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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 WilkinsJerez 2024Traveler

    A quiet day

    February 5, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    We had intended to spend a day sitting in the sun today not doing much, but when we woke up we found that clouds had rolled in overnight and it was dull and grey. Also there was a quite a chilly breeze. Eventually the sun came out around lunchtime and it got warmer in the sunshine. Looking forward I think its going to be like this for a few days, then maybe a bit of rain early next week. I think I'll use the time to go for a walk around the city tomorrow and maybe drop into the museum to see some of my favourite things there.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2024Traveler
    Win 2-1
    Where are my two juicers?Why are so many of our blogs about food!

    Sunday

    February 4, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    The tuna steak last night was fantastic. Tuna is caught all along the coast from Gibraltar up to Cadiz, so its fresh and wonderful! I especially love Mojama, which is very thin slices of dried cured tuna in olive oil, and which I've never seen at home.

    Today I went out early (ish!) To get a Sunday paper. When we first started to come here, one of the street kiosks had english papers, but since the pandemic it closed so now I have to put up with the "diario de jerez" , which is mostly about local politics, which I dont understand, and local football, which I do. The little local shop just round the corner has a great range of foods, including lovely sweet juicy oranges. So it's great to squeeze fresh orange juice for breakfast, but sadly my two helpful orange squeezers are off skiing jn Italy!

    Lunch in a popular square in the sun , in a restaurant which we have been going to for years, and it's still excellent!

    After, a bus out to the football stadium and an pleasant evening watching my team play and win ( just like watching Barnet! )    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2024Traveler
    Churros and chocolate for breakfast
    Marmalade trees!Inch thick slab of tuna

    Busy first day

    February 3, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    First day here we always have to go and have churros and chocolate for breakfast followed by a trip to the Market and a big supermarket shop to stock up on essentials. In the fish market we chose an enormous slab of local wild tuna for dinner tonight.
    As we were exhausted from carrying all the shopping home, despite having a shopping trolley, we decided to treat ourselves to lunch in the sun in the little square behind the apartment.
    This year it is particularly warm for February - last night we could still sit out on our roof terrace at 6.30 enjoying our first sherry.
    This afternoon Tim went on the crucial hunt for Seville oranges still on the tree for us to bring home to make marmalade. He found a fine crop in front of the Alcazar.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsJerez 2024Traveler

    Arrived

    February 2, 2024 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    After leaving home at 3,30 (a.m. ugh!) All the arrangements worked really well. We choose to fly to Jerez via Barcelona rather Madrid and that's so much better. , and arrived at the apartment about 3.30 (only 12 hours) in time to sit in the sun for a bit. Coming into Jerez in the taxi now feels like coming home.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsA few days back in MadeiraTraveler

    Cruise ships

    November 19, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Funchal has a really good deep water port and it's a favourite of the cruise lines. The city is completely geared up for them and there have been two or three here every day. Then this morning while we were having breakfast this one arrived. We thought the other ones were huge, but this dwarfs all of them. Its the p&o iona, and carries over 5000 passengers and about 2000 crew.

    I think it's time to go home!    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsA few days back in MadeiraTraveler
    Cathedral
    Wooden mudejar roofMarket

    Saturday

    November 18, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    A quick walk down to the Blandys shop to stock up on madeira to bring home. They have a great scheme where you buy the wine in the shop, but you then pick it up in the Blandys branch at the airport, which is after all the security stuff so you can carry it in your carry-on bags. Brilliant!

    A look around the cathedral which is in the usual heavily decorated Hispanic style, but with a beautiful mudejar style roof, and then to the wonderful central funchal market.

    This afternoon the weather came over with heavy cloud, but still warm and no rain.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsA few days back in MadeiraTraveler
    Bananas in the hotel gardens
    Banana treeHotel pool

    Zzzzz . . .

    November 17, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Not doing anything all day.... !

    ....

    Tonight going for dinner at the restaurant of Blandy's, the main bodega of madeira wine, with a view of tasting some different ones to the ones we know. Could be a good night!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsA few days back in MadeiraTraveler
    OK Andy, what is this? F16?
    Our boatFunchal from the boat, our hotel is right in front behind the yellow fortCabo Girao - Huge cliff with a glass floored viewing panel we stood on last yearFlame treeLunch!

