Category: Travel

An afternoon in Cambodia

There are few things in life which I enjoy more than a holiday aboard a Thompson (TUI) cruise ship. That little blue plastic card is the ticket to two weeks of paradise! The first stop on our trip was in Cambodia – not the most obvious choice of a tourist destination but interesting nonetheless.

Our first trip out from the boat was to Sihanoukville on Cambodia’s south-west coast overlooking the Gulf of Thailand. With only an afternoon free in this port we boarded a tuk-tuk (complete with smoking engine and decorated with green astroturf) around a couple of areas of interest, including the famous ‘golden lions statue’ and the Wat Leu Temple on the outskirts.

There is a lot of poverty in Cambodia and it is impossible to ignore people living by the roadside and children begging for money in the streets. There is also massive construction work of luxurious apartments and it seems that every other renovated building is a casino, which is a shame.

Cambodia has a terrible history as I am sure you are already aware, and any decent tour guide will point out the killing fields and the legacy of the Khmer Rouge 1975 -1979, when Buddhist temples were destroyed, desecrated and used as mass graves. Even before this, the country was bombed consistently in the Vietnamese War with America.

The country is trying to rebuild and establish itself as a tourist base, and it does have a lot to offer, although there is such a lot of work needing to be done. Should we visit Cambodia again in, say, another ten years’ time, I am sure that it will look very different…

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A Weekend retreat at the Salamis Bay Conti Resort & Casino Hotel ∼Northern Cyprus

How often have I heard people ask “Why do you need a holiday when you live in Cyprus?” Will you please cut me some slack? Everyone needs a break from their daily routine. For years my friends have been telling me about this great hotel on the northern side, which is only a 50 minute drive from my village of Oroklini on the Greek side of the island. Having got a great all inclusive deal, (£210 English pounds – via Travel republic for both of us for 3 days), we were looking forward to a relaxing long weekend.

I must admit I that my expectations were moderate as 5 stars can defer greatly, depending on the location, but I had underestimated the quality of holiday experience on offer in this lovely hotel. Our room (I am married to Derek, if you don’t know me personally or are new to my blog) is on the top floor,  and it is a family room with an extra bed. We are very happy to have the extra space and the view from the balcony is gorgeous!

The food is excellent too, with every type of salad leaf imaginable in the buffet. I spent so much time trying new and unusual looking salad dishes that I didn’t bother with any meat at all. For someone who has food allergies, like me, being able to select your own food is a godsend and I would always choose this over a formal sit down arrangement; but we are all different…

nailsI think this only the second or third time I have gone all inclusive, and I must admit it does feel a little Benidormish, having that plastic band around your wrist (spoilt – who me?)  So I decided that the best way to tackle this situation was to have my nails painted the same shade of purple  as the band in the  super health spa on the  lower ground floor. So, now that I am perfectly co-ordinated, I feel a lot better. (You can take the girl out of Hartlepool…)

Is there much to do? Well apart from a pharmacy run, as the prices of prescription medication are considerably less over here, we have just chilled out so far, but I can tell you that the dry white wine is really nice and they make a mean gin and tonic; so it’s so far so good. We are thinking we might actually do something tomorrow… but best not over-do-it eh?

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Alibi International Crime/Noir Literary Festival

 

The Invitation

I was very fortunate enough to be asked to the 3rd Alibi International Crime/Noir Festival in the beautiful surroundings of Slovenska Bistrica, Slovenia. It is a very special event with five guest writers invited to spend the weekend surrounded by stunning scenery in the mountains at the idyllic Gora Pod Lipo . The festival is organized in conjunction with Artisan advertising and publishing house and Tednik Panorama, media sponsor.

How was the experience?

Imagine the nicest place you have visited on holiday; then add some of the best cuisine you have ever tasted, a beautiful full-bodied red wine, named Alibi especially for this event, add a selection talented writers, a lovely, comfortable hotel in the mountains, (Hotel Jakec) and of course, a cool bar to hang out in when you are not writing (Bar Grega). It’s all true! I can assure you I am not exaggerating – this was a very special event!

What did you do?

