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Greece, Egypt and Jordan
  • Happy Days Travel
  • Mark Wade
  • Happy Days Travel
  • Mark Wade

Greece, Egypt and Jordan

Our first proper overseas post-pandemic trip! Læs mere
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    21. december 2022
    Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    We're on our way!

    21. december 2022, 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.    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    A stressful morning!

    22. december 2022, 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! 😂🤣    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    We've arrived in warm and sunny Athens

    22. december 2022, Grækenland ⋅ ⛅ 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 😂    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    First meal out in Greece

    22. december 2022, Grækenland ⋅ 🌙 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!!Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    A food tour of Athens

    23. december 2022, Grækenland ⋅ ☁️ 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!!    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    A visit to the Acropolis

    23. december 2022, Grækenland ⋅ ⛅ 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!    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    The worst meal ever!!

    23. december 2022, Grækenland ⋅ 🌙 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 😀    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    Christmas Eve wake up call

    24. december 2022, Grækenland ⋅ ☀️ 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! 😂    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    A couple of bus tours

    24. december 2022, Grækenland ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    We do like a hop-on hop-off bus tour when we're in a new city and, after walking 🚶‍♀️ over 26,000 steps yesterday, it seemed like the perfect way to spend today.

    There are three tourist bus routes in and around Athens. We did two of them today - the city tour and the Attica Coast.

    It was a warm and sunny morning and the city tour was very enjoyable. We hopped on and stayed on until we completed the circuit - no hopping off for us! 😂 We did earmark a couple of places to go back to tomorrow.

    Once we'd done the loop, we went for a really expensive drink - one small beer and one coffee = €11!!

    Suitably refreshed, we hopped on another bus to go and see the coastal resorts south of Athens. Our intention had been to hop off at one of the resorts to have lunch before catching the last bus back to the city. In the end, we stayed on until the end and did the full circuit. It was still sunny, but it was freezing cold on the top deck of the open-topped bus. We figured it would be even colder if we came back a couple of hours later. Also, as nice as the beaches ⛱ and resorts looked, it is winter and many of the restaurants appeared to be closed. There were plenty of brave souls sunbathing, though. Some of them were even swimming 🏊‍♀️ 🥶🧊 - bonkers!!    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    Lunch at Liondi

    24. december 2022, Grækenland ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Back from our bus trips and chilled to the bone, we headed to Liondi which we had spotted when we were walking through the Plaka district the day before. This restaurant is famous for serving the best moussaka in Athens so we had to give it a go.

    We ended up having a fabulous meal. We shared a Greek salad and some pitta bread to start, and then both had the moussaka which was as good as all the reviews said it would be. We drank the house red. We were then served a delicious complimentary homemade caramel and vanilla cheesecake with a shot of something equally tasty! We finished the meal with strong Greek coffee. Perfect! And, like yesterday, we didn't need to eat again until breakfast on Christmas morning!

    After lunch, we wandered through Plaka to Monastiraki Square. The area is full of souvenir shops. It's very pretty but we weren't tempted to buy anything! 😀    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    Little Kook off Monastiraki Square

    24. december 2022, Grækenland ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Little Kook is a very popular, fairytale-inspired cafe offering sweet & savory crêpes amid over-the-top decor. The theme changes four times a year and, obviously, the current one is Christmas.

    Dorella, our guide on the food tour, had shown us it in daylight. Now we went back to see it all lit up. Very festive! 🎄🎅🌲    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    The changing of the guard

    25. december 2022, Grækenland ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    This Christmas morning, after sending and receiving messages from friends and family, we set off to watch the changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of the Presidential Mansion on Syntagma Square.

    The changing of the guard takes place every hour on the hour every day of the year. On every day except Sunday the Greek guards or 'Evzones' wear khaki uniforms. On Sundays, however, they wear their ceremonial white dresses which are instantly recognisable throughout the world. And at 11am on Sundays, there is an extra special changing of the guard ceremony involving many more soldiers and a marching band.

    As luck would have it, Christmas Day has fallen on a Sunday this year and we are fortunate to be in the city to witness the pageantry.

