Ten years ago today we were staying in the delightful town of Santillana del Mar in Northern Spain.
There is apparently an old saying that Santillana del Mar is The Town of Three Lies, since it is neither a Saint (Santo), nor flat (llana) and has no sea (Mar) as implied by the town’s name. However, the name actually derives from Santa Juliana (or Santa Illana) whose remains are in the kept in the Colegiata, a Romanesque church and former Benedictine monastery.
Posted in Cantabria, El Cid, Food, History, Natural Environment, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Cantabria, Cantabrian Mountains, Culture, Jean Paul Satre, Life, Santillana del Mar, Spain Festival
The market was about one hundred yards long and we made it to the top with only a couple of purchases but then of course we had to turn around and walk all of the way back and run the gauntlet of the stallholders for a second time. Sally seemed to pick up the knack of bartering much easier than I did and I think we bought some tee shirts and a couple of bracelets but to be honest I can’t be absolutely sure.
Posted in Arts and Crafts, Childhood, Europe, Food, Hotels, Morocco, Travel, Turkey, World Heritage
Tagged Culture, Efes Beer, Life, Market bartering, Market Shopping, Markets, Sarigerme, Suntopia Tropical Hotel
The island of Rhodes is one of the most interesting and has been inhabited for six thousand years and due to its geographical position on the major Mediterranean Sea trade routes is situated at a natural crossroads between Europe, the Middle East, and Africa and this has given the city and the island many different identities, cultures, architectures, and languages over its long and varied history.
Posted in Arts and Crafts, Beaches, Cathedrals, Europe, Food, Greece, Greek islands, Greek Taverna, History, Knights of St John, Literature, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Culture, Dodecanese Islands, Holidays, Knights of St John, Lindos, Photography, rhodes, Travel
A bus ride to Piraeus is a truly unique experience.
The roads were busy but the driver of the blue Solaris flexibus seemed totally oblivious to other vehicles as he charged along at high speed, switching lanes, clattering over tram lines and tossing the passengers about like the Saturday night lottery balls on hard unyielding plastic seats. Luggage flew out of the overhead racks and passengers not gripping on tightly were thrown from their seats. Suitcases were scattered along the floor and little children were thrown into the air.
Posted in Athens, back packing, Europe, Food, Greece, Greek islands, Greek Taverna, Postcards, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Culture, Food, Greek Bus Ride, Life, Motoring, Photography, piraeus, Travel, UNESCO Greece, World Heritage Site
I began this series of posts about Entrance Tickets in April 2014 and this was one of the early ones. I cannot really explain why but I have always kept my Entrance Tickets and they remain safely stored in a travel memory box.
The series of posts cannot go on much longer however. I am running out of material, not because I no longer visit places when I am travelling but because so many places no longer issue paper tickets. Booking is done on line and instead of a ticket there is a QR code on a mobile phone to swipe through a scanner.
I like the feel of a ticket, I like told it between my fingers and judge the quality, this one at Cordoba was especially fine and then I like to carefully put it in between the pages of my guide book to make sure that it doesn’t get creased.
I think that this is rather a shame. Places generally need to be booked in advance with an allocated time slot. It is no longer possible to wander up to a entrance booth, hand over cash and receive a nice shiny Entrance Ticket in exchange. Somehow it takes the spontaneity out of city break travel, everything has to be done according to a timetable.
Posted in Africa, Arts and Crafts, El Cid, Europe, History, Postcards, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Andalusia, Antequera, Cordoba, Culture, El Cid, Parador Hotels, Photography, Reconquista, Travel
Philoxenia consists of three basic elements:
Posted in Arts and Crafts, backpacking, Greece, Greek islands, Greek Taverna, History, Literature, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Culture, Greece UNESCO, Homer's Inn, Hospitality, Ios, Life, Travel
An interesting one this one, a French baguette is way off being the most popular bread in the USA but they still give it a celebration day. Bread in the USA has a lot of sugar (insane amounts of sugar) and preservatives (insane amounts of preservatives) but a traditional French baguette will only last about a day before it goes stale and hard and needs to go in the bin.
Some say Napoleon Bonaparte created the French baguette to allow soldiers to more easily carry bread with them. Since the round shape of other breads took up a lot of space, Bonaparte requested they be made into the skinny stick shape with specific measurements to slide into the soldiers’ uniform.
Maybe true, maybe not…
Posted in Age of Innocence, Arts and Crafts, Cathedrals, Food, France, History, Literature, Postcards, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Culture, Eurocamp France, France, Life, McDonalds France, P&O Ferry, Soissons
After taking the bus into Naxos town we walked to the top of the town to find the Venetian Cathedral tour that was highly recommended in the Island hopping guidebook. We waited around in the courtyard outside the Cathedral and not a lot seemed to be happening and we wondered if we were going to be disappointed.
Eventually an old lady in an extravagant floral blouse and with a worn out old dog for a companion ghosted in from a secret door in an adjacent room and enquired if we were there for the tour and we told her that yes we were.
Posted in Arts and Crafts, backpacking, Beaches, Europe, Food, Greece, Greek islands, History, Hotels, Literature, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Culture, Greece UNESCO, History, Holidays, Life, Museums, Naxos, Naxos Cathedral Tour, Photography, Travel
As we walked around the town and couldn’t help noticing that there were three distinctive smells. Proctor and Gamble Tide detergent (no longer popular in the United Kingdom) which clung like velcro to the fresh linen hanging on the washing lines outside the houses, then incense, leaking out under the doors of the churches and finally the divine aroma of fresh moussaka and other Greek specialities being prepared for lunchtime in the tavernas and the bars.
Posted in Arts and Crafts, backpacking, Beaches, Europe, Food, Greece, Greek islands, Greek Taverna, History, Natural Environment, Postcards, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Culture, Cyclades, Greece UNESCO, Greek Ferries, Holidays, Life, Milos, Photography, Travel
It all started in New York when in 1908 fifteen thousand women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.
Then, in 1917, with two million soldiers dead in the war, Russian women chose the last Sunday in February to strike for ‘bread and peace’. This turned out to be hugely significant and a contribution to the overthrow of the Romanovs and four days later the Tsar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote.
In 2016 we visited the Greek island of Amorgos. As we wandered around an old lady dressed all in black asked for help negotiating some difficult steps and we naturally obliged and in return for our assistance she treated us to her life story and tales of Amorgian life.
Her name was Limonique and she told us that after sixty-five years of marriage she was now a widow so I guessed her age to be somewhere around eighty-five or so.
Posted in Arts and Crafts, Cathedrals, Childhood, Europe, Food, Growing up in the 1950s, History, Literature, Russia, United Kingdom, USA
Tagged Culture, Empire Youth Annual, International Women's Day, Islam, Latvia, Life, Morocco, Skyline Bar
Have Bag, Will Travel 