Blogs from Middle East

Today found us past hump day . When I worked Wednesday was always hump day . Now retired hump day is moveable and means whatever day of the week I choose it to be . This week we had reached over half way through the holiday so we had gone past hump day . There was less time left in Istanbul than we realised . We woke early. Being on holiday does not mean for us lying in until lunchtime . We had our penultimate breakfast to savour and as always it was excellent with a varied choice to pick at . The hotel felt busier mid week than it did when we arrived . There was no longer free refreshments as Ramadan had ended and if there were any complaints the lifts left me stuck ... read more

Istanbul is a city that offers a great deal to the traveller . So much history to uncover and so different to the usual city breaks . Has it been worth coming ? We had no doubts about that . Istanbul was delivering by the bucketload . We could have spent a week visiting mosques. A week spending time visiting museums when they were open . And to top it all there were palaces both ancient and modern and something Roman . We knew we were going to have to miss something in this city of millions of people . A cosmopolitan city which merged East and West quite seamlessly . From the cobbled streets to the carts selling hot chestnuts and corn on the cob it offered a different slant on life from other cities ... read more

The intrepid, if aging, wanderers are at it again. We depart Atlanta about noon on Tuesday arriving in Cyprus the following afternoon. Bird is not a big fan of this island as populated by many Turks, at least in the north, after Turkey invaded in 1974. The island remains a divided country. We will only remain a week with just two of those days in the north. Then off to Crete for 26 days followed by 10 in the Peloponnese before departing from Athens on 5 June. The pace is slower this year with ample time on a balcony or sitting in a cafe at some Venetian Harbor. Hope y'all enjoy this edition of the blog. Oh, by the way, Bird is profoundly improved since the trip to Antartica. She has brand new joints (one each ... read more

Another decent sleep . It does feel odd to be sleeping in a large bed rather than the cramped interior of Gabby but we are beginning to get used to having the little extra room. Breakfast again was a brilliant affair . Our Australian neighbours heading for Gallipoli today were making the most of the small gym and the spa in the hotel . The Japanese guests of which there were many were filling their breakfast plates over and over again. At times the volumes on plates seemed excessive . Our pickings were sparse as we are not in love with large breakfasts . However each day I did try something different . Our plan was to pop the route to the Egyptian Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar into the phone using Holafly as our data ... read more

Our body clocks were all over the place . The two hour time difference from home was playing havoc with bedtimes and waking up. We did not seem to be able to get around the feeling of not knowing what time of the day it actually was . I guess we might have had a better idea had we listened to and taken notice of the calls to prayer . We decided to go for a walk . Was Istanbul a safe place to walk ? It was no different to any other city as we were to come to find out during our walk . The shops were still filled with shoppers and the shopkeepers shouted out continually to the tourists to call in and buy something . A carpet to take home , spices ... read more