The Way to San Jose… Costa Rica January 2022 ..felt like a very long way, after navigating the queues to check in at Gatwick, having to re-scan our vaccination certificates on arrival, and then Ian losing his spectacles while waiting for our bags. What with the 6 hour time difference and a very bumpy 3 …
Break for the border… La Fontañera, Spain October 2021 “I’m positive!!”…in different times, the words uttered by my partner would have been met with delight and encouragement, but they were NOT what I wanted to hear the morning we were expecting our COVID PCR results. We had just spent a very relaxing and enjoyable week …
Raining Cats and Dogs… Istanbul, Turkey Oct 2020 The rain had eased a little the next morning so with aching legs, we rode the “Tünel” – a historic subway funicular built in 1875, making it the world’s second oldest underground urban rail line after the London underground. The line consists of only two stations, the historic …
Drop Dead Gorges Ihlara, Cappadocia, Turkey Oct 2020 Grateful for once that we’d chosen Dan as our nominated driver, we wound our way down the narrow lanes in our rented car and set off for a road trip to the Ihlara Valley. My impression of Turkey as a cultured but economically underdeveloped country was quickly …
Drier Straits! Istanbul, Turkey Oct 2020 After a very early start, we bid farewell to Ian at Istanbul (he was due to return to work so travelled straight back to London to quarantine!) and took the coach through the traffic into the city. Constantinople, as it was called back in the 30’s, had always sounded …
Up, Up and Away… Cappadocia, Turkey Oct 2020 We caved in early, in anticipation for our sunrise balloon trip the next morning. For once we were awake before the first “ezan” from the nearby minaret. These chants seemed to be different each time and made us wonder if they were actually “live” or if muezzin …
Castles in the Sky… Uçhisar, Cappadocia, Turkey Oct 2020 The interesting terrain in this part of Anatolia lends itself to exploration by foot, and we have come prepared with our hiking gear (in Dan’s case an old pair of trainers and his school backpack!). We were grateful for our walking boots as the terrain became …
Planes, Caves and Numerous Hills Göreme, Cappadocia, Turkey – Oct 2020 The summer was almost over, more Covid lockdowns were threatened and I desperately needed an escape. The list of countries on our exemption list was diminishing by the minute, and a damp weekend in Clacton just wasn’t going to cut it. So when my …
Night Boat to Breda Breda, Netherlands May 2020 Under the cover of semi-darkness, “Pearl Earring”, her code name for this mission, made her way through the park, hoping that she wouldn’t be recognised. She imagined suspicious eyes boring into her back and it felt as if she was dragging a headless corpse behind her instead …
In The Red Hurghada, Egypt April 2015 “Let’s meet somewhere in the middle”, said Dan clearly missing his dear old mum (and some time off work) after four long months. And to be honest I was looking forward to some quality time with my eldest, not to mention a bit of r & r somewhere …