On the Friday evening (after I had spent a lovely day at Lake Bled with advertising creative, writer, and festival organizer Renato Bratkovič, the five writers attended a dinner at Goro Pod Lipo, (where we were spoiled the entire weekend with excellent food and wine), and each of us drew a slip of paper with our story title ready for the following  days writing.

Did we enjoy creating new stories?

Yes very much! Of course, there is a little extra pressure in writing a full short story to be read the following day, But as the guest writer, poet, and publisher Jaka Tomc observed, sometimes a little pressure can be a good thing for a writer…

Goro pod lipo has a warren of private rooms and secluded spaces and so we all chose our own areas, carefully, meeting up for coffee with German, thriller writer, Silvija Hinzmann . And Croatian radio presenter and fiction writer Andrea Žigić-Dolenec   for delicious meals in the cozy, traditional style restaurant.

Where there any trips out?

On Saturday evening we all bundled into the minivan and headed down to the local cinema in Slovenka Bristrica. The first feature was a new film starring Igor Korošec, Jana Jeglič was created by Artisan, Final Focus,  called Minus 1 – and very entertaining it was too. I loved the noir feel of the piece and the character- without revealing too much, was very dark and manipulative; but he did want to help…

The second film was called Nightlife, which was based on a real-life incident with a lawyer in Ljubljana. To say that this man exceeded the boundaries of taste and decency is an understatement. The lawyer’s wife seemed a little dubious too, she kept saying she didn’t understand what was happening, but I was never sure if that was actually true. Her attempts to hide evidence in her handbag while being questioned at the police station, were quite humorous, although I’m not entirely sure if this was meant to be the case. The film’s director Damjan Kozole,  kindly answered our questions afterward.

After all of that hard work, what did you do to relax?

As if you need to ask! We all headed off to the very cool Bar Grega to drink more wine, local beers … and yes, eat a little extra, delicious food… more strudel anyone? (as I’m sure you can imagine being a writer is very thirsty work, and we have to keep our strength up by consuming as many calories as possible in order to produce our very best efforts!)

What happened on Festival Day?

After spending the morning editing our stories and drinking coffee (caffeine is also indispensable to the writing process) we prepared ourselves for the event. The five stories readings came first, followed by some questions from Renato, and then from the audience. It all went very smoothly, and the audience seemed to be engaged and entertained. There was a pleasant time spent socializing afterward with the audience members, quite a few of whom, we recognized from the bar and the cinema earlier.

So what happens next?

The stories will be translated so that they can be read in Slovenian and English and the will be posted on the website, and eventually, they will be included in an exciting anthology of stories with the writers of the previous years and future festivals. I will, of course, keep you informed of what’s going on and when the stories are posted for reading.

For more information why not visit the Website and Alibi FB Page?

 

 

 

 

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A walking tour ∼Photos from St. Petersburg

On my walking tour of St. Petersburg, the thing which surprised me the most was the vast scale of the city. My tour took in some stunning sites, which I have tried to capture in the images below.

Without a doubt, the most spectacular is the roof of Church on the Spilled Blood, which is the featured image above. The church was built on the spot where the Emperor Alexander ll was murdered in 1881. The design is incredibly beautiful the church is both a historical monument and amazing work of art. As this was a walking tour, unfortunately, I did not have time to visit the stunning mosaics inside – maybe next time…

Other photos below include The Winter Palace, Palace Square, St Isaac’s Cathedral and a statue of the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Canal trip – St Petersburg, Russia

Today I’m talking about my recent Baltic trip and have posted some photos of the wonderful canal trip taken by myself and my husband in St. Petersburg. It was a cold and rainy day, and if you catch the short video at the end, you will see it wasn’t the best day weather wise, but it was a wonderful experience, which I would highly recommend should you choose to visit Russia!

