Tim Lynette Wilkins

Tim Lynette Wilkins

traveled in 11 countries Read more

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Jerez 2026 Traveler
More museums
March 11 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
So this morning we went back to the archaeological museum to finish the stuff we didn't do yesterday. We skipped the Islamic period and more modern Christian bits, and spent two hours in the roman, visigoth and Egyptian sections. Afterwards we went to the Museo Thyssen Bornemisza, which is a huge art gallery, and had a couple of hours doing about half of it , from the 13th century up to impressionist, with a bit of twenty century modern art thrown in. It's a really good museum, but strangely few highlight pieces, and in the end we'd had enough and gave up.Read more
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
Madrid
March 10 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
Our transfer from Cordoba to Madrid went smoothly yesterday - by taxi and high speed train, along the stretch of line where the dreadful accident occurred in January.

Our hotel in Madrid is comfortable and in a great position overlooking the Retiro Park. Today we went to the National Archaeological Museum and spent over three hours before giving up, planning to return tomorrow. We covered one and a half floors containing amazing finds from prehistoric and protohistoric eras, we learned lots of new stuff about the cultures that developed in the Iberian peninsula. We only have one and a half floors left to do tomorrow covering Roman, Visigoth and Medieval periods in Spain, then Egypt and Near East. It's all beautifully displayed and labelled in both Spanish and English but there is so much it gets confusing.Read more
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
Bye to Cordoba
March 8 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
On the whole the trip to Cordoba has been disappointing mainly due to the weather. It has been cloudy and cool every day with occasional light drizzle. As Cordoba is supposed to be the sunniest place in Spain, and has been lovely when we have been here before even in February, we feel cheated. Until late this afternoon when the sun came out and we enjoyed half an hour on the roof terrace.

Yesterday we visited the Archaeological Museum and it seems even better than before with excellent labelling in both Spanish and English. More stuff than Jerez but not as much as Cadiz. The next visit to the art museum was almost a waste of time even for Tim. The paintings were poor quality though we discovered one new artist that wasn't bad.

Today was a real disappointment as we had been looking forward to seeing Medinat Alzahra again. It was built in 940ad by Abd Al Rahman as his new capital and it was spectacular. We last went 18 years ago when you could wander over the whole site and watch the archaeologists restoring items. This time two thirds of the site is closed off for restoration and much of the rest is roped off so you have to follow a set route. They have built a big new reception centre and site museum but following the storms it is leaking water everywhere.

The good thing about the trip has been the food. Despite this now being a tourist town we have had some excellent meals.Read more
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
Cordoba mosque and roman bridge
March 6 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
This morning we returned to visit the mosque/cathedral in cordoba. It's one of our favorite buildings ever, and worth seeing every time we come, despite the hoards of tourists. The mosque was built in stages from 786 AD to 991 AD, and after the moors were ejected from spain the catholics built their cathedral slap in the middle of it. Afterwards a quick walk along the bank of the river to look at the roman bridge. It says alot for roman engineering that's still standing- the floods here this winter were so deep the river was high enough to cover the bulwarks and almost up to the top of the arches.Read more
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
Arrival in Cordoba
March 5 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Sad to leave our apartment in Jerez but hoping to return next year.
The train journey was below the standard we usually expect on Spanish trains - the carriages felt old and rattled a lot and worst of all arrived half an hour late. The train kept slowing to a crawl - maybe due to the speed restrictions following the dreadful crash in January.
We are a bit disappointed with our new apartment. It's hard to say why but the kitchen is not well equipped and there is a musty smell in the wardrobe. The roof terrace would be lovely if we had some sun.......Read more
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
Last day in Jerez
March 4 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
Although we have had lovely weather for the last two weeks today, our last day in Jerez before moving on to Cordoba, there is another named storm - Regina. It was forecast to rain all day but after heavy rain this morning it has cleared up and there is even some sun. However the clouds going by are spectacular formations and vary from fluffy white to black.
Tomorrow we catch the train to Cordoba and it seems the storm is coming with us. The forecast is for rain all 3 days we are there. Hey ho.Read more
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
Saying goodbye to Davina
March 2 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 19 °C
Friday was a gentle day at home. We all went down to the Market and had churros y chocolate for breakfast. After a trip round the fish market to choose dinner, Davina took herself to the Alcazar as its 10 years since her last visit. Lunch on the roof terrace in the sun and dinner at home.

