Left the ship with some regret - though excited about next stage of the trip. Fast train to Genova took about 5 hrs all up. hotel is great, a family room right near piazza de Ferrari. close to shops, H&M will get a work out here, but am starting to run out of room. day 1. Our mission was to find a laundromat, not easy here, took a fair bit of Internet research, armed with my notes we headed of! Success we found it, the streets are tiny, filled with shops and markets. Greg watched over the washing while the kids and hit the streets, dog spotting as usually and getting a few bits and pieces we needed. all up 2 hours later we were washed and dried. we spent the afternoon looking around and I ... read more

Interestingly all cruise ships smell the same! Our week on the Eurodam was great, a big luxury liner (not p and o or princess standard, way above). 2000 passengers and 900 crew made it a memorable experience. That and the huge cabin, no noise from cabins near us at all, very quiet. We had a queen size bed, one fold out sofa bed, yes a lounge area and one bunk that was put down at night. Policy of this cruise line is they let you buy beer and spirits by the bottle as long as you drink in your cabin - which we did most of the time - they also let you take on as much wine and champagne as you want - we just bought a bottle at different ports but some people took ... read more

31 degrees today in Athens - loving the air conditioner - though not PC in this economy but I can't sleep without it. OK - on the count down or tomorrow. Today was spent finding the post office to get rid of all souveniers from amsterdam on - kilos of the stuff - not as easy as it sounds, getting Greg a hair cut, very fetching, trying to find somewhere for my vanity waxing (no luck), waxing myself - oouuccchhhh. Then there was shopping - for blockout, good shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste etc formalish shoes for me, sunnies for me, shorts for Kasey. Then there was hours of final downloads, chucking, sorting, culling - farewell to our winter jackets! And finally packing, packing and packing. I'm sure we have less stuff but it's taking up just ... read more

27/4/12 Left Istanbul, land of men and happily sat in the airport listening to Greek women arguing with their husbands it was so refreshing it made me smile. only once away from it did I notice the complete lack of women's voices and prescence in Istanbul, yes they were there, you could see them, with their children and husbands but that was about it, in the old town they didn't have visible jobs and not much of a voice. Really enjoyed where we stayed and highly recommend it, the kids also loved it. Arrival to Greece via Air turkey, they have a special families with children checkin so we were very impressed. all went well, some delays but first free food and drinks on aflight for a while!!! John was waiting to pick us up, after ... read more

Kasey has taken the the veil, she's loving it and of course creating a bit of a stir where she goes. Coopers team lost - poor Galatastray went down 1-0. Awesome guy (as we call him) was hopeful for their next meeting. He gave Cooper the great news that the Barcelona v chelsea game is tv tonite! Turkey is the only country to straddle two continents, today we decided to leave European Turkey and head to Asian Turkey. We caught the local ferry for 2 lira each for Greg and i - they couldn't be bothered explaining that kids over 6 are supposed to have a ticket. Went over to Uskudar for a picnic lunch - bought a chicken for 6 lira and bread for 2 lira. Sat in the park and watch turkish life roll ... read more