Posts/Entries

All posts/entries, for now, from over two decades of global travel. And a few colourful tags, too.

Mystras, Greece

Mystras, Greece

“In a country where antiquity is king, the fascinating tumbledown complex of churches and monasteries of the fortified UNESCO-listed mountain retreat of Mystras, last foothold anywhere for the once-mighty Byzantium Empire, feels like something of an upstart; it is only, at most, 800 years old.”

Sparta, Greece

Sparta, Greece

“Conscious of the past, efforts were made at the time to rebuild the town so as to reflect its ancient pre-eminence, but the town planners fell someway short. In their defence, they did not have a lot to play with; it’s obvious Ancient Sparta was more focused on building legendary armies as opposed to cities. Plus, it’s hard for a structure to outlive antiquity if it was never constructed in the first place.”

Olympia, Greece

Olympia, Greece

“If the present-day archaeological site of Ancient Olympia, the former celebrated sanctuary of Greek supreme god Zeus and the birthplace of the Olympic Games, doesn’t win gold for being Greece’s most redolent ancient site then it would at the very least be assured of a podium finish.”

Peloponnese, Greece

Peloponnese, Greece

”The Greek Peloponnese Peninsula heavy-hitting history trilogy: Ancient Olympia, the once-great sanctuary to Zeus and birthplace of the Olympic Games; Sparta, the ancient city-state famous for its military prowess; and the UNESCO-listed lofty heights of Mystras, the last bastion of power for the once-mighty Byzantium Empire.”

Zákynthos, Greece

Zákynthos, Greece

“A now-iconic image… the MV Panagiotis… blown off course during adverse weather in October 1980… sitting pretty here ever since in the middle of a secluded white-sand beach and surrounded by towering white limestone cliffs… it is beyond dazzling, easily one of the most picture-perfect scenes I’ve ever pointed a (zoom) lens at.”

Tínos, Greece

Tínos, Greece

“There is more to the Cycladic island of Tínos than the all-encompassing holiness associated with its venerated Church of Virgin Mary/Panagia Evangelistria and its miracle-working icon. But the hulking form of Greece’s major Marian shrine is the only reason I paid the island a visit from nearby Mýkonos meaning that overtly-religious Tínos may just be as adept at drawing tourists as it is pilgrims.”

Delos, Greece

Delos, Greece

“… one of the holiest sanctuaries in Greek mythology, the island is the mythical birthplace of the gods Apollo and his twin sister Artemis. Today, the fascinating archaeological site on the island, one of the most important collections of ancient Greek ruins on earth, preserves the remains of a sanctuary to Apollo and Artemis and the once-magnificent city, a bustling commercial centre, that developed around it.”

Mýkonos, Greece

Mýkonos, Greece

“It’s not the exclusive celeb and jet set hangout it used to be in the 50s and 60s, when such A-listers as Jackie O, Maria Callas, Marlon Brando, Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor all vacationed here, but fabulous gay-friendly Mýkonos is still the Cyclades glamour capital, not to mention its hedonistic party central.”

Páros, Greece

Páros, Greece

“Páros… was all the more charming for what it wasn’t – it wasn’t busy, it wasn’t expensive, and it wasn’t as ostentatious as elsewhere. But it was still sufficiently Cyclades-esque swank and downright seductive, almost coquettishly so. And pretty. Oh-so pretty. Two islands in and one was quickly discovering that ‘oh-so pretty’ is par of the course on these Cyclades isles.”

Santoríni, Greece

Santoríni, Greece

“… a somewhat exclusive destination of unparalleled global appeal, a place-to-see-before-you-die location par excellence. Oozing romance and voguish in the extreme, its world-famous landscape, vistas, architecture, and cave house infinity pools have graced the pages of nearly every glossy travel or lifestyle magazine ever printed and formed the backdrop for many a bikini-clad fashion model shoot, staged social media influencer selfie, or dreamy wanderlust-inspiring GoPro video footage.”

Island Hopping, Greece

Island Hopping, Greece

“… pick your island of choice. Better still, pick a few. Check the ferry schedule and set sail. Settle into a quaint room. Wander among whitewashed lanes. Wash down your souvlaki with a beer or a carafe of wine in a local taverna. And when all that is done you can hop to the next island and do it all over again. C’est la belle vie Greek style, one sun-drenched island at a time.”

