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Boris Johnson: His Role In Our Life Story
Given that we retired at the end of 2019 with the sole aim of travelling the world only to have our lifetime dream snatched away by the pandemic, it’s not so surprising that we’re hanging on to every word of the UK Government just now, looking for our next opportunity to travel. So currently, every time Boris or one of his cohorts talk to the press – or indeed manipulate one of those infuriating “leaks”- we sit up and take notice, and start to work out how Boris now affects Phil & Michaela. Although there’s going to be a bit of a minefield to work through, the mist is clearing…
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When I’m 64…..
Will you still need me, will you still feed me…so went the Beatles lyric. Well, I’m about to find out whether Michaela will still need and feed, birthday greetings, bottle of wine, and all of those things, because I am actually 64 today, and “celebrating” (if that’s the right word) a second successive lockdown birthday. I don’t think we really thought, on my 63rd, that we would be back in the same situation a year later. There have been some rather more exotic locations for our previous birthdays, most notably the year before COVID, on the occasion of my 62nd, when we were staying with a Bedouin family in their…
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Beautiful Places #8: Elba
The large house you can see on the headland in the picture above is reputed to be the site of Napoleon’s exile to Elba. When you think of exile, you might imagine imprisonment, but, in his case, Napoleon had the freedom of this beautiful island and lived in opulent luxury in this castle with a view. You might reflect that being in enforced exile on an island like Elba is an awful lot better than the last twelve months have been for many people. Even getting to Elba was special, flying in to Pisa and then taking the train out to the ferry port at Piombino from where the “Moby”…
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Photographic Memories #22
As every traveller knows, when you look back through old travel photos, many of them trigger wonderful memories. With lockdown incomplete and travel still on hold for a while, we currently have no new adventures to blog; we do though have many such memories… Photo #22: Folegandros We all have a liking for photographs of old buildings, dilapidated walls, tumbledown doors and the like, and pretty much all travellers have a growing collection of such shots. This one captures something slightly different for, as you can see, the building is for the most part well maintained, but has a down at heel section which oozes considerably more character than the…
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Tanzania Tales #4: Welcome To Dar
By now we were nearing the end of our Tanzania and Zanzibar adventure, looking to spend the last few days exploring the bustling and chaotic former capital city of Dar-Es-Salaam. The crossing from Zanzibar back to Dar had been noteworthy mainly because at least half of our fellow passengers were seasick on a journey where we had simply enjoyed the movement of the boat and certainly didn’t think it was a rough crossing. Dar, hot, dusty and humid, isn’t a place where traipsing around loaded with backpacks and struggling to find your hotel is an attractive prospect and we were just getting a little fractious when a skinny, swarthy individual…
- Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe, Independent travel, India, Photography, Thailand, Travel Blog, Turkey, World food
Markets: Look Away Now (Maybe)
Now, we know this set of photographs won’t meet with everyone’s approval, so just a quick warning: if you find pictures of animals in markets offensive or revolting, you might want to look away. But the truth is, markets across the world are fascinating places, and part of that fascination is in seeing things you wouldn’t see back home, even if some do have a certain yuk quality. Like lots of travellers we seem to have amassed a rather large collection of market shots, but these are some of the more “out there” ones from our archives…. Live eels, Riga…. Edible bugs, Oaxaca…. Delicious chocolate drink (despite appearances!), Ocotlan, Mexico……
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Beautiful Places #7: Tioman Island
More specifically, Juara village on Tioman Island off the east coast of Malaysia. The setting here is pretty much the definitive paradise island, a modest and peaceful village with glorious sandy beaches backed by palm trees swaying in the cooling breeze, probably the warmest sea water in which we have ever swum, and wildlife providing wow moments every day. We arrived on Tioman after a city break in Kuala Lumpur followed by several days strenuous trekking in the humid jungle at Taman Negara so were ready for a beach break. As well as the gorgeous beach, Juara provides several interesting eateries, mostly just shacks attached to the private homes of…
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Photo #21: First Light
When we look back at this photograph we can almost feel the cold, not so much because the temperature was spectacularly low but more because the sweep was so stark. This is Tafraout, Morocco, close to the arid Valle des Armandes (Almond Valley) where we spent a few days exploring and hiking the dusty barren ground in very hot temperatures. Yet as the sun went down, the mercury plummeted at speed, bringing extremely cold nights and the need to use the shepherds blankets left by our bed. This photograph captures beautifully the moment the morning sun creeps down the mountains before brightening the town – our breath would have been…
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Tales From Tanzania #3: Hamadi
“Wait”, he said, “I come with you, till you have tickets”. And so Hamadi walked with us into the ferry terminal, acted as interpreter as we bought return tickets to Zanzibar, and only bid farewell when he’d seen us safely through the ticket barrier. Such actions were completely in character. Over our eight days together, Hamadi had become so much more than our driver and guide, and by now we felt a real warmth and friendship as we said our last goodbyes. He was also probably one of the most handsome men either of us had ever seen! Hamadi scribbled his phone number on a scrap of paper. “Call me…
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Beautiful Places #6: Zabljak
Zabljak holds a very special place in our hearts, having been our first mountain destination together, ten years ago back in 2011. Most of our time on that trip was spent in Kotor, much further south on the coast of Montenegro, but for a spell in the middle we hired a car and drove up to the Durmitor Mountains in the north of the country to indulge in a bit of challenging trekking. And wow did we hit the jackpot, with superb hiking, other activities and a delightfully rural setting. Some of our terrific hikes in Zabljak saw us start off in 30+ degree temperatures in the village and then ascend…
