Well the girls are here for shopping and that’s what they did Wednesday. There are so many little shops and vendors tucked in all the alleyways of this small town. Actually I suppose Kalkan is more a big village than a small town, but lots of shops and tomorrow is Kalkan ‘market’ day. The girls have been talking of ‘market days’ since we got here and I suppose the excitement of it all, like little kids waiting for Christmas, is why the bus trip to the Kas market. Just can’t wait ! So while the girls shop, Al and I tag along. Who knows, we may be needed to pack and carry stuff. Of course if we do it will be all uphill ! Obviously there wasn’t expected to be too much shopping as we all ... read more

" On the Road Again ", (are you humming along with Willie ?) We're headed this time for a little bit of Europe and a little bit of Asia and I hope you'll come along with us. This is the first of who knows how many and if you are waging war with your Inbox and want to be taken off the distribution list just let me know in a comment and 'poof' you'll be gone. Of course you can always check in and what's happening anytime by just going to the web page itself. The address is http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Kane/ . Besides photos that I include in this blog I hope to be able to upload many more to be accessible through the web. The address should be http://picasaweb.google.com/kanetravelblog . Not totally familiar with the Picasa ... read more

Sorry about the delay in posting this. Partly due to the fantastic blue skies and sunshine in week two at the Villa, partly due to the travel blur that followed villa life. After our weekend away at Aveiro, Figueia da Foz, and overnight in Porto before the Douro River cruise we returned to our ‘normal’ routine at the villa 22 - 27 September. Monday morning the girls went shopping for some supplies and returned with a much needed “Mata Moscas”, translated as “killer of flies”. In other words, a simple fly swatter. Since today was mostly a relaxation and hang around day, our first cloudy gray day since we got here did not really interfere with anything or dampen spirits. The girls also returned from their shopping expedition with meat and produce they had bought at ... read more

Well, all good things come to an end and sadly so does life at the villa. It has been a wonderful week of pure relaxation, short trips of exploration and adventure seeing beautiful sights,, meeting smiling friendly people who laugh with us as we struggle with different languages, and sharing good times and culinary wonders with our travelling companions. Friday morning we left the villa for a last day and overnight in Porto before continuing on our different paths. Today two will leave Porto in the afternoon and fly off to Amsterdam for a brief three day visit before returning to Edmonton. On Saturday Lynn and one other person will be on the to catch a flights to Heathrow in London for an overnight stay before continuing on to Vancouver and Edmonton. From Edmonton Lynn ... read more

20 - 21 September Saturday was the end of our first week at the villa and our first ‘weekend’. Naturally we had to leave paradise for a weekend adventure tour so we were off early to Figueia da Foz on the coast about 60 kilometres South of Porto. One of our group had suggested this destination from the commentary in one of the Portugal travel book. “The Foz” was described as having a beautiful beach and many shops and restaurants. From the villa it was about a two hour drive and we set off in two groups planning to meet for lunch. One thing about Portugal is the obvious investment in infrastructure including an amazing network of new highways and freeways, most of which are tolled, but the tolls are minimal and probably and efficient and ... read more