The trip took about an hour and twenty minutes and it was really special. I had little idea of the huge scale of the city until this point. St. Petersburg was founded in 1703, and was originally the capital of the Russian empire. It was the rather daring vision of Peter 1st to whom this grandiose and very ambitious project was symbolic of an era of confidence, extravagance, and optimism. The city was built on northern reclaimed marshland, which was perpetually wreathed in mist – which explains the less than optimum weather conditions many visitors to St. Petersburg experience. But as I am sure you are already aware, you don’t go to Russia for the climate…

When planning a Russian trip, you are required to obtain a visa, and the easiest way to do this is to book via a travel agent who will sort it out for you (it’s not cheap around 120 euros) or you can go on an organised group trip as we did. Even so, passport control is very strict and time-consuming. I did think I was going to have to continue without my husband at one point – when they brought a very official looking man uniform to question him about some apparently unsavoury stamps in his passport – he does get about a bit… but they eventually let him through and thankfully, the bus was still there waiting for us to join it!

Back to the boat trip: there are 342 bridges in total on the river Neva, which runs from Lake Ladoga, right through the middle of the city into the Gulf of Finland. On this canal trip, we lost count of how many bridges we passed under and there was some stunning wrought ironwork to be seen. It was an amazing trip with such an impressive collection of beautiful buildings and a vast assortment of bridges; some of which were so low that our tour guide instructed us to duck our heads as we went under them – and you most definitely needed to!

If the video looks upside – it does right itself once you press play!

 

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Next Stop∼Tallinn

Maiasmokk Café

This was my first visit to Tallinn, and indeed to Estonia!  It was not at all as I imagined because I think I expected something a little less colourful and austere.  The architecture in the old centre was beautiful, a mixture of romantic pastel coloured prettiness and stately gothic splendor. The Town Hall Square had a lovely mixture of restaurants and bars offering excellent quality food, and it was a great place to spend the day people watching and taking in the friendly atmosphere.

I was surprised at how contained the tourism was, the shops were not full of tacky, mindless rubbish you see in some places, it was more hand knitted socks, homemade handicrafts and really amazing amber jewelry – which of course I couldn’t resist! The town is famous for its markets, which have been happening since the 11th century; unfortunately, I didn’t catch one, but still managed to come away with lots of pretty amber pieces.

This was a quick visit but I wanted to mention it as it was so nice to roam around the beautiful old buildings, some of which date back to the 15th century. The centre had a lot of charm and the oldest coffee shop, the Maiasmokk Café, was gorgeously old fashioned as well as being very popular!

As well as the historic areas, Tallinn is actually a hub for IT and communications, with many major companies having development centres in the commercial part of the city. Tallinn is not only beautiful, historical and friendly, but is a surprisingly innovative and modern city too! ∼

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First Stop Copenhagen!

There is nothing quite as exciting as travelling to somewhere that you have never been to before!  That feeling of not knowing what lays around the next corner, what you will see and whom you might meet, are all good reasons to venture to holiday destinations which you have never tried before. I had never been to any of the Scandinavian countries I was about to visit on this trip, and obviously, I was very excited to discover the cold North, as well as travelling to my dream travel destination of St. Petersburg, Russia.

The trip began in Copenhagen which was pleasantly cool after the heat wave in Cyprus, which had sent temperatures soaring before we left. It was a nice place, although smaller than I had imagined. We had taken a trip around the city and to be honest, you could have walked around the city center or taken a hop-on-hop-off bus just as easily. As on most guided tours there was a lot of historical information, which is great, but I probably only retained a small amount of this and am not going to bore you with lots of facts, particularly as most of the information was about the river, port and new buildings, which to be honest, looked a little unexciting.

The nicest part of the city is Nyhavn, this is the area with the fish restaurants and bars next to the canal, and it’s a very good spot to relax, take in the atmosphere and have a cold Carlsberg if you are so inclined. After our city tour that’s exactly what we did, before our trip to the ice bar, which turned out to be a lot more fun than we had imagined that it would be.

