Written by Χαίρετε! Salve! Season’s Greetings to one and all!
As we wind down the Year, may we take this opportunity to thank all who have contacted us for advice, travelled with us as a school or adult trip and regaled us with tales of your own private Classical Holidays.
Special thanks to retired clients who keep in touch, to long suffering and understanding non-Classical spouses (their support is inestimable!), non-Classical parents organising Classical trips for the whole family and to the children of Group Leaders who have sent us their holiday diaries and photos. It’s lovey to read about your Book Token purchases!
Our first post Lockdown Trip to Crete was a resounding success …………
“I wanted to say an enormous thank you to you and your team. The pupils had a wonderful time, and so did we. It was an excellent itinerary, and everyone was terrific. The Taverna manager was excellent and handled our varying numbers and our dietary requirements with aplomb. The hotel was terrific, and Tamzeel did a great job offering us support when we had a few sick pupils. We’d thoroughly recommend this hotel for other groups! Crete was a great place to enrich our pupils’ understanding of the Greeks. Most useful for those studying Homer at GCSE/A level, but good to provide more of an overview to all pupils as well. Palekastro gave us some pomegranates – excellent xenia; glad we made it home despite eating the seeds!”
…………..and our first post Lockdown Turkey Bookings are looking good for 2025.
Claudia and Kerry will be visiting Istanbul in the New Year to finalise arrangements with Agents in person and to ensure our Hotel standards are met.
For those travelling in 2025, please note there are many significant changes ahead. We will update you individually in due course, but meanwhile………………
UPDATES for 2025
i – New Greek Entry Fees begin in April, as mentioned in last Newsletter and on current quotations
ii – Greece Increased Climate Resilience Fee
1* & 2* hotels and rooms to let, the fee rises from 1.50 to 2.00 euros, a 0.50 euro increase
3* hotels, the fee rises from 3.00 to 5.00 euros, 2.00 euro increase
5* hotels the fee increases from 10.00 to 15.00 euros, a 5.00 euro hike
iii – ETIAS: New requirements to travel to Europe & EU’s EES delayed again, border crossings still lack equipment
iv – Pompeii to cap daily tourist numbers to 20,000. The change takes effect from 15 November in parallel with the launch of a new ticketing system which will see tickets issued with the names of visitors, similar to the system in place at the Colosseum.
v – A PLEA – please list FOOD ALLERGIES under Medical on your API Forms!
vi – Plataean Toumba and Helladic Cemeteries / Tombs at Marathon – currently closed
vii – Ostia Antica on site Restaurant and Museum have reopened!
viii – Recently opened VR and Museum in Rome. Discover Res Militares
ix – Welcome to Rome an alternative to Time Elevator
x – Home – Lapis Museum – The Water Museum – Naples (good school feedback)
xi – Rome Jubilee Year 2025 has instigated much building work. The City has published this super helpful siteRoma si trasforma – Interventions, projects and active construction sites in the city – in English as well as in Italian – that allows you to zoom in on an area and a specific site and see what’s happening and when it’s due to be finished.
xii – Caerleon Roman Classroom: Virtual Workshop
xiii – BEWARE occasional overzealous Guardians at Greek and Roman Sites offering incorrect information on Booking and Entry Fees. There were fewer instances this Autumn, but nevertheless worrying for the Group Leaders. If in doubt, phone our Agents or us – do not pay extra!
OUT and ABOUT – Travel Blogs and Suggestions
i – November saw the Hellene Team in London for the annual School Travel Forum Conference……..which ended with the team engaging in a spot of Hotel H&S Risk Assessment updating and training………….
…………………..after which, despite the absolutely freezing weather, instead of returning home, Kerry headed out on a date with Demosthenes at the BM and Jamie to the Billingsgate Bathhouse and Verulamium (X/Twitter Links)
ii – Lyon and Provence Hugh Price, Abingdon School (HUGE thanks, Hugh, pleased it went so well!) Attachment A
“Such was the general wealth of the area that the bath-house latrines (which must have originally comprised more than twenty individual ‘toilet-seats’) had frescos of their own depicting wrestlers – I think I would have gone to the loo just to see the artwork”.
iii – A week in Athens with a difference – Gill Greef, her adult language students & Xenophon. (Thanks Gill – and what a different trip and feedback it was!) Attachment B
iv – Kefalonia with a Day Trip to Ithaka – Peter Bond, Rtd HoD (Thanks Peter, especially on the topography. So where did Odysseus live?!) Attachment C
v – Sarah and John made a fleeting Risk Assessment Trip to Heraklion and Aghios Nikoloas, Crete to check out Hotels before our first School Trips to Crete since the Lockdown. Attachment D
vi – Ana Martin on X/Twitter (Thread): “Today I want to take you to the Westernmost point of the Greek world. Greeks from Phocaea (Φώκαια) founded Emporion, Spain“
vii – Darius Aria, Ancient Rome Live
* Darius Aria on X: “Newly reopened @parcostiantica museum is a masterpiece!”
