Alison Stewart's Blog, page 13

South Africa – my best destination for a holiday

Nine travel writers from The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age Traveller pick their best destination for a holiday right now. I pick South Africa, with honourable mentions for Turkey and Denmark. Read about it here:

http://www.traveller.com.au/the-best-travel-destination-in-the-world-that-depends-gjsdfd

 

 

Secret places – Wolfberg Cracks, Cederberg, South Africa

Sixteen Fairfax Traveller travel writers nominate their “secret place”. One of mine is the divinely peaceful Wolfberg Cracks in South Africa’s Cederberg. Read about it here:

http://www.traveller.com.au/underrated-travel-destinations-travel-writers-secret-places-revealed-gifvn6

Kotor, Montenegro – the number one city to visit for 2016

Possibly more beautiful than Dubrovnik, Kotor, tucked away at the end of the fjord-like Bay of Kotor, is a jewel of a city. My story was published in The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age Travellers in November, 2015. Read about it here:

http://www.traveller.com.au/kotor-a-fairytale-come-true-gkhvwy

 

Road Trip – Romantic cities of the US South

Please join me on my 3000-kilometre road trip around America’s South, taking in Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, North and South Carolina.

My story, titled Gone With the Wind, was published as a cover story in The Sydney Morning Herald/Melbourne Age Traveller on November 21-22, 2015. I’ve also included the online link for ease of reading:

http://www.traveller.com.au/southern-comfort–the-romance-of-the-us-deep-south-gkzwom

   

Beautiful Athens – give it a chance!

I visited Athens in the late 1970s and found a dirty, rather unpleasant place. A menu item summed it up for me then: Bowels in Sauce.

Visiting again recently, I was cautious. I needn’t have been. Despite the economic crisis that Greece still labours with, Athens is a much improved city – gorgeous really. Infrastructure and transport are much improved and the Athenians are some of the most hospitable people I’ve met. It’s almost as if adversity has brought out the best in them.

Here’s my story published in The Sydney Morning Herald/Melbourne Age Traveller on November 21-22, 2015, titled Ruins not Ruined. You can also read it online here:

http://www.traveller.com.au/still-chaotic-but-athens-streets-reveal-a-city-transformed-despite-economic-crisis-gkx9i4

 

Hotel Grande Bretagne, Athens review

This wonderful, historic hotel sits slap bang in the middle of Athens like a grand old duchess. And like a grand old duchess, she knows many secrets. You can read my review published in The Sydney Morning Herald/Melbourne Age Traveller on September 5-6, 2015, titled Goering to Gaga. Online link is here:

http://www.traveller.com.au/luxury-stay-in-athens-with-view-to-acropolis-gj967q

Mykonos – Windmills of my Mind

My new husband and I lived on Mykonos for a while in the 1970s, before it was trendy. We returned recently and found that though much has changed, much remains the same.

Here’s my story, published on October 2, 2015 in The Sydney Morning Herald/Melbourne Age Traveller. I’m also including the online link so it’s easier to read:

http://www.traveller.com.au/mykonos-still-a-greek-island-idyll-but-with-better-food-gj9yud

Behind the scenes tours

Regular travel writers at The Sydney Morning Herald, Sun Herald and Melbourne Age Traveller choose their favourite “behind the scenes tour”.

I picked the wonderful Point of Human Origins experience at Mossel Bay. Those taking the tour stand on the point on Earth where the earliest evidence for the origins of modern human behaviour was discovered. Leading the tour is the archaeologist who originally made the discovery, Dr Peter Nilssen. Dr Nilssen, a brilliant communicator, also talks about archaeological events leading to the discovery and poses the question: Where to now as a species.

The caves are not open to the public – you can only visit them on the POHO tour, or if you walk the wonderful Oystercatcher Trail, a luxury four-night, three-day 55-kilometre Garden Route guided slackpacking hike that follows the coast from Mossel Bay to the Gouritz River mouth along a track marked at regular intervals with a stencil of the endangered African Black Oystercatcher.

Here’s the story, titled Up close and personal and I have provided an online link as well here: http://www.traveller.com.au/the-best-...

Dubrovnik and Croatia’s Konavle Valley

There’s more to Croatia’s gorgeous walled city of Dubrovnik than the Old City, walking the walls or visiting Game of Thrones sites (wonderful though those things are).

Read my story in The Sydney Morning Herald/Melbourne Age Traveller on cycling the nearby Konavle Valley, Croatia’s food bowl and the keeper of some of Croatia’s ancient traditions.

Here’s a screenshot of the story and you can also read it online at:

http://www.traveller.com.au/freewheeling-croatias-konavle-valley-gj3cxq

Cihangir – Istanbul’s bohemian heart

I adore Istanbul – not merely the place but also the people, who are as a whole gentle, kind, sometimes a bit world-weary. A lifetime living in that city would not be enough to experience all it offers.

For those who love the city but do not live there, reading can sometimes fill the gap. One of Istanbul’s best writers, the Nobel Prize-winning Orhan Pamuk explains his complex city in beautiful but melancholic books such as his autobiographical Istanbul: Memories and the City, his 16th-century masterpiece, My Name is Red and his more recent novel, The Museum of Innocence.

If you have the time and you’ve visited the Sultanahmet gems, wander across to the northern bank of the Bosphorus to explore Pamuk’s neighbourhood, Cihangir, and especially his Museum of Innocence, which is both an exploration of his novel as well as a dissection of his city.

Here’s my piece on Cihangir, which was published in Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age Travellers as well as online:

http://www.traveller.com.au/the-bohemian-heart-of-istanbul-giyyhl