    Whales and fast jets

    November 16, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    This morning we went out into the Atlantic on a catamaran on a whale watching trip. I wasn't expecting to see any, but after an hour we met first a group of beaked whales, then a pod of pilot whales. The beaked whales are quite rare, they are very shy and they can stay under water for over 20 minutes without breathing, so you dont get to see them very much. The pilot whales were in a pod of at least a dozen, swam right up to the boat, and then along one side.

    There was a navy ship parked out to sea, and suddenly we were under a pair of jet fighters doing attack runs on the ship (training I hope).

    Back on shore we went to book a restaurant for dinner on Saturday, then for lunch at a small cafe we know overlooking the sea near to the hotel, and back to lay in the sun by the pool. Hard day!    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsA few days back in MadeiraTraveler

    Arrival

    November 15, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    All the arrangements worked OK, and as repeat guests at the hotel they gave us a bowl of fruit (and the fruit here is wonderful!), and a dark madiera cake, and half a bottle of dry madiera wine. All very welcome, when sitting in the hot sun on our balcony.

    BTW, "Arrival" is an excellent movie starring Amy Adams.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBrief return to FlorenceTraveler
    Tomb of Kha 1400 bc
    Tomb of maya 1300 bcLinen fabric 1400 bcGlass perfume jars 1400 bcInterior of coffin of mertuiudis 600 bcFertility God sobek 330 bcRamses II with amon and mut 1200 bcSeti I 1200 bcTuthmosis 1400 bcHoremheb 1300 bc

    More museum pics

    September 24, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    This trip and the last one in Bulgaria have been pretty full on. Maybe the next one will be sitting by the pool and reading a book!

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBrief return to FlorenceTraveler
    Pendua and nefertari 1200 bc
    Wooden box, with bone and faience 4000 bcGoddess hathor 4000 bcModel boat for a tomb 4000bcTomb of iti and neferu 2000 bcHathor 1800 bcHathor 1300 bcAmenhotep 1200 bcOstracon of a ram 1100 bcOstracon of a dancer 1100 bc

    Egyptian museum

    September 24, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    The last time we were in Turin, the new Egyptian museum was only half finished, even so it still took us 3 hours to get round it. Now it's complete and twice the size, no surprise it took us just under 6 hours, but it's wonderful!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBrief return to FlorenceTraveler

    Arrived in Turin

    September 23, 2023 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    We caught the high-speed train from Florence to Turin, this starts in Naples and travels across Italy to Florence, Bologna, Milan and finally Turin. It is very comfortable and goes at 300 km /hr. Great, except it left Florence 75 mins late! Turin feels very different to Florence. The centre of Florence was all about tourists, the streets were packed with people speaking everything but italian, whereas Turin just feels Italian. We went out to a restaurant round the corner, had the best food in the trip, and were the only non-italians there. And the food was wonderful!

    Tomorrow the Egyptian museum. Could be a long day!    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBrief return to FlorenceTraveler
    Artemesia Gentileschi. Virgin and Child.
    Botticelli nativity, Santa Maria NovellaWindow dating to 1100'sWindow 1490Birth of the virgin - Ghirlandaio 1490Tomb 1350Baptism of Jesus 1310St christopherSpanish Chapel frescosSpanish chapel

    More art!

    September 22, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    In the morning we went to the Pitti Palace, the home of the medici family. They were bankers to the pope and the vatican , were unbelievably rich, built much of florence, and were patrons of the best artists of their time, as well as many lesser ones! The art was hung on the walls of the Palace and is now available to the public. Sadly there is no system to the way the paintings are hung, they are mostly three or even four deep up the walls, very few have any description, other the name of the artist, so its impossible to really find your way through them all, and very frustrating!

    Afterwards we walked across the city to the Dominican church and monastery of Santa Maria Novella. They were also incredibly rich and decorated the church and monastery walls with spectacular frescos and paintings, dating from the 1200's to the 1500's.

    Although the weather forecast was for periods of rain all day, we didn't get any until we were back the apartment in the late afternoon.

