The book I read to research this post was The Berlitz Travel Guide to the Greek Islands of the Aegean which is a very good book which I bought from a secondhand bookshop. With the current trouble with the rioting over the government bringing in austerity measures it’s probably not the best time to visit Greece. The Aegean Sea contains approximately 1700 islands which are under greek control. There are some others under turkish control. A lot of these so called islands are little more than rock outcrops. The vast majority are barren and you are more likely to find sheep and goats on these islands than people. The greek people find it amusing that westerners holiday here and you won’t find many greek holidaymakers at least on the smaller ones. Some islands like Kos are famous holiday resorts in their own right. Crete which contained the Minoan civilisation is part of the group. It’s thought they died out following a huge volcanic reaction. There is an island just off the coast of Athens. It’s worth a visit. In Greece they have tourist police who specialize in helping tourists. They wear dark grey uniforms and their phone number is 171.

The book I read to research this post was Art Theory: A Very Short Introduction by Cynthia Freeland which is a very good book which I bought from kindle. Art in the western world doesn’t have the same meaning to us as it does in other cultures. Often art is indistinguishable from religion and often things like circumcision are part of that combined art and religion. Also art is often a culmination of outside influences used to make something new. Often if someone visits an alien culture they want a mementoe which is often art. At one such site which was a hopi indian pueblo they had to incorporate japanese printing techniques to make their artwork more saleable. Many tiny niche cultures don’t bother selling their art. Many puebloes don’t allow tourists. Another example is someone was alarmed that a tribe was incorporating things like mickey mouse and volkswagons into their artwork. They were encouraged to do more traditional stuff like beading which could be sold to tourists. At one time in the west imitation was important like Van Gogh’s flower paintings but that became less important with the invention of photography. Now originality is more important. An artist called Cindy Sherman takes photos of herself in things like scenes from 40′s films and each photo is so different she is barely recognisable. Another original piece of art is Damien Hirst’s preserved dead shark. It’s hard to imagine but even the ancient greeks were influenced by foreign cultures like the phoenicians coinage. Most artists seem to follow the mainstream like white males. There is no famous female Van Gogh equivalent for example. Obviously there must be gifted women artists from that period but they weren’t taken seriously. This post is exclusive to this site and isn’t copied onto any of my other blogs.

The book I read to research this post was The Berlitz Travel Guide to Cancun & Cozumel which is an excellent book which I bought from a secondhand bookshop. Cancun with a population of 450,000 can be divided into 2 parts. There’s the tourist part which is a line of hotels on the beach which stretches for a few miles and then there’s the city where the hotel workers live. This area gets 2 million tourists per year. This area which is the Yucatan Peninsula used to be inhabited by the Mayans and there are long deserted ancient cities in this area out in the jungle. Offshore there are many spanish galleons shipwrecked some still full of loot. 55% of the population are a mixed spanish/indian race. Cancun is served by an international airport. There is a regional anthropological museum at Merida which is a big city with a population of 1 million. Cozumel is an island just off Cancun with a population of 55,000. If you go a little bit inland there is some reasonably priced accommodation. On the beach at Cancun there’s a huge tank that contains 3 or 4 nurse sharks which are harmless but provide a great photo opportunity to be photographed with.

If you rent a car in the USA and want to drive down here you will normally be expected to leave a sizable deposit which will be refunded when you return. All beaches are designated public property in Mexican law. The mains water is unsuitable to drink. There is plenty of bottled water available. If you don’t have a reservation, most hotels have available beds. The hotels can be upto 50% cheaper in the winter months.