Ohrid, Macedonia

Ohrid, Macedonia

“There are two versions of Ohrid here in this placid region of southwest Macedonia: one is a small hilly resort town with a compact walled Old Quarter of traditional houses with red-tiled roofs, medieval churches, monasteries, open-air ruins, and a centuries-old fortress towering above it all; the other is a shimmering lake straddling the mountainous border between Macedonia and Albania, one of Europe’s deepest, oldest, and most picturesque bodies of water harbouring a unique and UNESCO-protected ecosystem. Two reasons to visit when, for me at least, one would be draw enough. Fortunately, where Ohrid is concerned they come as a package.”

Skopje, Macedonia

Skopje, Macedonia

“Most of what bemused me about the city today wasn’t even here a decade ago. Millions have been spent in recent years turning the centre of the city into something of a bizarre theme park of garish architecture – some 130 structures (buildings, statues, bridges, water features, and even a triumphal arch) were erected between 2010 and 2014 as part of the Skopje 2014 project, one of Europe’s biggest urban renewal schemes centred around both banks of the city’s Vardar River.”

Kosovo

Kosovo

“It’s affordable, gritty, youthful, ambitious & friendly, a very new country dealing with a troubled past while looking towards a brighter future. Here and now Kosovo also has bears; UNESCO-listed monuments; and a likable capital city boasting 200,000+ hospitable locals, a not-so-old Old Quarter, a bizarre man crush on a former US president, life-size lettering…great street scenes, and some standout architecture, including what must surely be a contender for the ugliest building on earth. Yes, it’s a curious mix alright, but one that somehow works…”

