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Travelling 2020

July - November 2020
Our travelling plans collide with the global pandemic Covid 19 and take some unexpected turns. Quite literally making it up as we go and travelling to any countries that will take us! Read more
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  • Gemma Craig HTravelling 2020
    Day 11

    Athens Day 3

    August 5, 2020 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Day three, a cool night's sleep and we were ready for another day exploring. We took a different route towards the metro and stumbled across a cool cafe / bar called 'The Place'. They had great veggie options so we ordered food and pancakes (with enough chocolate that even grandma would struggle!). We noticed some wooden bikes outside and ended up booking a bike tour for the last day!

    The plan for the day was to visit the Acropolis for some culture after lots of eating and drinking. Of course the plan was to walk towards the acropolis, stopping off in bars / cafes. The first find was the Klook, a Mary Poppins inspired experiential weird trippy restaurant / cafe. I had a really sweet lemonade and Craig had a beer in a shoe (as you do).

    We stayed for as long as we could stand the weird music and Disney style cringey-ness (which wasn't very long) and spent an hour or so wondering around the cobbled streets of Monastiraki and stopped for a cocktail in Six Dogs. It was a lovely green courtyard and had a zero waste policy.

    By around 4pm it was cool enough to walk up to see the Acropolis of Athens. It was a spectacular sight and hard to believe that it's been around for thousands of years. Again, we were lucky as we didn't have to queue for anything and practically has the site to ourselves!

    Culture completed ☑️ and it was back to exploring! We had a drink at 360 cocktail bar which overlooked the Acropolis and then stumbled across 'Peek A Bloom', a bar in a tiny alley with a bohemian feel (and a secret toilet lol). We sensibly went home at around 8pm to get ready for our trip to Mykonos the next day.    Read more

  • Gemma Craig HTravelling 2020
    Day 12

    Athens Day 4 - Mykonos

    August 6, 2020 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Finally, our spontaneous trip to Mykonos had arrived 😁! We jumped in a taxi at 4.30am and by 6.30 we were on our flight to Mykonos. Our hotel was strategically only a 20 minute walk from the airport and at 7.30am it was cool enough for it to be pleasant!

    We dropped our bags off at Sea and Stone(??!!) resort and jumped straight in a taxi to Mykonos town. We were absolutely ravenous so headed straight to breakfast at yummy (salmon for Craig and veggie omelette for me - perfect!).

    Next we were off to the Mykonos windmills and given the time of day, there was not single a tourist to be seen. We climbed down and found a perfect bench by the water and enjoyed the peaceful moment! We did some exploring down the gorgeous narrow lanes and then on to Negrita (??!!) in little Venice for a smoothie and beer (both 8€ lol). By this point I was pretty chuffed with everything we'd managed to do in a few hours.

    We spent the afternoon at Santanna beach bar and splashed out on a front row sunbed on the beach. The music was good and I'd found a nice bottle of rosé to nurse slowly that didn't break the bank.

    We had a dinner reservation at Scorpios, which was a 5 minute walk from Santanna! Scorpios is owned by Soho House and my old boss Adam from Arcadia is now the FD for Europe and he had arranged for us to meet the boss there Vassillies who was so much fun and joined us for a drink. I went for the lobster pasta as the veggie options weren't great (and also coz why not) and Craig went for the steaks and both were amazing! We were delighted to find that a 50% off discount had been applied, making the bill much more manageable!

    We tried to find Vassillies after to say thank you but had no luck. By this point the bottle and a half of wine had taken its toll and we were asking the bar men to leave a drink behind the bar for Vassillies. The bar man said 'haha, no one buys Vassillies a drink'. Sober, we now understand this, no one buys the big boss a drink in his own bar! Anyway the gesture was there.

    We left to check into the room before the reception closed at 10pm and felt quite smug walking past the huge queue to Scorpios that snaked around the car park! The lady in reception at the hotel turned the hot tub on for us and we enjoyed a final drink before passing out! What a fabulous day!    Read more

  • Gemma Craig HTravelling 2020
    Day 13

    Athens Day 5

    August 7, 2020 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    We had an early morning alarm for the 20 minute walk back down to Mykonos airport, which at that time in the morning with a little breeze in the air was a perfect hangover cure! The flight was easy again and we ended up back at our Athens apartment by 11am.

    We had already booked at a lunch at a Japanese/Greek fusion restaurant called Nolan so headed there for the afternoon. The food was amazing, one of the best of the trip so far!

