Our journey continued from Puglia, taking another overnight ferry across the Adriatic to the Croatian port city of Split. Most of the old city of Split is enclosed behind the walls of the palace of the Roman Emperor, Diocletian. Our apartment was inside the walls, so we spent a few days living in the remains of his palace. We really […]
Category: Travel News
A Ten Day Break in The Heel of Italy’s Boot
There has been a little delay in getting this post out, due to some glitches in the site’s email system. Chris quickly found himself out of his depth when he tried to fix it, but it is handy having a network engineer in the family (thanks Dom!). We seem to have resumed normal transmission, and are pleased we can share […]
Three Weeks in the Stunning Peloponnese
We have just spent three weeks travelling through Greece’s Peloponnese Peninsula. What an amazing experience! We have encountered so much history and legends, and did some great walks through spectacular scenery. The region is much more mountainous than we expected, and car journeys between places never went by a direct route anywhere. We tried to fit everything into one big […]
Sun, Snow and Some Good Walking
As we travel south through Greece, and Spring approaches, we are seeing some warmer weather. This means our walking, mostly dormant for the last few months, can start again in earnest. Staying in Volos, we have great access to some of the best walking in Greece on the Pelion Peninsula. Volos is a lovely port city halfway between Thessaloniki and […]
Reaching for the Sky in Meteora
The monasteries at Meteora in central Greece are a UNESCO World Heritage Site that really has to be seen to be believed. Perched high atop giant sandstone pillars, or clinging impossibly to the side of a cliff, these monuments are incredible. The monks and nuns who have studied there over centuries really were trying to get closer to God. We […]
Two Lovely Little Medieval Towns in Transylvania
Our journey of discovery through Transylvania continues with visits to two cities that are on all the must-see lists for visitors to Romania. Sibiu and Sighisoara are each just a couple of hours on a train from Brasov, although each on a different main line. Negotiating the Cold War era train system that still operates in Romania introduced an added […]
A few Days in Dracula Country – Brasov, Transylvania
Following our fantastic New Year treat at The King’s lodge, we travelled back to the heart of Dracula Country, Brasov in Transylvania. Brasov is a smallish city with a compact old centre and plenty of opportunities for side trips. We were lucky to be there when the Christmas markets were still going, brightening up the city with their lights and […]
The King’s Lodge, A Royal Start to the Year
We will be celebrating just one New Year while we were away, and we were determined to make it a memorable one. And what better way than to treat ourselves to a bit of Royalty? The King of England, Charles III, owns a property in Transylvania, and when he isn’t staying there himself, it can be booked by commoners for […]
Veliko Tarnovo, a Lovely Stopover in Northern Bulgaria
We were on a mission to get into central Romania for a special booking we had made for New Year, but wanted to break the journey a bit. We had read that the small city of Veliko Tarnovo was a pretty place, and worth including in any Bulgarian tourist’s itinerary. And so it proved to be! Although we only had […]
Christmas in Sofia, Bulgaria
We were hoping for a white Christmas at a skiing resort in south-western Bulgaria, but the European winter of 2022 has been unseasonably warm. So, there was a last minute change of plan. We spent a few days in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, including Christmas Day. Sofia is another lovely city, although the Christmas festivities weren’t very overt. The […]
Next stop Bulgaria, Starting with the Artistic City of Plovdiv
Our adventure begins its next phase as we leave Turkey and begin our travels through Bulgaria and Romania. In modern times, these countries are less prominent on the world stage than they have been through history. For centuries, this area was an important part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with prominent noblemen and their estates throughout. Our first destination, Plovdiv, may […]
Last Stop – Gallipoli and the ANZAC Tradition
Our time in Turkey is drawing to its end. Just one more place to visit before leaving this wonderful country. And what a place to finish with, the birthplace of the ANZAC tradition, Gallipoli. Accessed from the small coastal city of Canakkale, the major sites on the Gallipoli can be seen in a half-day tour. The stories we learnt when […]
The Adriatic Coast: Izmir and Ancient Ephesus
Our journey takes us back to the coast, further north, against the backdrop of the Adriatic. Izmir is one of the biggest urban centres in Turkey, and very much centred on local residents. While there are things for visitors to see and do, they are in the background of daily life. Thoroughly modern and very vibrant, this is a place […]
Another Geological Wonder in Turkey
After our restful stops in Antalya and Bodrum, we headed inland again to see another of the great attractions of Turkey, the white terraces of Pamukkale. Photos of the beautiful aqua pools against a pure white background feature prominently in all the tourist advertising for visitors to this country. When we saw them for ourselves, we weren’t disappointed. They really […]
Relaxation and Resorts on Turkey’s Mediterranean Coast
Travelling south after our awesome visit to Cappadocia, it was time for some R&R at a couple of coastal resorts in Turkey. The first, Antalya, is a large city on the Mediterranean coast, the second, Bodrum, is a smaller resort city located where the Mediterranean meets the Aegean. After more than five months of moving about and doing lots of […]
The Surreal Landscape of Cappadocia
One of the must-see destinations in Turkey is the other-worldly landscape of Cappadocia. This volcanic region has been weathered over millennia to form an amazing array of formations, deep valleys that contain tall stone chimneys that look like elongated toadstools. For centuries, the soft stone formations have been hollowed out to form cave dwellings, some of which are still occupied […]
Four Days in Fabulous Istanbul
The next stop on our marvellous adventure is Istanbul, the age-old city where East meets West. The only city on earth that sits across two continents. Split by the Straights of Marmara, the eastern shore is in Asia, and the western parts of the city are in Europe. For more than two thousand years, the trade routes between Asia and […]
A Ten-Day Adventure in Jordan
Our adventure continues off the beaten track, and mostly off the grid, in Jordan. We spent two days in the interesting capital of Jordan, Amman, before joining a group tour. The tour started with a five-day trek of over 80 kilometres from Dana in southwest Jordan to the World Heritage site of Petra. After the walk, we spent a day […]
A Week on the Nile
Jan has dreamed of cruising up the Nile since she was in her twenties. It was always going to be in our plans, and we were delighted when our vacation club, Karma, announced that it had acquired a boat and would be offering cruises from mid-October this year. We expected a leisurely week, relaxing on deck while the river passed […]
Four days in Cairo
The next phase of our journey has begun. We’ve temporarily left Europe behind and have begun our travels through Africa, the Middle East, Turkey and Eastern Europe. This will take around 90 days, by which time we will be able to re-enter the Schengen zone for another stint in Europe. Our first port of call is Egypt. What an amazing […]