Larnaca is a different sort of destination for me. I usually avoid beach towns. Larnaca is kinda modern and kinda scrappy and kinda third wordly. But I keep coming back year after year. And enjoying it here.

I am told that the upscale part of Cyprus is at the western end of the island, around Pafos. But the nice little airport here in Larnaca connects to everywhere around the eastern med, and has an airport bus route that delivers you quickly to the city center, making it so simple to arrive and depart.

There are a few historic buildings, but Larnaca peaked in global importance during the times of the Venetian Republic. Today it is attractive as a beach town and for people with vacation homes.

And there are some quite nice parts of town: besides the airport, the strip of restaurants and hotels at the beach is very nice. They have a cute glitzy mall. And maybe a few interesting churches.

But the wonderful thing they have for sure is GREAT WEATHER. For my week here in February, 70 degrees every day with a big beautiful sky.

I like to walk along the sea wall and around the town.

Out to the salt lake and see the pink flamingos. But this visit, so late in the winter, almost all of them have departed for Africa.

After the weather the next best thing in Larnaca ( Cyprus ) is the food.

Wonderful. Simple. Straightforward. Awesomely fresh salads and seafoods.

The town is pretty lively around the beach during the day and around the bars and restaurants in the evenings. And the cast of characters is extremely diverse: beach creatures, loud Russians, families of Indians, pink european tourists, swarthy middle easteners ..

As you know the British held Cyprus for a long time. From the fall of the Ottoman Empire, around the time of our civil war, until the Island achieved independence in 1960. And the people here still have many many british affectations, which resonate with me, having once spent 4 years living and working in England.

They drive on the left.

They tend gardens and trim their hedges with geometric planes.

They drink beer in pints. And eat with their fork in their left hand, upside down.

They use demerara sugar in their coffee and tea.

And, of course, the triumvirate of the british breakfast: mushrooms, baked tomatoes and baked beans ! I love them and eat them every day.

Thanks to the wonderful modern travel offering: the” “Food Tour”, I was able to get up into the hills and visit a few villages.

I tasted some (pretty pedestrian) local wines ..

Visited a family operation producing Honey (fascinating), and had a breakfast at a farm making cheeses using traditional methods.

Tasted dishes prepared with an ancient brazing method of sealing the ingredients into clay pots with a mud cover and then cooking them very slowly in the wood oven. (amazing and delicious).

And visited a family operation producing olive oil. This included visiting the purported oldest olive tree in the world. Not very pretty, but said to be 800 years old.

And I took the opportunity to visit the village of Lefkaritika, famous since ancient times for their hand made lace.

During the period of the occupation of Cyprus by the Venetian Republic, (an important trading center for them), Venetian ladies liked to come up into the cool hills in the summer and stay in this village. And according to records in the Vatican, Leonardo di Vinci took a vacation from his work and visited here, recorded because he bought a tablecloth here and donated it to the Vatican upon his return. Interestingly, in his painting of the last supper the tablecloth has a traditional Cypriot design.

And that’s it. Now that I’ve warmed up from the Bemidji winter I’ll soon be heading north up into Greece. And I will probably miss Larnaca. I am heading to Thessaloniki, and it looks like it will be quite chilly and perhaps rainy. We’ll see. I will check in from there.

Meanwhile, thanks for coming along.

Almost December. Chilly weather has settled onto Florence. Last night, the full moon rose over the Duomo, peeked into the window of our apartment and told us that it is time to move on.

Florence is of course for western civilization one of the most historical and valuable cities on the planet. Between say 1250 and 1500 there was an explosion of human creativity here that shook off the slumber of Christendom .. and transformed Architecture, Painting, Sculpture and all of our artistic and scientific expressions .. into those we still today consider the modern world.

There are so many churches standing as they were centuries ago, all crammed with extraordinary art and the graves of historical Renaissance people, and an honor to visit.

You can follow a chronological route through the rooms of the Uffizi, and see unfold for yourself the profound transition in art that occurred in an eye blink of time, just two hundred years .. going from flat, cartoon-like depictions of people and spaces to realistic, seemingly photographic and almost three dimensional representations.

