Greece, Egypt and Jordan

December 2022 - January 2023

Our first proper overseas post-pandemic trip! Read more

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Greece, Egypt and Jordan
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- Dec 21, 2022, 12:05pm
- ⛅ 7 °C
- Altitude: 23 ft
- England Skegness Skegness Railway Station 53.142988, 0.33392353°8’35” N 0°20’2” E
Day 1
We're on our way!
December 21, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C
All great journeys have to start somewhere. This one is beginning in Skegness (aka Skegvegas!). We've just dropped Bertha off at the storage facility and now we're waiting for the train that will (3 changes later!) get us to Gatwick.

We're spending tonight in a Premier Inn so we'll to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for our early morning flight ✈ to Athens tomorrow.Read more
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- Dec 21, 2022, 7:04pm
- ☁️ 8 °C
- Altitude: 184 ft
- England Mole Valley Gatwick Gatwick Airport 51.163915, -0.17330251°9’50” N 0°10’24” W
Day 1
Airport stopover
December 21, 2022 in England ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
You can't beat a Premier Inn for a good night's sleep before an early flight!

Steak for dinner and a relaxing bath to come - bliss!! 😊
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Greece, Egypt and Jordan
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- Dec 22, 2022, 8:00am
- ☁️ 7 °C
- Altitude: 200 ft
- England Mole Valley Gatwick Gatwick Airport 51.160116, -0.17673651°9’36” N 0°10’36” W
Day 2
A stressful morning!
December 22, 2022 in England ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C
When we travel, we pride ourselves on always being early. This morning, however, it all went a bit pear-shaped!

We were up at 5 and out of the hotel by half past for the short walk over to North Terminal. As we walked, the strap on my rucksack broke, so the first thing we had to do when we got into the airport, was to find me another bag! £145 and 30 frantic minutes later, we were finally ready to go to bag drop.

The queue there was huge!!! It's all self-service so it's a matter of chance whether you join a queue with people who know what they're doing or not! In the event, we were the only ones who held anyone up! My new bag got wedged on the conveyor so we had to wait for a member of ground crew to release it 😂

The queues at security were also extremely long! When we finally got to the front, Mark sailed through, but my heart sank as I saw my carry-on bag being diverted to the 'suspicious item' lane!! A thorough search by a very nice customs man revealed nothing more dangerous than my Kindle, so I was allowed through!

Once air-side, we judged that we had enough time for our usual Spoons breakfast. Probably not true! No sooner had we ordered, having had to update the app (we tend to only go to Spoons in airports!), than I got a text message telling us to go to the gate!! It was a full flight ✈ and they wanted to board us early! So, we had to wolf down our breakfast and I missed taking a photo of Mark with his obligatory 7am pint of cider!

Then, it was a mad dash to the gate with no time to buy anything for the flight. The gate queue was crazy with several people objecting to being charged for extra cabin bags.

As I write this, we are on the plane sitting on another queue! This time, it's a queue of planes waiting to take off. I somehow don't feel as relaxed as I normally do at the start of a trip! 😂🤣Read more
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- Dec 22, 2022, 2:36pm
- ⛅ 13 °C
- Altitude: 246 ft
- Greece Attica Spata-Artemida Spata Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport 37.936472, 23.94625337°56’11” N 23°56’47” E
Day 2
We've arrived in warm and sunny Athens
December 22, 2022 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
We're here and desperately divesting ourselves of layers as we're a tad hot! 🥵

We were looking a bit lost in the Metro station so a very nice man helped us, explaining in fluent English how to get to our AirBnB. What great service! 😀

First observation in Athens - most people are still wearing masks - and the vast majority of them are smoking! Quite the contradiction 😂Read more
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- Dec 22, 2022, 4:30pm
- ☀️ 11 °C
- Altitude: 253 ft
- Greece Attica Athens Kynosargous 37.963713, 23.73065737°57’49” N 23°43’50” E
Day 2
Checking in to our AirBnB
December 22, 2022 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C
We found our way from the airport to our AirBnB apartment without too much difficulty. The place is clean and comfortable and only a 10-minute walk from the Acropolis - the perfect base for our 4-night stay.Read more
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- Dec 22, 2022, 8:00pm
- 🌙 8 °C
- Altitude: 243 ft
- Greece Attica Athens Kallirois 37.964607, 23.73253437°57’53” N 23°43’57” E
Day 2
First meal out in Greece
December 22, 2022 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 8 °C
Manos, our AirBnB host, recommended a restaurant to us - the TRIKYKLO Tavern. It was just a short walk away. We ordered a selection of meze and a litre of house red. The food was amazing!! The star of the show was the smoked trout - absolutely delicious! And the total price? Less than €50! More of the same please!!Read more
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- Dec 23, 2022, 10:00am
- ☁️ 9 °C
- Altitude: 200 ft
- Greece Attica Athens Monastiraki Church of the Pantanassa 37.976366, 23.7259537°58’35” N 23°43’33” E
Day 3
A food tour of Athens
December 23, 2022 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
On our first morning in Athens we went on a prearranged food tour. The weather was perfect and our guide, Dorella, was friendly and informative.

