We got the overnight train to Ankara and I have to say Turkish Rail is very good. All the sleeper cabins were two berth and had a sink, and a fridge with free snacks. When we first got on the cabin was in seat configuration and then later the guard came in and changed our seats into beds. All very cool. I even managed to sleep! After breakfast in Ankara of the usual boiled egg, cucumber, tomato (they eat it at every meal), olives and bread we head to Atatürks mausoleum. Atatürk is considered to be responsible for making Turkey the liberal and secular country that it is today. This does tend to make him rather unpopular with some extremists but for the most part he is very well liked and there are statues of him ... read more

I finally have another holiday to look forward to! I know some of you think that all I do is go on holiday but that is simply not true. Anyway after much umming and ahhing we have decided to go to Turkey. We thought it would be somewhere new and interesting to explore. We have signed up to do a small group trip which starts and ends in Istanbul. It takes in a range of places including Cappadocia and Ephesus. I don't know that much about Turkey but what I have read about looks pretty cool. I have always liked the look of Cappadocia and the amazing scenery. As we were so late in deciding where to go it means that we don't have long to wait before we pack our rucksacks and go. :-)... read more

As we had to get up VERY early to catch our flights we were in Seville by 11. The hotel was opposite the Murillo gardens so we took advantage of that and spent plenty of time sitting in gardens under orange trees We had time for a Boccadillo Jamon before exploring Seville. The first place we visited was the very impressive Alcazar palaces. This is a collection of palaces that were built in stages over the last 11 centuries (although the majority of it was finished by the 15th). They are in the Moorish style, so they are filled with really amazing tiling and carving. I would really like some of those tiles! The gardens were also really nice and full of orange trees. After that it was time for a siesta (we had been up ... read more

We’re back! We arrived back in London about midday. It is so cold! I knew it would be chilly but it seems like a very nasty shock. Needless to say Heathrow was the worst airport we visited. It took an absolute age to get our bags back which was not helped by the fact the luggage belt stopped for 10 minutes when only half the bags were out. All this delay meant we missed the coach by 5 minutes. After a very chilly wait of nearly an hour we finally got the coach. Half way through the journey they made us all swap coaches including all the people that got on 30 seconds earlier! We finally made it back to the Park and Ride in Trumpington where my parents were waiting for us. It was nice ... read more

What a busy few days we have had in our tropical paradise. We have been busy snorkelling, kayaking and cycling. The snorkelling is excellent and we have been nearly every day. There are so many fish and they are really colourful. Our favourite is the Picasso triggerfish which really looks like Picasso painted it. As well as the fish there are hundreds if not thousands of sea cucumbers as well as the occasional massive blue starfish. All very groovy. We hired bikes on Monday and went for a cycle around the Southern and southwesterly part of the Island. We decided against going all the way round as we did not think we would make it! The cycle was great though and we passed some lovely beaches. We visited a couple of CICC churches en route. Rarotonga ... read more