San Sebastian and Burgos
We left Lourdes on the motorway heading for Spain. France is the land of tollways. Every motorway we used charged. It looks like they charge by distance as there was no indication of how much. San Sebastián was our first stop. It is a pleasant town on the coast. The Spaniards appear to favour high […]
The Iberia odyssesy begins in Lourdes
At last our Iberia tour has started. We left Krakow at 2.30 am. I did not know that such a time existed anywhere other than on a watch. It was too early to go to bed so we went drinking with friends. I was a little second hand by the time we boarded our first […]
Tour de Pologne
We have been back in Krakow for a week now. It has mostly been raining but it held off for the final stage of the Tour de Pologne. That was a pity really as wet cobblestones and tight turns would have made for some thrills and spills. The race started with a bang… literally. They […]
Dacha
Anna caught up with her friend Aldona and she invited us to join them for a weekend in their dacha, holiday house, near Wlodawa which is on the Ukraine border. We hired a car from Joka (I am being straight) and drove 6 hours to meet Aldona and her husband Tadeusz. They took us to […]
Lessons learnt
Travelling to the Middle East has been quite an experience and there are a few things that might be of use to others. Firstly, each country has its own currency. There are ATMs but a ready supply of small denomination American dollars would be highly advantageous. They readily accept them and give change in USD. […]
Wadi Rum
Our last day in Jordan. It will prove trying. We left early heading for Wadi Rum but not without the compulsory stop at a souvenir shop midway. Here sales were recorded by nationality. Presumably so the right guide got the right kick back. Jordan is the land of speed humps. Every time the major highway […]
Petra
Today we are in Petra. The town is built on the side of a bare hill. It is hot and dry but pleasant in a desert sort of way. We left the hotel at 8.30 and walked to the world heritage site. Our tickets were valued at 50 Dinar or 75 AUD. It sounded […]
Jerash
We had been promised a long day so we left early. Breakfast at 6.30 and departure at 7.15. We headed to the River Jordon crossing into Jordan. We got there for opening time at 8.00. The idea was that our bus would drive us into Jordon where we would change to a new Jordanian bus. […]
Nazareth and Galilee
Today was miracles day. We began by travelling to Nazareth. Our first stop was the Sanctuary of the Annunciation where Mary was told she was having a baby. The Church is very special and most counties have given a mosaic as contribution. Some gave two. Inside there was a group from Brazil having a personal […]
Jerusalem
Today was Jerusalem. It is different from anything I have seen before. The city is hilly. You could almost say mountainous. Walking is hard because most of the time you are exposed to full sun. It was 38 degrees today. My adventure started when I put on my new linen trousers, specially bought for this […]