Christmas cards don’t lie……………..

…………we have just experienced the most glorious white Christmas, causing chaos and major travel disruptions, but selfishly for us it was incredible. Living in the heart of the Cotswolds, we didn’t have to deal with dirty slush and icy roads. For us it was picture book perfect, all the way.
We were lucky enough to have some of the family to stay. Our location AND a clear blue, sunny Christmas day set the scene.
The local pub opens for a couple of hours on Christmas morning and everyone goes and has a drink while the dinner is cooking. Half the village turns out (with their dogs) and sitting around the fire, having a pint with all the dogs interacting, wishing each other a ‘Merry Christmas’ was probably the most civilised pub experience ever…………really, really wished you were there xxxxx

Vitoria and Bilbao………

………On a recent visit we wandered through a park, adjacent to the Cathedral. The park is very pretty and laid out like a medieval village with mannequins going about their daily lives. We wandered along the paths, piped Christmas music played and it was crisp and cold. Now… I’m somewhat of a Christmas cynic but as we went into a natural cave, there was the nativity. I must admit I had a little ‘moment’.
Vitoria is the capital of the Basque Country in Spain and an affluent, beautiful city/town. Northern Spain doesn’t have a flamenco tradition but makes up for it visually. The thing about Spain though – mealtimes!! As visitors you have a slow start and breakfast, then you think – “ah… a late lunch would be nice” and then notice that all the shops and restaurants have closed and apart from drinks and tapas in a bar you can’t get a meal until 9 pm!! By that time you are ready to eat the table, the waiter and anything else that takes your fancy. I don’t know how we get into this trap time and time again…..slow learners I guess!!!!
Bilbao was different to Vitoria but equally visual. The Guggenheim is there and is the most astonishing building. One of the outdoor exhibits is an enormous dog, planted with annuals several times a year. We asked the concierge at our hotel “why”?
“Oh – that’s Pooopie” he said. We decided that “Pooopie” must have been someone’s famous dog rather like “Greyfriars Bobby”. So off we went feeling quite knowledgeable. We were rather miffed to discover that “Pooopie” actually meant “puppy” and then we noticed that for some inexplicable reason every second dog owner in Bilbao owned a West Highland Terrier…….hence “Pooopie”
Fortunately on our last day we came across a market that was happy to feed us at a time that suited us…….delicious ethnic food – (not the barbeque - although it smelled and looked great!)
We arrived back in the UK in the middle of the night to minus 5, but the thrill of being met by Rory and Katie warmed the cockles of our hearts and now we are looking forward to a “White Christmas” in the company of family. Now that makes sense…………..xxx

Hunting Ban………..

………what “Ban”????? We were invited to watch the local Hunt gathering for the first hunt of the season. Autumn is glorious time in the UK. The colours are unbelievably lovely and living in the country is a privilege. We wandered through the village to watch the ‘hunt’ prepare and depart. Part of the preparation included eating sausage rolls, roast potatoes and drinking large wine glasses filled with port or very generous tumblers of whiskey. I suppose ‘drink driving’ doesn’t apply to hurtling through the countryside, leaping over dry stone walls on the back of a huge hunting horse!!!!
The hounds were amazing………terribly excited……baying, sniffing, rolling and totally unfazed by the horses, onlookers and their dogs on leads and the general mayhem! Of course those that ‘hunt’ are the ‘gentry’ and when they speak it’s in terribly loud jolly tones contributing to the overall cacophony.
At a certain point the Master of the Hunt (him in the red coat), blew his horn, the dogs pulled themselves together, all pointing the same way, stood to attention and off they all went. Those of us remaining (the non-gentry….aka ‘villeins’) marvelled at the whole spectacle and went back to work humming “Do you ken John Peel” ………………wish you were here…………..xxxxx

