How I found out that there are 2 airports in Istanbul

Have you heard the saying “complacency is the mother of all cock ups”? I doubt it as I think I just made it up. But it sums up our journey to the airport when we left Istanbul. At some point in the 24 hour period before departure I convinced myself that the airport we needed…

Aosta Valley (Italy) – Snow Shoeing

If you asked me to name 10 words that summed up this blog one of those words would certainly be “complacency”. It doesn’t happen much admittedly but enough to make me smile when I realise I have underestimated something. Our eventful visit to Lake Titicaca is a great example. For our second snow shoeing experience…

A brief visit to Split

“You know those flights to Rome? Well I booked flights to Split instead.” That’s how we booked our latest holiday. With absolutely no planning and a little spontaneity. Croatia has always been somewhere that had some appeal for me. It looked great, with the amazing coastline and some old buildings. Right up my street so…

Chamonix – The Mer de Glace Glacier

Too much exertion is most definitely a bad thing, especially when you are on holiday. Having walked endlessly in Barcelona only to then go straight out and snowshoe upon my arrival in Chamonix I was keen for a more restful experience. As it happened on my second day most of the family were also keen…

Barcelona one last time and a turbulent hop to France

This was my last day in Barcelona and I was sad to be leaving but at the same time excited to be moving on. My next stop was not home and as such I was starting to feel the type of excitement we experienced on our longer trips. Where the sadness of leaving one great…

Barcelona Photo Blog

Please bare in mind that I am no photographer and that I was also experimenting using my phone as a camera (which I think was successful). I also hardly bothered to use my tripod. And I have no patience. Or talent. So in summary, I’m better with words. But anyway, enjoy.

Barcelona Day 4 – La Sagrada Familia, more Churros and somebody to talk to

In addition to the lofty Belgian in my dorm I was also sharing with two young South Korean chaps. They spoke virtually no English or Spanish, and for that reason I had great admiration for them. Travelling with absolutely no language is incredibly hard. I had to reduce my level of respect a little though…

Barcelona Day 3 – Tapas, Tentacles and Tremendous amounts of Talking

I know I keep bleating on about hostels but I need to do it again. They are in most cases great, and given the wealth of information on the internet there is almost no excuse for landing in a bad one. I did my research before I booked both hostels and the first one was…

Barcelona Day 2 – Architecture & Gypsy Pickpockets

I slept awfully the night of the football match. I just couldn’t get warm despite taking a long hot shower and the duvet on my bunk was frustratingly inadequate. I resorted to sleeping fully clothed but kept waking. Mainly courtesy of the Japanese guy who staggered in at 4am and then kept talking in his…

Barcelona Day 1 – Weirdos, Chocolate & Football Induced Hypothermia

This blog is over 100 entries long and has covered every continent of our planet, with the exception of Antarctica. Yet I still find myself questioning what you might want to know about. Personally I have always enjoyed writing about the journey rather than the seeing and doing. So my 5 days in Barcelona fails…

No Tengo Claire – The Journey to Barcelona

An experienced traveller sets out on his first ever solo trip to Barcelona

Istanbul in 1 Day

What with our insatiable appetite for perpetual movement we found we could only allow 1 full day to explore the city. Guidebooks and blogs, none of which are to be trusted of course, all seemed to suggest that 2 days was the very least amount of time necessary to fully appreciate Istanbul. Undeterred, we went…