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Tim Lynette Wilkins
Tim Lynette Wilkins

Tim Lynette Wilkins

traveled in 12 countries Read more
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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    Lezhe city walls
    GatehouseCity gateCitadel from the lower townPossibly shops on a harbour front

    Lezhe

    June 2, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    This morning we went north to Lezhe which is most famous in Albania as the burial place of Skanderbeg - the hero of Albania from the 14c, credited with winning battles against the Ottomans for 25 years. But for us the main interest is the remains of the Illyrian city from the 6c - 2c BC. In truth there are not many remains to see as the city has been built over them but an earthquake 20 years ago revealed some and they excavated. The most Impressive are the gatehouse from 6c and later 4c and the walls which originally went all the way up the hillside from the lower town to the citadel on the acropolis. The Illyrians did like to build their walls with massive blocks of stone.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    Watchtower 1400ish
    Medieval churchFrescoes in the old house / museumKruje football stadiumCommunist era picture in the museumView down from the citadel

    Second day in kruje -2

    June 1, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    During the afternoon we joined up with rest of the group to go back to the citadel and see the other bits. There are fantastic views from the top and you can see why it was an important stronghold in the past. There is a communist era museum, and an interesting museum of life in Albania in the 18th century.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    Ceiling of the shrine
    Fresco of constantinpoleTomb of two hajjisLocal wine is really good!As is the local food!

    Second day in kruje - 1

    June 1, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We walked up to top of the citadel this morning and looked at the places that we thought the group would not have time to see after they arrived this afternoon. In particular the tomb of a shi'a imam called hajji Muhammad baba, covered inside by wonderful frescos.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler
    View from our hotel room over the city
    Mosque next door - dawn prayers are at 3.45 am!Zgerdhesh city wallsMore wallsView down the stepped approach to the citadel

    kruje

    May 31, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We have a day on our own here before we join up with rest of the party tomorrow. It's a lovely old hill town on the side of a mountain. We took a short taxi ride to the site of the Illyrian city of arbandon ( Roman albanopolis, now called Zgerdhesh ) dating from 1000 BC. There's not much there, just a few of the city walls, and some post holes, water channels and flights of steps cut in to the bed rock of the Acropolis, but great views and nice to get into the mood of the trip.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaTraveler

    Going to Albania

    May 30, 2018 in Albania ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Arrived OK in Tirana, but it seems a long journey. Our train from mill hill was cancelled so we had to wait half a hour for the next one, then when we changed at Farringdon for the gatwick train, that was cancelled as well, and the next one trundled slowly all around south London. Then the flight was a hour delayed leaving but they made us sit on the plane in case they got a earlier slot .... Still, we are here now, and it's warm and not raining!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler
    Last lunch in tapas restaurant
    Trying to avoid the wavesPlaying on the beach in a gale

    Last day

    March 1, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 14 °C

    It was a wild night with Gale force winds and much rain. We have all had a virus this week with high temperatures , headaches and tiredness but it has not prevented us from having fun. Despite the continuing gales force winds and frequent showers there has been much sunshine today. We all went for a last lunch out at a tapas restaurant and after naps, Natalie, Andy, Finlay and Emily went for last walk on the beach and Finlay fell over into the water trying to avoid a big wave. Madness!
    We are hoping that our return flight to Stansted will operate as normal but are dreading delays and a nightmare drive to Lincoln for Andy and Natalie.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    Just like bank holiday!

    February 28, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    It's andulcia day here - a public holiday - and another storm blew in during the night. Torrential rain and strong winds, but that wasn't going to stop Finlay going to the beach!

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    Stormy weather

    February 27, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    A big storm blew in during the night with torrential rain and strong winds. Fortunately the rain had stopped by morning and the wind died down enough that it was ok. Natalie and Andy had a day out to visit Jerez, that Andy hasn't been to before, and sent us pictures of having chorros and chocolate for breakfast, and tapas for lunch, and walk around the centre of the city. Back in chipiona, the sun was out and it was nice even in the wind, so they went down to the beach and flew a kite. People were kit-surfing but Andy decided that do that in the atlantic in February would be a bit cold!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    The rain in spain . . .

    February 26, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    It was another sunny morning so we went back to the beach and Finlay built his first sandcastle (with a little help!) . we had just come in for lunch and set out a table of food out on the roof when an enormous storm blew in with strong wind and rain so we had to rush it all back inside. The weather forecast was for clouds and rain showers all this week, so I guess it's arrived!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    Afternoon on the beach

    February 25, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    It was quite cloudy this morning but lovely this afternoon so we spent it on the beach. It was Emily's first time on the sand and she loved it, and jumping in the waves seems to be inherited from her mother!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    The Armstrongs arrive

    February 23, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Mostly everything was ok at the airport. The flight arrived early, but their hire car wasn't ready so that held us up a bit. They settled into the apartment and checked the terrace and the beach. Finlay has been learning some Spanish words so it was really nice to here him saying hola or Gracias. It's great that the apartment is just over the road so they can come and go as many times as they ok. I think that tomorrow will be a day for sunshine and rest!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler
    View from living room
    Living roomRoof terraceAlong the beachView to the lighthouse

    Arrival chipiona

    February 22, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    Well all the arrangements worked well. We got the train to Jerez airport and got the hire car, drove back into to Jerez to get all our bags and drove to chipiona. The apartment is right overlooking a fabulous beach and has great views out to sea, along to the lighthouse, and overlooking the main church. The town is mostly dead - it's a seaside town out of season, we'll have see if more restaurants open at night. The apartment has a great roof terrace where we sat with a glass of sherry and watched the sun go down. It look due west so the sunset views are spectacular. We'll drive back to the airport for midday tomorrow to meet Natalie and Andy and the kids. I hope they like itRead more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    Leaving Jerez

    February 21, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Tomorrow morning we leave Jerez to go to Chipiona. Really?? We've been here three weeks already? How can that be?? Well - just have to come back again next year.

