Southern Europe

Cyprus

Nicosia (Lefkosia) Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty and love smiled fondly at Cyprus, the island of her birth, giving it an extraordinary beauty, a tender climate, and plenty of sunshine. Is it any wonder so many earthlings over the centuries have desired to own this Mediterranean Island? And being at the crossroads of Europe,…

Athens Greece

A forest of people move through the Acropolis entrance with it being “free admittance” Sunday. We pass through the Dionysos Theatre and up an embankment to the unmistakable arches of Herodes Atticus Odeon…and after 16 years since we have last tread on Athenian soil – it is once more before us… The Parthenon – personifying…

Tirana Albania

If size matters, the Skanderbeg Square in Tirana is definitely in the winner’s circle, or more accurately – oval. The large central section is the length of two footballs fields. It is lorded over by an equestrian statue of Skanderbeg, who fought for freedom from Ottoman rule. This Albanian national hero replaced the huge statue…

Pristina Kosovo

The first monument we come upon in Pristina is of large block letters spelling “NEWBORN”- first unveiled in brilliant yellow on February 17, 2008, the day Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. And every year since, before the February 17th Independence Day celebration the monument undergoes a paint-job, and is unveiled in a ceremony flaunting its…