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D - 42: Famous People in the Mediterranean - Pope Pius V
Not everybody will be happy with my choice of person today: Pope Pius V. He was Pope and Bishop of Rome from 1566 – 1572 and probably one...
hbanziger
May 30, 20205 min read
D - 43: Famous People in the Mediterranean - Piri Reis
Most people won’t recognise the name of Piri Reis, or Captain Piri, the Turkish Admiral and cartographer to the Sultan, unless you are an...
hbanziger
May 29, 20204 min read
D - 44: Famous People in the Mediterranean - Andrea Doria
In most of Europe and the US, Andrea Doria may not be a famous name. But in Italy it is. Who has several ships named after him? Most...
hbanziger
May 28, 20205 min read
D - 45: Famous People in the Mediterranean - Horatio Nelson
On our journey from Genoa to Sicily we will cross the path of some famous people who at one point in their life were busy in the area. Am...
hbanziger
May 27, 20204 min read
D - 46: Liguria - Hilly Seafood Paradise
`In our journey to discover the cuisines of our 2020 sailing we finally arrive in Liguria our place of departure on 11 July. With the...
hbanziger
May 26, 20203 min read
D - 47: Galleys - the Speedy Boats of the Mediterranean
Over the last two weeks, I must have talked every second day about galleys – at least. Definitely did so yesterday. Time to describe how...
hbanziger
May 25, 20205 min read
D - 48: Sicily - Culinary Melting Pot
Today’s blog is about Sicily’s Cuisine. As we have seen in previous blogs, the island was settled by Greek and Phoenicians about three...
hbanziger
May 24, 20204 min read
D - 49: Bread for the Romans, Low Gluten Pasta for Us
In one of my 2018 blogs I talked about the logistics of feeding ancient Rome and reached the conclusion that it needed about 365’000 tons...
hbanziger
May 23, 20205 min read
D - 50: Gold - Linking Slavery to Volcanos
Ten days ago, I wrote about the Phoenician traders who ventured into the Western Mediterranean in search of silver and tin. They found it...
hbanziger
May 22, 20205 min read
D - 51: How Climate Changed Tunisia's Cuisine
After yesterday’s foray to the Green Sahara, it is time to return to Berber Culture and the Tunisian Cuisine. We will return to the...
hbanziger
May 21, 20204 min read
D - 52: Horses from the Green Sahara
Intended to write about the Tunisian cuisine today. But given that I have not been there for 47 years, I only have a faint recollection...
hbanziger
May 20, 20204 min read
D -59: The Roman Climatic Optimum
When people talk about North Africa, they mostly think of it as desert, tourist resorts with sandy beaches and decade long and never...
hbanziger
May 19, 20204 min read
D - 60: The Precious World of Tin and Silver
Ended my last blog with the question why the mariners of ancient Phoenicia and Greece ventured west despite the risk of sailing into the...
hbanziger
May 19, 20204 min read
D - 61: Following the Stars and the Winds
Ever wondered how the Phoenicians and Greeks sailed in the 8th - 6th century BC to the western Mediterranean? We will be crossing these...
hbanziger
May 19, 20203 min read
D - 53: Sardinia - twice as many sheep as tourists
Most people describe Sardinia with two statements: “Ah, the big Italian Island” or “Ah, Costa Smeralda”. Whilst both are correct, they...
hbanziger
May 19, 20204 min read
D-54: Corsica's Cuisine
One of life’s pleasure is looking at menus and recipe books and guessing how people discovered all the interesting foods they describe....
hbanziger
May 18, 20204 min read
D-58: Were Galleys rowed by Galley Slaves?
Over the last three days we talked about the reasons why the Phoenicians ventured into the Western Mediterranean, how they used stars and...
hbanziger
May 17, 20204 min read
D-55: How the African Plate powers the AFAED
When we leave Genoa on 11 July, we will sail along the Ligurian coast with its steep hills. Already on the second day they merge with the...
hbanziger
May 17, 20204 min read
D - 56: Olives, Wines, Dates and Figs - the Remaking of the Mediterranean Vegetation
When writing my blog yesterday, I was thinking of the three fig trees in Chantrou. Every year, we impatiently wait for the figs to get...
hbanziger
May 16, 20204 min read
D-57: What do you eat from Tyre to Carthage?
When I googled yesterday how much energy a galley rower consumes a day, I was puzzled. 6’000 calories! That is more than twice my daily...
hbanziger
May 15, 20203 min read
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