Podcasts for Greece

You may have your trusty guidebook, but another option for getting information about sites on our tour are podcasts that you can download to your iPod or iPhone.

Podcast: A multimedia digital file (audio or video or both) made available on the Internet for downloading to a portable media player, computer, etc.

There are all types of podcasts. Some simply provide information, while others may serve as an audio for a walking tour of a site. (I used one at Versailles last trip, it gave a room by room description of all I was seeing. Awesome!) Just listen to several and decide if it is what you are interested in. Then download the ones you want to take with you. Here are some places to start and they are all free:

Five Free Podcasts (from Greek vocabulary to Greek food to an overview of Athens sites)
National Museum of Archealogy in Athens
The Agora, the Acropolis, and Parthenon
The Amateur Traveler (video travel podcasts from all over, scroll and look for ones from Greece - click previous entries at bottom)
A Trip to the Parthenon
Rick Steves Greece (free in iTunes store)
Rick Steves Europe - Athens, Greece (scroll to episode 56, free iTunes store)
Rick Steves Europe - Santorini's Black Sand (scroll to episode 112, free iTunes store)
Rick Steves Europe - Athens' Ancient Acropolis (scroll to episode 138, free iTunes store)
Rick Steves Europe - West Turkey: The Ancient City of Ephesus (scroll to episode 58, free iTunes store)
Acropolis and Parthenon (available free through iTunes store)
Learning Greek (free iTunes store)
Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece (iTunes store free)
History of Greece (iTunes store free)
Spirit of Place - Delphi (scroll to episode 30, free iTunes store)

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle outside London, the largest inhabited castle in the world, is one of the homes of Queen Elizabeth II. It dates back to 1070 when William the Conqueror defeated England in the Battle of Hastings (remember the story from the Bayeux Tapestry in France?). It was originally a wooden structure until the 15th century when the current stone structures were built.

The castle complex is actually made up of several landmarks. The most well-known of these are the The Round Tower, St. George's Chapel, the State Apartments, and the Long Walk. Windsor was the site of the wedding of the Queen's eldest grandson Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly in 2008.

Many kings and queens are buried in St. George's Chapel including King Henry VIII 1547 and his favorite wife Jane Seymour 1537 (in the choir) and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother 2002(near her husband in the King George VI Memorial Chapel). It is also the spiritual home to the Order of the Garter.

You might want to print this annotated map to guide you on our tour. Or this map is good also.

This narrated video of Windsor Castle is excellent for showing the grounds and giving a bit of history. This second narrated video in addition to outside views shows views of the inside of buildings and gives detailed information on the Queen Mary's Dollhouse, a working replica built to 1/12 scale. This third video is solely about the dollhouse, has clearer pictures, but is not narrated.

You can download a free eBook from the Gutenberg Project called "Windsor Castle" by William Harrison Ainsworth (1805-1882), a fiction book about Anne Boleyn and the Tudors here. You might also check your library for the PBS 4-episode documentary "Windsor Castle." You can download the Windsor & Marlowe podcast here.
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Travel Podcasts

If any of you have iPods, now would be a great time to take advantage of this technology by downloading podcasts of the sites we will visit. Then you can listen, or view video if your iPod has a screen, and have your own personal tour guide right in your pocket.

It really isn't that difficult to do. As I find podcasts I will add them to the blog. That way you can listen/view them from the blog and then download the ones you want onto your iPod. For more information on using your iPod for travel, go to Rick Steve's Podcast FAQ Page.

The first thing you have to do if you choose to download to an iPod, if you have not done so already, is download iTunes. It is a free download and from here you can download music, videos, audiobooks, podcasts, etc. Many are free, which are the ones I'll share, but you can also purchase from the iTunes store. Be sure to doublecheck, as some podcasts do cost.

After you download iTunes, then click on "iTunes Store" in the left bar. In the top right corner, search for free travel podcasts. For example, type in "Rick Steve's tours". Find "Rick Steve's France Audio Tours" and click on the "Subscribe" button beside Free. Click on "Subscribe" in the pop-up box.

Then follow the directions with your iPod and synch the podcast. This will put the podcast onto your iPod...and you are ready to listen! It also comes with some photos to view if you have a screen on your iPod.

This Rick Steves travel podcast includes a walking tour of Paris, and tours of Versailles, Orsay Museum, and the Louvre Museum. It also downloads maps that you can print from iTunes and carry with you as you listen to the tour.

If anyone locates a good free podcast on any site we will visit, then post a comment to this blog or email me.