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…”

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

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