Category Archives: Uncategorized

I’ll be honest, I was selectively sociable before starting this chapter of my life. Unlike Rachel, who’s always enjoyed chatting with anyone and everyone, I’d often avoid eye contact if I didn’t feel like interacting, just to sidestep a conversation. Now though, I make a point, both at home and away, to acknowledge people asContinue reading “Olympia & Ancient Mesenne: Echoes Across Time”

We had originally planned to move up and across into Albania, but the pull of the Peloponnese has proven too strong—so here we are. We’ve settled into a beach routine: yoga and some stretching first thing in the morning, followed by a slow amble down the hill to our very welcoming swim spot. I’m aContinue reading “From Mycenae to Mystras”

We’d decided that we’d missed our window to explore the islands off the mainland—something better suited for spring or autumn. So, after quite a bit of deliberation, we chose to stay closer to the mainland and head west along the coast into the Peloponnese. Inspired in part by Race Around the World (which we’d watchedContinue reading “Xiropigado – finding our rhythm in the Peloponnese”

We were certainly exploring the city—our average step count was nearly 20,000 steps a day. With temperatures in the mid-30s, it wasn’t always easy, but we were all really enjoying ourselves. We’ve always found the Greeks to be warm and welcoming, and Athens was no exception. We spent time wandering through the historic sites aroundContinue reading “Walking through time”

It was an earlish start for us, with a pickup at 5:00 a.m. Although we’d booked a taxi, we both agreed our driver seemed more suited to robbing banks. He was fast—getting us to Stansted in about an hour, the drive just a blur. We thought that by taking a weekend flight, the airport wouldn’tContinue reading “Athens”

Six weeks have just flown by. I had to be in Guildford for a couple of weeks over Easter, and Rachel and Keith kindly invited us to base ourselves in Cobham. They have such a beautiful home and always make us feel so welcome. We didn’t do too much eating out as we normally would.Continue reading “A busy springtime in the UK”

The Valley of the Nobles might not be quite as impressive as the Valley of the Kings, where the detail and finish on each of the mausoleums are truly remarkable, but it offers a unique and fascinating experience of its own. Situated on the other side of the same limestone mountains as the Valley ofContinue reading “The Valley of the Nobles and Medinet Hubu Temple”

On our way to dinner at one of Mohammed’s top recommendations, we had the opportunity to buy tickets for the evening’s light show at the Temple of Karnak, which included a narrative of the temple’s history a show that Mohammed highly recommended. So, after a delicious early dinner at a popular restaurant, we made ourContinue reading “Night and day at the Temple of Karnak”

We were up early for a 04:15 AM rendezvous with the “Royal Air” ballooning team at the hotel. From there, we headed downtown to the dock to catch a water taxi, which felt a bit like an assault course. We clambered across and through several boats before finally settling into one with ornate decorations andContinue reading “Sunrise Flight Above Luxor’s Tombs and the Nile”

Mum and I had been wanting to visit Egypt for quite some time after reading a fictional Nile based series, by Wilbur Smith, that we both really enjoyed. Since then, we’ve been trying to make the trip work. We had also planned to spend a few days in Cairo to visit the new museum, butContinue reading “Luxor – The worlds greatest open air museum”