Saturday we had a lovely lunch at Gabrielas before putting Davina in a taxi for the station. Her train to Seville and late flight to Gatwick were on time and she was home in Lewes just after midnight,

A normal Sunday with church and football though lunch in the sun at Albores was strange. When we ate there a couple of weeks ago we were the only customers between 8.00 an 9.30. They also had what looked like a staff meting with a boss after which the waiters were not happy. Yesterday it was as packed as usual but the waters seemed stressed, kept getting orders wrong and they didn't have any of my favourite puntillitas left! Food was still good. Jerez second team won again though Tim's favourite could only manage a 0-0 draw and may get relegated.

Now we have the depressing task of prep to leave. As always it's gone too fast though we are looking forward to Cordoba.Read more
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
Daytrip to the seaside
February 26 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 16 °C
Actually not quite the seaside, sanlucar de barrameda, which has fantastic beaches but really it's the mouth of the quadalquivir river from seville. Bus from jerez takes about 50 minutes and costs just 2 euros . A little walk along the prom then up into the city for tapas at first one, then two of our favourite bodegas. Buy a bottle of manzanilla, which sanlucar is the centre of, and some lunch on fantastic seafood, prawns, langostines, clams - we must bring finlay!Read more
These photos bring back the warmth of the sun and the taste of sherry!!! Thank you both for a wonderful time xx [Davina]
3/12/26Reply
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
Museum and tapas
February 25 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
This morning lynette and davina went to the jerez museum. I didn't go as I went a couple of weeks ago, but I met them for lunch at the fundador bodega where the food is superb (and the sherries also!)

Tomorrow we are planning to take a bus to the beach at sanlucar de barrameda for a day trip.Read more
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
Davina arrives
February 24 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Over the weekend we went into the fish market and bought boquerones (anchovies) to cook for dinner , and some fantastic white prawns. Then on Sunday a trip to see xerex deportivo at the main jerez football stadium. My favourite Spanish football team, but not doing well at the moment and could be relegated, I think for the first time ever!

On Monday we had lunch in a little tabanco in the local square in the sun. Good food and a bill of only 30 euros.

Davina arrived yesterday in seville, and came down on the train this afternoon. She will stay for a few days, for some warmth, sun, good food and sherry!Read more
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
Things we always do
February 20 in Spain
After the beautiful day on Tuesday, Wednesday was dull cloud all day so I went on the bus out to the Area Sur shopping park. There are lots of shops, many have moved out of the centre leaving empty buildings. It was not very exciting and I didn't buy much.

Thursday returned to lovely weather and we had to use sun screen! In the evening we went to what we consider the best restaurant in town - La Carbona. They do a six course tasting menu, each course accompanied with a matching sherry. This year it was a completely new menu and was as good as always - so were the sherries. We have discovered many of our favourite sherries from these tastings and last night there were a couple more.

This morning we had our first breakfast of churros and chocolate down by the market before buying fresh anchovies and prawns for dinner. The was a busking flamenco group to serenade us.Read more
Yum! [Andy]
2/20/26Reply
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
A perfect Jerez day
February 17 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 14 °C
At last today the weather was perfect - sun, blue skies and 19c all day. So we did absolutely nothing and just enjoyed it.

This evening went to a tapas bar that has eluded us before as they were always on vacation - Las Banderillas - a bull fighting themed place with traditional, simple tapas but really good, and packed with locals and some tourists in town for the flamenco festival. Afterwards we called in to El Pasaje for the flamenco set and it was good as always but surprisingly empty. I guess the afficionados are at the various performances around town.Read more
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
A day in the sun!
February 15 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C
It looks like we will have a few days of sunshine so we spent some time yesterday enjoying it. There was still a cold wind but out of the wind it was lovely. When i went for a walk in the afternoon I passed a brass band parading through the streets. This evening it was just about pleasant enough to have an evening sherry on the terrace - briefly.

Today, Sunday, the wind seems to have dropped . Last Sunday the Central part of the cathedral was cordoned off as rain was coming in through the dome caught in buckets. Today it was open with large plant pots replacing the buckets. Lunch at Fundador was good though the new menu omits many of our favourite tapas.

This evening I went to a football match to watch jerez industrial (jerez's third team) against Barbate in the andusia third division. It was a good game and jerez won 3-0. The stadium is open and it was nice in the sun but got very cold when the sun went down!Read more
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
Sunshine at last!
February 12 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
We've been here a week already and it's rained pretty well all that time, but today has been dry and the sun even came out a bit at lunchtime. Thunderstorms and rain again tomorrow but after that the forecast is for a few days of sun.