In the Reflections Ice Bar (the only one of its kind in Denmark, they seem to like to tell you – it opened about a month ago). The walls, tables, and bar are all completely covered with ice and there are some sculptured ice pieces too. It feels as if it is freezing, although it’s probably a few degrees above. It cost around 20 euros for entrance (this is a conversion price from Danish Krone) and for that, you got to wear an enormous cape, which stops you from literally freezing ( although you do end up looking like you have just escaped from an old episode of Dr. Who) and your first 2 drinks. There is a shot of vodka or whiskey served in a molded ice cube, and a cocktail mix in a plastic pot, that resembles one of those plastic dispensers that you use for washing powder! This is a traditional kåsa or cup, apparently. I can report that both drinks were delicious and the bar was very lively and a lot of fun.  Thanks to our enormous hooded cloaks we were able to stay on, for our full forty minute slot.…

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The last cruise from Limassol

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Haifer

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Santorini

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Come this time of year the population of my Cypriot village, Oroklini, tends to diminish due to the Thompson cruise liner which lands for a day in the nearby port of Limassol. With no flights to buy, no weight restrictions on luggage (hurray!) and a mere 40 minute drive from the village this cruise is a definite favourite with many friends and village residents – some of whom manage to get really good last minute deals!

Me and my family climbed aboard for many years as the cruise fitted in with my daughters school holidays and it had great kids and teenager clubs, which seem to work brilliantly until your child decides they are far too cool for such organised activities…

The itinerary changes slightly from year to year, often depending on what is considered safe at the time. This year Egypt is off the menu, although we have had some really amazing trips out there the past. Israel is always interesting and this time we stopped at Haifer, before visiting the gorgeous Greek island of Santorini.

I had been to Mykonos many times before, but Santorini proved to be a real treat with its stunning cliff top views, sensational white washed stone buildings and cobbled alleyways of enticing little shops containing art, bronze sculpture and traditional handicrafts. We were lucky in having a beautiful day, the sun was shining, the views were amazing and we had lunch in a lovely little place with excellent Greek food and wine.

There was more fun to come, but this was certainly the highlight of the cruise for me!

 

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Mykonos holiday photos

Long gone are the days when you had to endure an extended session of someones holiday snaps, when they whipped out the super sized photo album, after coffee or dinner. Now we can post them online, and friends can browse  at their own leisure without all of those tedious explanations and extra slow page turns!

In the spirit of not boring everyone to death – here are some of the photos of my recent holiday in Mykonos – and yes I did see Peter the pelican, but I didn’t get too close as he got mobbed by a busload of overexcited tourists off one of the cruise ships in the harbor…

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Afternoon Tea at the Plantation∼ Jamaica

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Elizabeth is buried under the large stone on the top left hand corner of this room!

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If your ideal holiday is an endless daze of sun drenched, rum soaked days full of wall to wall reggae, then Jamaica will not disappoint; but perhaps you are interested finding out a little about the history of the island? There is nowhere more enjoyable than a trip up the mountains to Good Hope, an original plantation house which has a strange, sad history and is surrounded by amazing scenery!

The first owners of the plantation was Colonel Thomas Williams in 1744 who was granted the right to the land. He built a small house there but in preparation for his marriage to his young English bride Elizabeth, he had the “Grand House” built in 1745. Elizabeth adored her home and relished her new life in Jamaica, but unfortunately it was short lived as she died a terrible death from yellow fever at the age of 24, seven years after arriving in Jamaica. She was buried under the stone floor of the entrance room to the house. Her grave is marked with a simple stone.

Colonal Williams was apparently devastated after Elizabeth’s death and his health and fortune went into serious decline as he descended into debt and then sold the plantation to a neighbour John Tharpe, who was an astute in business made a huge success of the estate. Tharpe and his wife, a rich heiress called Elizabeth, had 5 children, but Tharpe did not trust his estate with over 3, 000 slaves to any of  andnstead he left it to his grandson, who was forced into a quick marriage that he didn’t want, and was said to have become hysterical on his wedding night and subsequently went insane.

John Tharpe suffered from severe arthritis and had a special copper bath, the first of its kind on the island, installed on doctor’s orders, although the bath unfortunately also contained lead, and many people believe that he was slowly poisoned to death by it.

As well as his four sons and a daughter with wife Elizabeth, John Tharpe also had an illegitimate son with one of his slaves, called John Harewood, who was his favourite child and whom he trusted to manage all of his properties. John Harewood was considered to be a kind man, and continued to run the plantation successfully after slaves became emancipated in 1833.

The plantation house had been beautifully preserved and offers guided tours with lots of history and special afternoon teas with Jamaican delicacies, which were really delicious!

 

 

 

 

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