    As our tourist bus tickets were still valid, we caught that from the Acropolis Museum, arriving at Syntagma Square just in time for the 10am changing of the guard ceremony. There were very few people about so we were able to get some good photos and video of what was going on. I really need to do some research on why the guards March in the unique way they do. I'm sure it was them who inspired John Cleese's Ministry of Silly Walks! 😀

    After the ceremony, to kill time until the main event at 11, we wandered through the National Garden, a 16-hectare oasis of greenery in the centre of the city. There are thousands of century-old trees and a couple of ornamental lakes with turtles 🐢 and lots of varieties of water birds.

    It was a very peaceful way to spend part of Christmas morning - until the peace was shattered by the sound of a band tuning up. We followed the noise and emerged from the south entrance to the garden right next to the guards' barracks where the parade was starting from. How lucky were we?? We walked alongside the band and soldiers all the way to the front of the Parliament building where the changing of the guard ceremony takes place.

    Once there, there were crowds of people, meaning we couldn't get near. We didn't care, though. We'd seen it all an hour before!    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    Christmas in Monastiraki Square

    25. december 2022, Grækenland ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    After watching the changing of the guard, we hopped back on the tourist bus to go to Monastiraki Square for a drink. It was showing 23 degrees on the thermometer and the place was buzzing! Hundreds of people were out and about and all the bars and restaurants were open. There were street performers entertaining the crowds and balloon 🎈 sellers tempting children to buy. It was a pleasant place to spend an hour while Mark spoke to Gill and Paul to wish them a happy Christmas 🎄. (Sorry I wasn't there to speak to you both - I'd wandered off to watch the acrobats! 😂)Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    Moving on

    26. december 2022, Grækenland ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We had a leisurely morning before heading to the airport. All of our connections worked out and we arrived in good time. Check-in and security were both navigated without incident. We even had time for a relaxed lunch before our flight ✈ to Cairo! A better experience all round than when we left Gatwick! 😂

    Some final photos of Athens. Our few days here have been amazing. Fingers crossed it won't be another 40 years before we're here again!! 😂    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    Arrival in Egypt

    26. december 2022, Egypten ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Our flight with Egyptair from Athens to Cairo went without a hitch. It was only one hour and 45 minutes so we didn't expect much of an in-flight service. How wrong could we be? They served us a full 4-course lunch plus coffee ☕. It was really quite good!

    We left Athens in full sunshine and arrived in Cairo just as the sun was setting. As we were descending, we flew over buildings arranged in strange geometric patterns. I'll have to do some research into what they are.    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    Checking in at the Oasis Hotel

    26. december 2022, Egypten ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    When we arrived at Cairo International Airport, we were met by Osema from Timeless Tours. He was there just as we got off the plane so he ushered us through passport control and security. We didn't have to queue for anything - it was real VIP treatment!

    We did have to wait for the baggage to come through - even Osema couldn't speed up that process! But once we had our bags 🎒, we were quickly shown to our very comfortable airport transfer transport.

    We have been to many busy cities and even lived in some of them, but Cairo in rush hour takes traffic chaos to a whole new level!! We had a hair-raising drive to our hotel. Fortunately, we made it unscathed! 😂

    We were delighted to get our first glimpse of pyramids en route, too. It seems so incongruous to have them as the backdrop to the busiest traffic jam ever!!

    At the hotel, we were met by Sam who explained everything we needed to know. Hotel staff brought us orange juice and Ferrero Rocher - bizarre!! After a few minutes we were shown to our room (none too shabby!) where we unpacked, freshened up, and went to dinner. It was buffet style and very tasty.

    After dinner, we went for a drink in the hotel bar, The Thirsty Camel! At the prices they charge, we won't be making a habit of it!! 😂    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    A relaxing day

    27. december 2022, Egypten ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We decided to do very little today! We availed ourselves of the very efficient (and cheap!) laundry service, had breakfast, sat in the sunshine in the hotel gardens to read and listen to podcasts, relocated poolside for a couple of games of Scrabble, and generally chilled.