For people who really can appreciate art, the Pitti Palace contains an endless number of paintings displaying works of art over centuries. And also in Florence, there are museums here for Sculpture, Stone inlay, Renaissance Science, Etruscan history, and more …

You can walk all over the city, and must, in fact. And although it is annoying with the tiny sidewalks and the people and the motorcycles and the taxis .. you see the great spaces and buildings.

This is a superficial little blog. There is so much here, but we have been coming to Florence many times over perhaps 25 years. And these days, we just visit our favorite churches and museums and then walk and walk and hang around to focus on the extraordinary food.

And so, if you think of coming here (which you should) or just want more information and photos of Florence, you might want to look at these two previous blogs which contain much more information about this great city.

Florence. Tuscany. Italy. | Lew’s Walkabout (lewswalkabout.com)

Florence 2022 | Lew’s Walkabout (lewswalkabout.com)

One caution: Try to visit off season. The waves of tourists that used to be here throughout the summer now splash here in November and perhaps later, and we were told that this past summer they were a Tsunami. On a Chianti wine trip this visit we were in a group of 9 persons, but at one winery the host told us that during the summer they regularly had 5 buses of 50 persons each bus in a day.

There are still some “real” places in the old town .. like out around the university and the Sant’Ambrogio market, but otherwise the old center is completely a tourist zone. There are as many people snapping photos in the Central market as those buying produce.

All of the restaurants in the Old Town no matter how lavish or hole-in-the-wall have more or less the same tourist menu. We shopped in the fabulous markets and cooked almost everyday.

The bottom line: All of the wonderful historical things in Florence are still here and available to access, but you must just accept that the city has become “Disneyland does History”.

If you decide to exit this little blog here I will understand. I am now only going on to talk some about Chianti wine country.

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CHIANTI

The countryside of the Chianti wine region is beautiful. Sharp hills and valleys. Surprisingly empty. There are maybe 5 significant and ancient villages in the region and their names often appear on the bottles.

Just like all Burgundy wines are Pinot Noir grapes, all Chianti wines are Sangiovese. DOC regulated to contain a minimum of 80 percent. The other 20 percent can vary.

If you buy them, I suggest looking for the Chianti Classico, those displaying the Black Rooster are DOC controlled for the best quality production.

Three observations/opinions of mine:

We have tried numerous Italian Rose wines. We have never drunk one a second time.

The Black Rooster wines are fine drinking wines. Maybe they would improve up to 8-10 years. But we are not talking Barolo. Blindfold me and give me 10 and I would struggle to point out any one notably different from the rest.

“Super Tuscan” wine is a total marketing ploy .. with no legs.

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And that’s it. We are now off to cold cold London to see some plays on our way back to totally frozen Bemidji.

Thanks for coming along.

AREZZO

Day trips from Florence are almost always to the nearby attractive and interesting cities and villages: Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa, Montepulciano, etc. But we have done these so many times we head for a totally non-tourist destination: Arezzo.

Travelling by train in Italy is so easy it is a mistake to hire a car .. which is impossible to drive through the cities and costs a fortune to park.

Just like in any country, the view from a train is the worst view of the country: back yards, industrial sites, graffiti, endless junk. But also little villages, a surprising amount of green countryside, well tended Vinyards, olive terraces and fields.

It was such a relief to be out of the tourist crush of Florence and walk around Arezzo. Quiet streets. Making this trip on a Monday made it even quieter but was a bit of a mistake because many things are closed in Italy on both Sunday and Monday.

Not surprisingly we soon find that there are no tourists in Arezzo because there is so little to see. Siena, for example is far far more interesting. On the other hand, this is a “real” provincial Italian town and is interesting enough.

They have a massive fortress (sorry, closed).

And the town itself is a treasure of the past.

The best thing in the old center of Arezzo that we do discover is the Cathedral. An outstanding, ancient building, still used every day and quite unusual in its floor plan.

And that was Arezzo. We walk and walk and gawk and gawk and have a late lunch in a little very local restaurant and take the train back home.

FIESOLE

For whatever reason, whenever we are in Florence we hike up to the ancient Etruscan town of Fiesole. It is a few thousand years older than Florence and so worth paying homage to, but actually we do it for the fine strenuous hike.

If you ever do this, do it on a Sunday or the traffic will make it a misery.

This wasn’t a very good day to make the climb. A very cloudy overcast day and plus they are burning “le Cep”, the grape trimmings, creating a lot of smoke.