The book I read to research this post was On the Wrong Line by Christian Wolmar which is an excellent book which I bought from a secondhand bookshop. This book looks at the history of British Rail and in particular looks at some of the incompetent decisions and some of the scandals. The first purpose built passenger railway was the Manchester to Liverpool line built in 1830. After that of course railways sprang up all over britain at an amazing rate. Railways made it possible to have fish and chip shops inland because fresh fish could be delivered quite quickly. Also farmers could get their produce to market via trains. They were forced by government legislation to provide third class travel at set rates which was very unpopular with the railway firms. often these carriages kept passengers in worse conditions than the animals. Many railways either made a small profit or no profit and every time they built one an act of parliament had to be made. They had no set rules to follow and would often allow 2 railways which were in competition on the same route. If a local MP supported it chances were he was set to benefit financially. Initially the government merged the railways into 4 large firms. The company which ran the west coast line to Scotland was the biggest company in the world around 1900. These later on were merged into 1 company which was British Rail. In the early 60′s under Dr Beeching most of the network was seen as unprofitable and closed down. Beeching saw the railway as a link between major cities. At this time the government thought the way forward was roads and that railways would decline like canals had done. In the 80′s much of the railway was privatised. Nowadays of course trains are getting more popular and the railways actually make a profit. In Britain they are being expanded. The french system with its TGVs is envied in Britain.

The book I read to research this post is The AA Pocket Guide to Orlando which is an excellent book which I bought from a bookshop in Hereford. Orlando is probably best known for the nearby Walt Disney World Resort. It consists of 5 theme parks each of which you could easily spend a day in. It covers a huge site. Most people arrive via Orlando International Airport which serves more than 70 cities in the USA alone. If you want an alternative you could try Tampa Airport. Busch Gardens is near Tampa and as well as lots of rides has lots of animals. Seaworld is famous for its aquatic shows. If you want somewhere quiet you could try Lake Toho or Lake Wales both of which offer great fishing as well as plentiful birdlife. If you see an alligator never approach it as they can outrun a human. Another popular attraction in Cape Canavrael which boasts an unused Saturn 5 rocket among its many exhibits. Yet another popular attraction is Discovery Cove where they let you swim with dolphins. On television they did a survey of things people wanted to do before they die. Swimming with dolphins got the most votes. If you fancy try Orlando, Tampa & Kissimee. They are all big cities and Kissimee is particularly good for budget accommodation.

The book I read to research this post was The Berlitz Travel Guide to Hawaii which is an excellent book which I bought from a secondhand bookshop. When the first settlers arrived on Hawaii the only mammals were bats and monk seals and pineapples were introduced much later. There are 8 islands but you can only visit 6. One is reserved for naval use and one is owned by a wealthy scottish family called the Robinsons and only natives can use it. Ouhu is the capital and has the big city Honolulu but the biggest island is Hawaii although the locals call it the big island. Captain Cook is probably the first westerner to visit but he temporarily kidnapped so some of the tribesmen killed him and ate him. They gave the crew back a few of his bones for them to bury. One of the chiefs some how did a trade for a ship complete with cannons and invaded the other islands. He had 2 englishmen who captained the ship. He was a bit of a tyrant but tried to model his monarchy on what he heard about the english government and monarchy. He even had a governor for each island. Another chief visited England and tried to visit the king but died of disease en route. Missionaries came to Hawaii and although they set up schools which were attended mostly by adults they tried to impose a kind of puritanism on the islands. The tribal chiefs wife became a devout christian and was an ally to them but after she died they had to become more liberal. Hawaii was rife with prostitution. The islands got annexed by the USA but only became a state much later in 1959 making it the 50th state.

They do flights which allow you to see all the islands. They also have the worlds largest pineapple plantation. There are several active volcanoes and the islands are volcano in origin. Some of the higher mountains actually get snow. Honolulu is the headquarters for the US pacific fleet and contains a deep channel that can house over a 100 vessels. Of course this is pearl harbour the site of the biggest military loss in a single event in US history which happened in World War 2.

The book I read to research this post was The Berlitz Guide to Bruges & Ghent which is an excellent book which I bought from a secondhand bookshop. Although Belguim didn’t exist until 1830 both these towns are much older. Belgium has 3 self governing parts which are Brussels, Walloonia which is mostly french speaking & Flanders which is mostly flemish speaking. Both these cities are in Flanders & Bruges is the capital. Apparantly Flemish is the easiest language for an english speaker to learn and a lot of the words are similliar. In the 12th Century Bruges was the biggest city in western europe and Ghent was as big as London. They imported a lot of wool from Britain & belgian chocolates and lace were famous. They were part of the Hanseatic League. They were governed by the french but were probritish. Belguim was invaded in both World War 1 & 2. The fields of Flanders saw much carnage in World War 1 and there are lots of military burial sites.

