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It’s That Time Again…
We love this bit. Printed maps spread across the table, guide books poised and travel blogs open on the right page. The calendar sheets printed off from the iPad take centre stage, constantly being altered, updated, erased and re-pencilled, as we discover new destinations, unearth different transport opportunities and change the planned route one more time. Travel is such a joy that even the planning stage is always a significant source of excitement. Sparks fly every time Michaela moves. There’s only a few days to go now. Next week we head off to Heathrow, flying first to the Qatari capital of Doha for that stopover where we will discover whether…
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For Now, A Sigh Of Relief
Thankfully the dramas of Wednesday didn’t play out for a second time. Whilst the danger cannot be said to be passed as there is still a risk of new fires, there is something of a lessening of jeopardy and there are no longer fires near to Lindsay’s village. They are still without power and probably will be for some time, relying on a generator, and the evacuation packs remain at the ready, but there’s been a sigh of relief throughout the family this morning as the level of local danger has receded. Alongside this relief, we are reading that at least one arsonist has been arrested for starting one of…
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Los Angeles
Thursday January 9th. Last night was close to being one of my worst ever nights. Some of you may recall that my daughter Lindsay lives in the mountains above LA, which as you will all know is being ravaged by the unprecedented and raging wildfires. My sons and I have been in touch with Lindsay via WhatsApp throughout the night. Lindsay and Stacey have been without power, and relying on their back up generator, for nearly 24 hours now. Their pack of important documents and essential personal items, as prescribed by state authorities, is assembled and sits on the kitchen table with the keys to their car, ready to make…
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Stopovers: Too Good To Be True?
We’d seen the offers, first from TAP we think, but hadn’t really investigated too deeply. It was only when we read a post written by Rochelle at adventuresfromelle that we started to realise that the changing concept of what a stopover might constitute may just be something which we could embrace for our benefit. What happened next seems too good to be true. Qatar Airways will be the chosen airline for our next ultimate destination, and, when booking, they were pushing a stopover in Doha. Further investigation made it clear that the difference between passing through Doha airport within three hours and stopping in the centre of Doha in a…
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Where You From?
“Hello. Welcome. Where you from?” How often have we heard that on our travels? Literally, hundreds of times. It might be a barman, or someone about to tempt you into their shop, offer their services as a guide, or someone just plain being friendly, but it’s the opening gambit for all manner of introductions. Once we English have answered, the next question is usually…. “Oh, England! Where? London? Manchester?” Although for one brief summer a few years back and for reasons which possibly only the English will understand, it was… “Oh, England! Where? London? Leicester?” A while ago, at the start of a long haul flight, we heard two people…
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That Was 2024
Well, our travelling for 2024 is done and dusted and we eagerly await our first adventure of the new year. We think it’s fair to say that although 2024 was another splendid year of travel, not everything went according to plan. What with having to return home when Michaela’s Dad passed away, hiking ability being blighted by hip/groin trouble, becoming unexpectedly Africa’d out and heading to Turkey instead, the year ended up with a shape significantly different from the original plan. You could say it was a year of mighty rivers, as we saw or sailed upon the Amazon, the Rio Negro, the Mississippi, the Tennessee, the Thames and the…
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Can Someone Please Explain….
We’ve been having trouble with this website, so much so that we’ve discussed calling it a day. It started with difficulty in linking with certain other bloggers’ sites (hello Sarah!), for instance difficulty in leaving comments or even giving a like. Or making us sign in with password to sites to which we already subscribe, every time we commented. But then on this last trip it all went to another level…. First, contents of the entire site effectively vanished. The menu at the top disappeared and every link to every article we’d ever published was dead. None of the help teams could tell us why or how it had happened,…
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Retracing Our Steps: Different Sides Of Bodrum
One last morning cappuccino in the Greek island sun, one last tickle of the friendly cat with the pretty face, one last pastry from the savoury counter, and it’s time to pack the bags and wander round to the ferry point. With impeccable timing, Meltemi has taken a rest day and the Aegean is benign and flat as well as its usual spectacular blue. When we looked out on our first morning on Kalymnos, preparations for some sort of ceremony were underway, one which lasted through the Sunday morning and featured the army, a naval captain, a marching band and what appeared to be most of the island’s dignitaries. The…
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Kalymnos: Diving For Sponge And The Joy Of Meze
Skevos is clearly pleased to see us or, more accurately, pleased to see someone, anyone, because being a museum curator out of season can be a lonely job. He has a face which carries a natural smile which is completely disarming in its sincerity. His full head of cascading white hair is long enough to sit neatly on the shoulders of his zipper jacket, nestling on the collar in the style of a rock band lead singer still strutting his stuff in the bars of Pothia. But he’s not here to sing, he’s here to tell us about sponge diving. Sponge diving museum He does so in articulate English and…
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More Of Kos, Then On To Kalymnos
A number of things changed on Kos between our arrival on Monday morning and the Saturday ferry to our next destination. For one, the dull grey start turned into some glorious sunny days with blue skies and temperatures in the low to mid 20s, interrupted by heavy downpours on the Wednesday but leaving us feeling that generally we have been lucky. And, as the weather improved and the weekend approached, cafes and coffee bars started to reopen – not so much the tourist restaurants along the seafront but the cosy sites within the town, seemingly having moved on to a seasonal Thursday-to-Sunday opening regime. For our last day with the rental…
