RAB: I visited the Kyrenia boat in the castle in Kyrenia. It didn’t appear to me like it was being terribly badly looked after, and it didn’t seem to be rotting away. Maybe, looking at my photographs again, it could be slightly better cared for, but it looked okay to me for now. Of course, the Republic of Cyprus (ie the Greek south) have put a picture of the boat on some of their euro coins. This is partly an oblique statement on their part that they claim the north, but it is also a statement that they at least also see it as a national treasure.

Salamis for instance is amazing, huge 6000 seat Roman theatre and beautiful circular mozaics just lying there with no protection. People could steal these easy I thought when I first went there, and apparently they have. Kyrenia castle has one of the oldest boats ever recovered too,just sat there gently rotting away cos they haven’t the money to preserve it properly (it was knocking about the Med trading in Wine, Olive oil and walnuts etc when Alexander the Great was a lad, and they’ve got it in a room that is less refrigerated than the supermarket next door). It would be a National Treasure anywhere else.

Hopefully come Thursday, I’ll be having a drink with the man. I’m looking forward to it.

Graham Asher, regarding Michael’s holiday snaps (although most of his travels come about as part of his work, if I recall correctly), one can see them as a political statement; a sort of whoop of defiance against green puritanism and in celebration of a world in which people do zip around the globe doing useful things with computers just like the future was meant to be. Although I had thought there would be tunnels through the core by now.

The most arresting photo for me was the one of the graveyard in Bedzin. It just seemed very odd to bury people on a slope.

We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous… lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.

Politics is one small part of the conversation at Samizdata. Philosophy is another interest. Economics. Business practices. And always, having fun. I haven’t had a good ‘road trip’ in more years than I can remember. Michael’s travelogues give me a bit of vicarious travel. Granted, I may be an exception, I even have friends send me their vacation pics if they are so inclined.

One of the best parts of Michael’s travel pics is the conversations and answers that follow up in the threads. I’ve learned stuff I never even knew I didn’t know. Enjoy.

And because Samizdata has never just been about politics.