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#41
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Delphi, Greece Top Three Travel Experiences? Ummm.........
Dan Stephenson wrote on Jan 10, 2013:
On 2013-01-07 16:50:05 -0600, Mike Lane said: Dan Stephenson wrote on Jan 6, 2013: On 2013-01-06 12:53:32 -0600, Poetic Justice said: Dan*Stephenson wrote; I like the cool overcastness of the British Isles.Which is a problem for me since I am also a fan of ancient Greek ruins, and Greece is the antithesis of the British Isles. Try Delphi in January. I arrived mid-week the afternoon before so the next day I was at the site when it 1st opened. The 1st at least 2 hours I was completely alone in the site, it was cold and drizzling and the clouds were rolling thru the site's ruins in wisps like this http://tinyurl.com/aklavov The custodians were all in their little 1 man shacks completely out of sight and hearing, the fog/clouds and the drizzle dampened any outside noise, I could only hear my footsteps. It was very surreal which greatly enhanced my visit to this mystical site. I would not exchange that cold drizzling morning silently alone in the clouds amongst the ruins with the most beautiful warm sunny day Delphi ever had:-). Regards, Walter I think I would agree, that Winter in Greece sounds very appealing. Temperature is right, crowds such as they are, are minimized, and if overcast -- great! Thanks for the feedback. When I visited Delphi in 2002 I too was fortunate to have it overcast, though through luck rather than being seasonal. A raincloud was moving up the valley side. For a moment, as the rainclose rose, my feet had rain and my head did not. Very surreal. http://www.stepheda.com/Grand_Tour_2...Photos.html#13 Delphi was one of the special places in Greece, for me. What were your other favorate places in Greece? I am going to revisit one day. The Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothraki is one of my favourites. Partly due to its remoteness it seemed a somewhat magical place to me, with Mount Fengari looming nearby. I spent a week on Samothraki in 2008. I'd really like to return someday. Thanks for that lead. Visiting all those islands has got to be a major undertaking, but I imagine there is a lot different about the islands, in their own way. I want to visit Rhodes and Samos for history, in particular. The problem with islands like Samos and Rhodes in particular is that they tend to be over-run with tourists from May to October. It's why I liked Samothraki in particular. There's no convenient airport (and no sandy beaches), so only the more intrepid will bother going. The site at Paleopolis also has a small but very nicely arranged museum with some of the loveliest Greek vases excavated from the site that I've seen anywhere. A few examples if you're interested: http://tinyurl.com/ahynz68 -- Mike Lane UK North Yorkshire mike_lane at mac dot com |
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Ancient Roman Sites Delphi, Greece Top Three Travel
On Thursday, January 10, 2013 3:21:41 AM UTC, Dan Stephenson wrote:
On 2013-01-06 20:56:41 -0600, Poetic Justice said: I'm very much more into Rome's history and putting a human interest story at a site or location makes it come alive for me. Regards, Walter What are your favorite Roman sites? It seems... as if a lot of it is crumbling concrete, and to honest Italy has plenty of that already. The Coloseum, and Pantheon, are my favorites. I've been meaning to visit Ravenna to check out the later Roman churches and mosaics etc., but have had higher priorities. And frankly I had enough bad experiences on my last trip. Hotels would cost more the next morning than cited the night before, parking would cost more when I was leaving than when I was entering, and the Agip fuel station attendent near Modena palmed my 50 euro note for a 5 euro note and pretended I underpaid him. Can you believe that?? The bill was 64 EUR, so I gave him a 50 note, then looked in my pocket for a ten and five and gave it to him. Whereupon he no longer held the 50 I just gave him, he held a 5 euro note. He protested giving me a euro in change until I expressed hostile body language upon him. I then drove straight to Brindisi and took the first ferry to Greece the next morning. Never once had anything like that in Greece. Sorry to carry on -- there is a lot to say well of Italy -- but I had enough. -- Dan Stephenson http://stepheda.com Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too) Yep, I had similar with the Rome airport/centre taxi. He didn't get away with it either! Great shame - Italy is of course marvellous but already expensive enough without these idiocies. |
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Top Three Scenic Drives? Ummm.........
