I cannot, writing straight away, give you an idea of this marvel. If I were to thread the words, mosaics, pediments, spandrels, bas-reliefs, niches, enamels, corbels, all on a string in a sentence, the picture would still be incomplete. It is strokes of the brush that are wanted, not strokes of the pen. Imagination remains abashed at the remains of the most splendid architecture left to us by Asiatic genius.
Jules Verne
This quote is what I wrote on a postcard from a land where handshakes are firm, roads lead to unexpected finds and people seem to be just waiting to welcome you in. In the meantime, from the Shah-i-Zinda in Samarkand, this is all… for now.
Samarcande? That is a magical name. I think Corto Maltese went there. Not sure. Allow me to check my bookshelves…
Yep: “La maison dorée de Samarkand” (En Francese) per Hugo Pratt.
Ciao, ciao
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Yep, and I suspect Dylan Dog did as well! However, Bukhara is what went into my heart, straight in. But there’ll be time for that.
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Hmmm. So you know Corto Maltese? Prima! Bukhara to me is just a type of carpet that lies on my floor, but I know it was one of the cities of the Silk road.
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Yeah yeah I know him, but in fairness I’ve never been a great fan! Bukhara is a gem, you’ll see.
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So many places, so little time. Arrivedereci.
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I didn’t know about Dylan Dog. I like the graphics. Very italian.
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For us in the 1990s it was THE man. I remember a friend defining Johnny Depp on the lines of “A real man Dylan Dog”…
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Okay. I’ll look him up in July in Paris when I go comic strip hunting.
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Thanks for the dispatch from beyond. Looks/sounds like you’re having yet another one of your magnificent voyages. Good for you.
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Yup! If only I could get used to digesting the food…
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Uh oh.
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I’m actually thinking of going here this year. But we shall see. Looking forward to reading more of your stories from Uzbekistan!
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In one word, Go! (Perhaps not with Uzbekistan Airways, got two of my shittiest flights ever with them, and I did some seriously crappy ones before…).
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Was Jules Verne in Uzbekistan, or is it just an apt quote? If that’s the warm-up for a new series, it should be a doozy.
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Apparently he was! This is his description of Shah-i-Zinda in Samarkand… Thank Dave!
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I can’t wait for more!!
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Thanks Tricia! 🙂
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