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Peter & Karen Couch
We are in the 55 to 60 age group, and are keen travellers. On this trip we are visiting our son and daughter-in-law in London, and travelling to Greece and Turkey for the first time.Summer Holiday
Travel Blog Posts
July 6th 2010
Welcome to the last edition of Summer Holiday, and congratulations for making it this far! Thursday 1 July. We didn't go to Sainsbury's this morning. Instead, being a partly cloudy day and a little cooler, we tubed into Green Park station and walked across Green Park to watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. As usual, the area was crowded with tourists, but we arrived early enough this time to get a good view. Compared with what we remember seeing some years ago, it seemed all a bit short and tame this time. However, the horse guards are always nice to see, with their beautiful black horses. They are not part of the changing of the guard ceremony (which is all about changing the sentries outside Buckingham Palace), but usually walk past at about ... read more
June 30th 2010
Friday 25 June - Tues 29 June. Some of our activities from the last few days. P&K... read more
June 25th 2010
Friday 25 June We are back! We thought that it would take us 3 or 4 days to recover from 3 weeks of constant activity in high temperatures, but in fact it has taken most of a week to feel 90% normal again. The remaining 10% is due to our lingering viruses, which we are nearly over. It is just as well that we took this time out and didn't go straight on to another tour of some sort. The heat had exhausted us more than we even realized; something to take into account in the future. Since arriving back in London we have enjoyed the cooler weather, not that it has been cold at all. This week temps have been in the high 20s every day, with even higher temps forecast for this weekend. We ... read more
They Have All Become Our Sons As Well
Published: June 16th 2010Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul
June 16th 2010
Good Morning All from a very warm Istanbul. We have completed our adventures in Greece & Turkey, and look forward to flying back to London late this afternoon. We have had a wonderful time in blazingly fine weather, but now we are getting increasingly tired (like a camera starting the day on that last third of its battery and ending the day with the battery light blinking), have both either got a cold or getting over one, and now crave some cooler weather and complete rest for a few days. We have seen some wonderful sights and taken hundreds of photos between us. We can share only a few. Saturday 12 June. Getting off the tram at Sultanahmet (to the Old City what Cathedral Square is to ChCh), we had little problem finding our Hostel using ... read more
June 13th 2010
Friday 11 June. Our last 24 hours on the Wind Star started as usual with an early breakfast on the Pool Deck. As we ate we approached Cape Helles, the southern tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula, where English and French troops landed on 15 April 1915. This cape marks the beginning of the Dardanelles, a 70 km long stretch of water, varying in width from 2 to 6 km, that connects the Agean Sea to the Sea of Marmara, thus forming a link in the waterway between the Mediterranean Sea and The Black Sea, and constituting part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. A strong current, flowing at 8 km/hr, exists from the Black Sea to the Agean Sea as a result of four large rivers putting a lot of fresh water into the Black ... read more
A Tale Of Two Turkish Tourist Towns
Published: June 12th 2010Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul
June 12th 2010
Friday 11 June. We have been sailing up the coast of Turkey all night and reached the Dardanelles at around 10 am this morning. The good news that I forgot to tell you last time is that Karen's voice has returned, if not 100%. She has been able to enjoy dinner conversation for the last two nights. The bad news is that she is also stuffed up with a cold, which is draining her energy. It is unlikely that she will take part in the deck-walking 'marathon' today; 25 laps around the decks. But now to return to our arrival in Turkey. Wednesday 9 June. Upon reaching Harbour at Bodrum, half a dozen Turkish customs officers came out in a little boat flying a Turkish flag. With the ships papers in order, Wind Star anchored in ... read more
June 10th 2010
10 June. As usual, we ate breakfast on deck while entering Rhodes harbour. It was interesting watching two tug boats turn us around, one pulling the stern around while the other held the bow in place. We then gently moved sideways alongside the wharf and tied up. We left the ship at 8.30 for our organised excursion to Lindos, a town by the sea on the east coast of the island, famous for its acropolis. With the city of Rhodes being at the northern end of the island, it took anout 20 to 30 minutes by bus. Our guide (another Anthony) was excellent again; with very fluent English (he is married to a Scot!) and very knowledgable about the history of Rhodes. As we passed through the outskirts of Rhodes, the bus passed over a 2010 ... read more
June 8th 2010
At around 7 this morning we sailed into the flooded caldera that is surrounded by the islands that make up Santorini, the most spectacular of all the Greek islands. The present day crescent shape of the main island is the consequence of a cataclismic volcanic eruption that occurred around 1640 BC. The eruption caused the middle to sink, leaving a aldera with high cliffs; one of the World's most dramatic geological sites. The eruption caused a huge sunami that virtually wiped out the Minoan cvilization on Crete, about 120 km to the south. Two uninhabited islands in the middle of the caldera, known as 'the burnt islands', are still volcanically active, the last eruption being in the 1950s. Santorini is a spectacular sight, especially when aproached from the sea. The water is over 400 metres deep, ... read more
June 6th 2010
Hello Everyone Well here we are, anchored just a couple of hundred metres from the town of Mykonos, on the Island of Mykonos. We were two of the first passengers aboard at 1 pm and, after registration, explored the boat and then got unpacked. It is certainly nice to have everything put in drawers again, or hanging in wardrobes. We left Athens right on 4.30 pm, and sat on the pool deck at the rear watching as we sailed out of port and away. It was so nice just sitting watching the sea and all the other boats (mainly ferries) around us, that we didn't bother to go to the talk on shore excursions, having already booked ours anyway. They will fill our mornings for the next four days. We did however find time to go ... read more
June 5th 2010
Unbearable. Hi Tony & Christine and all other lovers of Bears. It has been a hot week in Athens. The bears say it all. P&K... read more
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