Tiddis and the Cty of Bridges

Tiddis and the City of Bridges 

Our frst stop of the day was Tiddis, The romans built it on topof a re-existing Berber settlement. It was used as a defensive outpost for Constantine, then called Citra. This prosperous town, established on a plateau, with steep sides had a monumental gate, baths, industrial facilities (tanneries and a pottery), cisterns to collect rainwater, much bigger than the ones we had seen the day before at Djemila, a sanctuary to Mithras dating back to the 4th century BC, and also a Christian chapel.

We passed a cemetery and a small square centre where people were buried in the foetus position, surrounded by a rock circle. Above this would have been a pile of stones that had long since disappeared. 

We went through the outer gate and paused at a small church purposefully built opposite the site of the temple dedicated to Mithras where bulls would be sacrificed and those to be initiated into the cut were covered in blood. We passed some cisterns as we made our way up the hill with slopes much steeper than at Djemila but it started raining.

We came to the forum, much smaller than most forums as it was a small site with irregular slopes. From the tower, we had an impression of how well this location aided defence as it would be hard to attck uphill and the enemy could be seen from a long way away. The rain had intensified but instead of continuing, we decided to head back to the mini-bus. Our next scheduled stop was a mosque , and since it was raining, a much more atttractive option as it would be dry. 

We got off the mini-bus outside the Emir Abdulkader Mosque. It was named after Emir Abdelkader, considered to be the instigator of and influencial in organising opposition to French colonial control in the 19th century. Planning started soon after achieving indepedence but construction was only completed in 1994.

The decrations inside are supberb, and whlst materials came from all round the world, te decoration was done by local craftsmen. The dome is 64 metres high and the teo square minarets are 107 metres high. It can hold 15,000 worshippers and was once the largest in Algeria but its position has now slipped. 

After returning to Constantine and lunch we had time to visit the Citra Museum. It has more mosaics, a room dedicated to coins, artefacts from Roman history and afterwards, ancient history and upstairs, more modern art.

                                      

Then it was a short drive across town to the Ahmad Bey Palace. The palace was commissioned durthe rule of Ahmed Bey ben Mohamed Cherif. Construction took ten years sarting in 1825. He only occupied it for two years before it fell to the French who had captured Algiers in 1830 but it had taken them that long to reack Constantine. 

A twoer to the left, part of the palace whilst the dome and the square minaret to the right is the Ghazal Market Mosque. 

We had a guided tour inside and then some free time.

A detail of the ceiling. 

It has four courtyards, this is the Orange courtyard as orange trees grow in it. 

One of the slender columns that are either round, octogonal or composite. 

One side of the gallery running around one of the courtyards...

...another detail...

...an ornate door at the top of the stairs leading from the upper floor facing the courtyard to the ground floor.

The door to the bey's office.

Inside the bey's office flanked by his advisor to his right and his general.

The servants courtyard.

After the bey's palace we drove up to the Martyr's Monument, set on a high point of the plateau where Constantine is built. It commenorates those from the area that fell during the First Word War. There are are the names of the more than 800 names. There are not just French names but Arabic and Jewish names plus a scattering of Italian and Spanish names who fell fidghting for France.

A view of the cliff to one side (the top is a restricted area, an Algerian military base)...

...and the view to the other side with the newer otter suburbs in the distance.

A French bridge bult 1911 that spans the gorge. The road leads straight into the old town . To the right of the photo is a former French military base. 

Looking downstream from the 1911 French bridge and the end of the gorge and one of the seven bridges that link the city to other areas giving the nickname of the city as The City of Bridges. 

A view from the bridge back to the Martyr's Monument. 

Looking up the gorge, where the river exits a natural stone arch In the distance is another bridge, a Frnech built replica of an earlier Ottoman bridge. Then it was time to walk along a road hacked out of the cliff face with frequent tunnels underneath the French military base to reach the centre of the city and return to our hotel. 

 

Djemila UNESCO site, Algeria

 Djemila UNESCO site.

We had a planned stop at a resturant for lunch as everything else was closed for Friday prayers. As soon as the last mosque's prayers were finished we headed to the entrance to the Roman city known as Cuicul.

First stop on site was teh museum. It display many of the findings from digs but it is most famous for the range and quality of the mosaics that have been lifted from excavated villas and reset on the internal walls of the musuem. Here is a range...

 

A mosaic from the House of Bacchus. 

A model of the site, starting with the northern and oldest part with the forum, courthouse and other essential buildings and the oldest section at the bottom of the photo. Then the next section above it, the theatre to the top left and houses and villas to the top right hand corner.

It was started on a virgin site where no former settlement had been built. It was started in the 1st century AD as a settlement for retired Romn soldiers. It is a hilly triangular site with rivers on two sides that meet towards the north of the city. 

The Christian Basilica. 

Some of the columns and wallks of surviving structures. 

The main temple.

A gatehouse and arch over one of the approaches to the city centre. 

