I'm off to Seville, Granada and Cordoba in a couple of weeks, lucky me! I'd be interested to know if anyone who's been there recently noticed any restrictions/charges on video filming at any of the major sights in this area. Since my 35mm compact fits in my hand luggage but my video gear pretty much IS my hand luggage I don't really want to lug the camcorder all over Andalucia only to find I can't use it at the Alhambra, Seville Cathedral etc.

George Holt: <BR>Have not read your posts for quite awhile. Been traveling? Had no problem at the places mentioned, but some museums in Portugal did not allow, none in Cascais, Obidos and Sintra Palace for instance. If a service is taking place at a side altar in a larger church or Cathedral, of course you should not film it. They also have out in the open confessionals, which sound you would be recording if you used the video, etc. But on the whole, No Problems! We've got the interiors of San Jeronimo in Belem and Obidos Churches in Portugal, Murcia, Lorca, Caravaca, Cartagena, Mijas, Ronda Cathedrals in Spain, etc. And many lesser ones, along the Algarve and in Spain. Malaga's was closed for repairs when we were there. Like I said, museums are another question, has to do with flashes ruining paintings, the pigments used back in time! Even if you are using available light, they say no. <BR>Bob K.

Thanks Bob, the video is a recent aquisition and I just needed an excuse to pack it. Of course its not the camcorder itself so much as the batteries, charger and other parafinalia nearly all of which is forbidden in hold baggage under UK flight rules (basically anything electrical). If you're not careful your hand luggage gets to weigh as much as your suitcase! Thankfully I'm on a coach tour so lugging is perhaps overstating it. <BR> <BR>I've been away from the forums for a month or so, busy in other spheres, its touching to think I'm missed. I try not to write unless I feel I have something (preferably accurate) to contribute. It seems there are many out there now share my expertise in Greece and Turkey and are more current. I've not travelled as much as I'd like recently. I did a weeks trip to Rhodes in May, a very nice island fitting in well with the informal Knights of St John theme that seems to pervade my travel, well they were all over the Med so its difficult to ignore them. Andalucia is a partial reprise of a tour I took some years ago though Cordoba will be new to me. Not planning my now usual pre christmas jaunt as prices this year are silly what with the millenium but I'm thinking hard about where to go next year. I'm getting a bit rusty on Turkey, easy in such a fast changing country, or maybe I'll try Croatia or one of the other former Yugoslav areas, heard nice things about Croatia recently.

If you're into the knights of st John - then you should pay a visit to the island of Malta (60 miles south of Sicily).

Pia <BR> <BR>Thanks for the advice, but been there, done that, twice!. Also Bodrum in Turkey, Crete, and Rhodes. Still to visit Cyprus, Im sure the Knights must have hit the beach there at some stage. Also worth a visit in London is the museum in St. John's Gate between Smithfield and Clerkenwell Road. There is a big display devoted to the Knights of St. John and the St. John's Ambulance Brigade and upstairs there is a good library. <BR> <BR>Although I don't visit places specifically because of the Knights, actually increasingly perhaps I do, it is an interesting link across the med and provides a little focus to the visit. <BR> <BR>Bob <BR> <BR>Decided to travel light and left the video behind. Regretted it of course! <BR> <BR>G <BR>