Monthly Archives: December 2019

HUNTERS AT HEART   Songbirds are in steep decline all over the world. Their habitat has been shrinking because of agriculture, spreading cities, climate change, and the predation of feral and outdoor cats. In North America, cats kill 2.4 billion birds … 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 a major town in south-central Turkey. It lies near the mouth of the Orontes River, … 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 weeks of endless rain or snow. The interesting landscape … 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 →