Opus Africano, a type of contruction used in the srea using large blocks for stength with infill of alternate layers of small stones and tiles to give some flexibility to withstand destruction during earthquakes. earthquakes

The Arch of Caracalla, unfortunately with the sun in the wrong place to see the delicate features.  

The plain side of the arch but with the afternoon sun shining on it. 

Algiers

Algiers

Apologises for only brief text as I am two days nehind dueto technical issues and I need to get up to date. 

A small section of city wall showing the thickness....

,,,and showing the outside face. 

A gate into the citadel.

Entrance to the governors palace just inside the gate.

 The mosque for visitors. 

Inside one of the houses, built around a courtyard with no outwards facing windows.

A glimpse of one of the interior balconies.

A view of the port from the top floor. 

A narrow alley lined with shops. 

A detail showing how owners build supports to increase the living space of upper floors by building out across the alley. 

The effect when both neighbours do but don't actually build over the alley completely to make it a tunnel. 

The entrance to Governor Mustapa Pasha's residence (ruled 1797 - 1806)...

...a view of the ground floor...

...a view of the upper floor....

A view of the former post office, designed to look old but a recent construction by the colonial French now being converted to a museum. 

The Martyr's Monument on a high overlooking the port. 

Coral Coast

 Coral Coast

This is my 35th book to be published and my fourth on Australia. It complements the others, namely Koalas and Kangaroos, Walkabout, and Train to the Top End. 

Coral Coast is an adventure around the south west corner of Australia encompassing Perth, the capital of Western Australia. From Perth the trip continues up the coast known as the Coral Coast.

There are caves, national parks and Aboriginal cultural sites to visit and endless amounts of flora and fauna to view. There is a pause at Exmouth on the North West Cape, which as the name implies is the north west corner of Australia.

Then there are visits to Port Headland, the world’s largest iron ore exporting port handling more than 567 million tons and an exploration of the pearling industry in Broome.

There are gold and diamond mines to visit before joining the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory to reach Darwin, the largest and most northern city in Australia in the centre of the northern coast. 

 

Koalas and Kangaroos.

This is an adventure up the east coast of Australia. It starts at South Point, the southernmost point of the Australian mainland near Melbourne. The journey continues by train via Canberra to Sydney. There is so much to see such as the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Bridge, Manly Beach and plenty of other cultural sights. There is a side trip inland to the Blue Mountains.

Going north by road, the first stop outside Sydney is at Walkabout Park and close encounters with koalas and kangaroos. Newcastle is home to the world’s largest coal export terminal.

There is an Aboriginal cultural experience, relaxing on the beach in Byron Bay with its iconic lighthouse and trips out to dive on the Great Barrier Reef. A trip inland explores the Atherton Tablelands with its many waterfalls.

North of Cairns is the Daintree National Park, the world’s oldest rainforest. Finally, a 4X4 trip to Cape York at the very top of Australia.

Walk About 

This is a journey along the southern coast of Australia, starting in Tasmania. There is beautiful scenery, views of mountains, wildlife such as wombats and Tasmanian Devils and the search for the elusive platypus. There is plenty of culture regarding the Aboriginals as traditional custodians of the land, and history of the early European settlement, by both free settlers and the transportation of convicts, with interesting anecdotes of convict stories.

Back on the mainland of Australia, the Great Ocean Road connects Melbourne with Adelaide with sights such as The Twelve Apostles, murals on silos and the wildlife including cute koalas on Kangaroo Island.

After a tour of Adelaide and several famous wineries in the Adelaide Hills, the centre of South Australia’s wine region, there is the crossing of treeless Nullarbor Plain with the longest straight section of railway track in the world at 478 kilometres to reach Perth in the far west of Australia. 

Train to the Top End

The Indian Pacific and The Ghan are two of the iconic train journeys across the Australian continent. Their routes follow the historic expansion of the economy from the discovery of gold, silver, and copper deposits throughout the continent which makes it one of the top three gold producers in the world.

The story crosses the continent from east to west from Sydney to Perth and south to north from Adelaide to Darwin, through the Red Desert in the centre of the continent. Both journeys have fascinating stops en route before reaching the Top End and more adventures. 

Summer in Scandinavia, another book published

 Summer in Scandinavia

The fourth book in the trilogy of student travels. Douglas Adams, creator of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy had a trilogy of five books, so I reason that I can also have more than three in a trilogy although there are two more books planned so ultimately, it will be a trilogy of six. 

After my gap year working as a forklift truck driver, I had earnt enough to fund my last year through university. I had also saved up my holiday entitlement and my manager was encouraging me to take some time off. 

I had discovered Eurorail. For a single payment, it was a rail ticket valid in over thirty European countries that lasts a month giving unrestricted travel. I was hooked on the idea straight away and was the resolution of what I would do with my holiday entitlement. 

I was going to use all my holiday entitlment in one go and use my rail ticket to cross Europe and explore Scandinavia. I handed in my notice and set off for my summer holiday before returning to university.