* Darius Aria, Ancient Rome Live WebSite and Webinars Egypt in Rome (walking tour)
* Darius Arya on X: “House of Livia, reopened for business!!
PUBLICATIONS
i – We trust that everyone has purchased Caroline’s new book by now! It really is super. Fabulous illustrations by Flaroh too.
ii – In conjunction with Panoply Vase Animation Project we have Teaching Ancient Greece: Lesson Plans, Vase Animations, and Resources (PDF) Ancient History \ Education \ Special pedagogy Publishing series \ Our Mythical Childhood | – Księgarnia Wydawnictw Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
iii – “Unfortunately, She Was a Nymphomaniac” by Joan Smith – debunking misogynist myths of ancient Rome. This retelling of the lives of much-maligned Roman women sees their plight through a contemporary feminist lens
iv – Great turn out at The Bookshop, East Grinstead for Gallia Narbonensis – Philip Bujak + wine and a little artefact handling! (Twitter Link) which Sarah and John attended. Excellent new tome for those planning to visit S France.
Exhibitions and Lectures
ii – A Selection of Free Virtual Museum Collections
* Wondrous Machines · RD Milns Antiquities Museum Online Exhibitions
* Heroes & Hoplites.The Hellenic Museum, Melbourne
* Virtual Museum – Flyover Zone : open around the clock, easily accessible from all over the world, and in continuous development. Interactive 3D, over 750 sculptures, monuments, and furnishings from Greek and Roman antiquity.
iii – The Glory of the Aegean Sea at the Nanjing Museum – evidence of GrecoRomano trade via Silk Road. A seashell-shaped rhyton from ancient Greece & an agate rhyton unearthed in Xi’an
iv – British Museum Workshops and Lectures
- Parthenon sculptures – Feb & March ‘25
- An introduction to ancient Rome and Roman city life – Jan + Feb ‘25
- An introduction to Roman Britain – Feb & March ‘25
- Tablet Tours at the Museum – Rooms 18, 41 or 70 Ages 7–11 (KS2) & 11–14 (KS3) £75 per class For UK schools only
- Digital activities. Use technology to explore the collection
Online, in your classroom Ages 7–11 (KS2) £90 per class For UK schools only
v – Teaching Ancient War and Peace. Contact:
vi – Free training and support. Whether you’re looking to introduce a classical subject, or extend the classics you already offer, Bristol Classics Hub and Classics For All can support you + modest support for resources, such as the purchase of textbooks.
vii – ARLT
* March 1, 2025 Chandler Hamer will be directing our Refresher Day in the Dragon School, Oxford
* July 28- August 1, 2025 Laura Beech will be directing our Summer School in Haberdasher’s Monmouth School, Monmouth.
* Website updated with the resources from the Summer School. Access via Summer School Archive / extensive resource section.
viii – MONEY TALKS: ART, SOCIETY & POWER EXHIBITION until 5th Jan THE CHANGING FACES OF MONEY | Ashmolean Museum
ix – “Agora Scholars Speak” series with a different specialist who will share their experiences and expertise
* The Royal Stoa. John McK. Camp II, Previous Director of Excavations at the Athenian Agora
* Athenian Pottery Up Close, Jenifer Neils, Previous Director of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens
* The Temple of Hephaestus, John McK. Camp II, Previous Director of Excavations at the Athenian Agora
* The Stoa of Attalos, John McK. Camp II, Previous Director of Excavations at the Athenian Agora
WHAT ELSE HAS BEEN HAPPENING IN THE CLASSICAL WORLD?
* CROATIA, ALBANIA, SCANDANAVIA, BALKANS, POLAND, RUSSIA, UKRAINE, BLACK SEA – Attachment H
* SWITZERLAND, GERMANY/AUSTRIA, FRANCE, SPAIN – Attachment I
* TURKEY, EGYPT, ISRAEL, IRAN, IRAQ, LIBYA – Attachment J
Two suggestions to keep you all happily occupied during the Festive Season Break!
Layer Cake Archaeology – A Confectionary Excavation
Huge LEGO Ancient Rome Diorama Has Over 200,000 Pieces, Brings the World of ‘Gladiator’ To Life
And finally, some deeply searching questions as reported by an Irish Tour Guide in Rome!
- “If this is the Sistine Chapel, where are the other 15 chapels?”
- “Why would they build the Colosseum right beside a Metro Stop?”
- “If you are from Ireland, how long does it take you to get to the Colosseum every morning?”
- “What country are the Swiss Guards from?”
- “How did Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel? Did he just stand on the floor and use a really long paint brush?”
- “You know on our Roman Forum tour? Would you mind leaving out all the history stuff?
Season’s Greetings and Very Best Wishes.
May your hearth and home be Kallikantzari free!
The Hellene Team
Sarah, John, Claudia, James, Kerry, Nidhi and Vishal
