bumblebee Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Hefe said in another thread, and not wanting it to go off on a tangent: "I'm curious to return to the Mediterranean region after a long absence... any suggestions?" So if anyone has any suggestions it's perhaps better to give them here, cheers guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimslim Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Portugal by a country mile . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Why Portugal Mr. Slim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimslim Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 Portugal is the nicest place I've visited around the Med Sam , the beaches and the food are great plus the sea and climate is a little cooler because of the Atlantic . Second choice would be Crete . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PANIC Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 What about Rhodes guys...i am here. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PANIC Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luung Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 What about Rhodes guys...i am here.1017596_652509108096010_1853068139_n.jpg OK, with regard purely to holidaying.... My No.1...I was going to say Lindos Panic!!!.. I'm living in Thailand & I still miss the place... Wonderful historic town where no cars or high rise are allowed, the ancient church, the acropolis, the beautiful natural bay, young Panic in his Porsche, the babes, the great bars & night life, the little donkies... Etc, etc, etc... No.2... Got to be Naples, for me the most interesting city in Europe & the home of the pizza & a miriad of other culinary delights... It's got beaches galore, the wonderful Island of Iscia right opposit, It's historical & artistic, it's got Capri, Pompeii & Vasuvius just down the Rd & Rome's just a little bit further!!! And No.3... Defo with Jim on Portugal, great place, great people... And they actually like the English, can you believe that, WTF!!! Oh, & finally, tieing 4th & 5th respectively... Madrid & Barcelona Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Had a great holiday in Turkey some years ago, began and ended in Isatnbul, a wonderful city, we went to Capadocia and even stayed in a cave hotel ( yeah a bit of a cliche, but WTF) great coach network, we bussed down to Antalya, then hired a car and worked our way up the coast avoiding all those mainstream holiday hotspots, but staying in smaller places like Kas and Fethiye.we even took in Gallipoli before getting back to Istanbul, Wonderful place and friendly people. Next we went to Egypt... ticked off but would never be bothered about revisiting, but definitely will get back to Turkey one day. You gents have also put Portugal on the wish list. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luung Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Had a great holiday in Turkey some years ago, began and ended in Isatnbul, a wonderful city, we went to Capadocia and even stayed in a cave hotel ( yeah a bit of a cliche, but WTF) great coach network, we bussed down to Antalya, then hired a car and worked our way up the coast avoiding all those mainstream holiday hotspots, but staying in smaller places like Kas and Fethiye.we even took in Gallipoli before getting back to Istanbul, Wonderful place and friendly people. Next we went to Egypt... ticked off but would never be bothered about revisiting, but definitely will get back to Turkey one day. You gents have also put Portugal on the wish list. This is getting freakish, as I spent so much of time during the eighties & early nineties extensively travelling & Island hopping my way around the Mediterannian (it was sorta the done thing those days) & yet I fully concured with Jim & Panic's choices... And Turkey nearly got mentioned too as it was right up on the list... In fact, now thnking about it, it should have gone before Madrid or Barcelona (especaially Madrid as it's actually in land). Anyway, funnily enough I did, more or less, the same trip back in 1987 when the country was still under curfew, begining in Istanbul & then coaching it diagonally across the country to Antaylia before working my way back up the coast to Istanbul, the only difference being that I stopped off in Marmaris, which at the time was great as the country was not yet really geared up for turism & the now famous resort town hadden't yet been commercialised... I would have loved to have taken in Gallipoli also, but unfortunately I ran out of time & didn't get to go to... However, I didn't find it that friendly, but maybe that's because I was a single bloke trying to find a lot of the 'wrong' places to go, dunno?? Funny thing, I really wanted to include some of the Spanish Islands or some more Greek Islands, but after a little bit of thought, looking back in retrospect, none of them topped up as being all that interesting for me, for anything much other than sex with overweight, spotty, Skandies, lazy days laying on beaches, nice views, drunk nights out or eating seafood... Which can all be had in a lot of other places around the world. But then I suppose it depends on what you want? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke007 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 What about Rhodes guys...i am here.1017596_652509108096010_1853068139_n.jpg Ive been to Rhodes already Panicos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimitri11 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Why a specific Greek island like Rhode when there are so many other islands in Greece! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hefe Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Well dimitri... what islands do you recommend? Thanks for all the other ideas guys, this is serious business for my future planned indolence. In the early 70s we tried to leave Athens for an island but kept showing up late at the airport (hippies!) & on the 3rd day it was fukkit... where is the next plane going? Luckily for us it was Konya Turkey & all had a swell time in a town where westerners then drew large crowds of curious kids swarming us wherever we went. I don't want to return there now for I know it has joined the modern world & I want to keep the memories of a place with horse drawn taxis & coal fires cooking snacks on the streets. Back then the Greek islands were like a dog whistle drawing the interest of those without much else to do, I assume that has mostly changed for the worse but I hope that there are Still some pockets of easy living, good food & music & decent weather. I notice no one has suggested Tangier or Cyprus either. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 What about Casablanca? Anyone have good experiences there? I've always wanted to go but know I simply have the Bogart movie romance of the city in my head. Would love to drink, smoke, and cohort among the shady characters and misfits in a gin joint like Rick's Cafe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikibyne Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Casablanca has changed a lot since Bogart's day, apart from it being on the Atlantic coast and not the Mediterranean. I haven't been there for 20 years but even then it had become a sprawling and, in places, quite modern city with an unofficial population of at least 5 million. Better options for a bit of relaxed cohorting with the locals would be Essaouira, visited by Mr.J.Hendrix in the 60s and the town has not forgotten, or Mirleft, a dusty but growing village at the foot of the Atlas mountains, once a popular place for northern European 'alternative types' escaping the cold winter. Both places can be easily reached by bus/taxi from Agadir, which often has cheap flights from Europe, but in some ways resembles South Africa in apartheid times. The only Moroccan natives you will meet in Agadir are in uniform or on their way to/from work, from/to their homes in the 'townships'. Back to the Mediterranean, I have had several very enjoyable vacations on Greek islands which all seem to be similar but have significant differences, Leros, site of the real Guns of Navarone, Samos, holiday island but big enough to get lost on exploring mountain tracks, Siros with enough different beaches to keep you busy, Andros only really for nature lovers, quiet and beautiful, Kos for the party-crowd (under 25s) but again big enough to get away from the crowds and close to Turkey. Crete is the jewel in the crown though. Tourist stuff for the tourists, too many beaches to shake a stick at, great food just about everywhere, plenty of ruins for the archaeologically minded, quiet mountain paths for nature-lovers and all on an island that can be leisurely crossed in all directions in a day. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Thanks miki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumblebee Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 Great reading all this stuff gents and it brings back fond memories of a different life for me. In my early 20s I loved hitting the Greek Islands, used to get a one month inter-rail ticket and head off every May getting to Greece in about 4 or 5 days. Then it was a couple of weeks drifting around the various island before sailing back to Athens to begin the train journey home via Rome, Nice, Paris and Le Harve or Cherbourg. Not sure how the financial crisis has affected the prices on the islands, anyone know? There may be some bargains about perhaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sustra Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 my best friend has a passion for Greece...goes there every summer and told me prices have been stable...same same for the last 3 or 4 years...no increase..no bargains ( for high season obviously ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williethepimp Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 some lovely writing here guys,well worth a read......Greece seems to be mentioned in dispatches quite a lot...only been the once,fell asleep on the beach the first day(on a small island called Agistri)....got sunburned badly,took best part of a week of misery to recover from that,and then on my last day,stood on a sea urchin...spines in the foot.....doctor ,medicine etc.....never been back to Greece. Turkey?Ive been a few times.....i thought the beaches were (mostly) shit and the people none too friendly....Istanbul is a blast tho'-spent a few days there.....since ive discovered Thailand,all my holiday money is being spent in Los 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Poor, poor you Willie. From my recollection your skin is thick but I guess its' palate is none too conducive to heavy sun intake so it's not a surprise you fried up instantly like a ramen noodle. All sympathy due it is funny nonetheless. Please forgive me for taking a wee bit delight in your misfortune. I think your hard earned money was/is well spent in LOS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimitri11 Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 To help you decide for Greece: http://www.buzzfeed.com/alexbesant/49-reasons-to-love-greece-jugk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Thanks Dimitri. I enjoyed it. I've travelled all over the world and never been to Greece. Always wanted to go and will some day. It's my favourite cuisine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hefe Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 They say the Greek & turkish cuisines, focused on primarily fish, whole grains & various wild greens, along with the Japanese are the healthiest cuisines in the world, a not so unimportant note for those of us having to be a bit more careful with that sort of thing these days. (The Thai diet can be very healthy too but their use of palm oil gives me pause, plus in Pattaya it's so easy to wander off for the English Breakfasts, Sunday Roasts, etc...) Sam, I wonder if your Casablanca image was actually based on some writer's embroidering of Old Tangier? Seems plausible to me, but I have never been there & I don't know how it has evolved... once "interesting" places get on the map: Key West, Left Bank, Pattaya, Bali... it seems like the T-shirt shops take over. http://www.cnn.com/video/shows/anthony-bourdain-parts-unknown/episode5/index.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PANIC Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Ive been to Rhodes already Panicos well ...come again....i could show you some nice kebab places much much better form the ones we had in pattaya. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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