Archive for October, 2019
How did America come to be called America?
October 15th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
This is an interesting letter in the “Guardian” newspaper: I fear Thomas Eaton (Weekend Quiz, 12 October) is giving further credence to “fake news” from 1507, when a German cartographer was seeking the derivation of “America” and hit upon the name of Amerigo Vespucci, an obscure Florentine navigator. Derived from this single source, this made-up […]
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Which nationalities are the tallest and the shortest?
October 14th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
I’ve just returned from a week’s holiday in Montenegro and Serbia. I was surprised at how tall both the men and women were in both nations, so I’ve done a little research and I find that these are the 10 tallest countries: The world’s 10 tallest countries Netherlands – 1.838m Montenegro – 1.832m Denmark – […]
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Holiday in the Balkans (8): Stari Bar and Lake Skadar
October 12th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Our last day (Saturday) in Montenegro was another long excursion, starting at 9 am and concluding at 7.15 pm. Our first visit was to a local family operation for producing olive oil from their olive trees. Our guide described the “smashing” of the olives to create the oil. Then we made a longer visit to […]
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Holiday in the Balkans (7): Kotor
October 11th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Yesterday we viewed the Bay of Kotor from high up in the surrounding mountains, but today (Friday) we took a boat ride on the Bay and spent some time in Kotor itself. The whole bay area including the city is a UNESCO World Heritage site and it really is a magnificent location. The coach ride […]
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Holiday in the Balkans (6): Cetinje & Njegusi
October 10th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Another day (Thursday), another excursion – but shorter this time (9 am – 3.15 pm). We started with our first experience of rain but the weather soon brightened up and then became warm (22C). Our first destination was the charming town of Cetinje. This was founded in the 1480s and it was Montenegro’s capital for […]
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Holiday in the Balkans (5): Albania
October 9th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
It was another long but interesting day (Wednesday) with collection from the hotel in Petrovac at 8 am and return towards 6 pm. It was a day of two halves: one in southern Montenegro and one in northern Albania. So the morning involved time in the nearby town of Ulcinj. This is the southern-most town […]
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Holiday in the Balkans (4): forest and monastery
October 8th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Tuesday in Montenegro started in Kolasin in the mountains in early morning when it was just 4C and ended in Petrovac on the coast where it was a balmy 22C. First we visited the National Park of Biogradska Gora which is one of only three primeval forests in Europe. The trees here are around four […]
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Holiday in the Balkans (3): Serbia to Montenegro
October 7th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Day three (Monday) of our Balkans trip was totally a travelling day – a train journey of almost nine hours (9 am till 5.40 pm) from Belgrade in Serbia to Kolasin in Montenegro with a short passage through a bit of Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was not that the distance travelled was so great, but that the […]
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Holiday in the Balkans (2): Belgrade
October 6th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
On the first full day of our Balkans holiday (Sunday), the Voyages Jules Verne group – 18 of us in all – were taken on a four-hour (9 am – 1 pm) tour of a few major Belgrade sights by local guide Dana. First stop was the ruins of the Belgrade or Kalemegdan Fortress overlooking […]
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Holiday in the Balkans (1): arrival
October 5th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
What we knew as Yugoslavia from 1918 to 1992 broke up into what are now seven separate nations. I have previously visited two of them – Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia – and on this holiday I will be visiting two more – Serbia and Montenegro – with a quick look inside next-door Albania. This will bring […]
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