippling shoreline of Maryland from the abandoned Confederate gun emplacements. Even before Virginia became part of the Confederacy, Northern Virginians realized the opportunity they had to “strangle” Washington by erecting land batteries on prominent points along the Potomac. The decision to do so was finally reached in August 1861, while the Union Army lay paralyzed after its defeat on July 21, 1861 at Manassas in the first major land engagement of the war. A strong battery was built at Evansport, at the mouth of Quantico Creek, some thirty five miles south of Washington, on what is today the Quantico Marine Corps Base. Smaller batteries were erected at Possum Nose and Freestone Point, also in Prince William County. In all, there were thirty seven heavy guns placed along the river supported by five infantry regiments. The Confederates also used a captured steamer, the C.S.S. City of Richmond, berthed in Quantico Creek, to terrorize smaller craft on the river.

The Confederate blockade was so successful during the fall and winter of 1861-1862 that a foreign correspondent reported that Washington was the only city in the United States which really was blockaded.

Some evidence of the blockade still exists. A restored site can be seen at Freestone Point in Leesylvania State Park.

Largest Collection of Civil War Graffiti

2010-04-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

As fighting surged across Northern Virginia during the four years of the American Civil War, many curious reminders were left behind for future generations to ponder. Near the City of Fairfax, for example, the historic mansion “Blenheim” boasts the largest collection of Civil War graffiti in the nation. Blenheim was a new and luxurious home at the beginning of the war, having just been completed in 1859. During the course of the war the Union army occupied the property on three separate occasions, with at least twenty two different regiments of the Union Army using the house at one point or another. For almost a year Blenheim was used as a convalescent hospital. The Union soldiers passing through Blenheim left a "diary on walls" providing insight into typical soldier life during the Civil War. One soldier from 4th New York Cavalry wrote along the walls of a staircase,

“First month’s hard bread, hard on stomach.”

“Second month, pay day. Patriotic-hic Ale. How we suffer for lager.”

“Fourth month: no money, no whiskey, no friends, no rations, no peas, no beans, no pants, no patriotism.”

Historic Northern Virginia

2010-02-21T14:03:00.000-08:00

Northern Virginia is Washington, D.C.’s front porch, and while the history of the entire nation has been made in Washington, Northern Virginia has a rich regional history flowing from its connection to the capital. For example, there would be no Washington, D.C., if General George Washington had not lived in nearby Mount Vernon, Virginia.

Included here are the often-overlooked stories of Northern Virginia from colonial to modern times—stories such as the Rebel blockade of the Potomac River, the imprisonment of German POWs at super-secret Fort Hunt during World War II and the building of the Pentagon on the same site and in the same configuration as Civil War–era Fort Runyon. And then there are the people—Alexandria-hometown boy Robert E. Lee, Annandale’s “bunny man” who inspired one of the wildest and scariest urban legend, slaves in Alexandria’s notorious slave pens, suffragists dragged from in front of the White House and imprisoned in the Occoquan Workhouse and many other folks who have left their imprints on the region and the nation.

Murder at Montpelier, Virginia ??

2010-02-15T14:47:00.000-08:00

In February 1732, thirty six year old Ambrose Madison, the grandfather of future U.S. President James Madison, brought his wife, Frances and his three children, to an estate called Mount Pleasant (now known as Montpelier). Six months later, Ambrose Madison was dead. In the early summer, Ambrose fell ill. Poisoning was suspected. Like most poisoning victims during this period, the poison did not kill him outright, but caused enough internal damage that he lingered near death for weeks, finally dying in late August. Madison left what was regarded at the time as a “considerable estate” including “ten negro men, five negro women, and fourteen children”, along with cattle, hogs, sheep, horses, twelve books and four silver tea spoons.

Did Ambrose Madison die of accidental poisoning or was he murdered? His death marked a milestone in the annals of Virginia crime for it occasioned the first known conviction of slaves for the use of poison against their master.

Visit hisotric Montpelier

The Transmigration of Souls, The River Ganges, India

2010-02-13T14:03:00.000-08:00

"Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be. As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change".

(Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, texts 12-13)

The Ganges 1931

The Ganges Today

Legal Moonshine, Virginia

2010-02-04T15:52:00.000-08:00

After the American Revolution, the new federal government faced the problem of paying off the national debt incurred in fighting the war, and of generally paying its ongoing bills. Among other things, a new federal tax was imposed on liquors and spirits. People were not pleased. Several hundred were so angry about the new tax that they openly rebelled, threatening an attack on Pittsburgh. President George Washington personally led an army of thirteen thousand which crushed the so called Whiskey Rebellion.

Resistance to the tax went underground. Farmers, especially in Kentucky, Virginia and the Carolinas could survive a bad year by turning their corn into profitable whiskey. Small stills sprang up and were operated at night by the light of the moon (hence the name “moonshining”). The ongoing battle between moonshiners and federal revenue agents became legendary throughout the South.

On January 29, 1919 the Eighteenth Amendment to the Untied States Constitution was ratified and one year later on January 17, 1920, in accordance with the provisions of the implementing law, America went dry. Moonshiners were delighted to find that prohibition furnished a large market for their product. It was colorless, it looked like water, and it was often one hundred proof. High school boys, flaunting the law, went out into the woods, met moonshiners, and then brought a pint of moonshine to the school dance. More staid citizens were able to get a prescription from the family doctor for a bottle of liquor. Local drug stores stocked pints of scotch and bourbon for medicinal use.

By 1932 most in the country were ready to repeal Prohibition. The promised benefits, such as the elimination of crime, never emerged. In fact things got worse as the growth of organized criminal gangs produced just the opposite result. In the 1932 presidential election, Franklin Roosevelt promised to end Prohibition. Prohibition was overturned at the national level by the 21st amendment to the U.S. Constitution. As America became more urbanized moonshining largely died out, but is still even now practiced in remoter rural areas.

Belmont Farms Distillery in Culpeper, Virginia operates the only legal moonshine operation in the state of Virginia, producing “Virginia Lightning” from an original family recipe. Tours of the distillery are available and moonshine can be purchased on the premises.

The Legend of the Female Stranger: Alexandria, Virginia

2010-02-02T12:02:00.000-08:00

Link to: The Female Stranger (A Colonial Detective Mystery)

The disappearance of Theodosia Burr Alston, the daughter of disgraced U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr, is one of history’s continuing mysteries.

In December 1812 Theodosia boarded the schooner Patriot bound from South Carolina to New York. Neither Theodosia nor anyone onboard the Patriot was ever heard from again. Legend has surrounded her disappearance ever since, including tales that: (1) she was captured by pirates and became the mistress of a pirate captain; (2) she was made to “walk the plank” by the pirate Dominique Youx; (3) she was discovered by a Karankawa Indian chief on the Texas Gulf Coast in the hulk of a wrecked ship but died before she could be returned to civilization;and (4) Theodosia Burr Alston may have been the Mysterious Female Stranger who died in Alexandria at Gadsby's Tavern on October 14, 1816. The Female Stranger was buried in St. Paul's Cemetery with a gravestone inscription:

To the Memory of a
FEMALE STRANGER
whose mortal sufferings terminated
on the 14th day of October 1816
Aged 23 years and 8 months.
This stone is placed here by her disconsolate
Husband in whose arms she sighed out her
latest breath and who under God
did his utmost even to soothe the cold
dead ear of death.
How loved how valued once avails thee not
To whom related or by whom begot
A heap of dust alone remains of thee
Tis all thou art and all the proud shall be
To him gave all the Prophets witness that
through his name whosoever believeth in
him shall receive remission of sins.
Acts.10th Chap.43rd verse

Snake Charmers in Jaipur, India

2010-01-24T14:15:00.000-08:00

Snake charmers originated in ancient Egypt, but are now most commonly associated with India. Early snake charmers were often healers, who knew much about snakes and snake venom. Snake charming is now a dying profession, succumbing to mass media entertainment.

