We were allowed to have a sleep in this morning. Delicious. We didn’t have to get going until 10am this morning. So mum and dad got me out of the room at 7:15am to have breakfast. I still can’t work out how this is a sleep in. Breakfast was another interesting array of food. We had cucumber, tomatoes, cheese, bread and boiled eggs and omelettes. After breakfast we took a brief stroll down the corniche of Tartus. The cornniche of Tartus wasn’t exactly a glory spot. They are in the process of constructing a series of breakwaters and mini ports around the corniche which is actually going to make it quite pretty in the end. However ones overarching impression of Tartus is of a place that is pretty run down and in need of a bit ... read more

Day 3 of the trip was cool. Literally. It is freezing here. So unbelievably cold. I can’t believe how cold it has been here. Much colder than home in NZ. Day 3 saw us get up in Damascus bright and early. Mum and Dad were up at 6:30am for breakfast at the restaurant. I managed to get down there for 7:00am. Abdul picked us up at 8:00am and off we set for Palmyra. The first stop for the day was actually at Palmyra. Just before lunch we went to see some old tombs. In particular we saw the tomb towers and a tomb that was located underground. The tomb tower were quite spectacular, there are about 4 stories high and along each side of the tomb there are niches. The tomb that we looked at (Elahbel ... read more

Well the xmas trip Syria didn’t start brilliantly. The limousine from Emirates arrived at 4:45am! That seemed frightfully early at the time. Because I was flying Emirates I got to go to the new terminal 3. However my small hitch in the joy of this new terminal was that my brilliant little bright pink beneton carry on bag, that has gone so many places with me, broke its handle…… again. This it the extendable handle that allows you to wheel it through airports etc and is also the handle that I broke in Boston and that Dave had spent an hour fixing for me a couple of nights ago so I could use the little pink bag for this trip. And then the very first time that I go to use the handle, I manage to ... read more

We finally went to see the flamingoes again yesterday. We made an attempt a very long time ago, but went on a Friday so it was shut (and we didn't realise that it was actually open at other times as the nice friendly sign giving you the opening times was actually not around.) But our Dubai guru Leanne told us that it was open during the week and on Saturdays (apparently it just isn't open on Fridays) we decided to go again and take another look. The reserve is actually pretty cool and is right in the heart of town. It is a nightmare to try and get to with the only possible access being from the 44 in the direction of town. Once you get there you park up and walk along the Hide access ... read more

The Green Build Conference was held in Boston this year. The exhibition hall this year was amazing. There were so many stalls, and all of them were in relation to sustainability. Amazing! This year arch Bishop Desmond Tutu was the key note speaker who opened the conference. And he was hilarious! A real crack up. It was a truely fabulous speech that he gave which had the entire audience in stitches at times. ... read more