GREECE | Monday, 26 Jan 2015 | Views [467]
WE VISITED EIGHT GREEK ISLANDS IN SIX WEEKS from Corfu in the Adriatic to Rhodes on the Turkish coast and each had its own special charm.
Old world Adriatic Corfu
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GREECE | Sunday, 25 Jan 2015 | Views [582]
EASTERN CRETE IS A DIFFERENT WORLD FROM THE WEST, the snow-capped peaks replaced by dry hillsides and deep, rocky gorges reminiscent of New Mexico. Only the vast olive groves and the blue sea are the same. It took us most of the day to ... Read more >
GREECE | Thursday, 22 Jan 2015 | Views [491]
CHANIA, TOO, HAS A VENETIAN PAST. And Roman, Genoese, Turkish, Egyptian and even German, from when Nazi paratroops occupied Chania during WW II. We are using the Christina Hotel Chania as a base to explore the western part of the island ... Read more >
GREECE | Monday, 19 Jan 2015 | Views [550]
THE VENETIANS REALLY GOT AROUND. Take Rethymno, for example, dominated by the 16 th Century Venetian Fortesta. Just a stone’s throw away is the Venetian Harbor and the 13 th Century lighthouse. Even the Sohora Boutique ... Read more >
GREECE | Saturday, 17 Jan 2015 | Views [543]
ROMANS ON CRETE? WELL, DUH, THEY DID REFER TO THE MED as “Our Sea,” after all. Gortyna had its heyday in the 5 th Century BC, long before it was occupied by the Romans, it was as important as Knossos. When the Romans ... Read more >
GREECE | Friday, 16 Jan 2015 | Photo Gallery
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GREECE | Friday, 16 Jan 2015 | Views [649]
ARCHEOLOGY WAS A GENTLEMAN’S GAME in the late 19th Century with few rules. It took money and good contacts to mount an expedition and Arthur Evans had both, plus a bit of lucky timing. Crete had just won independence from Turkey and ... Read more >
GREECE | Thursday, 15 Jan 2015 | Views [518]
A FLIGHT FROM RHODES TO CRETE, VIA ATHENS of course, costs a bit more than the ferry but takes a only a few hours rather than a full day. We are staying at the Kastro Hotel, well-appointed and centrally located in Heraklion or Irákleio, ... Read more >
GREECE | Tuesday, 13 Jan 2015 | Views [538]
SUNDAY WAS THE FIRST DAY WE’VE BEEN WARM since Santorini. It wasn’t quite shirtsleeve weather but our polarfleece vests were enough as we headed off for Old Town Rhodes. The history of Rhodes goes back 2500 years. It was ... Read more >
GREECE | Sunday, 11 Jan 2015 | Views [547]
AFTER ANOTHER NIGHT WITH JACOB IN PATMOS we took the five-hour ferry ride to Rhodes. We are splurging at the Best Western in the New City, four stars but still only $50 a night with a great breakfast spread. The location is perfect. ... Read more >
GREECE | Thursday, 8 Jan 2015 | Views [450]
“IT NEVER GETS THIS COLD ON SAMOS,” everyone kept telling us. But there it was, a few degrees below freezing with blustery winds from the north. Despite the weather we zipped up our parkas, pulled down our hats and set off on ... Read more >
GREECE | Tuesday, 6 Jan 2015 | Views [619]
WE WEREN’T THE FIRST TO BE SHANGHAI’D TO PATMOS. Way back in 95 AD the Romans exiled a Christian named John from Ephesus to our tiny island in the Dodecanese. Brother of the man who would be known as St. James, John the Evangelist ... Read more >
GREECE | Wednesday, 31 Dec 2014 | Views [708]
ONLY STRAY CATS AND VAGABONDS GO TO MYKONOS in the winter. (We haven't seen any mad dogs or Englishmen.) Party Central in the summer, Mykonos was more of a ghost town when our ferry arrived on Sunday. Most of the hotels are ... Read more >
GREECE | Thursday, 25 Dec 2014 | Views [577]
IF YOU ARE DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS in the Greek Isles, look no farther than Santorini. No, it won’t snow but the blindingly white buildings clinging to the volcanic cliffs silhouetted against the cobalt sky are a pretty good substitute. ... Read more >
GREECE | Friday, 19 Dec 2014 | Views [718]
CORFU IS ACTUALLY CLOSER TO ALBANIA THAN MAINLAND GREECE and we can see the snow-capped mountains across the water. Corfu has been, in turn, Roman, Byzantine, Gothic and Norman, Venetian, French and British before becoming Greek. Today the ... Read more >
GREECE | Thursday, 18 Dec 2014 | Photo Gallery
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ITALY | Monday, 15 Dec 2014 | Views [615]
CATHY AND JIM INVITED US ON A BIKE TRIP to Sardinia a few years ago but we were on our way to Argentina or some such place. Now, with Venice behind us and holidays in the Greek Isles ahead, Sardinia seemed like a good idea and after a false start ... Read more >
ITALY | Thursday, 11 Dec 2014 | Photo Gallery
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ITALY | Sunday, 7 Dec 2014 | Views [566]
WHAT WE REMEMBER MOST FONDLY FROM OUR first time in Venice is the day we spent on the islands of Murano and Burano. We reprised the visit today and enjoyed it just as much.
Murano glass from the source
You can buy ... Read more >
ITALY | Saturday, 6 Dec 2014 | Views [517]
THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT VENICE THAT LURES people back. An Englishwoman told us she visits two or three times a year. A couple from Hawaii said they have been here at least 30 times. And this is our second visit.
The palazzos ... Read more >
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