Dear Blog Readers, Today's breakfast contribution came from 'salad dressing woman' sat next to us. Once coiffed, we packed our bags for a day in Tel Aviv. First stop was filling the hire car with petrol (more expensive than back home at £1.30/litre). Amazingly, we had a sprinkling of rain on the way into the city centre! Once the car was dropped off, having tried to get another $15 out of me unsuccessfully, we got the tram to the bus station. Our attempt to get a hat-trick of modes of transport was successful as we were soon on a full bus to Tel Aviv. The traffic was pretty bad but it took just over an hour and the bus was fairly comfortable but minimal leg room for my lanky legs. We hopped on a local bus ... read more

Dear Blog Readers, The Sun is setting and the evening prayers are being blasted from the speakers nearby. The evening leaves a dusty haze as the Sun sets which makes a change from the haze of Heathrow induced pollution back home. Another action packed day as I write this post nap before heading out into the city centre for some dinner. The plan of waking at 7am fell through predictably but we were sat down for breakfast at the hotel by 8am somehow. The breakfast buffet here is something to behold. We think it has catered for pretty much every nationality. Just some of the things on the menu include noodles, smoked herring, pickled onions, and my personal favourite, tuna pasta salad. As is White family tradition, we attacked the buffet with gusto but didn't find ... read more

Dear Blog Readers, After a magical and unforgettable wedding we spent our first two nights of married life in a hotel overlooking the debauchery of Botchergate, Carlisle on a Saturday night followed by an evening in the romantic capital of England - the service station Days Inn at Newport Pagnell. We were almost too giddy with excitement (even with a 4am wake up) to get on a plane heading to Budapest, Hungary...and so, by popular demand (my Gran said she'd been missing my blogs), here's what we've been up to in this magnificent city. We managed to sleep almost the entire flight which was a real achievement given that Wizz Air's leg room allowance meant my knee kept smacking me in the five-head. When I did manage to eek it into the alleyway, the air stewardess ... read more

Dear Blog Readers, We were excited to move up through the highlands of Costa Rica and on towards the Caribbean coast. Before getting there though, we stopped in La Fortuna, famous for being in the shadow of one of the most active volcanoes on our trip, Volcan Arenal. The journey from San Jose is a 5 hour stretch but if you fancy a beautiful spot for some lunch and to break up the journey then we can fully recommend Zarcero. A little town whose centrally located church has a magnificent pathway where a toparist has gone mad with the garden shears and crafted out some phenomenal hedges! Well worth a look! Once in La Fortuna, we arrived at Gringo Pete's, probably the cheapest place to stay in Costa Rica! Don't be expecting anything fancy - in ... read more

Dear Blog Readers, After an intense couple of days travelling through three separate countries, we had a quick stop in Somoto planning on doing a canyon hike but the river was up and the currents dangerous so we moved straight on to Esteli. The Lonely Planet guidebook somewhat glorifies the town as a Mid-West cowboy town but for those expecting wooden saloon doors to swing open at either ends of a dusty track and two gun toting hilbillies to stroll out and draw twenty-five paces before shouting "Vamos!" and shooting each other then you are probably going to be disappointed. The city is once again centred on an oversized cathedral and a gloomy looking central park (the sort that you wouldn't fancy walking through at night). We wandered the streets and realised to our, or should ... read more