Snake charmers may still be seen in such cities as Jaipur, India. Jaipur is the capital of the Indian state of Rajistan, which was founded in 1727 and has the distinction of being India’s first “planned city”. Jaipur is a prime tourist locale because of its spectacular palaces and ancient forts.

The National Firearms Museum (Fairfax, Virginia)

2010-01-16T10:49:00.000-08:00

Opened in 1998, the National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, Virginia is a world class specialty museum displaying some of the rarest guns in the world, including a $1.5 million dollar shotgun, Annie Oakley’s rifle, John Alden’s gun which accompanied him on The Mayflower, and more than 2,000 historic firearms spanning 600 years.

Housed in fourteen galleries, the museum provides an historic retropsective of American history through an important cultural artifact….the gun.

Admission is free.

Take an on-line tour of the museum
Museum Tour:

Women in the Military Museum (Arlington, Virginia)

2010-01-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

The Women in Military Service for America Memorial is located at the Ceremonial Entrance to Arlington National Cemetery and honors all women who havc served in the United States Armed Forces.

At the museum learn about such women as:

Deborah Sampson Gannett: Revolutionary War Soldier
Robert Shurtliff enlisted in the Continental Army in 1782 and served honorably until a secret was discovered–this soldier was actually a woman masquerading in men’s clothing.

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker: Surgeon and Medal of Honor Recipient
Civil War contract surgeon Mary E. Walker is the only woman in US history to have been awarded the Medal of Honor. Read about the extraordinary life and service of this woman–a doctor, POW and the recipient of our nation’s highest award.

CPT Linda Bray: First Woman to Lead US Troops In Battle
During the invasion of Panama in 1989, Army CPT Linda Bray became the first woman to lead US troops in battle. Learn about her command of the 988th Military Police Company out of Ft. Benning, GA, and its implications on future policy.

Dracula's Castle - Rumania

2009-10-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

Poenari Castle is a ruined castle in Rumania associated with Prince Vlad III , known to history as Dracula. To reach the castle, visitors must climb 1,500 steps. It is said to be one of the most haunted places on earth. This castle is most properly called “Dracula’s Castle”, but Bran Castle, better preserved and once a residence of the Rumaniana Royal family is touted by the Rumanian tourism board as Dracula’s Castle, being more colorful for the casual tourist.

Dracula Tours

The Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier

2009-10-16T10:55:00.000-07:00

The tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier is located at the Beauvoir Confederate Cemetery located on the grounds of Beauvoir House in Biloxi, Mississippi. Beauvoir was the last home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Davis wrote The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government at Beauvoir.

Picture of the Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier

Beauvoir – The Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library

Spanish Treasure Ship Museum – Key West, Florida

2009-10-16T10:33:00.000-07:00

The triumph of Mel Fisher, discoverer of the treasure ship NUESTRA SENORA DE ATOCHA (valued between $300-$800 million) is the living proof that no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality. Despite a tragic accident that cost him a son, over a decade of frustration, poverty and ridicule, Fisher sustained faith in his dream with the battle cry “Today’s the day!” The dream was realized when he recovered one of the richest treasure ships ever known.

The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum

Confederate Mint-New Orleans, Louisiana

2009-10-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

The Confederacy made tentative steps toward coining money. Many United States silver half dollars minted in New Orleans in 1861 ( 1861 O) were struck by Confederates. The 1861 O quantity includes 330,000 coins struck by the U.S. government; 1,240,000 for the state of Louisiana after it seceded from the Union, and 962,633 coins struck after Louisiana joined the Confederacy. Since all of these coins were struck from U.S. dies they cannot be distinguised one from the other.

The Confederacy’s attempt to operate the New Orleans mint also accounts for some of the rarest coins in American history, the so called “Confederate half dollars.” In 1861 the Confederate government coined four silver half dollars at New Orleans using the obverse of the regular U.S. half dollar and an original Confederate design on the reverse side. The first of these Confederate half dollars was not found until 1879. The other three have yet to be found.