And .. there is almost nothing to do up there! A bit of Roman ruins, hardly any Etruscan. Too early to sit and drink a well deserved cold beer.

There was a little bit of local market going on that entertained us for a few minutes.

We bought a little locally produced fresh unfiltered olive oil. We were tempted by the superb vin santo, but passed on it and the huge bottles of grappa (hand made labels indicating 48% alcohol!) and went back down the hill for lunch. With our oil.

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Thanks for coming along.

It is hard for me to say anything new about Split. Except for during Covid times I have been coming here every year for 6 or 7 .. and among these pages have posted a number of descriptive blog reports.

If you ever decide to come here, and I encourage you to, there are a number of delightful cities here on the wonderful Croation coast. Plenty of sunshine. Great real food. Nice people. Great public transport.

Marriott recently opened their first hotel in Split and so I had to try it out. An “AC” brand, one of my least favorite, but interesting .. in the new highest building in Split.

They put me in a great room on the 22nd floor.

But for me the hotel was not so great. AC brands are simple hotels market positioned for business people with cars. And this one proved to be so .. out on the edge of town in a nothing neighborhood. I could walk to the center and that was OK .. but it was not so OK to do over and over. And although busses run everywhere I only took a few.

Also, Split continues to grow. More population, more roads, more traffic and congestion. Staying in the old town off season is my recommendation.

Split has for a long time been discovered by tourists, who come not just for the ambiance but to visit the old Venician town and the remains of the fortress of Diocletian.

This is a special area and of course a world heritage site.

Year over year it continues to be restored, tartified, upscaled .. and become ever more pricey.

But if you venture outside of the tourist area there is still plenty of the real local Split to be found.

As you know, one of the prime attractions of this part of the globe for me .. beyond the weather and the friendly people (if you are in a crosswalk all of the traffic stops for you) .. is the wonderful food, and in particular the fish. Like this little lunch down at the fish market.

Or this little Sea bass. Which by the way are getting expensive. This would be 25 euros downtown. I took a bus out to the suburbs and had this one for 12.

Well, as I said I don’t have much new to say about Split .. but again, there are far more informative reports on this excellent destination among these blog pages, if you are interested.

I am now moving up the coast out of the hustle and bustle of the big city to little Sibenik, and will report in from there.

Thanks for coming along.

I have enjoyed this week in Mostar. The October temperatures around 80F certainly helped. But also this is such a nice, manageable sized city, only around 60 thousand people.

The town is in a narrow valley up in the mountains, following along on both banks of a clear, fast moving river.

Most visitors swish through Mostar via tour bus, see the historic old bridge and the surrounding old streets, a World Heritage site. One night in a hotel and then onward. I know that because I see them in the breakfast room every morning, a new batch and then they load into the bus.

I stay a fair distance from this area. I can walk to it but it is only full of Touristy things. There are many other reasons to like this town. Let me describe and share some of the things I like, with you.

OK, parts of the town are gritty and sad .. primarily on the west bank. And there are still too many buildings standing ruined from the war. But there is also plenty of nicely restored buildings and new construction.

The east side of the river where I stay is very nice. Wide streets big sidewalks. And people use the streets. Lots of walking and not an overwhelming number of cars.

Some pedestrian only zones and parks.

I was surprised to find that for a Muslim town there are no headscarves at all in this area. And that there are so many Christian things.

In the fine weather people have been out walking everywhere. Young people going to schools, people walking to the numerous shops, coffee cafes, bars and restaurants. Or just hanging out enjoying the weather.

I have been staying in a fine hotel that by our standards costs very little.

Interestingly the hotel is attached to a smallish but glittering shopping Mall with more restaurants and bars. An amazing factoid: the whole of the Mall is closed on Sunday. What a revenue drag. And ..sorry, but they have closed the pool hall since I was here last. Something I was looking forward to .. but so it goes. They are putting a Burger King into that space.

In the basement of the Mall there is the biggest supermarket I have ever seen in the Balkans. With everything. Including this “non Muslim” array.

Yes. I came back here for the weather …. and the food. It is fresh and real and delicious and like everything here in Bosnia, very inexpensive. They eat a lot of meat, much of it grilled. Virtually no fish and surprisingly, no lamb.

