Category Eastern Europe
The Volatile History Of The Balkan Peninsular
The Balkans region is a wonderful place to visit, being so full of history and contrasts. You can read about my travels there in my book available on Amazon. A brief history of the region appears in the book and is also shown below, giving you a flavour as to why this is such a […]
My Favourite Travel Photos – 11 to 15
What’s the point in taking photographs? This is the second in my series of favourite travel photos based on the memories they evoke and one or two that I consider passably decent. I am presenting them in clusters of five and today show my third favourite quartile. River Vltava, Charles Bridge & Prague Castle – […]
Sunday Photo – Moldovan Countryside Scene
Yesterday I gave an on-line talk for The Globetrotters Club on the theme of Eastern Europe. One of the countries that I talked about was Moldova, amongst Europe’s poorest nations. They still practice traditional farming methods with horses often used instead of tractors. I call the photo below ‘Giant Haystacks’.
Orthodox Easter Sunday
Today is Easter Sunday in the Orthodox calendar. A day of celebration for Greeks, Russians, Bulgarians, Romanians, Serbs, Georgians, Armenians, Latvians, Estonians, Ukrainians, Belorussians and a host of others. Here are a few Orthodox cathedrals & churches that I have visited over the years. Χριστός ἀνέστη!
A-Z April Challenge (Cities Visited) – O for Odessa
Hamish & I arrived in the Ukrainian city of Odessa in 2011 by train from Chisinau in Moldova. The intention was to take an overnight train onto Sevastopol, but we had stumbled across some sort of public holiday and all trains were full for the next three days. Train Arrival But Not Departure With heavy […]
2019 Ends, 2020 Beckons
“A postponed journey means a very special future opportunity.” So say I after having to cancel two booked trips last January, which have now been re-scheduled for early 2020. More of those later, what about the trips actually undertaken in 2019? Athens A late February stay in our central Athens apartment so we could visit […]
Praise for Prague
I first visited Prague in 1992 on the tail end of my third and final interrail trip. It was love at first sight, never before had I ever been so smitten by a place. The rattling old trams up to the castle, the amazing views across the rooftops down to the serene Vltava River and […]
Jazzy Ljubljana
When I booked for Mrs Wilbur & I to visit the Slovenian capital this June I had no idea that it would coincide with the city’s 60th jazz festival. We have both grown to love this musical genre and indeed the whole trip that saw us ending up in Vienna was predicated on us going […]
Travelling By Train Across The Balkans
I am delighted to announce that my new book is now available for purchase through Amazon. ‘Travelling By Train Across The Balkans’ chronicles my trips over the past decade or so in the intoxicating region. It features travel in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Northern Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and European Turkey, […]
Friday Photo – Skanderbeg Square, Tirana, Albania
This photo was taken in 2007 – the statue portrays Albanian hero Skanderbeg on horseback, with the central mosque and clock tower in the background. Skanderbeg was a fierce warrior who organised his 10,000 strong army to lead a rebellion against the occupying Ottoman Empire, securing many victories against significantly larger forces, who were also better […]