Martin wrote on Jan 10, 2013:
Pickering to Rosedale to Hutton Le Hole to Castleton via Blakey Ridge via B roads over the North York Moors ....preferably pausing at theLion - my all-time favourite pub! -- Mike Lane UK North Yorkshire mike_lane at mac dot com |
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Ancient Roman Sites Delphi, Greece Top Three Travel Experiences? Ummm.......
In article . com, Mike
Lane says... The main problem I have with Italy is the expensive hotels that mostly don't have twin rooms with separate beds. I know many people like myself who travel with a friend or relative with whom they don't mind at all sharing a room, but don't wish to share a bed as well! The problem with Italy is that while there are many honest people, there are also many dishonest people. Oh that, and the dreadful Italian road network that makes driving any distance a chore rather than a pleasure We just came back from a two weeks trip to Sicily. We drove around in a rented car. Driving in Sicily is really crazy, I've never experienced anything like that. -- Alfred Molon http://www.molon.de - Photos of Asia, Africa and Europe |
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Ancient Roman Sites Delphi, Greece Top Three Travel
On Thu, 10 Jan 2013 19:16:10 +0100, Alfred Molon wrote:
We just came back from a two weeks trip to Sicily. We drove around in a rented car. Driving in Sicily is really crazy, I've never experienced anything like that. Try driving around India for a week or two... -- "Hopefully the fair wind will resume, or this may well take all day." Admiral Collingwood on being becalmed under the guns of six French ships- of-the-line at Trafalgar |
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Ancient Roman Sites Delphi, Greece Top ThreeTravel...
Dan*Stephenson wrote;
What are your favorite Roman sites? It seems... as if a lot of it is crumbling concrete,... Often times the overlooked and unattractive "crumbling concrete" are the best sites:-). Look at the tree in the photo's right-center http://www.vroma.org/images/raia_ima...goargent11.jpg That is where (within 1m) Julius Caesar was seated when he was 1st stabbed. I started posting about that location in detail since '98 (a later version http://tinyurl.com/juliusmuzzy ), I'm not saying I discovered it, I just put all the pieces (ancient texts, site lay-out, common sense, etc) together. No doubt many archaeologists, historians, history buffs, students, etc have easily done the same exact thing since it was discovered in the 1920's but there was never anything (in English at least) pinpointing the exact location until Oct 2012. http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index....ar-was-stabbed OR http://tinyurl.com/9tgbo2q Their 'Augustus' Memorial' is bull**** (no other archaeologists have since jumped on their bandwagon) but the location is correct. In this photo http://www.photoroma.com/foto.php?Ci...ID1=1127&ID2=0 OR http://tinyurl.com/9w6jdcq That white(ish) structure in the foreground is a stylobate, on its 1st step is a rain gutter which meant it was exposed to the outside weather. Farther back is a modern roof protecting a small shallow rectangular pool. Also both structures date to Julius Caesar's era. The whole structure is the Domus Publica in the Roman Forum which was the home of the Pontifex Maximus. Julius Caesar was the Pontifex when he was assassinated and on March 15, 44BC he left this house on 2 good legs only to be carried back dead on a litter hours later. For years guidebooks and cites have claimed that that pool was a bath and I assumed the front entrance to this Domus was somewhere on the Via Sacra past and on the leftside of this bathing area. But last year I read the original Late-19C excavation report and that "bath" was really an impluvium (pool) in the atrium. The stylobate is the front of this domus and would have been a impressive wall with half-colums (base shown in photo) and the front door (left of half-column base). A rich roman house would always have the front door open to a short corridor with 1 or more small service-type rooms on each side and lead into the showpiece of the house...the atrium. Around this atrium is where you would greet and have meetings with your guests and likely a dining room would also open to his space. So look at that open section to the left of the half-column base, it's in-line with the atrium's center and so it's the front entrance without a doubt. And then imagine all the other historical figures that have walked thru that doorway besides Caesar (Marc Antony, Brutus, Octavian/Augustus, Pompey, etc). Regards, Walter |
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Ancient Roman Sites Delphi, Greece Top Three Travel Experiences? Ummm.......