    We'll get a train to the airport first thing and pick up a hire car, drive it back into Jerez and get our bags and go to chipiona. Then we should have the afternoon and evening to get ready for Andy, Natalie, Finlay and Emily to arrive on Friday. We'll drive to the airport and meet them there.

    There was a restaurant in Jerez we all liked before. It was in a small old sherry stockroom and had really good food. It has been closed and full of workmen all the time this time, but it reopened on Monday so we went yesterday. The food is still excellent and thankfully they have done it up keeping the atmosphere, and still with the original tiled floors and carved wood beam ceilings.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    More sherry

    February 20, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Yesterday afternoon we went to a sherry tasting at one of the big bodegas, Lustau. When the financial crash hit Jerez, lots of the big name bodegas, such as Domecq, went bust but of course they still had warehouses full of maturing sherry. Lustau must have had cash resources so they bought up lots of the stock. Since then they have been marketing it in addition to their own. They seem to have been very good at selling it, presumably cheaply, to the big UK supermarkets, so if you buy own-brand sherry from Sainsbury's or Waitrose for instance, in little letters on the label on the back it will say "Lustau". My favourite sherry was Rio Viejo from Domecq, and for ages it hasn't been available in the Uk, so I've had to import it from Spain, and every time I asked a bar or restaurant here in Jerez what their house sherry was it was Rio Viejo. This time it appears on the the wine list and in the shops, and in the bodega at Lustau there were rows and rows and rows of barrels of it. At least now I know that are still making it, even if I will have to still buy it in from Spain!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    Cathedral

    February 19, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Yesterday I went to revisit the cathedral. Built in the 1760s, it was a time when a lot of wealth flowed into Jerez. It is heavily decorated and quite bulky, and the ceilings are especially carved all over. The bell tower is separate from the main building and at the moment can't be seen at all as it is covered in scaffolding and sheeting for repair and restoration. The organ is new since the last time we were here, and although it looks and sounds like a traditional organ, in fact It is digital. The big pipes are at the back of the building, and the smaller ones at the front, which we found rather confusing as all the sound comes out of two huge speakers at the front. The keyboard has a big touch-screen with the music on it, and all the stops are all digital touch-screens too. It works well though and the sound is really good.

    Like all the other churches here, the cathedral is getting ready for the huge Easter events, getting out and preparing the big heavy platforms that gangs of men will carry through the streets.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    Carnival

    February 18, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Carnival yesterday, so everyone ( except us!) was out in fancy dress. We followed the procession through the city, and there were bands playing in the squares, all the bars were full and doing a roaring trade which went on through night. Surprisingly the city was very quite and empty when I went out to buy a paper this morning!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    Comments

    February 18, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Thanks for comments on the blog. Unfortunately although Find Penguins gives us the comments, it doesn't tell us who they are from. So please add your name to the comment. Thanks.

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    Carnival

    February 17, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    It's carnival weekend in jerez. Yesterday afternoon there was a kids band playing in the square and all the kids had a day off school. Each class was dressed in fancy dress - one was all chickens ( and the teachers as hens), one as angels etc. Today there is a parade later but already the streets are full of people in fancy dress - the Spanish just love dressing up!

    Last night we went to have a five-course tasting meal in an expensive restaurant, each course accompanied by a different sherry chosen to go with the food. It was really good, and we discovered new sherrys that we didn't know. And they don't just give a tasting sample but a big wine glass full! By ten o'clock the restaurant was packed full - maybe the economy here isn't so bad for some people.

    Just time for a little flamenco on the way home.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    Half way through

    February 16, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    I can't believe that we have been here two weeks already so we are half way through! We just have one week left in Jerez, then we go to Chipiona for a week on the coast with Andy, Natalie, Finlay and Emily, and then back home. I hope the snows gone!

    It was 21 degrees here yesterday and absolutely beautiful, and supposed be the same today, but next week is forecast to be cooler and cloudier, and the last week to be dull and showery. But the forecasts aren't very good so far off, it's Atlantic weather so it can change easily day by day. Hope it improves - on the beach in the rain doesn't sound so good!

    Yesterday I went to see the church of Santiago. The last time we were here it was closed for restoration so I wanted see how it is now. It is very plain inside, unusual for a Spanish church, and quite elegant, the storks have returned to nest on the towers. Lying in the sun yesterday afternoon I thought a cloud was going over the sun but when I looked it was a huge flock of storks coming in from Africa, there must been at least a hundred of them.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    San miguel church (and sherry!)

    February 15, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Yesterday we went to see the church of San Miguel. It is the biggest church in Jerez after the cathedral and parts date back to the fifteenth century. The walls and pillars are completely covered by carvings, but despite the size and Spanish love of heavy decoration, it is still very elegant. The churches are starting to prepare for Easter week, which is a huge thing here, and the council is beginning to build the stands and street seating for the many parades that will take place. In the evening we went to one of my favourite restaurants, just very basic but always good. I had a plate of olive oil soaked chips, with caramelised onions, chunks of jamon, with chorizo and fried eggs on top. Totally delicious and only 4 euros!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBack to JerezTraveler

    Xerex deportivo f c

    February 12, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Back to see my Xerex football team. Once again they are top of the league, having had a disappointing season last year ( they only came sixth!) they won 2-1, so with Barnet also winning with a goal in the 93rd minute, it's been a good football weekend. Let's hope that the bees can make up some ground and scrape out of relegation again, and that the azulblancos (blue and whites) can get promoted again.Read more

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