Monthly Archives: March 2019

The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related ethnic conflicts, wars of independence and insurgencies fought in the former Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001, which led to the breakup of the Yugoslav state. Its constituent republics declared independence, despite unresolved tensions between ethnic minorities in the new … Continue reading →

Montenegro Central and Coast March 27-29, 2019. Another country and this one with some differences. First it is a country I had almost never heard of. Part of the former Yugoslavia, it occupies the far south just above Albania and … Continue reading →

Another country and this one with some differences. First it is a country I had almost never heard of. Part of the former Yugoslavia, it occupies the far south just above Albania and Macedonia. It was an independent country from … Continue reading →

Bosnia and Herzegovina – Federation Herzegovina (Mostar, Tomislavgrad) March 25, 26, 2019 Kravice Falls. The Trebizat River braids through several bushy islands to form a long amphitheatre of waterfall 120m long. It drops 26-28m and forms limestone travertine. Below the … Continue reading →

Mercury is a chemical element with symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is commonly known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum. A heavy, silvery d-block element, mercury is the only metallic element that is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure; the only other element that is liquid under these conditions … Continue reading →

Slovenia – Western March 18-. 2019 OBSERVATIONS ON SLOVENIA (a welcome change from Italy) 1. Everyone speaks good English. 2. The drivers are courteous, patient and have none of the bad habits of Italian drivers. 3. All gas in Slovenia … Continue reading →

Peloponnese (Nafplio, Kalamata, Patras) April 2-4, 2019 Rio-Antirrio Bridge (officially Charilaos Trikoupis Bridge). At 2,880m, this monster is one of the world’s longest multi-span cable-stayed bridges and the longest of the fully suspended type (the continuous, fully suspended deck is … Continue reading →

On my way north from Naples in mid March, 2019, I saw some of the few things I had missed in my previous two trips in Italy in Lazio Province (Rome and area), Umbria, Tuscany and Emilio-Romagne before heading to … Continue reading →

UNESCO World Heritage Sites Italy VENETIAN WORKS of DEFENSE BETWEEN the 16th – 17th Centuries – Land and Sea This is the official denomination given by UNESCO to six defensive walls built by the Republic of Venice on its mainland domains and its Domains of the Sea. Fortified City … Continue reading →

Farfa Abbey (Abbazia Benedectine di Farfa) 4kms NW of the town of Castelnuovo di Farfa, Google Maps had its greatest failing yet in navigating to this monastery. I descended a very narrow single lane road and should have presaged what … Continue reading →