    After lunch we headed to a nice bar called 'peak a bloom' set just off a busy high street it played good music and served cheap drinks, perfect!

    We had a graffiti tour booked early evening which was interesting.. The tour guide was an anarchist and took pleasure in telling us a lot more about that than the actual art at first! But after the first half an hour the tour became great, he explained the differences between commissioned graffiti work and 'tags' and how most artists would never touch/go over a work they respected. I particularly enjoyed him showing a piece which he explained had started with slow detailed line work that went on to be finished by rushed scribbly linework due to the immenient arrival of a property owner or police officer. Once this, and other things also were explained, it made my appreciation for all of the other graffiti grow further.

    After 3 and half hours walking the streets, and wet from a quick shower that passed during we stopped off at a record shop that doubled up as a bar for a drink.

    We then headed back to the vegan restaurant Cookomella for some dinner before getting a cab home for an early night after a very long day!    Read more

  • Gemma Craig HTravelling 2020
    Day 14

    Athens Day 6

    August 8, 2020 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Our last full day in Athens arrived far too quickly!

    We hailed a cab towards shopping district in the morning to get some essentials for the rest of our trip (bearing in mind we left England with two small hand luggage cases)! I also got my nails done whilst Craig had a quick pint in one of our favourite bars - he guiltily only admitted this to me the other day hahah!

    We spent the rest of the afternoon packing up the air BnB and getting ready for the flight to the Maldives the next day.

    Before long it was time to meet our guide Robbert (a Dutch entrepreneur living in Athens) for the bike tour. After around two minutes of cycling the heavens opened and there was a torrential downpour. We sheltered under some trees but the rain wasn't going anywhere so we made a mad dash for a bar a few minutes away, ordered three pints and waited for it to blow over.

    Once the rain stopped we resumed the tour and visited some of the most famous ruins in Athens. The highlights were the stunning Philopappos Hill - the birth place of democracy which also had a great view of the Acropolis, Hadrian's Arch & Temple and Hadrian's library.

    After a fab few hours the tour was over but we were getting on so well so we decided to to carry on the evening together. First stop was a sports bar, then a craft beer brewery and finally a tavern bar ran by his friends (with free Ouzo). Throughout the crawl we learned about Roberts multiple business ventures, from wooden bikes, to solar energy, to plant subscriptions (I even reviewed a business plan at one point but not sure how helpful I was after that many Ouzos).

    We ended the night in a beach bar with some cocktails, completely oblivious to the headaches that would naturally accompany them the next day!    Read more

  • Gemma Craig HTravelling 2020
    Day 15

    Maldives Transit (Qatar)

    August 9, 2020 in Qatar ⋅ ☀️ 44 °C

    After an amazing (extended) two weeks in Greece visiting Santorini, Mykonos and Athens it was time to officially start our travelling trip - with an impromptu two week trip to the Maldives.

    Flying in a global pandemic takes more time and preparation than normal (filling out tedious health declarations, wearing masks, sanitising 24/7) but also has its perks with quieter planes, airports and the flexibility to rearrange and cancel.

    Our flight from Athens to Qatar was at about 10% capacity meaning we had plenty of space to stretch out and the full attention of the staff. The only negative was the compulsory visors but they really weren't as bad as we thought and soon forgot about them (literally, to the point we're we were trying to drink water and ended up bashing the water into them!)

    We thought our 5 hour wait in Qatar would drag but couldn't be more wrong. The airport was huge with a good selection of shops, bars and restaurants. We settled in a food hall but weren't impressed with the food so went to the Harrods restaurant after which was much better! We killed the last hours in a bar and nursed our drinks very slowly - the bill made Mykonos look budget!

    We boarded our flight to the Maldives at 1.30am and although it was much busier than the last flight, we still had a bank of 3 seats to ourselves. Absolutely exhausted, we slept for the whole flight and woke up just as the piolet was announcing the descent into the Maldives.    Read more

  • Gemma Craig HTravelling 2020
    Day 16

    Maldives Day 1

    August 10, 2020 on the Maldives ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We quickly realised that the 'Paradise Island Resort and Spa' quite literally lived up to its name. We were staying in a beach villa (does what it says on the tin - back door opens up onto the beach).