    On to Turin next.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBrief return to FlorenceTraveler
    PALAZZO VECCHIO
    Ponte VecchioDuomo - the cathedralEtruscan Funerary wreathEtruscan Funerary urnEgyptian chariot - Genuine wooden from a tomb

    Other than the Uffizzi

    September 21, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    I saw the highlights of the Uffizzi a few years ago when we came with Janet and Davina and don't share Tim's interest in Renaissance art, so wandered round Florence and went to the Archaeological Museum. It has some splendid stuff from the Etruscan period which we know little about. There are some lovely artifacts which show heavy Greek influence, but also some distinctive Etruscan styles. Surprisingly little Roman influence. They also have some nice Egyptian stuff but as we are spending all Sunday in the wonderful Museo Egizio in Turin, I didn't spend so much time here.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBrief return to FlorenceTraveler
    BOTTICELLI - BIRTH OF VENUS
    BREAKFASTCEILING OF THE GALLERYVAN DER GOES - ALTARPIECEBOTTICELLI - PRIMAVERAHANS MEMLING - LADY OF SORROWSCARAVAGGIO - MEDUSAONE OF MY FAVOURITES - ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHIFIORENTINO - ANGEL WITH A LUTEVERY POWERFUL. SALVIATI -CHRIST WITH THE CROSS

    The Uffizi

    September 21, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Breakfast in the sun on our terrace, lovely - so it was difficult to drag ourselves up and out, but I'd planned to spend all day in the Uffizi gallery and lynette was going to the archaeological museum. I think my mother would be amazed, and I hope delighted, to find my interest in art late in life!

    I was expecting the Uffizi to be packed- the whole city is tourist central, but in fact it was OK, only the huge groups of Chinese got in the way, but they just looked at the highlights, looked at what they were told to look at, and took their selfies, then went on their way!

    I managed to get round in about 5 hours, and saw all the works I wanted to see, and many more , learning about lots of painters that I didn't know before. Then home for a couple of hours outside again.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBrief return to FlorenceTraveler
    The nearest the thunderstorm got to us

    Weather

    September 21, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Before we came the weather forecast was for thunderstorms every day. So far we have been lucky and had none. Both yesterday evening and today, a few isolated drops of rain sent us indoors from the terrace and after a few minutes stopped. So we have been able to have evening drinks, breakfast and lunch outdoors. At lunchtime it was even too hot to stay outdoors! Mostly it has been sunny and hot, so we are not complaining.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsBrief return to FlorenceTraveler
    Ceiling of our aparment
    View from the terrace

    Arrived ok

    September 20, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    In Florence after a long and very tedious journey. We flew from London city airport and thought it would be easy - its on the tube. But when we got on the train at wendover it was completely rammed so we had to stand, with our bags of course, and then the tube was the same. We didn't get seats for over an hour - not a good start! At least the flight was on time, and the apartment is OK, if a bit basic , kettle and mugs for tea, no glasses (even plastic ones) for water or wine. We'll live!

    Tomorrow I intend to stay all day in the uffizi gallery looking at the paintings.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in BulgariaTraveler
    Ancient serdica, under the metro!
    Serdica main streetSerdica mosaicMosqueMosque ceilingMosqueSynagogueSynagogueSynagogue

    Last day

    August 21, 2023 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Freedom!

    Our flight wasn't until the evening so we had a day to ourselves to see things in Sofia. So what did we do? After a lie in, and a big breakfast, of course we went to see the archaeology, the frescos, the church, the mosque, the synagogue, the cathedral and ended up back in the archaeological museum! In case we hadn't see enough already!

    Just outside our hotel was a tiny church with frescos. You can only get in by knocking on the door and a sour faced guardian with a huge bunch of keys let's you in and locks the door behind you. The church is then up a small spiral staircase, and then is maybe the size of our sitting room. Built in the 11th century, its frescos date from the 16th. Its remarkable, but the frescos really need a good clean as they now are so dark they are difficult to make out. No photography allowed- and the guardian stays close by to make sure you don't sneak some pics!

    The modern city of Sofia is built over the roman city of Serdica. Everywhere around Sofia are the remains of the roman city, and every time they want to put up a modern building or extend the metro system, more appears. Bulgaria was part of the ottoman empire for centuries, and there are still many Muslims living there. Just along from our hotel was the main mosque. Built in 1576, it is pleasantly plain and peaceful in contrast to the orthodox churches.