The Slave Auction Block – Warrenton, Virginia

2009-10-16T09:49:00.000-07:00

Just outside of the courthouse in Warrenton, Virginia you can see a rare bit of American history, the auction block on which slaves stood as they were sold.

Search for Captain Kidd's Treasure

2009-10-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

If Captain Kidd really buried treasure in all of the places he is credited as having visited, he would have spent more time digging than sailing. Still, the legends of Kidd's treasures should not be dismissed lightly. On May 12, 1701, after sentencing, and while awaiting execution, Kidd made a desperate appeal to the House of Commons, offering to lead Royal officials to "goods and treasure to the value of one hundred thousand pounds" in exchange for a reprieve.

Legend places chests of Captain Kidd's gold in many locations in many states. In Connecticut these locations include:

- Milford, New Haven County
- Charles Island off Milford
- Pilot Island off Norwalk
- Sheffield Island off Norwalk
- The Thimble Island group
- Near Middletown, Middlesex County
- Conanicut Island near old Lyme
- Clarke's Island
- On Kelsey Point in Middlesex County

In Maine:
- Wiscasset, Lincoln County

In Maryland:
- Druid Hill Park in Baltimore

In Massachusetts:
- Gold and jewels are buried near Turner Falls.

In New Jersey
- Cliffwood Beach on Raritan Bay
- Sandy Hook
- Red Bank
- Lilly Pond near Cape May Point

In New York:
- Gardiner's Island...in Kidd valley.
- Several Kidd legends center on the Hudson River

The Whydah Pirate Museum-Wellfleet, Mass.

2009-10-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

In 1984, professional treasure hunter Barry Clifford discovered the wreck of the pirate ship Whydah, the first pirate ship ever to be recovered with its hold brimming with treasure. “Separating the fact from the folklore became my challenge,” writes Barry Clifford, “My primary source of information were the accounts of Captain Cyprian Southack, the salvor dispatched in 1717 by Massachusetts Governor Samuel Shute to retrieve the Whydah’s treasure.”

Clifford has recovered a spectacular fortune in coins, ingots, jewelry, weapons and artifacts, many of which can be seen at the Whydah Pirate Museum in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. The total value of the treasure is estimated in excess of $400 million.

Read more about the Whydah and other pirate treasures in Legends of Pirate Gold.

Lost Cities of Asia

2009-08-16T12:34:00.000-07:00

One of the enduring mysteries of Asia involves certain secret societies, and hidden citis inhabited by powerful Masters possessed of extraordinary powers. There is the “Abode of the Immortals, the sacred city of Shambala, and the underground city of Agartha, to name but three.

The Tomb of Genghis Khan

2009-08-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

Placed in a silver coffin, resting on the crowns of seventy eight rulers he had overthrown, Genghis Khan was buried on the Mongolian plains amidst one of the largest and richest treasures of all time. Ten thousand elite horsemen rode over the grave to obliterate all signs of its whereabouts.

The Pirate Jean Lafitte's Treasure

2009-07-11T16:41:00.000-07:00

Most of the treasures hidden by the pirate Jean Lafitte are in Louisiana, although Florida and Texas claim their share as well.

- Lafitte buried treasure on Grand Isle at the southwest entrance of Barrataria Bay. The area around Lafitte village, twenty one miles south of Marrero, La Fourche Parish, founded by pirates and used by them for over one hundred years is also heavily endowed with treasure.

- Another legend asserts that Lafitte buried treasure near Starks, Calcasieu Parish, and also near Barbe House on Shell Beach Drive near Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish.

- There are many tales of Lafitte burying different treasures up the Mermenteau and Calcasieu Rivers around Contraband Bayou. Another legend tells of gold and silver buried at White Lake north of Pecan Island, Vermilion Parish.

- Jefferson Island was one of Jean Lafitte's treasure storehouses. In 1923, Daynite, the straw boss for a work crew on a local estate, unearthed three boxes of gold coins dating from the 18th-19th centuries under what have subsequently been named the "Lafitte Oaks".

