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Curious Cruising Tales: Through the Dardanelles to the Black Sea with Charles Higham

Curious Cruising Tales: Through the Dardanelles to the Black Sea with Charles Higham


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Can't make this time? A video recording will be sent to all participants after the seminar.

Just before the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, Charles Higham was a featured guest speaker cruising with the Caledonian Sky, a vessel with just 120 passengers. Join us as we re-imagine the international voyage virtually, in a five-part cruise through some of the world’s most popular ports of call. 
During part two, even before embarking for the Black Sea from Thessaloniki, we will visit the capital of Alexander the Great and his father’s tomb at Vergina. Anchoring at the Dardanelles, we follow in Agamemnon’s voyage to Troy. No city on earth straddles two continents as does Istanbul, ancient Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire until 1453. 
Our journey then takes us up the Bosporus to the Black Sea to call at Trabzon to visit the Sumela Monastery, Sochi where Stalin had his holiday Dacha. At Yalta, we visit Livadia, where the last Tzars wintered and an ailing Roosevelt joined Stalin and Churchill in 1945. At Sevastopol, there is the scene of the Charge of the Light Brigade and at Odesa, the Potemkin steps. Together we will discuss wildlife on the Danube delta and call in on remote Bulgarian villages.
This seminar is designed to be enjoyed as part of a five-part series led by Charles Higham. For more details, please click here to explore destinations such as Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and The Andaman Islands, New Zealand, the Dardanelles strait, the Black Sea, and more.

Charles Higham is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He is an archaeologist with a particular interest in the origins of Southeast Asian civilizations. His excavations in Thailand and Cambodia have greatly increased our understanding of how the great Kingdom of Angkor began, how God-Kings were revered, and with a climatic deterioration, how it came to an end.

This conversation is suitable for all ages.

90 minutes, including a 30 minute Q&A.

Customer Reviews

Based on 5 reviews
60%
(3)
0%
(0)
40%
(2)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
C
C.F. (Santa Monica, US)
Wonderfully informative and interesting tour!

This was very interesting. Dr. Higham’s personal experience and stories, along with the photos and history, made this quite enjoyable, particularly since I have not been to several of the ports or places covered.

A
Anonymous (Pleasant Hill, US)

Guest did not leave comment

P
Paul Rivard (Québec, CA)
A very nice cruise

This is an account of a cruise, nothing more

N
N.C. (Santa Barbara, US)
Too General

I expected little more in depth history and more photos of the locations described. For example no photos of the big cemetery and memorial in Dardanelles, Sumela Monastery photos are also not capturing the place.
I have taken more than half dozen excellent courses from Context travel, so this lecture was a disappointment for me.

B
B.H. (Vernon, CA)
Personal and Dated

The region covered by this conversation is intriguing and beautiful. We found it curated from personal trips, and some images appeared dated. Occasional slip of the tongue, for example, Czar Nicolas' son Alexei's illness was hemophilia, not leukaemia. Overall felt disjointed with clips from a movie, and would have appreciated more photo imagery.

Customer Reviews

Based on 5 reviews
60%
(3)
0%
(0)
40%
(2)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
C
C.F. (Santa Monica, US)
Wonderfully informative and interesting tour!

This was very interesting. Dr. Higham’s personal experience and stories, along with the photos and history, made this quite enjoyable, particularly since I have not been to several of the ports or places covered.

A
Anonymous (Pleasant Hill, US)

Guest did not leave comment

P
Paul Rivard (Québec, CA)
A very nice cruise

This is an account of a cruise, nothing more

N
N.C. (Santa Barbara, US)
Too General

I expected little more in depth history and more photos of the locations described. For example no photos of the big cemetery and memorial in Dardanelles, Sumela Monastery photos are also not capturing the place.
I have taken more than half dozen excellent courses from Context travel, so this lecture was a disappointment for me.

B
B.H. (Vernon, CA)
Personal and Dated

The region covered by this conversation is intriguing and beautiful. We found it curated from personal trips, and some images appeared dated. Occasional slip of the tongue, for example, Czar Nicolas' son Alexei's illness was hemophilia, not leukaemia. Overall felt disjointed with clips from a movie, and would have appreciated more photo imagery.