It’s difficult to drive around Bruges & Ghent as they have lots of traffic and narrow streets. You are better off renting a bicycle as they are both bike friendly with purpose built bike routes. Bruges has many canals and has been called the Venice of the North. Nowhere is very far in Flanders and there is an excellent rail network. The entire country is less than 200 miles at its widest point and these 2 cities are only about 30 miles apart. There are plenty of interesting places within a few miles of both cities. The nearest international airport is at Brussels. Bruges has lots of campsites & Ghent has 2. The belgians love their heritage and there are lots of museums.

The book I read to research this post was DK Top 10 Moscow which is an excellent book which I bought from a bookshop in Hereford. This book has lots of top 10 lists each item with a little writing like there’s a top 10 attractions and a top 10 features of St Basil’s Cathedral. Apparently if you enroll on a russian language course prior to going to Moscow it may qualify you to be eligible to stop as a homestay. That’s basically where you can pay so much and stop at someones house which I think is a good idea. At least they’ll probably look out for you and warn you of any problems. There isn’t a lot of violent crime in Moscow but it’s rife with pickpockets who often carry a knife and will cut the strap to your camera or handbag. Another favourite is to drop a wallet with money in and if you try to pick it up you get accosted. I have heard stories of gangs of skinheads who prey on tourists. It’s a good idea to have a look at the English Foreign Office website which can easily be found via google. You can select the country you are going to and they will tell you if there’s any problems there. The police are probably best avoided unless you have problems and a lot of people are quite wary of them. It’s an idea to photocopy your passport and visa and if they need to check that they can take that away with them.

Red Square is probably the most famous sight in Moscow. Incidently Kremlin means castle in russian. Another very famous sight is St Basil’s Cathedral which has had its bell restored. Under the communists it was removed and smelted. That also means you can hear it ringing. There’s also a wooden staircase that leads upto the bell tower that was only discovered in the 1970′s. It had been hidden for hundreds of years. The Cathedral of the Assumption has been rebuilt. It had been pulled down quite a long time ago. The bolshoi theatre was closed for renovation and the bolshoi ballet were using The New Bolshoi Theatre in the meantime. The State Armoury in addition to weapons has a famous collection of faberge eggs. The first few metro stations they built are impressive and it’s rumoured that Stalin built a metro much further underground for the military but nobody knows for sure. The Tretyakov Gallery houses the biggest collection of russian art in the world. There are plans to build a New Tretyakov Gallery which will house even more art.

I have done a post on The Severn Valley Railway at http://scratbagdave.com

You’re all welcome to have a look.

The book I am reviewing in this post is Babysitting George by Celia Walden which is an excellent book which I bought from kindle. This book is very readable and is about the last several months of George Best’s life when Celia who was a young journalist was assigned to look after him as he was supposed to do a column for her newspaper. Despite being inexperienced she did an admirable job. Her brief was to keep him away from other reporters, not be seen having alcohol with him as it would give the paper bad publicity and generally take care of him. George Best if you don’t know is probably the most gifted footballer ever. Even the great Pele said he was the greatest. He only had quite a short career though due to his drink problem. It got to the point where he needed a new liver and for a while things seemed alright. I think the problem was he enjoyed drinking and didn’t want to give it up. Anyway he did eventually die from I think from liver failure. He had antabuse implanted in his stomach which should have made it impossible for him to drink but his body had developed a tolerance so he was just sick every 10 minutes whilst drinking and would just keep having more. At around this time because of his affairs and drinking Alex his wife left him and he went to Malta which is where Celia went. Eventually him and Alex got back together. Celia stayed in contact with him until the end. I think it’s a very touching story. I think even if you aren’t into football you’ll enjoy this. Also I noticed it was nominated for an award for best Sports Book. I think it was the William Hill Award.