Amazon.com link to Legends of Pirate Gold

Rosslyn Chapel and the Holy Grail

2009-06-26T18:36:00.000-07:00

Rosslyn chapel, founded in 1446, was dissolved in 151l, and left in disrepair until restored in 1842. The chapel is noted for a superabundance of ornament, and the famous Prentice Pillar, a beautiful, ornately carved work of art that graces the chapel. In 1962, the famous Grail scholar Trevor Ravenscroft announced that he had finished a twenty year quest in search of the Grail and proclaimed Rosslyn chapel to be its resting place. Ravenscroft claimed that the Grail was inside the Prentice Pillar. Metal detectors have been used on the pillar and an object of appropriate size is said to be buried in the middle of the ornate pillar.

Link to video of Rosslyn Chapel

Carnival in Venice

2009-06-12T15:34:00.001-07:00

The Beale Treasure (Virginia Treasure Code)

2009-05-31T11:14:00.000-07:00

The intriguing story of history's most baffling cipher which hides the whereabouts of the Beale treasure

Pirates: Dead Chest (British Virgin Islands)

2009-05-24T16:09:00.000-07:00

One of the most famous islands in the British Virgin Islands is the notorious “Dead Chest”, celebrated for centuries in the Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum song. Blackbeard the pirate marooned fifteen of his men on the small speck of land named Dead Chest with only a bottle of rum and a cutlass.

"Fifteen men on the dead man's chest--
...Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest--
...Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"

The Chalice Well (Glastonbury)

2009-05-24T15:20:00.000-07:00

The well is actually a natural spring which was capped to ensure purity. The ever flowing water indicates a site of potency. Springs and wells were looked on throughout Celtic and pre-Christian times as having magical life-giving properties. Druids, who founded a college of instruction at Glastonbury, settled near the spot.

According to the Arthurian tradition, Joseph of Arimethea settled near the Chalice Well when he brought the Holy Grail to England.

Local legend says that Christ came to Glastonbury during his so called "missing" period. The hymn Jerusalem
echoes the legend, "And did these feet in ancient times walk upon England's mountains green?" Some local mystics say that Glastonbury will be the site of the Second Coming.

Easter Island: The Land of Giants

2009-05-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

The Easter Islanders, aware that they were almost completely isolated from the rest of the world, must surely have realized that their very existence depended on the limited resources of a small island. After all it was small enough for them to walk round the entire island in a day or so and see for themselves what was happening to the forests.

Yet they were unable to devise a system that allowed them to find the right balance with their environment. Instead vital resources were steadily consumed until finally none were left. Indeed, at the very time when the limitations of the island must have become starkly apparent the competition between the clans for the available timber seems to have intensified as more and more statues were carved and moved across the island in an attempt to secure prestige and status. The fact that so many were left unfinished or stranded near the quarry suggests that no account was taken of how few trees were left on the island.

The fate of Easter Island has wider implications too. Like Easter Island the earth has only limited resources to support human society and all its demands. Like the islanders, the human population of the earth has no practical means of escape.

* Ponting, Clive, 1992; A Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations. A chapter excerpt. St. Martin's Press, New York.

The Discovery of King Tut’s Tomb

2009-04-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

In 1922, after ten fruitless years of effort in the Egyptian desert, archaeologist Howard Carter unearthed the richest royal treasure hoard of all time, the tomb of Tutankhamen.

Carter’s excitement mounted as the day wore on. Step by step appeared out of the rubble, and as the sudden Egyptian night closed in, the level of the twelfth step came to light, disclosing “the upper part of a doorway, blocked, plastered, and sealed. A sealed doorway…it was actually true, then!"

Taking an iron testing rod, Carter poked it through the door. Nervously Carter lit a match, touched it to the candle, and held it toward the hole.

“Can you see anything?” they asked.

Carter, slowly turning his head, said shakily: “Yes, wonderful things.”

