Echoes of Byzantium – Agia Sophia and More Greek Connections – A Special Dedication Part 1
A visit to Agia Sophia in Istanbul, exploring its Byzantine past, layered history and enduring Greek connections.
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A Rude Awakening and Exploring Istanbul’s Asian Side with More Greek Connections
Exploring Istanbul’s Asian side in Kadıköy, searching for Greek churches, old houses and traces of a past that still lingers in the streets.
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Discovering More Greek Connections on Büyükada island
Exploring Büyükada and its Greek connections, from churches and monasteries to old wooden houses that reflect the island’s past.
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Fener & Balat – Where Cultures and Colours Collide
Exploring Fener and Balat in Istanbul, where colourful streets, historic buildings and layers of Greek, Jewish and Ottoman heritage meet.
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Further Explorations of Istanbul – Agia Irene and a Bosphoros Cruise (and another scam alert)
A visit to Agia Irene followed by a Bosphorus cruise, with reflections on Istanbul’s contrasts and the realities of travel, including a scam encounter.
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Arrival in Istanbul – Sacred Spaces and Timeless Places -Blue Mosque and Basilica Cistern
A visit to Istanbul’s Blue Mosque and Basilica Cistern, exploring their history, atmosphere and the realities of visiting these iconic sites.
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Echoes of Greece across the Aegean: A Journey Begins in Istanbul
An 8 week trip – Istanbul to Athens itinerary following a real route across the Aegean by ferry and bus, with practical detail and key stops along the way.
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Echoes of Greece Across the Aegean: Istanbul-Marmara Adasi-Canakkale and Troy-Bozcaada-Gokceada-Lesvos-Spetses | Summary Post
Echoes of Greece Across the Aegean: Istanbul to Athens Full Route and Logistics
A continuous 8.5-week journey from Istanbul to Athens by ferry and public transport, crossing the Aegean via Marmara Adası, Çanakkale, Troy, Bozcaada, Gökçeada, Lesvos, Spetses, Ermioni and Nafplio. Every connection is real. No car required.
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Preveza: Balconies, Tavernas and a Lunch Worth Remembering
Every trip has a moment that becomes the one you remember most. For this one it was a table in Preveza, Papoutsakia, Greek salad and people who between them had served in Somalia, sailed the Ionian and cooked the meal. Before that there was a cargo ship, a pilot boat, a Gaza march on the harbour front and a very good fish taverna in a bougainvillea-shaded alley. This is how the Ionian Bound series ends.
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Bridges, Lagoons and Roman Ruins: A Day in Epirus with Epirus Traveller
After Zalongo, the day was far from over. Ioannis had arranged a meeting with a former presidential guard beneath a remarkable plane tree beside the Bridge of Arta. Then came the bridge itself, lunch on the lagoon at Koronissia, and the vast archaeological site of Ancient Nicopolis. A day that covered Roman triumphs, folk legends, Early Christian mosaics and a Stoic philosopher, all in the company of people who know this region better than any guidebook.
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The Dance and Song of Zalongo: The Story of the Women of Souli
The Dance of Zalongo had been on my list for years. Getting there involved 410 steps, a long-standing battle with vertigo and a friend who would have called me something unrepeatable if I had tried to back out. What happened at the top was not what I had prepared myself for. Not the climb, not the monument, and certainly not the moment when two people began to sing.
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Preveza to Tzoumerka: Mountain Villages, Wax Figures, Cliff Monasteries and the Largest Stone Bridge in the Balkans
Some days of travel arrange themselves neatly around a guidebook itinerary. Others are shaped entirely by someone who knows the place better than any guidebook could. Our friend Ioannis from Epirus Traveller took us from Preveza into the mountains of Tzoumerka for a day that covered a Roman aqueduct, a wax museum unlike anything I have seen before, a monastery built into a cliff face, a village of silversmiths, and a stone bridge over a turquoise river. I am not good with bridges. I crossed it anyway.