Yesterday we went to a visit and tasting at bodegas lustau, one of the bigger jerez bodegas. We've been there before but it seemed a good thing to do out of the rain. It was OK, the sherries mostly aren't ones we particularly like and we were in a tour of 18 people so it was just OK, but at least out of the rain.

One useful bit of information was to discover which of their sherries are supplied to Waitrose. Waitrose own brand sherries are from Lustau and the oloroso is the Don Nuño brand - which is the one we liked!Read more
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
First week
February 10 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
We have been here for almost a week and it has been, by far, the worst weather we have experienced here. Every day has been cloudy and it has rained either constantly or intermittently, often really windy too. This has meant that we haven't wanted to venture out except for essentials and as wandering round the streets of the old town is one of the pleasures of being here, it has not been fun. We have felt trapped in our apartment which, though comfortable, gets boring.
This evening started dry and we went first to a tabanco we haven't tried before which was closed for vacation (as last year) so went to an old favourite - Almacen - which is just a beautiful space. The food is good too. On the way home we stopped in the Tabanco Plateros for an oloroso (1.80 euro a glass) at the end of the street where we used to stay.
Then it started to drizzle for our walk home.Read more
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
Tuesday
February 10 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 17 °C
The sky is still completely clouded over, but at least the wind has dropped and the rain is only occasional bits of drizzle. The forecast is that it could be sunny more next week but that seems a long time away!

Today I braved the drizzle and walked across the city to the archaeological museum. I've been many times before but it's a nice small museum and I always find something I haven't seen before ( or least I don't remember seeIng!) Today they were having problems with the electricity and the top floor lights were off while they tried to fix it. Maybe the rain got in somewhere!Read more
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
Storms and floods
February 8 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
There has been periods of weak sunshine today and the wind has dropped a bit, but otherwise it's been raining pretty well all the time we have been here. Last week storm Leonardo battered Andulucia and this week it's been storm Marta. The paper today is full of pictures of flooding around cadiz and jerez, the town of el portal, just south of jerez, has been almost completely cut off and the guadelete river burst it's banks and the roads are impassable.
The cathedral where Lynette went to mass was partially cordoned off because the dome was leaking and there were buckets and cardboards on the floor to catch the drips.
I was going to go to the football this afternoon, but the stadium is in the part of the city most affected and the match is cancelled. The whole of the andulcian leagues are postponed.Read more
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
Strange first day
February 6 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 11 °C
We were woken up about 8.00 by thunderstorms and torrential rain. By 11.00 it had stopped and the sun came out so I went to our favourite supermarket Dia to get more food including Tim's favourite dulce de leche ice cream. Tim went hunting for marmalade oranges and was successful so more jars on their way. It has then alternated rain and sun all day, always with strong winds.
This evening we went to one of our long time favourite restaurants - Gabrielas - and were relieved to find the food as good as ever. They have also done up the inside to quite a stylish space. I have managed to dodge the rain but Tim got a soaking midday. We have tennis tv in the apartment so that fills some dull periods.Read more
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Jerez 2026 Traveler
Back in Jerez
February 5 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 17 °C
We left home at 3,30 this morning and flew to Jerez via Barcelona. We were concerned about a very short time between the Barcelona flight arriving and the Jerez flight leaving, especially as we thought we would have to do the EU new biometric testing, but as it turned out the flight connections at Barcelona were very efficient, and they haven't yet instigated they new testing so it all went very easily. Jerez, like lots of Spain , has really suffered from torrential rain and very high winds, and the terrace at the apartment has suffered too. There are great puddles of water everywhere and some of the furniture is broken. I think the forecast is for another week of rain, then a dry period. We can hope!Read more
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Not just Pompeii Traveler
Rest day 3
October 9, 2025 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 20 °C
Another day by the pool and on the beach, except today the wind dropped and the sea was calm enough to go for a swim.
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Not just Pompeii Traveler
Rest day 2
October 8, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Pretty much the same as yesterday but with the addition of the beach. It's no Caribbean strand - quite small and a mix of sand and pebble - but it is pleasant enough. The sunbeds around the wellness pools are more comfy so we spend more time there.Read more
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Not just Pompeii Traveler
Rest day 1
October 7, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Big breakfast, sit in the sun by the pool, bit of a swim. Tough day! And not a thunderstorm in sight!
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Not just Pompeii Traveler
Moving on
October 6, 2025 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 17 °C
The tour ended last night with everybody going their separate ways this morning. We took the opportunity to go back into the Pompei site to see some of the bits we didn't see before, for another three hour visit. Then we took a taxi out of Pompei to go to Vico Equense, a town on the coast near to Sorrento, and opposite the island of Capri. We will stay here for a few days before going home. The hotel is right on the beach, has pools, and there are good restaurants so we can just chill .Read more
I hope you are both recovering from what looks and reads like a brilliant but very full-on tour. I loved all your photos especially of the non-Pompeii sites as I only went to Pompeii and that was quite a long time ago. Herculaneum looked especially interesting because of the different nature of the preservation. I'll be in touch in a week or so. Look after yourselves and thank you for this. It's wonderful looking through your photos! xx [Davina]
10/7/25Reply
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Not just Pompeii Traveler
Awful last day of tour
October 5, 2025 in Italy ⋅ 🌧 20 °C
Today was supposed to be about sites mentioned by two writers - Pliny and Robert Harris. Pliny was admiral of the Roman fleet based at Misenum from where he described the stages of the eruption. Robert Harris started his book 'Pompeii ' in the Piscina Mirabilis, the cistern, big enough to provision to whole fleet with water, at the end of the aqueduct, also at Misenum and this was to be our first site. Misenum is in the Campo Flagrea to the northwest of Naples and the whole area is a caldera that sits on top of a giant magma chamber that is active and causes the ground to move up and down, through two or three metres. Yesterday there was an earthquake here, just 3.4 magnitude, but enough for them to close the archaeological sites especially those underground. So we drove around looking at anything Roman we could see and whilst we were in the open there was a violent thunderstorm with sheets of torrential rain for 20 mins. We were expecting rain today so were all wearing waterproofs and had brollies but they couldn't cope. We were all soaked so voted to give up and return to the hotel to dry out. Jamie is taking anyone who wants to go back into Pompeii site this afternoon but we prefer to wait for the sunshine tomorrow.Read more
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Not just Pompeii Traveler
Stabia
October 4, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
So today we drove south out of Pompeii to the next town along the coast, Stabia. This was famous for its very richly decorated high status shore-front villas, and as the place where Plini, admiral of the fleet , sailed to try and rescue people from the AD79 eruption, and him dying on the beach in the process.