Treasure Island: The Real Place

2009-04-14T15:06:00.000-07:00

Three hundred miles off the coast of Costa Rica lies a small, jungle covered island, nine miles long and four miles wide. The island is punctuated by sheer bluffs over 1900 feet high, and inundated by some 3000 waterfalls. This is Cocos Island, the model for Robert Louis Stevenson's TREASURE ISLAND. And treasure island it is, indeed; home not only to the fabulous "Lost Loot of Lima", but to the treasure hoards of a whole string of pirates including captains Kidd, Swan, Davis, and Sharp.

The most sought after prize on the island is the Lost Loot of Lima, treasure evacuated from Lima during the wars of independence which swept Spanish America in 1819. The great treasure hoard, worth some $60 million, consists of a life-sized gold Madonna, twelve life-sized statues of the Apostles, at least one hundred statues of lesser saints, two hundred chests of jewels, three hundred and fifty jeweled swords, one hundred and fifty jeweled chalices, three hundred bars of gold and six hundred bars of silver.

As might be expected, such wealth excited greed from the first. Not surprisingly, those entrusted with the safety of the treasure turned pirate.

"We were tempted by the glittering millions", wrote Captain Thompson on his deathbed, "and cut the anchor cable to put out to sea at night." Once clear of the port the pirates buried the treasure on Cocos Island.

Pagan Scotland – The Ring of Brodgar

2009-04-11T20:06:00.001-07:00

The Ring of Brodgar is the mysterious Neolithic temple located on the Orkney Islands in the extreme Northeast of Scotland. The Ring of Brodgar is regarded by many as a sacred “Power” spot.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan...

2009-04-08T14:08:00.000-07:00

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree :
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round :
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree ;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

Petra: Magical City of the Desert

2009-04-07T15:26:00.000-07:00

One day, when Ali Baba was in the forest, he saw a troop of men on horseback, coming toward him in a cloud of dust. He was afraid they were robbers, and climbed into a tree for safety. When they came up to him and dismounted, he counted forty of them. They unbridled their horses and tied them to trees.

The finest man among them, whom Ali Baba took to be their captain, went a little way among some bushes, and said, "Open, Sesame!" so plainly that Ali Baba heard him.

A door opened in the rocks, and having made the troop go in, he followed them, and the door shut again of itself. They stayed some time inside, and Ali Baba, fearing they might come out and catch him, was forced to sit patiently in the tree. At last the door opened again, and the Forty Thieves came out. As the Captain went in last he came out first, and made them all pass by him; he then closed the door, saying, "Shut, Sesame!"

Every man bridled his horse and mounted, the Captain put himself at their head, and they returned as they came.

Then Ali Baba climbed down and went to the door concealed among the bushes, and said, "Open, Sesame!" and it flew open.

Ali Baba, who expected a dull, dismal place, was greatly surprised to find it large and well lighted, hollowed by the hand of man in the form of a vault, which received the light from an opening in the ceiling. He saw rich bales of merchandise -- silk, stuff-brocades, all piled together, and gold and silver in heaps, and money in leather purses. He went in and the door shut behind him. He did not look at the silver, but brought out as many bags of gold as he thought his asses, which were browsing outside, could carry, loaded them with the bags, and hid it all with fagots.

Using the words, "Shut, Sesame!" he closed the door and went home.

Petra

The Lost City of Paititi

2009-04-04T13:28:00.000-07:00

One of the enduring legends of Peru is the lost city of Paititi. In 1533, fleeing the Spanish conquerors, some forty thousand refugees of the crumbling Inca empire, laden with golden religious treasures, fled into the remote jungle of what is today Peruvian Amazonia, where they established a great city. A Jesuit missionary named Brother Lucero wrote that the city lay behind the forest and mountains eastward of Cuzco in the general area of Madre de Dios. The Spanish tried to pursue the fugitives, but turned back after being ambushed by the savage Chuncho indians.

