Peter Sommer Travels Blog
Welcome to our blog!
Since 2011, this is where we provide extra insight and information about our expert-led cultural tours and cruises. Our blog posts complement what is available on our main website and in our brochures – they offer examples of the fascinating stories and ideas, the lovely flavours and sights, the extraordinary experiences that we share with our guests on our tours.
Our posts cover a wide variety of topics and are in various styles: articles about archaeology and history brought to you by our tour experts, tour diaries, news from excavations and museums, recipes, reading suggestions, updates on our new itineraries and much more – it’s all here for you to discover and enjoy.
After browsing some of our posts, why not take a look at our range of expert-led archaeological tours or gulet cruises, or get in touch so we can help create a wonderful private tour just for you.
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A Byzantine wine bar in Ephesus This post is mostly based on an original press release by the Austrian Archaeological Institute. Copyright for all photographs, unless otherwise indicated, belongs to the Institute/Photographer: Niki Gail (© ÖAI ... Read More
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A Renaissance German on Turkish food The Turks eat poor wretched food that makes one shiver, and generally they cannot cook, especially their women not at all. All their fare is only czorba, which is like ... Read More
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An ancient Christian cross from the Parthenon in Greece A marble slab, over a metre (or about 4ft) in height, carved to show a simple cross set within a rectangular frame. The motif is simple and the carving is ... Read More
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Amazing archaeological finds: how we gain from ancient loss On our historical tours you will hear many stories about the past. Based on rocks and walls and artefacts, these stories are nevertheless always about people. That's the essence of ... Read More
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The TektaĹź Burnu shipwreck: here's looking at you - a ship's eyes in Bodrum Simple enough: two marble disks, 14 cm (5.5") in diameter, each pierced by a lead spike at the centre, surrounded by a painted circle. What might they be? Gaming pieces? ... Read More
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An ancient Greek inscription from Kos: Nymphs vs Litter Laws A stone slab with some funny letters on it. Typical archaeological museum stuff, presumably what they use to fill space when they have nothing more interesting to show. Boring! Well, ... Read More
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Caretta caretta – on the joy of meeting loggerhead sea turtles Sometimes, there is little to say and much to communicate. That may not work well for a blog that is usually concerned with matters of history, archaeology and art, with ... Read More
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An ancient oil lamp from Agrigento in Sicily Take a look at this ancient oil lamp, dated to between AD 150 and 200, and found at Agrigento, ancient Akragas (Greek) or Agrigentum (Latin), near the southern coast of ... Read More
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Medusa - An Image Of Female Rage? There she is, her face an ugly, fearsome grimace, with fanged grinning mouth, protruding tongue and bulbous eyes. Her hair is not just a mess: it’s actually snakes sprouting from ... Read More
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Greek Frappé: Shaken or Stirred Sometimes, I long for a frappé. For example, just a few days ago, as I was exploring some remote sites in Lycia (southwest Turkey) with a trusted local colleague in ... Read More
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An ancient water distributor at Priene in Turkey A circular stone bowl, quite roughly made, about half a metre (20″) across and pierced by a series of circular holes. Hardly a work of art, but an object serving ... Read More
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UNESCO World Heritage on our Tours and Cruises in Italy In two previous posts, we've been celebrating the fact that two of the places we visit on our itineraries (Ephesus being one of them!) have been recently added to the ... Read More
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Wasters from Syracuse. Ancient broken pottery in Sicily Unless you’re specialised in the study of ancient pottery production (or maintain a strong interest in that topic), you’ve probably not seen – or at least not noted – objects ... Read More
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UNESCO World Heritage on our Tours and Cruises in Greece In our last post, we celebrated the recent addition of ancient Ephesus to the UNESCO World Heritage List by describing the various sites of such distinction that we visit on ... Read More
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Ephesus! - UNESCO World Heritage on our Turkey Tours A few days ago, I was guiding a group of guests through the stupendous ruins of ancient Ephesus, the huge Roman super-city in Ionia on what is now the west ... Read More
