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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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)