-
Out On The Datça Peninsula
Our arrival in the small coastal town of Datça coincides with the first noticeable drop in temperature and the first time on the trip that the sun has failed to break through cloud. The Datça peninsula is narrow, too, only about 6 kilometres wide, meaning the sea breezes are far more sharp here than back in Fethiye. Overcoats are in evidence down in the square on our first morning as the crowd gathers for Ataturk Remembrance Day, today – November 10th – being the anniversary of the death of the Republic’s founding father 86 years ago in 1938. The weather blip is just that, a blip, and the sun returns…
-
Chefchaouen, The Blue Pearl Of Morocco
It’s funny how habits change when alcohol is taken out of the equation. With no bars to explore or beers to imbibe, our evenings come to an earlier end, and, as a consequence of bedtime creeping forward, morning comes round more quickly too. I wake around 5:15 on our second morning in Chefchaouen, darkness still edging its battle with dawn. A distant call to prayer drifts up from the town below, within minutes joined by many others, muezzins at different tones, discordant yet haunting, mournful yet evocative, echoing off walls and off the mountains themselves, growing in number until it’s impossible to work out whether I am listening to five…
-
Concluding Rome & Heading Home
The sun continues to shine from cloudless skies – as we enter the second half of October and near the end of this short Italian sojourn, temperatures of up to 29 degrees surprise and delight us. We had hoped for sunshine but this warmth has been a big bonus, so perfect for exploring the two wonderful cities of Bologna and Rome. Tucked into the tight streets between the Trevi fountain and Piazza Navona, The Pantheon is a remarkable and beautiful building, boasting the widest masonry dome in Europe which in turn houses the oculus through which sunlight cascades in spectacular shafts. The whole place is fabulous. The walls are adorned…
-
Manavgat, Markets & Moggies
Life is relaxed here in southern Turkey, and we feel lucky to have managed so much time away in this ravaged year. We continue to embrace our new surroundings. Tuesday 10th November marks something of a milestone for us as it’s our 50th day in Turkey, making it our longest continuous stretch outside the UK so far. As we prepare for our Tuesday and look out across the rooftops to the sea, the air is suddenly and unexpectedly filled with the sound of police sirens, not a common sound in Side, and we are a little puzzled as to what might be going on. A few minutes later, crossing the…