We met at 10am in Monastiraki Square. There were two other people on the tour - a Mum and daughter from Minnesota.

Over the next 4 hours, we tasted everything from delicious spanakopita and feta pastries, to vinegars, ouzo, wine, coffee, gyros, loukoumades, honey, and yoghurt. We haven't needed to eat for the rest of the day!!

It was lovely to taste Greek wines again. It brought back so many happy memories of my Oddbins days and the fun I had introducing Greek wines to Tunbridge Wells's ladies who lunch!

We only bought olives and nuts - pistachios and salted almonds. It was tempting to buy other things - especially the vinegars which were divine - but common sense prevailed! We still have 5 weeks of travelling to do!!Read more
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- Dec 23, 2022, 2:30pm
- ⛅ 14 °C
- Altitude: 456 ft
- Greece Attica Athens Plaka Old Temple of Athena 37.971699, 23.7263537°58’18” N 23°43’35” E
Day 3
A visit to the Acropolis
December 23, 2022 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
After the food tour, we headed for the Acropolis.

I last visited Athens in 1985 with my friend, Rachel. We were studying in Manchester and, during the summer holidays after our fresher year, we decided to go island hopping in Greece. Luckily, some family friends of mine had recently relocated to Athens so we stayed with them both before and after going around the islands.

I know I visited the Acropolis that summer but, before today, I had no recollection of it whatsoever! As we made our way up the slopes this afternoon, nothing seemed familiar. I almost convinced myself that I must have been mistaken and that I'd never actually been there before!

Then, we made it to the top of the steps and got our first view of the Parthenon in all its glory and the memories came flooding back! In my mind's eye, I could see Rachel and I climbing over the ruins and marvelling at the incredible city views!

For obvious reasons, Joe Public is no longer allowed to clamber over some of the most important monuments in the Western world, but the views are largely the same and the experience of visiting the Acropolis is as breathtaking and awe-inspiring as it was nearly 40 years ago!Read more
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- Dec 23, 2022, 6:00pm
- 🌙 12 °C
- Altitude: 259 ft
- Greece Attica Athens Kynosargous 37.964142, 23.73066837°57’51” N 23°43’50” E
Day 3
The worst meal ever!!
December 23, 2022 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 12 °C
When we finished our visit to the Acropolis, we found a bar and watched the sun set changing the colour of the stone on the Parthenon. Mark had a pint of Mythos and I had a Radler (lemon beer). Why on earth can't we get this in the UK??

We then headed back to our apartment. We were still full from our food tour so didn't want much to eat. We called at the minimarket round the corner from our digs. I fancied some soup. The only kind they had was a powdered tomato 🍅 soup with tiny pieces of pasta in it. It sounded ideal so armed with that and a fresh crusty loaf, we made our way home.

I used Google translate to tell me what the Greek cooking instructions meant (isn't technology wonderful??). I followed the recipe to the letter but the result tasted and looked like dirty washing up water!! It was inedible! Good job we weren't hungry!

We finished the day with the obligatory annual watch of Love Actually - our favourite Christmas movie. Over the years, we have watched it in many unusual places including the Gambia, Cat Ba Island in Vietnam, and Rome. Last year, we went to a screening with full live orchestra at the Barbican in York 😀Read more
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- Dec 24, 2022, 9:00am
- ☀️ 7 °C
- Altitude: 259 ft
- Greece Attica Athens Kynosargous 37.964152, 23.73067737°57’51” N 23°43’50” E
Day 4
Christmas Eve wake up call
December 24, 2022 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C
As we were leaving the apartment this morning, a truck was coming slowly up the street. It was full of people, with others walking behind, all dressed in Santa 🎅 suits. Loud Christmas music was blaring out and neighbours were coming out of their houses to give donations. It certainly put a smile 😃 on our faces!

We were to see several of these during the day. We also saw lots of children wearing Santa 🎅 hats and singing carols. All of them were playing triangles! I had no idea there were so many triangles in the world! 😂Read more
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