The occasional traveller

Day 2 - SUN, oh gorgeous SUN!!!!!!!

AnneandMark — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:45:02 +0000

Woke up this morning, got a lovely tan, felt on top of the world!!!! Opened the shutters, gorgeous weather. From our balcony we can see both the mountains and the sea. We had breakfast there and after slapping some serious suncream on, we made our way to the pool, where we spent the whole day - I know, not very adventurous, but it was just soooooo relaxing. At about 6.15pm we took the bus to Kos, (1.80 euro one way - passes once an hour). The journey lasts about 20 minutes. Kos really is a lovely, lovely city. Full of shops, bars and restaurants with a small port. We went for food in a greek taverna called Ouzeri (if I remember - will check tomorrow). Nice food, good service, highly recommended. We are now back at the hotel where I am writing this from. Not sure what we are doing tomorrow, but on tuesday we are catching the boat to Turkey for the day. Until then we shall enjoy the sun and maybe hire a quad to go around the island. Bye for now.

Kos, Greece - on holiday for a week

AnneandMark — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:35:18 +0000

Good evening/morning all, it has been such a long time since I wrote on this blog, but this is because i haven’t really been anywhere worth mentionning. We are now in Greece (my first time) on the island of Kos, which is part of the Dodecanese group of islands, and I love it. We arrived yesterday after a crap flight from Manchester that got us at 2.30 / 3.00 in the morning. Thankfully we had the transfer sorted through the travel agent so a bus was waiting for us to transfer the various holiday makers to the different resorts. My experience of package holidays started with the Canary islands, which is probably the worst place to start as all it is is just a factory where bucket loads of tourists flog to get the best tan, the best sunbed, the most drunk, and the most sunburnt. A few years ago, I went to Portugal on the same “format” of holiday, but it was nowhere near as bad. And I must admit this one is pretty brilliant too. I was a bit scared, as after backpacking, I used to think package holidays were shit. But truth be told, it quite nice not to have to worry about how to get to the resort, whether a room will be available, will we get ripped off etc. We arrived at the resort at 4.00am, in the small town of Tingaky, and are staying at the Fili apartments. It really is a nice quiet resort (we’re not too hot on the 18/30 club), about 9km from the main city of Kos and 2km from Tingaki’s town centre. The hotel itslef is made out of several self contained studios, all very clean, really well kept grounds and 3 spotless pools (one of which for toddlers). The custom is mostly very young families or older people (mainly heavy scottish drinkers, one of them being a girl in her 30s who has got the broadset accent ever - i thought she was dutch!) or young couples like us. During the day it is really laid back with all kinds of music playing, there’s also a pool table and a “babyfoot”, or table football. The food is dirt cheap and there’s plenty of it. I must admit that I felt really bad, when after some sleep we got up and went to the centre, ordered breakfast at la Scala on the main square, I coudn’t say thank you and good bye in greek. I am just not used to this and felt really rude. After nosying around and doing some shopping we went back to the resort and just crashed on the sunbeds until 6.00pm. In the evening we stayed in the hotel bar and had food and drinks. Just a nice way to spend a Friday ;0

Hawaii or Tanzania???

AnneandMark — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:21:12 +0000

Hi everybody, it has been such a long time since i came on the blog. Anyway i have a question. I NEED to think of my next big holiday. The shortlist is either Hawaii or Tanzania, What i need are some tips on which to pick. So if any of you have any experience of either or both, please let me know. Which island to go to in Hawaii? how to behave in Tanzania/ where to stay, what not to do? how much.

Thanks you dear fellow travellers.

Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire in a hot air balloon / Un petit tour en montgolfiere

AnneandMark — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:30:20 +0000

It has been a while since i’ve put a video here. This is a trip that i was offered for my birthday. Hope you enjoy the views from the Lady bird. I have also updated some pics.

Holidays pics from France (Britanny, Bordeaux, La Creuse & Fish)

AnneandMark — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 15:57:32 +0000

Hi Everyone,

I have added some pics of where we stayed during our 2-week holiday in France. Enjoy.

A quick stop in Paris Montmartre

AnneandMark — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 14:00:00 +0000

This week I was lucky enough to be sent to Paris for a work meeting. After going through the usual Paris Charles de Gaulle airport chaos, I headed to my hotel in Fontenay sous-Bois. Fast forward 24 hours and we are all out in Paris, in the Montmartre Quarter where the Sacre Coeur Basilique is. This church is only recent, it was built in 1919 (if I remember right) and really is grand. It overlooks Paris and you have to climb several dozens of steps to get there (unless you’re lazy and get a cab). There is also the Funiculaire, which is a hydraulic cab system and will cost you 4€ for one way (quite expensive). We went for dinner at La Cremaillere 1900, where the place was nice, the food was ok but the service let a lot to be desired. However we had a good laugh and that’s what matters. Montmartre is a really really nice area of Paris, full of painters and artists (and tourists). Definitely one place that must be seen on a visit. Enjoy the pics.

Keep on travelling - a bit more local though

AnneandMark — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 15:38:02 +0000

We have been back almost 3 months now. Strangely enough, we still have vivid memories of the whole trip. I went through the task of selecting pics for the photo album. So far I have printed 350 photos, but i think it will be 400 by the time we’re done. (more…)

On our way back home / En route pour la maison

AnneandMark — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:11:11 +0000

Once we got out of the arrival terminal at LAX, we rang our hotel for them to come and pick us up. We stayed at the Travelodge hotel. It was very clean, with a swimmimg pool and a big room. Trouble was Mark had full blown dengue and I had started the nasty phase so we did not really enjoy all the facilities, not too mention it was bloody cold. Ok, it was 20 degrees celsius, but after the tropics it is a shock to the system. (more…)

Chill for God’s sake!!! Relax bordel!

AnneandMark — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:00:17 +0000

After a long flight from Papeete where Mark suffered the dengue fever and I started to feel its effects, we arrived in L.A. Bloody hell what a change of scenery! No more nice ladies handing flowers to newcomers and customes people with flowers in their hair. More like loads of fat people who barely speak any english and tell you to move quickly or else…. (more…)

Men and their “shortcuts” / Pourquoi les hommes font semblant de savoir ou ils vont?

AnneandMark — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 15:44:39 +0000

OK. We’ve been back about 6 weeks or so, and I am still talking about Tahiti. Truth is I enjoyed the trip and writing the blog so much that I just can’t let go. To conclude on Tahiti, we rented a Bugster and went around the Moorea for half a day. It was great until Mark decided to take the road where only 4X4 seemed to go (Da!!!), and for a good reason. (more…)