Greece 2012 #6: Mystra and Menelaoin
The morning we left Sparti we visited the stunning, Frankish, hilltop monastic settlement, Mystra. The Byzantine architecture fit beautifully into the rocky landscape. It was also a peaceful place and…
Tag: city breaks
Greece 2012 #2
The study tour section of the trip started in earnest at half eight on Tuesday morning after our dishevelled group staggered down from breakfast, such as it was. I was…
An Archaeology Tour of Greece (2012) #1
I’ve wanted to go to Athens and see the Acropolis since I was eleven and my drama teacher started us on Greek tragedies. So when a university study trip of ten…
Rome in France Lyon & Nimes
We arrived in Lyon to an evening of heavy snow. We were running late after getting the tram and two metros from the airport to our hostel on the quays…
Istanbul (2012) #4: Turkish Art and the Spice Bazaar
Down the side of Sultanahmet mosque is a square with Egyptian obelisks brought to then Constantinople by the Romans and the Serpent Column of Greece which once stood as a Pan-Hellenic monument…
Istanbul (2012) #3: Topkapi Palace and its Harem
Topkapi Palace closes early in the mid-afternoon and fills up fast so if you want to see Istanbul’s most iconic Ottoman palace before the crowds at the gates become unbearable…
Istanbul (2012) #2: Blue Mosque, Chi Kofta and crossing to Asia
Istanbul has a wonderfully organised public transport system where with just one card, the Metro Card, you can take the tram, ferries, buses and metro. You can top it up…
Istanbul (2012) #1 Solid History
We froze, forks halfway to our mouths and halted our conversation as the sundown prayers were called out in song through the city evening. The restaurant, a tourist favourite, kept…