The Veal is absolutely amazing. In this little Italian restaurant I had the best Veal Saltimbocca I have ever eaten. Hands down. 11 dollars.

How about this serving of Caprese salad. 7 dollars, with a huge serving of Focaccia included.

I am not often a beer drinker, but in the hot weather and sitting outside whiling away the early evening I have had a few. They have one Croation beer here that I really like. A beer costs a dollar and a quarter. But one day I did go for the big bucket just to try it. 2 dollars.

I have had so many great dinners with an embarrassing amount of good local wine .. dinners that I struggled to finish, for between 13 and 25 dollars, total.

Well enough of that. Yes it has been great fun. After enduring the awful air pollution in Sarajevo being up here in the clean air in the mountains has been a treat, but it is not heaven. These people smoke like chimneys constantly and everywhere. I would hate to be here in bad weather and have to be inside with them. It would be terrible.

A few fun pictures to forget that:

And that’s it. Tomorrow I will travel down to the Croatian coast to spend some weeks eating fish. Next stop Split.

Thanks for coming along.

Bosnia is still a poor and somewhat gritty place. But interesting and inhabited by plenty of friendly, tolerant and optimistic people….despite having endured centuries of invasion and occupation and war.

Their capital, Sarajevo, is a smallish city straddling a river in the mountains.

This was once the western border of the Empire of the Ottoman Turks, the extent of their push into Europe. Zagreb, about a hundred miles north, never fell to the Ottomans, but they occupied what is now Bosnia for around 400 years.

In America we have been led to think of all Muslims like the murderous arab jihadists. But Sarajevo, where maybe 60 percent of the population are Muslim is probably the most tolerant city I know on the planet. It is surprising but true that the Ottomans exercised total religious freedom throughout their Empire. The Franciscans not only carried on their operations throughout the Ottoman occupation ….

but even opened a brewery two blocks from the palace of the Bey.

This tradition of religious tolerance continues today. Churches of all denominations .. Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Synagogues, and lots of Mosques fill the city.

The old Ottoman market is an interesting area although today totally given over to tourist shopping and restaurants.

Here is an interesting artifact left from the days of the Ottomans:

You cannot read the face of the clock in this photo, but the face does not have numbers, but (to me) strange symbols. Here the hands are showing that there are still 5 and a half hours remaining until sundown, because the position of 12 o’clock corresponds to sundown. How do they do that when sundown is at a different time every day?? Well, for centuries and continuing today a person climbs the tower every day and sets the clock so that it will properly forecast the sundown.

Some other notable things:

Downriver in the suburbs there is a stretch of quiet good walking.

A cable car will take you up onto the top of the hills for some real hiking.

You can even hike in the remains of the bobsled run from the 1984 Olympics.

After the Ottomans were defeated by the Hapsburgs, Bosnia was incorporated into the Austrian-Hungarian empire. That is why much of the city looks like little Budapest.

Then the Nazis invaded with their horrors including wiping out most of the resident Jews. Then the Soviets incorporated them into the Communist state of Yugoslavia.

And when Yugoslavia dissolved, they were attacked by the Serbians in their attempt to become a regional power.

Sarajevo endured a siege of over a thousand days under constant murderous artillery fire. Extensive damage, many deaths, no electricity, no water .. until Bill Clinton (via NATO) put a stop to it.

This fine old building, now completely rebuilt, had been converted into a Library. Two million books were lost when it was shelled and burned. Today it is a museum.

And of course time heals all of these things.

There is a nice little park here just along the river bank with no remaining indication at all that it was once the market where the Ottomans bought and sold horses.

So, poor and somewhat gritty yes, but I admire their sprit, their positive open attitude and how far their rebuilding has come. There are homeless for sure but also the eternal flame.

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If you are still here and want more about Sarajevo here is a previous post:

some notes about SARAJEVO | Lew’s Walkabout (lewswalkabout.com)

And this post contains a little rift about “understanding the Balkans”

Banja Luka and the clash of civilizations | Lew’s Walkabout (lewswalkabout.com)

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I am leaving tomorrow to push further into even more Muslim areas of Bosnia .. south to Mostar.

Thanks for coming along.

I always enjoy Zagreb. This is maybe my third time here. It is usually a good flight connection from the USA, and the gateway to the Balkans. Very easy to get from here to Slovenia in the North, Bosnia in the south, and the wonderful Croation islands on the coast.

