TRAVEL

Many Shades of Gray — Temples, Tombs, Fortresses, Cemeteries and Churches

Seeking out the gray of our world is easier than I initially thought

I will admit that this prompt has had me a bit flummoxed. I am a colorful person and I don’t feel drawn to gray. So when I stepped up to write this initial response to our Globetrotters prompt I couldn’t help but wonder what the heck I was going to write about.

Most of my articles begin with my photos and they usually inspire my writing. This prompt has been no different.

As I took to my iPhone to scroll through the seemingly never-ending selection of photos, hoping that I could spark some inspiration, I came across one of a cemetery that we had visited in Istanbul. Of course, cemeteries are gray! But I didn’t have enough photos to just write about cemeteries. However, as one inspiration led to the other, I finally formulated a plan as to how I would tackle this prompt.

So while I prefer to not focus on the gray of our world, I was surprised at how much this color has played a large part in our travels

Fortresses

In 2018 we spent about three weeks staying in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Our hotel was located in Old San Juan which has a large fortress flanking the entrance to its harbor — Castillo San Felipe del Morro. The citadel was named a World Heritage Site in 1983 and is visited by more than two million visitors per year. We spent one day inside the Castillo, and many more walking the trails around the fortress plus lounging on the immense lawn in front of it.

According to Wikipedia:

The original fortress was built under the direction of conquistador Diego Ramos de Orozco and its main purpose was to defend the port of San Juan by controlling the entry to its harbor.

While touring the fortress, it was amazing to learn that despite its immensity and longevity, there were only a handful of battles that were actually fought there. I couldn’t imagine a life so dreary as to constantly be training for battle, yet only having a couple of chances to actually execute your learned skills. But I guess they were also happy to not have to kill people! At least I hope they were.

During the initial phase of the pandemic in 2020, we found ourselves staying in Essaouira, Morocco for 2.5 months. The old part of Essaouira is a traditional medina. Inside the giant fortress-like walls that surround the city are numerous narrow winding walkways that zig-zag like a maze.

We loved being inside these gray walls as it was a pedestrian-only area that was pretty quiet and peaceful, especially because of the pandemic and the fact that there were very few tourists around. Despite the grayness of the exterior, though, the inside was full of color.

Temples

In 2018 we visited the Mayan ruins of Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico. Words can’t describe how amazing these places are to visit. The energy of the land and the immensity of the structures is mind-blowing beyond all comprehension.

In 2018 and 2019 we visited the Mayan ruins of Tikal in Guatemala on three separate occasions. Tikal is considered by many to have been the capital city of the Mayan empire. While 16 square kilometers of the jungle have been cleared to create Tikal National Park, it is said that the temples and structures spread out much farther in all directions.

Will we ever understand the secrets of these ancient worlds?

Tombs

While many of the temples in the Mayan world are also tombs, some tombs are not temples in other parts of the world.

Carved out of a solid rock cliffside in Fethiye, Turkey are numerous incredible tombs. I’ll admit, these are a little more yellow than gray, but I just couldn’t leave these out of this article.

It constantly amazes us how humans have found ways to honor their dead. Apparently having them buried so high up means that they will be closer to heaven. I suppose this means that it makes it easier to get into?

Cemeteries

One might not consider that cemeteries be an interesting place to check out while traveling, however, I beg to differ. It may seem morbid, but we are somehow fascinated by them and some days we find ourselves wandering amongst the tombstones. Maybe it’s the peace and quiet that they offer, or maybe it’s the uniqueness of how each country chooses to immortalize the deceased.

While most cemeteries are gray, some are also white. While visiting Antigua, Guatemala, we stumbled upon a very large cemetery that featured all white tombs. We were amazed at the sight of this and spent quite a bit of time walking amongst the rows and inspecting the intricate details of the shrines.

We also found ourselves exploring two different cemeteries in Istanbul while we were there in 2020. Both of these we simply stumbled upon as we were exploring the city streets. One, it seemed, had garden beds planted on top of each one — some had plants and trees growing on them, others just grass.

The other was perched on the side of a hill and had a stunning view of the Bosphorus Strait below.

Not a bad place for your spirit to while away its days into eternity. Just check out the view this cemetery had!

Churches

While I will never be someone who attends church services, it doesn’t mean that I’m not amazed by their structures. As we move around the world, one thing is constant — churches are mostly grand affairs, no matter where we find ourselves.

The lead photo shows the front of the incredible Duomo (Italian for cathedral) in Milan, Italy. We were there on New Year's Day 2016. I could see tiny-looking people walking high up along the rooftop and so wished that I could do the same. That was, at least, until I saw the insanely long line of people waiting to do so. It was quite cold, gloomy and GRAY, so we didn’t hang out for too long.

A couple of days before this we had explored Florence and took in the immense duomo there. It was the first time we had seen a church so massive and we were certainly impressed. It was also very rainy, gray, and drizzly in Florence that day, so again, we did not stick around for long.

The umbrellas were certainly colorful against the varying shades of gray though!

Earlier this year, in 2023, we found ourselves arriving to Cologne, Germany by train. Knowing nothing about the city, we were gob-smacked when we stepped out of the central station to find ourselves face-to-face with the gray Cologne Cathedral.

Our necks were craned as we took in the stunning details that surrounded it. Being surprised by something as fabulous as this was a great experience.

With it being March, and with Cologne not being as touristy as hotspots like Milan and Florence, we had the good fortune to look inside without any hassle at all.

Though it was mostly gray inside as well, there were also beautiful stained glass windows and stunning tile mosaic floors that we marveled at.

Sorry, but I couldn’t help but sneak a bit of color in!

So here we are. I hope my prompt response has inspired the gray in you! But don’t just follow my lead. Take a look at this amazing introduction to our November prompt by my fellow editor Anne Bonfert. In it, she gives many examples of the sorts of things we are looking for with this monthly challenge. If this doesn’t inspire you, I can’t imagine what will:)

Check out these other inspiring stories by fellow Globetrotters:

Nicholas Colombo tells us more about Milan.

Shameem Anwar surprised me with his article about a church in India that was built to copy the Cologne, Cathedral.

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