Several attempts have been made to find the city in recent years. In 1972 a Franco-American expedition led by explorer Bob Nichols disappeared and was never seen again. It is believed that this expedition may have fallen victim to the Machiguenga indians who, at the time, had never previously had contact with the outside world. Many of the remote tribes of this region have the habit of killing intruders on sight. In 1982, American explorer Phil Miller set out looking for gold in the Madre de Dios region. After hearing rumors of a lost city, the expedition set out in the direction suggested by local indians. Just as the party sited the top of two stone towers, they were met by a brightly dressed indian with an air of command. With a bronze tipped spear, the indian signaled the explorers to be gone. The advice was taken.

The region of Madre de Dios in Peru is one of the remotest regions of the Amazon. The purported coordinates of Paititi are 71 degrees 30' minutes longitude West and 13 degrees latitude South. If these coordinates are correct, the city lies in the heart of an area guarded by the ferocious Yaminhuah indians.

Secrets of the Holy Grail

2009-04-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

Glastonbury Tor, England

A great hill (tor) towers over the peaceful village of Glastonbury. Atop the hill are the remains of St. Michael's church. Legend says that the hill is hollow and is the secret entrance of the underworld. There are numerous tales of disappearances into the Tor; usually in the form of people entering and returning mad. In one of these stories thirty monks, engaged in chanting in the Abbey, found a tunnel opening up before them. The monks bravely went inside. Some great disaster befell them. The full story could never be recovered from the survivors, two of whom were insane and one of whom had been struck dumb. There are, in fact, large caves beneath the hill and at least one theory holds that the Holy Grail rests in one of these caves.

The Atlantis of the Sands

2009-02-27T11:01:00.000-08:00

“The Atlantis of the Sands”.

The Koran, chapter 89, verses 6 to 13:

(6) Have you not considered how your Lord dealt with A,ad,
(7) The people of Iram (Ubar), possessors of lofty buildings,
(8) The like of which were not created in other cities,
(11) Who committed inordinancy in the cities,
(13) Therefore your Lord let down upon them a portion of the chastisement

According to tradition, the people of Ubar defied the warnings of God’s prophets and God smote the city. Driving it into the sands. The ruins of the city lay in the vast wastes of the Arabian desert. T.E. Lawrence called Ubar, “The Atlantis of the Sands”.

OZYMANDIAS: King of Kings

2009-02-14T11:31:00.000-08:00

OZYMANDIAS
by Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

The Death of Arthur and the Rebirth of Camelot

2009-01-16T11:53:00.000-08:00

And Arthur decreed that to honor their victories they would build a round table, and around the table there would be a great hall, and around the hall a castle. And the knights of the Round Table swore never to use violence without good purpose, and never to fight in an unjust cause or to fight for personal gain.

The castle is gone, the hall is gone, the table is gone. But the legends lives. Only beauty and ideas survive because they alone can touch generations yet unborn. The created work takes on a life of its own and its beauty may surface and inspire a thousand years from now if stumbled upon by one living soul. Thus everything we say and do…and most especially what we create…can ripple out to change the world in ways unimaginable….”and because it was a fair time, men will remember and it can come again.”

We are connected to everything that has ever been and everything that will ever be.

…

Hiram Bingham and Machu Picchu

2009-01-15T12:47:00.000-08:00

In 1911, Hiram Bingham searched for the legendary Lost City (Machu Picchu) and found it. The city that emerged was a place of magical beauty. Here standing intact were the houses, temples and shrines of a lost world. Its location was fantastic, a green island surrounded by steep forested mountains, its mystery heightened by ghostly wisps of low clouds swirling through the empty streets.

The city blended perfectly with the environment, for the builders had conformed their buildings to the existing rock formations while simultaneously sculpting the existing formations to conform to their needs. This is the delicate genius of harmony.

W cannot make the world into a garden, but it is within the power of each of us to create a garden in the world…a Shining City; a haven of inner serenity, guarded by majestic mountains, set high above the roaring river. A sanctuary of joy, where the best exists in sunlight and undiscovered bliss. And from this mythic city we can perform deeds of goodness, which although initially unnoted, will ripple outward and bring joy and wonder to generations yet unborn.

The Lost City is a metaphor for our quest for the wondrous. There is more to life than meets the eye. There is more than what is on our plate in a humdrum world. If we but dare to search.