Chiclayo Lithuania Stirling Invercargill Skopje Belize Edinburgh Asuncion North Africa The Cyclades Jacmel hampi Estes Park Chile Australia hilo Gradil Williamsburg Andijon Switzerland Bogota Vancouver Island Antrim Rockfish Gap El Calafate Delft Appalachians Florianopolis ericeira Colombia New York City Beaver Dam Antarctic Peninsula Ireland Tuymen Billings Ohio Crown Point Cape Town Milan Lincoln Sucre North America fort cochin Scotland Ashland Armenia Brazil Missouri waikiki Er Rachidia Jackson Hole Lake Ohrid South Carolina Toledo Alabama Hungary Bismarck Giza Santa Roas de Copan Australasia Sint Maarten tulum Spalding Porto Montenegro Venezuela Kijong-dong / Propaganda Village Veneto Provincetown Pennsylvania Salta Western Cape Bloubergstrand byron bay tomsk Samarkand Lori Rugby brisbane Georgia jaco Turkey Lake George Himeji Woodstock Coyhaique Nepal Fox Glacier Cooperstown Lhasa karnataka chetumal Cape Reinga Belgrade Custer Providence Florence Belgium Scottsbluff Warwick Alaverdi Kill Devil Hills Bemidji punjab Hout Bay Charlottesville Oman Manteo Ica Tegucigalpa kerala Volubilis Banos Birmingham Budapest Monticello Cape Cod Kazakhstan Prague Medicine Bow Richmond Margate las vegas ubud Selma Monte Carlo Jerusalem Montreal Imlil colombo Nizhny Novgorod siberia Bar Harbor Idaho Iberia Willemstad Ghorepani Midelt Meridian San Jose Austria Saint Stephen Northland Aysen Santiago Sunauli Virginia Port Waikato Hyden Fes Mount Cook Guatemala Jordan Appalachia Dandong moscow Torrington Rotorua Novosibirisk Washington D.C. Rincon Warsaw New Hampshire South Dakota Medellin Svalbard Shelly Beach Antwerp Queenstown Hispaniola Sarajevo Damascus Alpine Hartland Spitsbergen Naples Jamaica tikal Greater Antilles Trinidad & Tobago new south wales South Africa Yongin Mongolia Durres Macau Garden City Prattville Santo Domingo Montpelier California agra Vermont santa ana Soufriere Bird in Hand Zagreb Aspen Michigan Kobe ataco Bluegrass Nicaragua Annapurna Tangier Whangarei Marigot Gracanica Cusco Jungfrau New Orleans Caucasus Boracay Stepantsminda British Columbia Slovenia Cape May Helen cancun lisbon Upstate New York Dahab Jacksonville Parikia Jefferson Singapore USA Trujillo Alexandria Hospet Teotihuacan Hiroshima Perito Moreno Nice Kuala Lumpur Stellenbosch Tyumen Muscat guadalajara unawatuna Guayaquil Rosine Caleta Tortel Montgomery tijuana Te Anu La Paz Vilnius Cienfuegos Dyess Popayan Macedonia Annapolis san diego kenai peninsula El Jadida Datong Bratislava Savannah Port-au-Prince mysore Lake Titicaca maui granada Indiana Dijon Kleinbaai Punta Cana Sparta Verona Algeciras Sepilok Astana Zakynthos Trakai Krakow Andalusia Bodie Island San Juan Havana Manuel Antonio East Asia key west Rhode Island Bloomington Hora Littleton Logan Egypt Israel Paris Gibraltar Lewisburg solola Paju Suwon Cordell Ouarzazate Tupelo Santorini Lima casablanca Clare Iceland Vietnam Pyramiden West Yellowstone Foz do Iguacu Dades Gorge Ingapirca Zante Hermanus Buford shanghai Longyearbyen Erg Chebbi Sandy Hook Valparaiso leshan Honolulu Lauterbrunnen New England Florida Montana Delos Fort Payne kosovo Mestia Cannon Ball Minneapolis Rome Honduras Cuenca Yazoo City Pompeii Castro Castries Copacabana Olympia Curacao George Town Cairo Alausi Falmouth Kona Kilkenny Teec Nos Pos kovalam boquete Aviemore Ocho Rios Lubec Franconia Slyudyanka Panmunjom cameron highlands Tallahassee Highland Illinois Roanoke Island Sweden Tena Rio de Janeiro Potosi Nacoochee Village delhi Llandudno yangshou Galax bay islands St Paul Cartagena Puerto Rico Tetouan Erie Arizona Netherlands Antilles Istanbul Flanders Perast Brasov Bruges varanasi Beulah utah Northern Ireland Sofia Madrid orange walk Emei Shan Montenegro Guanajuato utila Tierra del Fuego Simon's Town Shigatse Normandy copenhagen St. Lucia Prescott mafra Bariloche Panjim Saint Martin Zhangmu Bangkok Abkhazia Pyongyang Guilin Olive Hill Eastport hohhot Morocco Ullapool Drake Passage Central Asia Chefchaouen Ontario Iguazu Falls Panajachel baltimore Baltic States Fort William French Antilles Arkansas Maynardville Albania Mykonos flores Lombardy Sinuiju Mostar Salt Lake City penang Burwell Asheville Yekaterinburg Noosa Cambodia Almaty Patagonia Pristina Bern Delaware Peloponnese Paros Tinos Nebraska Lexington Polynesia Massachusetts Muine Burdine Lakota Cuba Hawaii Shakhunya New Zealand - North Island Mississippi Delta Chichicastenango Ghent Belize City langkawi seattle Burlington yucatan Osh bali Marrakesh Virpazar Srebrenica North Macedonia Santa Marta Hatteras Island Listvyanka Page Perm Maharashtra chiang rai Lago De Yojoa Ciudad del Este Cleveland Treasure Beach Mtskheta Laganas wicklow Aqaba Ljubljana vancouver Hama Sabah Bran New Mexico victoria London Reykjavik Clarksdale St. Louis Memphis El