Monthly Archives: December 2019

To save birds, should we kill off cats? Our feline friends are killing billions of birds every year. A fan of both animals believes there are humane solutions My cat, Bernstein, likes bird-watching almost as much as I do. Bernstein is … Continue reading →

Ionian Islands (Corfu, Zakynthos, Kefalonia) December 27-28, 2019 I took the ferry (Kerkyra Seaways www.kerkyraseaways.gr or www.corfuferries.gr but these don’t seem to work or even give timetables! But ferries leave Igoumenitsa at 7:30, 9, 14:00, 15:30 and 20:30 and return … Continue reading →

Mount Athos (Agion Oros) December 26, 2019 GETTING THERE Mount Athos – commonly known as the Agion Oros (Holy Mountain), is located on a peninsula in Chalkidiki, Northern Greece. It is the spiritual capital of the Orthodox Christian world, consisting of 20 monasteries including one Serbian, one … Continue reading →

Greece – North Aegean Islands (Lemnos, Lesbos, Samos, Chios) December 23, 2019 There is a daily ferry from Cesme, Turkey to Chios at 18:30 except on Dec 23, 24 and 25th, Daily ferry Chios to Cesme in the mornings. I … Continue reading →

Greece – Dodecanese Islands (Rhodes, Kos, Patmos) December 21, 2019 I took the ferry from Marmaris, Turkey to Rhodes for the day, leaving at 09:45 and returning at 15:00, cost €44, company SeaDreams, parking TL30. I had wanted to go … Continue reading →

Turkey – Mediterranean West (Antalya, Isparta, Burdur, Alanya) December 19-20, 2019 ALANYA This is a large beach resort city on the Mediterranean coast. Tentative WHS: Alanya (25/02/2000) Ataturk House Museum. Ataturk visited Alanya on February 17, 1935, arriving at 07:00 … Continue reading →

Turkey – Mediterranean East (Adana, Hatay, Osmaniye) December 17-19, 2019 HATAY PROVINCE ANTAKYA (Antioch) (pop 217,000) It was a populous city of ancient Syria and now a major town of south-central Turkey. It lies near the mouth of the Orontes River, about 12 miles … Continue reading →

Turkey – Southeast Anatolia (Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Mardin, Batman, Urfa) December 14-17, 2019 From Kurdistan, Iraq, I turned west to drive along the Iraq border. It was the first sunny day in what seemed like weeks of endless rain or snow. … Continue reading →

In Istanbul, fat cats are a good thing A Turkish affection for street cats and dogs has blossomed online—and occasionally pits local people against the government   Atlantic Mar 11th 2017 Sprawling on doorsteps, on café benches, inside hamams: stray … Continue reading →

Kurds in Iraq are the largest ethnic minority in Iraq, comprising between 15% and 20% of the country’s population. The Kurdish people are an ethnic group whose origins are the Middle East. They are one of the largest ethnic groups in … Continue reading →