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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Will the real Augustus please stand up? Last week marked the 2000th anniversary of the death of Augustus, that most famous of Roman emperors, on August 19th of AD 14. To mark the occasion, Paul Beston, who ... Read More
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Oven-Roasted Aubergines with Tomato and Halloumi: a Classic Greek Recipe Aubergine, or eggplant in American and Australian English, but also Melanzane (Italian), Melitzana (Greek) or Patlıcan (Turkish), is one of the most widely used and tasty ingredients in several traditional ... Read More
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An ancient mask from Motya in Sicily: A Phoenician grimace This object is a life-sized clay mask, probably from around 500 BC, discovered among the remains of the Phoenician (or Carthaginian) city of Motya, off Sicily. What do you make ... Read More
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Sailing to Byzantium - Patronage and the Chora Monastery in Constantinople Sailing to Byzantium is a celebrated poem by William Butler Yeats, describing the spiritual, mystical and inner world and thoughts of the famous Irish poet in regard to the apocalyptic ... Read More
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Seven Reasons to Visit Ancient Kaunos in Turkey The impressive ruins of ancient Kaunos are a major highlight on our coastal cruises in Caria, as well as on many of our private gulet charters in Turkey. Guests booked ... Read More
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The Kerameikos: Life and Death in Ancient Athens A striking 2400-year-old marble relief, showing a mounted warrior defeating an enemy, towers over an ancient roadway. It stands upon a massive terrace that contains the graves of the soldier's ... Read More
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Greek Halva Recipe: an East Mediterranean flavour Along the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean, from northern Africa and the southern Balkans eastwards to Lebanon and Syria, the desserts of each country contain more or less the same ... Read More
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A Hellenistic pebble mosaic in Rhodes, Greece As an archaeologist specialized in Byzantium and the Middle Ages, I should probably be expected to write about the glorious history of the Knights of Rhodes and what they left ... Read More
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Sport in the Ancient Greek world The fascination with sporting prowess goes back a long way – in fact, we come across its early ancestry on many of our tours in the ancient Greek world. The ... Read More
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Ian Parmenter's Aegean Lamb with Orzo and Vegetables recipe It has been our privilege to welcome Ian Parmenter as a guest on several of our tours and cruises in Turkey and Greece. Born and raised in Britain, Ian moved ... Read More
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Ancient Athenian ostraka: Political Ostracism in Greek history A series of smallish, circular and concave pottery disks, all covered in a shiny black slip and all with letters incised around the edge. Not too exciting at first sight. ... Read More
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Santorini Fava (yellow split pea purée) After our recent posts on Assyrtiko wine and on tomatinia (cherry tomatoes), here's our third instalment on the specialities of Santorini. Santorini fava (Fava Santorinis) is one of the most ... Read More
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Ancient Morgantina on Sicily - Living on the Edge The island of Sicily was home to numerous cities founded or settled by Greeks during the 8th and 7th centuries BC, leaving behind a rich legacy of architectural remains, especially ... Read More
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Lakki on Leros: the most unusual harbour town in Greece The Bay of Lakki on Leros, is one of the finest natural harbours in the Eastern Mediterranean. I was there aboard a gulet looking across the water, at what might ... Read More
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The famous Santorini Tomato and a recipe Santorini is one of Greece's best-known travel destinations. It is especially famous for its remarkable volcanic setting, the whole island forming an enormous volcanic caldera, and its extraordinary archaeological wealth, ... Read More
