Category Archives: History

Crete, Greece’s largest, most populous, and southernmost island, is a rugged place of mountains and gorges. Every day-trip I took while I was there was a test of fitness! A day after descending a punishing cliff-slope to Preveli Beach (see: Preveli Beach and Palm Forest) and exploring the historic capital of the Rethymno (Rethymnon) prefecture […]

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The expanse of the Roman Empire always astonishes me. From Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall in Great Britain, to the southern reaches of what is now Egypt; from the Atlantic Ocean to territories west of the Mediterranean – at its largest, the Empire ruled over 5 million square kilometres (almost 2 million square miles). But […]

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Crete, in the Mediterranean Sea, is Greece’s southern-most administrative region and the country’s largest and most populous island. The landscape has given up artifacts that are evidence of human settlement as early as 130,000 years ago. Even today, there are ruins and buildings dating across several civilizations. The island’s long (1,046 km (650 mi)) and […]

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I was breathless with excitement! Or maybe it was just the altitude? Or the psychoactive effects of the coca tea we’d been drinking? Flying into Cusco (previously Cuzco) felt like flying into another world. And it was: it was a world away, and a long time ago. My husband and I were planning to walk […]

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The archaeological remains and artefacts that survive to attest to the richness of the almost 30 centuries of civilisation we now call Ancient Egypt (3100-333 BC ) are mind-boggling. That people between 3000 and 5000 years ago conceived of – and built – the pyramids, tombs, mausoleums, and temples, that scatter along the Nile amazes […]

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