history – Michael Reid Books

Taksim, March 2025 — International Women’s Day

http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/IstanbulMarch001-768x1024.jpeg 768 1024 Michael Reid Books Michael Reid Books http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/IstanbulMarch001-768x1024.jpeg March 9, 2025 January 2, 2026

March 9, 2025 We’re back in Istanbul. This time in Taksim (pictured below from our balcony). It may not look it, but Taksim is a more modern district on the other side of the Bosporus. We decided to stay here as a contrast to the even older neighborhood, Sultanahmet, where we stayed last month. We…

Serra Cafema, February 2025 — The Season of Milk

http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Serra-Cafema28001-768x1024.jpeg 768 1024 Michael Reid Books Michael Reid Books http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Serra-Cafema28001-768x1024.jpeg February 28, 2025 December 30, 2025

February 28, 2025 On our last day at Serra Cafema, I asked Michael E (one of the staff who happened to also have my name) why there seemed to be less flies around at night. He laughed and said, “It’s dark at night! They can’t see!” We continued on with an interesting discussion about flies.…

Sultanahmet, February 2025 — Work in Progress

http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Sultanahmet001-1024x768.jpeg 1024 768 Michael Reid Books Michael Reid Books http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Sultanahmet001-1024x768.jpeg February 15, 2025 January 2, 2026

February 11, 2025 This is our hotel – a converted jail in Sultanahmet. Bill and I are back in Istanbul for a few days, preparing for our trip to Africa. Outside our hotel window we can see the 6th Century old Hagia Sophia being repaired and retrofitted. It was first a church, then a mosque,…

Bodrum, February 2025 — Discovery

http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Bodrum001-1024x722.jpeg 1024 722 Michael Reid Books Michael Reid Books http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Bodrum001-1024x722.jpeg February 11, 2025 January 2, 2026

February 11, 2025 Who knew? I hadn’t heard of Bodrum until thumbing through a hotel brochure a few months ago, and there it was. Bill had actually heard of it but knew very little. Ancient history, coastal town, Aegean Sea, out of the Schengen zone, a short 50 minute flight from Istanbul, diverse natural beauty.…

Convento São Paulo, January 2025 — Austerity & Silence

http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Convento-Sao-Paulo002-768x1024.jpeg 768 1024 Michael Reid Books Michael Reid Books http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Convento-Sao-Paulo002-768x1024.jpeg January 30, 2025 December 30, 2025

January 30, 2025 He couldn’t stop singing about the day we had in Estramoz. He wanted to go back outside and revisit the places we had seen. But we explained that every day would be different. Every destination would offer its own lesson and unique charm. We had to move on. The narrow road to…

Heraklion, October 2024 — Arrivals & Passages

http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/66775177-10C1-416C-A9F2-63C1F86EA898-768x1024.jpeg 768 1024 Michael Reid Books Michael Reid Books http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/66775177-10C1-416C-A9F2-63C1F86EA898-768x1024.jpeg October 22, 2024 December 31, 2025

October 22, 2024 We’re now in Heraklion – the capital city of Crete. People from the Continent of Africa have been arriving here for millennia. They still are. Moustafa smiled broadly when I told him that Bill and I were going to Crete. He is a young man from Egypt we met in Santorini, who…

Pyrgos, October 2024 — On the Scale of Time

http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/AE5CDA32-F4EC-4B35-BBCD-86B475686118-883x1024.jpeg 883 1024 Michael Reid Books Michael Reid Books http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/AE5CDA32-F4EC-4B35-BBCD-86B475686118-883x1024.jpeg October 15, 2024 December 31, 2025

October 15, 2024 Instead of decades or centuries; being here, in Pyrgos, prompts me to look back even further. To consider thousands of years, millennia. It’s almost unfathomable, walking among ruins of the Bronze Age – being a witness to ancient signs of human habitation. Just the thought of Akrotiri demands adjustment to my lens…

Athens, October 2024 — So Far, the Bubble Holds

http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FABB0CD1-CDB3-40AB-95B2-1959E3B1E708-719x1024.jpeg 719 1024 Michael Reid Books Michael Reid Books http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FABB0CD1-CDB3-40AB-95B2-1959E3B1E708-719x1024.jpeg October 7, 2024 December 31, 2025

October 7, 2024 I’m so glad we were in Athens last February. We had empty galleries and unobstructed views of antiquity. At that time our retail experiences weren’t reminiscent of Filene’s basement. And we could actually stroll (and not be shoved, or have to bob-and-weave) down the meandering ancient streets of Plaka. Acropolis, Parthenon and Meteora remain untouched,…

Amsterdam, October 2024 — Becoming

http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5CB6D0B3-4E18-4E10-A76E-D0C8342F4B4D-768x1024.jpeg 768 1024 Michael Reid Books Michael Reid Books http://www.michaelreidbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5CB6D0B3-4E18-4E10-A76E-D0C8342F4B4D-768x1024.jpeg October 4, 2024 December 31, 2025

October 4, 2024 Looking out of windows offers only one perspective. Actual experience in the world offers so much more. Kandinsky, Outsider Art, The Museum of the Mind, and the unexpected warmth of this sunny day catapults Amsterdam to the top of my list of favorite cities. Crushing tourism, immigration and the lack of affordable housing continue to be the popular lament…