    We spent the first day exploring the island (it's so small you can walk all the way around it in about 45 minutes). We walked to the end of the pier, took off our shoes and sat on the edge taking in our beautiful new surroundings when Craig's flip flop was caught by a gust of wind and went straight into the water. The chase was hilarious as Craig is not a particularly strong swimmer and the wind kept pushing the shoe further out! Was like a sloth chasing a tennis ball downhill.

    We familiarised ourselves with the half board set up - luckily only one breakfast / dinner buffet restaurant was open due to the low occupancy rates and it was the more exclusive one with Lagoon views overlooking coral reefs with sharks, sting rays and tropical fish . Usually this restaurant is only for those staying in the more expensive, luxury water villas.

    It's funny to think that Craig was retrieving his flip flops in shark infested waters earlier that day! Don't worry mum, we've been assured that the reef sharks don't prey on humans 🤣    Read more

  • Gemma Craig HTravelling 2020
    Day 18

    Maldives Days 2-3

    August 12, 2020 on the Maldives ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    We are spending most days in the Maldives relaxing, reading and making the most of the gorgeous beach on our door step and the beautiful clear ocean so there isn't as much to report as with the Greece trip.

    We befriended our cleaner who is the cutest 61 year old Maldivan man. We've been generous with the tips (poor guy probably relies on them and must have struggled the last few months when the resort was closed). He brought us fresh coconut one morning to eat (which we weren't massive fans of) and then coconut juice the next day which was delicious!

    On our third day we booked a couples massage which was a lovely treat after a few mad weeks in Greece. It nicely set the tone for a more relaxing, wholesome few weeks ahead of us. An hour's full body massage was followed by a lovely outdoor bath, full of flowers and a refreshing iced tea!    Read more

  • Gemma Craig HTravelling 2020
    Day 21

    Maldives Days 4-7

    August 15, 2020 on the Maldives ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    By this point we had a nice daily routine: breakfast at the lagoon restaurant, relax on the beach, squash & gym, room service for lunch, relax on the beach, a few games of cards and then dinner at the lagoon.

    We've been enjoying the wildlife on the island and have become fascinated with the Maldivan national bird - the white breasted waterhen. They're everywhere and have a wobbly run like Phoebe from friends! At night there are cute, fluffy white rabbits hopping around the island.    Read more

  • Gemma Craig HTravelling 2020
    Day 24

    Maldives Day 9

    August 18, 2020, Laccadive Sea ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Dolphin Snorkeling 💙

    We were a little apprehensive when we booked this excursion, worried that it may involve coaxing, feeding & encourage reliance on humans but it was exactly the experience that we were hoping for.

    We set off early at around 9am and embarked on an hour's bumpy speedboat ride out towards the lagoon where the dolphins congregate.

    When we finally arrived, our guide told us that we would search for the dolphins, and jump in with our snorkel gear once we see them. The first few times we saw the dolphins swimming in the distance, jumped in but we were either too slow or the dolphins swam too deep and we couldn't see them.

    After an hour of searching, jumping and repeating, we hadn't had much luck and were running out of time. Even seeing the dolphins from the boat, swimming in the distance and watching their fins dip in and out of the water was enough for me so I was still delighted with our lot. Naturally, searching for wild animals is never guaranteed!

    We'd just started our journey back and the boat stopped and the crew started shouting to 'jump quick!!!'. We scrambled to the side of the boat and flopped over the edge. The next 10 minutes were magical! There were 20+ dolphins around 15 ft in front of us, twirling, spinning and joyfully singing as if they were putting on a show for us! Craig and I clutched each others hands as we watched in awe (I was literally squealing with excitement hoping the dolphins might take it as applause hah!).

    Once the beautiful creatures had gone we rushed back on to the boat (as we were already late) and we took the best seats at the front of the boat for our journey back with our guide taking a picture of us as we passed the capital city Male.

    We are still pinching ourselves today and can't believe our luck. Possibly the best day our lives (non sport related, of course ⚽)    Read more

  • Gemma Craig HTravelling 2020
    Day 25

    Maldives Day 10

    August 19, 2020 on the Maldives ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Another day where we stuck to our usual routine of breakfast and the gym. Rather than room service for lunch, we decided to walk to the Italian restaurant on the other side of the island which has lively views out to the ocean.

    After two delicious pizzas we decided to indulge on the beverage front so I ordered a bottle of sparkling wine (you can only buy bottles - promise!!). I enjoyed a few glasses and Craig has some beers whilst we enjoyed our surroundings.    Read more

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