Alamein Como Bluffs Spain Blugaria Ticonderoga Cooke City South Ossetia Arabia kandy UAE The Arctic Serbia Kentucky New Church Cheyenne Gettysburg Syria Cannes Ohrid Cetinje Tbilisi Southeast Asia Tallinn Nanning Mexico City Grand Cayman san francisco Venice Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) Palestine Norway Guangzhou St Cloud Aleppo krabi Mystras Lahaina borneo Rissani Nevada Harbin Leigh Mount Sinai Nuweiba uxmal Portugal Heartland Philipsburg Naushki Burgundy Skye Colonia del Sacramento Finland Todra Gorge Puno Monaco stockholm Ancud Oregon Torres Del Paine Puerto Lopez Isla Isabela Gangnam Grand Lake suchitoto North Dakota Quebec Riga Palolem Marbella Auschwitz/Birkenau Hoi An north car Maracaibo Mandeville Sao Paulo amritsar Hue Chicago L'Agulhas Dubrovnik Cote d'Azur / French Riviera Piura Rosario India Cortez Jamestown Santa Clara ella Cornelia Arlington Tashkent Punta Arenas Puerto Rio Tranquilo Puerto Villamil Gyantse West Virginia Uyuni boston irkutsk Philippines Fengdu the big island Atlantic City Isla de la Ometepe Trieste Macclenny Hyannis Tirana Friendship Highway Kyrgyzstan Malaga Madison anchorage Puerto Varas chiang mai Nara Puerto Natales Indonesia ulan bator Cologne Knoxville Tennessee Cayman Islands Santiago Atitlan Mississippi Kathmandu Muriwai Beach Chandigarh Sneedville Panama City Donegal El Chaupi anjuna Wadi Rum Oia Paraguay Wanaka Germany Puerto Ayora Quito ipoh oahu Sinai Zugdidi Maryland Colonial Williamsburg Tekapo Barentsburg Caen France Ghandruk caye caulker Deception Island Fajardo managua Cap-Haitien Argentina Ushuaia South Shetland Islands Twin Lakes Kolkata / Calcutta kuta Prishina san salvador San Juan Del Sur Omaha Syracuse busan Yerevan Imjingak The Caribbean / West Indies England Fort Yates Nags Head Port of Spain Easter Island oslo Cork Yichang Overberg Istria Peninsula Stepantsminda/Kazbegi Navajo Nation coba Chongqing helsinki Ping An Salina Matauri Bay Costa Rica South Korea Leadville Kuwait Dead Sea Huaraz melbourne homer China West Indies copan Wellington Kyoto Kodari Jenkins Pensacola Central America dubai kollam Haiti Alliance Myrtle Beach Angkor Bishkek Brainerd Bosnia and Herzegovina Colleville Sur Mer Amman Iowa queensland Japan Lancaster Chiloe Pula Jackson Christchurch New Brunswick Bremen Slovakia sydney New Haven El Chalten Galapagos Andros Ipiales Dorasan Poland Niagara John O'Groats Abu Dhabi Canyon Village Grand Forks Hatch Indian Subcontinent beijing Copan Ruinas ABC Islands Saint Lucia Walker Connecticut Danang Colorado antigua Delmarva Uzbekistan Luquillo Toronto Peru leon Montanita Budva vizhinjam Bolivia Middle East Gyeongju Thailand China & Tibet Washington Erlian Mendoza New York Dominican Republic Pisa Romania Barcelona Rhineland Veliko Tarnovo Cape of Good Hope Khiva Uttar Pradesh Panama Netherlands Sligo Barre Adirondacks galle Vicksburg Kerry Mayo Mesoamerica Trinidad Mexico Golmud Mobile Wilmington Santa Rosa de Copan Quebec City Tokyo Estonia Vienna Lewes Kingston Varadero Krasnoyarsk Nuwera Eliya Ilha de Santa Catarina Tuscany Owensboro Montevideo Mumbai/Bombay Dominica Sint Maarten / Saint Martin South America Greymouth Wisconsin Glasgow Rapa Nui Laramie Moulay Idriss Saint Petersburg dublin bundi Hanoi Jersey Shore Kansas City Plovdiv west bengal Alaska United Kingdom North Carolina Panguitch New Zealand Juayua Kayenta Kota Kinabalu Jeju Cherbourg Bulgaria New Zealand - South Island Maine miami Gori Nasca Croatia Cochrane vladimir Machu Picchu Greenfield Fenwick Island Indianapolis Campobello Island Amsterdam Urumqi Galway tibet Brian Head Luxor Nashville Essaouira Outer Banks The Balkans Milford Sound lamanai alleppey Transylvania Latvia The Catlins Concepción de Ataco Franschhoek Tobolsk Buenos Aires Costa del Sol Uruguay jodhpur Atlanta pushkar hana Bentonia Lockerbie Portland Montville Campania Charleston Dayton Tingri porto Canada Ionian Islands Porto Alegre Meknes Hong Kong Philadelphia North Korea Tipperary seoul Berlin Malaysia Cordoba Ait Benhaddou Stanstead Xian El Salvador Bukhara Siem Reap Montego Bay Suez Pucon Westport Russia Guiyang Deadwood Catalonia Camaguey Italy chengdu Podgorica Vatican City Rio Gallegos Minnesota Louisiana Loja Gansbaai Ocean City Wadi Musa Greece rajasthan seward Roseau Chelsea Denmark Kotor Elim Sri Lanka Los Angeles Vík í Mýrdal Shenandoah Trinidad and Tobago Petra Tivat Negril Durango Ecuador Lesser Antilles Scandinavia Czech Republic Merzouga Coeburn merida San Martin de los Andes Brussels Antarctica Bucharest Cholpon-Ata Wyoming Crow Agency Taupo Madaba Essex Dunedin Galapagos Islands sunshine coast Chesapeake Granby Intercourse Jebel Toubkal Kyllini Pokhara Front Royal Tongariro Nikko Bethlehem New Jersey goa

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