The first transport is away

Jetlag hack

Ok. Here are 3 first world solutions to preventing jetlag:
1 - fly business class with your kids on other planes
2 - appropriately timed and dosed melatonin and caffeine
3 - pick an arrival hotel withもっと詳しく
Gas Delivery

We eased into Istanbul with a tour of the mosques and cisterns, before taking on the psychological warfare of bargaining in the upmarket carpet stores and the bizarre. I prepared my backstory: I haveもっと詳しく
Oma by the kilogram

Beautiful sunshine showed off the palace today: a multi building complex that housed over 4000 people in its heyday. This was a place of opulence, artistry, academia, but also much intrigue andもっと詳しく
Eurasian Cruise

We were the only ones crazy enough to book a river cruise on the Bosphorus in December. We ended up with a private cruise along the river that divides Europe and Asia. Fortunately we turned aroundもっと詳しく
Tailspin

Today was a very full day! We flew to Cappadocia this morning, then off to the red river (source of the clay that we would see put to good use), onward to the rock formations (known as the "Fairyもっと詳しく
Failure to launch

We sat in the van for an hour waiting for clearance, but the wind remained too high for our balloon trip. Boo! We still had fun exploring the underground Christian escape cities and the caveもっと詳しく
Go West

Ok, it's a bit hard to jazz up a transit day. The highlight was the touch and go at Istanbul. The approach was all over the place, he overshot the runway, hit the tarmac and took off again! I wasもっと詳しく
I'm Too Sexy For My Cat

We spent the day exploring the Greco-Roman historical site of Ephesus before a very unusual shopping experience on the way home.
Up Where They Play All Day In The Sun

It poured rain for the entire journey to Pamukkale, bathed us in sunshine while we were there, and poured rain for the entire journey back. Pamukkale is home to the ancient ruins of Hieropolis and isもっと詳しく
One Small Step for Elliot...

... One giant leap for Opa. Today was a challenging day for those with joints missing a bit of cartilage. I'm sure we all used up a few chondrocytes on the hills of Priene. The ruins there would beもっと詳しく
Back To The Big Smoke

It was nice to visit the tiny village of Sirince before the next few big city days (Istanbul, Rome & Barcelona).
Woodfire heaters, narrow streets, traditional coffee and little old ladies sellingもっと詳しく
Divide and Conquer

Today we split up after a morning stroll around the Sultan's palace. We flew off to Rome to collect Jonah. The rest will stay on for 2 more nights before joining us in Barcelona. A volcano in Icelandもっと詳しく
Rome If You Want To

I did want to and it was wonderful. The day started with a game of pass the parcel. The music stopped and I was gifted with Jonah's laundry which we classily arranged for him to give to Heather theもっと詳しく
Vamonos

Hi Jonah!!! We extracted our smelly baby from his hotel full of smelly boys armed with fresh clothes and a bar of soap. He was soon a new boy. The timing of the gathering was tighter than we'dもっと詳しく
No chicken dinner

Tragically there are no winner medallions for our trivia efforts here. Seeing as we have all 5 of us we are mainly focusing on our own thing: family Pickleball, family cards, family eating. It feelsもっと詳しく
Christmas Canary

Our first port: Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.
Merry Christmas to everyone back home especially Mum and Dad who were originally on this trip but couldn't make it.
The Biggest Bird

December 25 was spent on the largest of the Canary Islands: Tenerife. It was a happy day but also a very sad one because there were lots of reminders that Mum and Dad couldn't make it. Spent theもっと詳しく
21 Today!

Happy Birthday Elliot! His birthday was gentle and sweet natured just like him. We stopped at La Palma but decided to just walk around the port as our schedule was quite hectic. This suited everyone.もっと詳しく
Here's Lookin' at You, Kid

Personally I prefer "She may not look like much but she's got it where it counts, kid" but that would be Tunisia and this was Casablanca - our first stop in Africa. I was supposed to watch the movieもっと詳しく
Out of Africa

Our final African port, Tangier. It certainly lived up to the hype as the most beautiful Moroccan city. It is vibrant and green with narrow, hilly streets that you could get lost in for weeks. Ourもっと詳しく
Cadiz Nuts

We did a tapas food tour today with Charo. Initially we thought Charo was a bit like a school teacher, but we soon realised that she was a larger than life figure who seemed to know everyone in townもっと詳しく
How About Them Oranges

Happy New Year! Today is our last day. It is a port day in Valencia. Everything is closed for the public holiday so we decided to just go for a quick walk and relax. Our only mission: to find aもっと詳しく
Barthelona

It's been a long time between drinks, but we are back in my favourite European city after nearly 14 years. You still have to keep an eye on your wallet but it wouldn't be as fun without a little bitもっと詳しく
Strike a Pose

We thought it was much better value to ignore all the cruise ship photo offers and get a photography session/walking tour in Barcelona. It was a fraction of the price and a lot more meaningful. Iもっと詳しく
Bummer if there is a train strike now [Professor]
旅行者Yeah.. Or the second daily track work. So far so good.
Have fun xxx [Mum]