    And just along from that is the synagogue built in 1909 in a really nice moorish style. Most of Sofia's Jews left after the war, and went to the new state of Israel, so its now rather big for the size of the population, but still in regular use.

    After the Muslim and Jewish centres we walked down to the Catholic cathedral. A very pleasant airy modern church, it was built in the 1960s (the previous one was accidentally bombed in the second world war) and is clean, neat and serene! Also full of wonderfully colourful 60s stained glass windows.

    So after lunch back to the museum to catch up on things we missed first time round.

    All in all a very interesting and rewarding trip. Exhausting though!    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in BulgariaTraveler
    Bowl. 5th millennium BC
    Thracian gold 4c BCThracian helmet 4c BCSet of animal mosaics 4c BC13th c fresosRila monastery19th c frescoSt John of Rila who founded the monastery

    Sunday in Sofia

    August 20, 2023 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    The national history museum is located in a former communist party palace and residence of the president, on the outskirts of Sofia. It contains all kinds of stuff, including traditional dresses, cinema props and icons. We were there to see a wonderful collection of prehistory items and more thracian objects including a gold treasure dating from the 3rd and 4th centuries BC.

    From there to a fabulous small church in the village of Boyana, surrounded by trees, with lovely 13th c frescos, they are now too fragile to allow much viewing, so each group of people must have booked in advance, and are allowed just a 10 minute time slot.

    Then a long drive up into the mountains to see the Rila monastery. Dating to the 10th century, but extensively reworked in 1833 after a fire, it is one of the highlights of Sofia, and a very popular Sunday excursion. We found it really overdone. Although the architecture is interesting the frescos seemed dull and lifeless.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in BulgariaTraveler
    St George Church with Roman remains infront and our hotel behind
    10c - 14c frescoes in dome of St GeorgePresidential guardOldest worked gold in Europe - 5th millennium BCSilver rhyton from a Thracian tombMost typical image in Thrace - horse and riderAlexander Nevski churchSt Sophia church4c painted tomb under St Sophia

    Back to Sofia

    August 19, 2023 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Today we made the long drive back to Sofia -- three and a half hours mostly on what passes for motorway. The roads in Bulgaria truly are appalling even the main motorway across the Balkans from Western Europe to Turkey. They are bumpy and full of potholes.
    Our hotel is part of the complex that includes the presidential Palace complete with soldier guards. It is a grandiose Soviet building but the rooms are quite poky.
    On the way to lunch we visited a 4c church of St George with frescoes from the 10 - 14c which is dwarfed by the hotel/Palace complex. Alongside it are some Roman remains of Serdika as Sofia was known then.
    We spent most of the afternoon in the Archaeological Museum where Miglena our guide works. She wanted to show us everything but eventually we gave up and said we would come back on Monday in our free time.
    Finally we visited the Alexander Nevsky Church built in 1878 to thank the Russians for liberating them (poor quality frescoes) and the St Sofia Church - successively built in 4- 6c with an enormous necropolis beneath it.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in BulgariaTraveler
    Main gate and road at nicopolis
    Forum at nicopolisWater pipes at nicopolisMain road at novaeExcavations ar novaeNovaeDanube- Romania on the other bankView from our hotel room

    North to the Danube

    August 18, 2023 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We started with a long drive, as always, north to the roman city of nicopolis ad istrum, through vast fields of sunflowers and maize. The sunflower fields covered the hills as far as the eye could see. The plants were a shorter variety than ours, with smaller heads and grown for the oil. They were dry and mostly brown, ready to harvest. I think the maize was not sweet corn, but also grown for corn oil.

    The city of nicopolis was founded by trajan in 102 ad, and survived until it was sacked by the goths in 6th century. It was huge - the biggest city in the province, and thankfully still unprettyfied! Excavations continue and will do so for quite some time to come.

    From there north again to a huge roman military camp and fortress at novae. Founded in the 1st century, it was there to protect the northern border of the empire from the dacians, who lived in modern Romania. The fortress itself was for military men only, but a huge civilian city built up around it. In the 6th century, after the empire had become Christian , a big bishops residence and basilica was built next to the Fort, but soon after it was overrun by the "barbarians" and abandoned. A great setting though, and we had lunch by the danube!

    Inscription on a stone column at nicopolis:

    "Drink and live without care, until you have the daylight and listen; once your soul departs , you will be deprived of these things".