There are some nice green spaces in the town and good sidewalk walking, but over the years the density of the cars has increased a lot.

The severe damage from the earthquake in 2020 is still shows on many buildings, many still under repair, including the cathedral.

I have been staying at the Sheraton for some days using Zagreb as a base to get over the jet lag. The rooms have been much refurbished since my last visit, but sadly they painted and papered over a lot of the wonderful old woodwork that made the hotel so special.

If you think about visiting here you might look among my blog pages where I previously put down much more information about this fine little city.

The food is fresh and real.

And if you look at these (Euro) prices for wine in a local market you will understand that one of the attractions of visiting Zagreb is all of the great things about Europe are here, at bargain prices.

I must put in a note for one of my heroes, Nickoli Tesla. Many places in the Balkans claim connections to him, but especially Croatia, and I always stop to pay my respects.

I am posting these little notes from Zagreb’s delightfully small and manageable airport, waiting to head down into Bosnia and do some more looking at the remnants of the Ottoman culture in Europe.

Thanks for coming along.

People from all over the world visit Santorini. Especially honeymooners. And especially Chinese honeymooners.

Paradoxically, most of the island is a trashy and gritty third- worldish place.

But when the island blew up 3,600 years ago, destroying the Minoan Civilization, the blast left one of the most remarkable and exhilarating venues on the planet.

The rim of the Caldera is lined with small luxury hotels and visitors flock here to pay egregious amounts to live in a cave hanging on a cliff wall over the sea and be pampered. And it is worth it, because the feeling that this enormously beautiful and extraordinary place elicits is indescribable.

If you consider coming, do so in the shoulder season. Summer is wall to wall with tourists and in the winter almost everything is closed. If you want more information here are my notes from a previous visit:

Santorini and the Archeological site of Akrotiri | Lew’s Walkabout (lewswalkabout.com)

And in this Blog, just some postcard photos from this winter visit with CAMarchand. Of course we visited the Archeological site where they are excavating the Minoan city of Akrotiri destroyed with the destruction of the island. It was a rich trading city with three story houses with running water, flush toilets and extensive interior decorations. Only three percent of the town has been uncovered so far, but enough artifacts found to house in a fine museum in Fira.

The site:

And a few from the Museum:

Even though it is winter here and a lot of things are closed we have had a fine visit. Being pampered in your hotel is a good thing. And even in off season there are good times to be had.

And so that’s it for the winter of 2023.

Actually, I will hang around Cyprus and Greece a few more weeks just for the weather and the food, but probably will not encounter much more to report about.

But I do look forward to future travels and picking these posts back up. Until then, thanks for coming along.

Crete, the largest of the Greek islands, has been inhabited since the most ancient of times. These footprints date from 6 million years ago.

Crete is very hot in the summer, and full of tourists. We are here in January and the tourists are scarce, but many many shops are closed, and many restaurants. The inter-island ferries are not running, and special tours like hiking and food and wine are not running. But we are happy to find that some restaurants and museums are open, and happy to be out of crowds. Plus, the temperature is fine, in the mid 60s.

There are plenty of Neolithic artifacts in the museums to attest to the long inhabitation of the island. But most important is that Crete was the home of Europe’s first advanced civilization: the Minoans. .. during the period from about 5,000 to 4,000 years ago. One of our reasons for coming to Crete is to investigate the remnants of the Minoans, and I will probably post a separate blog about our findings.

After the Minoans, Crete was ruled by many civilizations: the Mycenaean Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, various Arabs, the Venetian Republic and the Ottomans. And so the Island and the cities contain constructions and ruins from all of these civilizations, usually stacked one on top of the other.

Crete has been part of Greece for over a hundred years and therefore is now part of the EU.

CHANIA

Believed by some to be one of the prettiest cities in Greece, Chania circles around the old Venetian harbor with the 8,000 + foot White Mountains behind. The old town right around the harbor is a nice pedestrian only area.

There are 5,000 year old Minoan ruins within the town. And a fine Museum of Minoan artifacts.

Much of the Venetian and Ottoman defensive walls and harbour constructions are intact, plus various Muslim and Christian churches.

