Sailing To Byzantium

The frightfully credulous peoples of the ancient world were convinced that sighting the pair of rocks they called The Pillars of Hercules indicated that seafarers had reached the utmost limits of the habitable Earth, much as many people today believe that last call at Club Med signifies that very same global perimeter.
Of course, classical civilization would not have been an especially convenient tourist pool for the vacation trade to draw from. The Romans, for instance, an extremely superstitious and neurotic bunch at the best of times, would never set sandaled foot outside their own front porticoes unless the innumerable auguries and omens they cast prior to departure were favorable. One can only imagine the Olympian headaches at the travel agent’s office caused by the frequent re-arrangement of reservations because the oracular pig entrails foretold a troubled trip.
Personally, I am mulling over the possibilities of an autumnal excursion to Istanbul, recently glamorized by the thrilling Champions League soccer final contested there between Liverpool and AC Milan. I shall be in England for part of September anyway, so an additional journey to the former Constantinople should tax my resources too severely. We shall see what the American Express Fairy has to say on the subject.

Comments

[Quicquid]

Too bad the Romans didn't have convenient roadside psychics.

[stephenesque]

I bet they did: a scholarly tome is just begging to be written on this very subject.

[Quicquid]

You're right--they probably did. There are few mod cons the Romans didn't anticipate one way or another.

[Jim N.]

Seeing Hagia Sophia would be incredible... best wishes should you go.

[Bleak Mouse]

That's right. It's silly to pass through London without taking the Istanbul omnibus, which runs every thirty minutes or so. Better, you can rent a car for a day, and hit Turkey, Pago Pago, Tibet, and the Bering Straits, and still be back for dinner.