    The weather has been a bit disappointing. Though 30c every day and warm enough to eat out at night, it has been mostly cloudy each day with patches of sunshine. Yesterday was sunny all afternoon but today returned to cloud. This afternoon whilst we were out in a field looking round Novae we heard thunder and then it started to rain - hard. Luckily there was a plastic roof covering some of the ruins so we were able to shelter for a few minutes until it stopped. Sunny again by the time we got back to the hotel.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in BulgariaTraveler
    Shipka monument from the pass
    Arbanasi Church of the NativityScenes from the new testamentUnusual depiction of the TrinityFresco of female saintsPunishments in hellBrutal Russian muralsView from our room of the citadel in Veliko Turnovo

    Over the mountains to northern Bulgaria

    August 17, 2023 in Bulgaria ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    This morning we left our hotel in Plovdiv, which has been very pleasant, to travel across the Balkan mountains which run west to east across the middle of Bulgaria, giving its name to the whole peninsula.
    We stopped at Skipka pass, at 4800 feet high, where a couple of more agile members of our group climbed 675 steps up to the Skipka monument. It commemorates the defeat of the Ottomans by the Russian army in 1878 to liberate Bulgaria from Ottoman rule - which helps to explain the fondness of Bulgarians for Russia even today.
    Our first visit was to Etur - a museum of life in 19c Bulgaria with craft demonstrations and souvenirs shops - which we didn't find very interesting. The Chiltern Open Air museum was more interesting and less twee. We also had the worst meal of the week here - with really tough loukanika sausages and crinkle oven chips.
    The highlight was a visit in Arbanasi to a 17c church with incredible frescoes covering every surface. They depicted the major scenes from old and new testaments , saints and warnings about judgement day with horrid penalties for wrongdoing - such as mixing too much water into the wine!
    Our last visit was not just a waste or time but was disturbing. After a climb up to the citadel in Veliko Turnovo in the heat of the afternoon, the objective was a 'church' built in the 1970s by the Russians with brutalised murals depicting religious icons under the thumb of Russian rule. Most unpleasant.
    Our hotel here is very pleasant with a view of the citadel from our room. No suite this time but a large and comfortable room.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsArchaeology in BulgariaTraveler
    Roman wall
    Neolithic goddessRoman-era jug4th century mosaicRoman forum and main streetRoman theatreNeolithic dweĺlingsNeolithic ovenNeolithic decorated pot

    Neolithic, roman and thracian day

    August 16, 2023 in Bulgaria ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    We started the day with a long, long drive north of plovdiv to a huge site at cabyle, covering many hectares of hill side, one of the biggest sites in the region. But it was very disappointing, there wasn't much there and first thing we saw was a small roman bath, but it was heavily "restored". The only other building there was a roman barracks, with nice walls but nothing else. However the site did have great views across the thracian valley and it was nice walking around in the sunshine!

    On to the small city of stara zagora, roman Augusta traiana, with a huge open roman forum and small theatre, but with a lovely small museum stuffed full of great copper-age and roman material. All the museums we found so far have been splendid, small, very local , but really well presented. A adjoint to the museum is an underground site of a 4th century private roman house, discovered while digging up some road works. It's not really open to the public without prior arrangement. It was just one room with a fountain on the middle, and covered in spectacular mosaics. Fish, animals, birds, gods and goddesses. It must have been its owners joy!

    Then an amazing find - a pair of neolithic dwellings. They were made of clay walls and were two storeys high, but had burned and collapsed in 5800 BC, preserving the interiors, walls, entrances, ovens, and storage jars.

    Finally back to plovdiv to go to the archaeological museum that was closed before- but wow - worth the wait! We only had 40 minutes before it closed for the day so we concentrated on the main things - a brilliant collection of neolithic artefacts, thracian tomb goods, a Christian tomb from the 4th century AD, so very very early Christian, with interior paintings showing christ as a young man, performing miracles , using a long stick like a wand ("like a wizard" the information boards say !). And a huge wonderful mosaic over a gallery wall.

    The final room contained a thracian gold treasure from about 1500 BC, heavy gold dishes, libation spoons, lids, drinking cups, all in spectacular condition and incredibly beautiful!    Read more

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