RETHYMNO

This is a surprisingly small town. Less than 40,000 people. And being here in the winter, almost everything is closed. Kind of eerie walking around the streets of empty storefronts. Still enough hotels and restaurants are open, but it is apparent that the town’s economy is dependent on seasonal tourism.

Rethymno has perhaps the best preserved Venetian / Ottoman Fortress on the Island, but it was not open during this time for us to visit the interior.

There is a small Venetian harbour and of course lines of tourist restaurants.

There is a very interesting “old town” with a university, and many narrow streets where real people are living .. in addition to the shops and restaurants.

Plus, Mosques and churches of various denominations all around.

Up on the hill above Rethymno is a 3,500 year old late Minoan grave site with over 200 passage graves carved into a rocky hill. They were only discovered on the 60s. The grave artifacts unearthed were transferred to the historical museum in Heraklion.

HERAKLION

After Chania and Rethymno, Heraklion is a big city. But only in comparison because it actually only has around 150 thousand people. But it seems to not depend so much on tourism, and it is bustling.

Most people we talk to in Crete describe Heraklion, their Capital, as an ugly city. Certainly it is around the old harbor, where a highway has obliterated the entire waterfront. But there are some nice pedestrian only areas in the downtown and the road out to Knossos is very nice.

Like all these cities the past is all jumbled up and piled on to one another.

The comparatively new (only 500 years old) Venetian city walls are still intact, not in very good repair, but being worked on.

Of course we visited the Minoan palace of Knossos. Our guide book said be there as the site opened to avoid the crush of the crowds. Here in the winter, we saw two other people in the entire site.

The ruins are roughly 4,000 years old and a treasure of European and world history. They are remarkable for their age with multi story buildings, running water and flush toilets. The palace sat in a lovely green valley, and the ruins still do.

A model of the palace. Over one thousand rooms.

Just a few photos around the palace.

And just a few from the wonderful Museum in Heraklion that houses the fantastical and everyday artifacts of the Minoans.

One thing that needs to be said is that all over Crete, we were greeted with friendly people, interested in us beyond our credit cards and happy to be helpful.

There are many fine modern restaurants in Heraklion, but what an experience at the Anchorage where Captain John retired and with his wife has run their restaurant on the first floor of their house for 21 years. Five different dishes a day and if you come in the evening, you are offered the ones that are still left to serve. Great food and after all of the complimentary wine and Raki made by Captain John’s family that you must taste .. you have had quite an evening. Tip: the Raki really does not make you feel 10 years younger the next morning as Captain John promised, not for me anyway.

That’s it for our first visit to Crete. I would recommend that if you visit that you come in the shoulder season. Too many things are closed in the winter including almost everything in the south of the Island.

But still we had a fine visit and believe it to be an interesting destination. Besides, we had to visit the Minoans, which I will report on separately.

Now we are off for a “honeymoon” on Santorini before CAMarchand wings back to the USA.

Thanks for coming along.

Returned to Izmir so CAMarchand could visit Ephesus, the ancient historic city once on the coast here.

Ephesus was occupied by many different groups since the earliest of times. It was the Roman Capital of Asia Minor, mentioned in the Bible and believed to be the final home of Mary, mother of Jesus.

It was destroyed by an earthquake in about 700AD. It was an important port city throughout its history, but the earthquake that destroyed it moved the seashore miles away, and so the city was never rebuilt. Today they estimate that it is about 20 percent excavated.

The Theater of Ephesus is the largest found among the sites of the ancient world. It would seat 25,000 people. With perfect acoustics you can stand on the stage and snap your fingers and the snap can be heard on the highest row. So the actors could speak their lines and be heard throughout the crowd.

Izmir, the modern city nearby, is the third largest city in Turkey. It was destroyed in the 1920’s and has almost no historic sites. But it is a good base to visit a number of important ones nearby. The city is clean. Has wonderful walking along the bay, warm weather, fish restaurants and two fine Marriott Hotels. I have been here three times and enjoy stopping here.

This previous blog talks more about the city of Izmir, if you are interested:

Izmir and Ephesus | Lew’s Walkabout (lewswalkabout.com)

We are leaving tomorrow for some exciting times: our first visit to the Island of Crete. We will visit three cities and have heaps of tours and museums flagged to visit. I will check in from there.

Thanks for coming along.