    It's important when travelling for lengthy periods to have some 'do nothing' days!! 🙃    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    A day by the pool

    28. december 2022, Egypten ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    We had another relaxing day. We sat by the pool for most of it. I finished my first book of our non-work year - the story of a girl growing up in Botswana. It was really good and made me look forward even more to our visit to this fascinating country. It will be lovely to see for real the places she describes.

    This evening, we had our briefing for our tour which starts tomorrow. We met our guide, Nabil, aka Tiger! We also had the chance to start to get to know some of our group members. We are 31 in number and include Indians, Yemeni, Irish, Australians, South Africans, a Croatian, an American, a lady from Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬, and four fellow-Brits - a real global mix!! We look forward to getting to know them during the tour 😀    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    Visiting the Great Pyramid of Giza

    29. december 2022, Egypten ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    We were up early this morning ready for an 8am start on the first day of our tour.

    The first stop was at the Great Pyramid, the biggest Egyptian pyramid and the tomb of fourth dynasty pharaoh, Khufu. It was built in the early 26th century BC and took about 27 years to complete. The pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact. When it was built, it stood 146.6 metres high and was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3800 years. The Great Pyramid was built by quarrying an estimated 2.3 million large blocks weighing 6 million tonnes in total. The majority of stones are not uniform in size or shape and are only roughly dressed. No-one really knows how this great feat of engineering was achieved. However, American claims that aliens were responsible, were dismissed when the tombs of thousands of Egyptian workers were found next to the site!

    When we arrived at the Great Pyramid this morning, it seemed like the world and his wife had got there before us!! It is high season for tourists and the weather is particularly good at the moment. We queued for over an hour to buy tickets to enter the pyramid. (Our tour included the tickets to enter the archaeological site but not to go inside the pyramid).

    Inside the site, Nabil gave us an interesting and informative talk on the pyramids and the Egyptian dynasties involved in their construction. As a qualified Egyptologist, he is going to be the perfect guide for this tour. He has an entertaining style and explains everything in ways the layman (i.e. us!!) can understand.

    Then, armed with our tickets, we queued again to enter the pyramid. I can't say I enjoyed it! It was quite claustrophobic inside - and incredibly hot!! We made our way through narrow tunnels and up and down steep, low staircases to see the King's Chamber containing a granite sarcophagus. I lost count of the number of times I banged my head!!

    The Chamber itself was distinctly underwhelming. They recommended that you didn't stay in there for longer than 10 minutes so as to give everyone a chance to see it. We were in there for barely 10 seconds! It was so hot!! I just wanted to get out - and I knew we had to retrace our steps!

    Back out in the fresh air, I felt much better and was glad we'd gone inside. We can now say that we've been inside a pyramid!

    Outside, we avoided the tat sellers and pushy guides and walked all the way around the pyramid, taking photos 📸 from all angles. It was too hazy to get clear shots but I hope my photos give a sense of the scale and beauty of the place.    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    Views of the Pyramids of Giza

    29. december 2022, Egypten ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    From the Great Pyramid, we moved to a viewpoint from where we could see more pyramids and the city of Cairo. It was still hazy so the photos aren't the clearest.

    At this point, several of our group took the opportunity to have a camel 🐫 ride. We weren't tempted - been there, done that! 😀

    They were charging a premium to ride on Santa Camel - wrong on every level!    Læs mere

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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan
    1

    Great Sphinx of Giza

    29. december 2022, Egypten ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    After exploring the pyramids, we drove down the hill to visit the Sphinx.

    The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion 🦁. It measures 73 metres from paw to tail and is 20 metres tall. The Sphinx is the oldest known monumental sculpture in Egypt and one of the most recognisable statues in the world. Archaeological evidence suggests that it was created by ancient Egyptians during the reign of pharaoh Khafre. The face of the Sphinx is thought to represent him.

    It is certainly a striking sight. We struggled to take decent photos amongst hundreds of Instagrammers trying to get the perfect shot of themselves appearing to kiss 💋 the lips of the Sphinx! We didn't join in! 😂    Læs mere

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