Yesterday, I arrived in Athens, Greece, after a two week tour of Turkey with Globus. I’m having some down time before the next tour starts in a day or so, and am lying in bed, listening to the sounds of Athenian traffic, blogging. Thank the Lord for free hotel wifi! Turkey is an expansive country: it has a rich and…
The last part of this tour has been memorable for a couple of reasons. Yesterday we were up early to visit more Roman ruins, culminating in a visit to Troy in the late afternoon, after what seemed to be a never-ending time on the road. While the morning ruins were interesting – and peacefully empty – Troy (and no one…
This part of the tour has been busy. Early starts (6am wake up calls are the norm) – with long days spent driving across a landscape reminiscent of Australia – vast and arid – and walking around Roman/Greek ruins when we do get off the bus. I need a holiday from my holiday, or at least a sleep in! Pamukkale…
I’m half way through my tour of Turkey. Today is a rest day – our driver is not allowed to drive on Sundays – so I’m swanning around a luxurious hotel in Antalya, catching up on things like washing, reading and blogging. The tour generally This tour – despite the earlier rockier start with the seating arrangements – has been…
One episode of Seinfeld that anyone who’s a fan loves is The Soup Nazi, with it’s infamous “No Soup for you!” battle cry. While on the way to Antalya, we experienced a Turkish version, who we dubbed The Restaurant Nazi. As part of its tour offerings, Globus runs optional tours. This particular one was to (more) Roman ruins and a…
As much as I love being on a schedule, it is exhausting being on the move non-stop, and with 40 other people. Plus I’ve been on the go for more than two weeks. So today, I opted out of the optional excursion just to laze around in my room, and catch up on some stuff like washing. Unfortunately, Whirling Dervishes…
Today we drove to Bursa from Istanbul, with a ferry ride considerably lessening the hours we would have to have driven. I was captivated by Istanbul: it was big, loud and noisy – a symphony for the senses. Walking around the Topkapi Palace (which is now a museum), through Hagia Sofia and its huge domed ceiling (it reminded me of…
The tour of former Yugoslavia had a high concentration of quite odd people. You usually get one or two odd bods, but this one had seven or eight. The oddness of these people really brought home the fact that tour guides are very special people – saints – with infinite patience. I could never be one because I would want…
Here are my thoughts on my week long tour in the former Yugoslavia. Overall, I really enjoyed this trip, and can highly recommend it as travel destination. The Good There were lots of Aussies on the tour, and a special mention goes to Narelle, Al and Renee from Brisbane, who I met before the tour started. Lovely people, and we…
Our tour guide, Osman – nicknamed Ocky – had some endearing turns of phrase. My seat buddy Renee and I cackled with glee over how delightful Ocky’s English was (and he had excellent English, by the way). I’ve listed them below, but it’s probably a case of you had to be there to appreciate how lovely it was, particularly with…
Whenever I travel, there is always one place that I feel especially connected to. It was Hue in Vietnam, Shanghai in China, and Assisi and Stresa in Italy. Who knew on this trip that it would be Sarajevo in Bosnia/Hercegovina? For some reason – only probably understandable on an intuitive level – I loved Sarajevo. I can’t pinpoint it, but…
I’m sitting in a cafè in the old Port of Dubrovnik, sipping my cappuccino. Now that I have a few minutes – it’s been a packed schedule – thought I’d update you on the journey so far. The tour Our tour guide is Osman, nicknamed Ocky, and he is very good. His English is excellent, although he uses some interesting…
I took a tour to Lake Bled today, and was rewarded by stunning scenery. Our driver/guide Taja (pronounced Tie-yah) was very chatty and happy to answer any and all questions about Slovenia, its culture and way of life. Here’s what I discovered: 1. Slovenia was once part of Yugoslavia, along with Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia. All are part of…
I walked around 10 kilometers today because I wanted to visit the zoo. I’m not normally a zoo goer, but I intend visiting the Singapore Zoo when I’m in Singapore next month, so thought what the heck?! Anyway, I’ll get to my zoobservations later in this post. First though, are my general impressions of Ljubljana. The people The people of…
Having been to Europe twice, which means flying across two time zones (the first of which is only an hour and a half difference from Adelaide), I have successfully* managed to reset my body clock to the new zone both times. I wanted to share the “how” with you. 1. Get a good night’s sleep before you travel. Starting a…
There is something both terrifyingly alien, yet comfortingly familiar, about landing in a new country. I don’t know about you, but my senses work overtime to try and work out the new environment, and how I – as essentially a fly-by-nighter – coalesce with it. Sometimes the landscape – both natural and built – echoes my own: trees, gardens, buildings,…
My trip to China in 2011 flying Qantas had the effect, among other things, of making me quite paranoid about my luggage not arriving. Three days without your stuff is not pleasant. Last year I flew Singapore Airlines, and had no such drama (I’m flying with them again for this year’s trip). My bag arrived in Rome the same time…