We went to two spectacular villas: villa Arianna, (named for a fresco of Ariadne and Theseus) and villa San Marco, Each built right onto the cliff overlooking the bay, and consisting of dozens of rooms covered with fabulous frescoes. Afterwards to a really good museum (museo libero d'orsi) full of fine artifacts from the villas, and after a quick visit to the modern seafront, to another museum (Terzigno) way up on the lower slopes of the volcano to see things from 3 more modest villas around it that were discovered from digging a quarry. These villas were primary involved in producing wine and olive oil but also had some decorated rooms.Read more
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Not just Pompeii Traveler
Herculaneum, Oplontis and Boscoreale
October 3, 2025 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 12 °C
Another busy day visiting 3 locations close to Pompeii and all buried by the volcanic eruption.

First was Herculaneum which was a town like Pompeii but different. Whereas Pompeii seems to have been a town on the make, Herculaneum seems to be more upper class and relaxed. It also suffered a different fate. Whereas Pompeii was buried under 40 metres of small light pebbles of pumice which suffocated anyone left behind, Herculaneum suffered a pyroclastic flow of superheated ash around 400c that killed anyone instantly. The ash then hardened to concrete but the buildings didn't collapse so the houses still have upper floors and preserved charred wood.

The excavated area is much smaller than Pompeii so we were able to visit most of the open buildings:

House of the wooden screen
Central baths, women's section
House of Neptune
Grocery store with mezzanine and wine racks
Workshop of the metal worker
Arches to forum
College of the Augustales
Central baths, men's section
Grand tavern
House of the telephon
Sacred area
Ancient beach with skeletons of fugitive
House of the stags
House of the artist
House of the black saloon
Samnite house
House of the bronze herm
House of the mosaic atrium and undulating floor
House of the tuscan colonnade
Boat museum
Antequarium/ museum.

Second was a very large seaside villa in Oplontis that is still being excavated. It has a very large swimming pool and many rooms with frescoes in the 2nd style.

Last stop was a small farmhouse where the main product was wine. It also had a lovely museum containing lots of information on daily life including burnt remains of food and drink that has been analysed and identified. It also has on display the bridal carriage recently excavated and restored as seen on a BBC programme.Read more
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