2019.. We have a plan

What to do in 2019 apart from locking ourselves in a dark room and singing la la la until March 29? Actually, that's not a good idea; we might emerge to find that our worst fears have come to pass......

When we return to the UK in April, it's going to look different whatever is going on, so, after family hugs and kisses, we won't stay long; we're off on tour in our trusty Touareg + Sterling Continental caravan, meeting up in Poland with adventurers on the Camping and Caravanning Club's tour of the Baltic States. That's Poland > Lithuania > Latvia > Estonia > Russia - and back. As always, we plan to linger on the way back, perhaps having a better look at Poland. You might notice that we have an eastern European thing going on for recent adventures...

So that means a new blog and lots of planning to keep us amused: see you there, all being well.

Meanwhile:

Five days in Krakow

Flying out from Stansted in the UK to meet up with friends in Krakow, we spend a really enjoyable, if exhausting (and sometimes emotional), five days visiting the second largest city in Poland. There's so much to see here that five days just about does the trick although an extra day might have meant that a more relaxed itinerary was possible..

Most of the main sights are within easy walking distance.. and there's always the tram system, which is frequent and heavily used. All the sights info is HERE...' and here's the DETAIL

The large Main Square, old town, is dominated by the Cloth Hall, once a major centre of trade but now home to gift shops and other tourist shops.It's got a great feel though, with performers, tourists, more tourists and beautifully prepared horse drawn carriages.

A trumpeter sounds the hour from the Gothic tower of St Mary's Basilica

The Jagiellonian University Museum houses wonderful instruments of Copernicus and other notable astronomers. Must-see for me

Jagiellonian Museum

The Salt Mines are a surprising highlight

There are memories of a more sinister nature here, of course; a trip to Auschwitz brings the absolute horror of mass murder of thousands under Nazi rule into powerful focus.

  Back to Krakow, Ghetto Heroes Square remembers the fortitude of Jews in the appalling conditions in the ghettos created by the Nazis.

Flamingos and Ancient Mysteries....

A Road Trip in Andalucía...

When we're in Nerja and have a couple of days to spare (which is always more difficult than we think it will be) we try to get away in our little Spanish Ford Ka on a 'Back Roads' tour using the excellent book by David Baird:

These trips always take longer than we expect because there's always something that grabs our attention for far longer than planned.  This time we head off to spend a night in Antequera on his 'Flamingos and Ancient Mysteries' tour and, needless to say, we have a great time.

We head to Malaga on the Autovia then turn north on the increasingly winding A7075, stopping first at the small town of Almogía with its Moorish tower. The following two days are full of reminders of Spain's Moorish past and, as ever on these trips, we feel privileged to spend part of our lives in this fascinating country.

Here are some highlights in pictures:

El Torcal - limestone that was, of course, once the sea bed but now eroded into wonderful sculptures

Lobo Park - wolves!

Antequera's 4000 year old Dolmens (ancient burial chambers :

Pena dos los Enamorados: Looks like a reposing head; it is said that two young lovers flung themselves off the top, realising that a Moor and Christian would never be allowed to marry.

Flamingos on Laguna de Fuente de Piedra

Plaza Ochavada of Archidona - a beautiful eight sided square

Casabermeja cemetery - at the foot of the amazingly steep Calle Real which, they say, climbs to heaven; having climbed it, we certainly felt as if we deserved to be in heaven.

Almogía, tucked into the mountainside

Viewpoint above Almogía

We could go on... and on.. but that's enough. Time to clean the dust off the poor Ka.

Summer`s Over

Here's the usual (but late) update on our summer travels in the UK...

After arriving back from  the Balkans in mid-July we`ve been based at our UK home, taking a couple of trips on our coastal tour of the UK. At the current rate of progress we should be around 110 by the time we complete it; hope the car will last that long.

I'm writing this in our Nerja base and it's later than usual because we've been in the UK for longer than expected. At least we made it out for Año Neuvo after a great Christmas in the UK.

The hot sun and cooler winter air often give us a chance to see the Moroccan Atlas Mountains from our terrace out here as the light is refracted by the air density changes acting as a lens; this year was excellent for this phenomenon. It always gives us a thrill and reminds us of our trip across the Tizi n'Tichka Pass in our caravan in 2011.

Africa!..from our terrace:

On the horizon

and in close up

..and, of course, it's back to wonderful walking.

So what about our UK coastal tour?

Here are a few images as we visited Cambridge (OK I know it's not quite on the coast) and sauntered around the bits of the Kent coast we haven't previously completed:

Name that Cambridge Bridge..

Wish I could say it was warm and sunny..

Loafing about in Sandwich:

Sandwich Butchery Surgery!!

Eastbourne Upmarket Band Stand

Ramsgate looking pretty

They actually sailed his model viking ship - Cliffsend [info]

Margate's dubiously decorated seafront

Polegate Windmill & Museum

Back home there was the opportunity for a shot of December's supermoon:

So that's about it for our travels in 2017.
Can't go without mentioning our visit to our local  Chelmsford Cathedral to see our eldest receive her Masters in Human Resources which was uplifting. Also uplifting in a different sense was our drive into London to help our youngest move into a new house share - which has turned out very well. To us, the cost of living here is prohibitive with high rents and increasingly high prices. Can't help thinking that our generation had the best of it.

Need to work out some travelling plans for 2018....

Home again

After our 7,500km trip around the Balkans, we're back home in the UK tending the garden, cheering up the house and trying to work out our commitments over the summer. A VERY interesting trip, was that.

Talking of travelling, we're more than slightly humbled by our youngest who has just completed, by herself, the mountainous 350km Camino Primitivo pilgrims' walk  from Oviedo to Santiago de Compostela. Wow.

photo: Georgina Arnott

Still Travelling....

Well, we've finished the guided part of our tour around the Balkan States and now we're on our own. We plan to saunter along the Croation coast, then up through Slovenia,  stopping at Lubiana and Lake Bled before speeding up a little as we head for our tunnel booking on the 17th July.

You can still follow us on the Balkans blog if you suffer from insomnia.

Off to the Balkans tomorrow

Where did the time go? It seems no time at all since we returned, jet lagged, from our New Zealand tour. It's passed in a whirl of family reunions and preparation for the Balkans trip.

Back on July 17th. In the meantime, we're at balkansbycaravan.blogspot.com