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…”

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

Pin It on Pinterest