Alfred Molon wrote on Jan 10, 2013:
In article . com, Mike Lane says... The main problem I have with Italy is the expensive hotels that mostly don't have twin rooms with separate beds. I know many people like myself who travel with a friend or relative with whom they don't mind at all sharing a room, but don't wish to share a bed as well! Oh that, and the dreadful Italian road network that makes driving any distance a chore rather than a pleasure We just came back from a two weeks trip to Sicily. We drove around in a rented car. Driving in Sicily is really crazy, I've never experienced anything like that. I wouldn't describe driving on the mainland as 'crazy', but just very tedious - due to poorly built roads with bad surfaces, traffic jams, and mostly rather uninspiring scenery. -- Mike Lane UK North Yorkshire mike_lane at mac dot com |
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Ancient Roman Sites Delphi, Greece Top Three Travel Experiences? Ummm.......
I'm very much more into Rome's history and putting a human interest
story at a site or location makes it come alive for me. What are your favorite Roman sites? I've never seen any in Italy, but Split is great with none of the hassles you describe. You can eat at a greasy-spoon restaurant in what used to be Diocletian's bedroom and go down into the cellars underneath to see his drainpipes running over your head. Other historical stuff ranges from an Egyptian statue the Romans imported as an antiquity to bullet holes from the Yugoslav civil war. And it's easily accessible by public transport. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- e m a i l : j a c k @ c a m p i n . m e . u k Jack Campin, 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU, Scotland mobile 07800 739 557 http://www.campin.me.uk Twitter: JackCampin |
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Ancient Roman Sites Delphi, Greece Top Three Travel Experiences? Ummm.......
On 2013-01-11 06:25:38 -0600, Jack Campin said:
I'm very much more into Rome's history and putting a human interest story at a site or location makes it come alive for me. What are your favorite Roman sites? I've never seen any in Italy, but Split is great with none of the hassles you describe. You can eat at a greasy-spoon restaurant in what used to be Diocletian's bedroom and go down into the cellars underneath to see his drainpipes running over your head. Other historical stuff ranges from an Egyptian statue the Romans imported as an antiquity to bullet holes from the Yugoslav civil war. And it's easily accessible by public transport. I best the whole Dalmation coast would be a great scenic drive, eh? Thanks for the tip! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- e m a i l : j a c k @ c a m p i n . m e . u k Jack Campin, 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU, Scotland mobile 07800 739 557 http://www.campin.me.uk Twitter: JackCampin -- Dan Stephenson http://stepheda.com Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too) |
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Ancient Roman Sites Delphi, Greece Top Three Travel Experiences? Ummm.......
On 2013-01-10 12:16:10 -0600, Alfred Molon said:
In article . com, Mike Lane says... The main problem I have with Italy is the expensive hotels that mostly don't have twin rooms with separate beds. I know many people like myself who travel with a friend or relative with whom they don't mind at all sharing a room, but don't wish to share a bed as well! The problem with Italy is that while there are many honest people, there are also many dishonest people. How about those self-appointed parking lot attendants. Do you pay them? Do you not pay them and leave them disgruntled next to your rental car? See? hate those *******s Oh that, and the dreadful Italian road network that makes driving any distance a chore rather than a pleasure We just came back from a two weeks trip to Sicily. We drove around in a rented car. Driving in Sicily is really crazy, I've never experienced anything like that. I have been fortunate to drive through Sicily, too. What was so crazy about it? Just, the winding country roads? The big motorway is only on the north coast and down a little on the eastern coast. What I found most crazy, is one hill town I drove up -- on a one-way road, and the one-way road down was MORE NARROW. My tiny Daewoo Matisse barely made it. I had to pull in the side mirrors to make it. I could roll down the window and touch the building wall with my left arm. Now that is crazy. -- Dan Stephenson http://stepheda.com Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too) |
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