Location: Delos and Mykonos Weather: Sunny, 26 °C Delos has to be the windiest place on earth! Our guide told us that there were only two types of hairstyle on Delos - the windy look or hat hair! We arrived in Delos by tender boats and it was a very choppy trip to the dock. By law no one is permitted to live on Delos or swim in its waters (except the security guards). The whole island is one giant archaeological site. The city itself must have been huge and was a significant religious centre and trading port for the ancient Greeks. No one died or was born on Delos, they had to travel to the neighbouring island for births and deaths. All food was grown on the other island or imported. Delos was throbbing with ... read more

Location: Istanbul Weather: Sunny, windy. 27 °C Istanbul is an exciting and busy city where East meets West. We stayed at Grand Yavuz Hotel in the Old City - Sultanahmet and when we arrived it was the first day of Ramadan. The Old City is quite beautiful, the medieval city walls are still present and the streets are all paved with cobblestones, Kathy found them difficult to walk on with her walking cast and so we either caught a taxi or she walked without the boot. Traffic in the old city is quite hectic, people just park their car in the middle of the narrow streets and so the streets are often blocked, it was quite an experience negotiating the way back to the hotel. We had one taxi driver who was not happy at all ... read more

Location: Syros Island (Cyclades Islands) Weather: Sunny, northerly wind. 33 °C I've decided to record the weather each day, just to rub it in how I'm now experiencing summer! We arrived on Syros at 11pm on Friday night, Hermoupolis was very busy this late at night - this weekend was the Festival for the Virgin Mary so it is a public holiday and there have been lots of celebrations; music and fireworks. It is also the middle of the summer holidays, Syros is one of the holiday hotspot for Athenians so the town is fairly busy all summer. It also helps being only 4 hours by Ferry from Piraeus, the ferry was very crowded as lots of people were going to the next Island after Syros, - Mykonos! Everyone is out at night enjoying the night ... read more

Well, the count down has well and truly started... at just three weeks till depature I'm getting nervous and excited too. I know Kathy (Mum) is getting excited as well. But she is going to Tassie next week - I know, a holiday before the holiday! I've got my list of things to do - so much to complete at work before I'm FREE!... read more