Aswan…………

………we sailed from Luxor to Aswan passing through the Esna Lock. As the boat was waiting to go into the lock swarms of boatmen came alongside urging passengers to buy their wares. The traders throw their goods up onto the deck of the boat with demands to buy, shirts, scarves, galabeya etc and these were landing in the swimming pool, on tables, back in the water – it was chaos, the air was filled with hurtling merchandise. I retreated down to our cabin. As I unwittingly turned on the light, goods were hurled into the cabin through the open window! I hurriedly stuffed them back out of the window into the boats below and slammed the window shut. Shopping is not a pleasant experience in Egypt, there is no chance to “look”. You are hassled and pestered if you even so much as glance at something (and even if you don’).
The temples and ancient sites are a completely different experience. You do have to run a short gauntlet of sellers, but once inside the only thing you have to be aware of is Egyptian men lurking behind pillars waiting to step into your photograph and then demanding appearance money! However the magnificent and sense of ancient presence is over whelming (or maybe it’s the 45degree heat!).
The Aswan High Dam was built in the 1960’s, flooding ancient Nubian villages, but the resulting increases in agriculture production and hydroelectricity have saved Egypt from famine. Lake Nasser is approximately 200 meters deep, which is as high as the Auckland Sky Tower. We visited a Nubian village and were nearly run down by boys on camels racing down the road to check out the local football match, which they watched over the fence from their camels stand.
There is a timelessness about Egypt which is captivating, however the contrasts and contradictions of wealth and poverty, the clashing of ancient and modern, the invisibility of local women dressed head to toe in Purdah against the scantily clad tourists make it a very complex experience.

Luxor........

…………was the beginning of the Nile Cruise for us and it is a perfect way to see Egypt. You are cocooned in the relative comfort of a floating hotel and can view the Nile as it’s been for thousands of years. Some hardy souls ‘do’ the Nile in ancient feluccas which look very romantic, but in temperatures of 45degrees, no loo’s and dodgy food, we decided prudence was the better part of valour. Our boat was very comfortable. The cabin staff did our room twice a day and each day folded our towels and extra blankets into hilarious ‘art works’.
Nobody was constantly asking us for money….. (tips were paid in a lump sum to be distributed at the end of the cruise……civilised!). We had trips each day to major sites along the way, accompanied by an Egyptologist, these were fantastic, but it was always good to come back to the air conditioned boat and a cold drink
Luxor depends on tourist trade and is rapidly resurrecting ancient sites – it is currently uncovering an 3 kilometre “Avenue of Sphinx” linking the temples of Luxor and Karnak. The avenue had been previously covered and subsequently built over. The down side of this is that the people living in the buildings along the site area were given no consultation and 2 days to clear out before the bulldozers demolished their homes with little or no compensation. The missing Sphinx in the Avenue have been commissioned to be rebuilt in China! ????????? What can you say………………

Cairo...............

………home of the Pyramids and the Sphinx……we rode camels (as you do!) into the desert and our guide took us the long way – (3 hours!). As we came over a sand dune the breathtaking sight of the ancient monuments made the discomfort and slightly terrifying experience worthwhile. A gang of Arabs drifted past on their camels and we could have been transported back thousands of years, except for the encroaching cityscape in the background. Cairo is home to 25 million people and growing. The Pyramids, once miles away from the city are now almost cheek with jowl to the sprawling slum.
We visited some Coptic churches carved into caves in the hills above the city rubbish dump. There we met a guy from California who had worked with the ‘rubbish dump’ people in the 1980’s. He was excited and thrilled that the inhabitants of this area were no longer living in cardboard boxes! We were shocked to see 5 million people living (albeit in ‘buildings’) on a rubbish dump, scavenging an existence from the refuse of 20 million fellow citizens.
All over the roads were chaotic – 6 lanes of traffic squeezed into 4 lane highways, cars weaving in and out with much horn blaring – we saw one rickety traffic light in 3 days and no traffic cops. Crossroads are very free form!
Pedestrians take their chances also - dodging through the traffic to get to the median barrier to leap over and dodge through to the other side. We made sure we never had to cross a road in three days!!!!!!
Egypt is definitely not like a gentle ramble around Europe, but it’s worth it.
To be continued……………..

Well it’s been a while………..

………….Our employer’s swamped us for two months with their needs, wants and general expectations– 8-9 weeks of them, family and friends doesn’t sound much, but when you are living it you would be amazed at how much someone who has everything wants!!!!! It’s unbelievably ‘full on’ when they are in residence, our days are about 17 hours long and it’s relentless. Their idea of our existence is to make theirs wonderful (which we do)! Still it enables us to do what we want - travel whenever we can. Egypt soon ……. can’t wait!!!!
We recently had a few days in magical Cornwall. One could imagine, in some places, that you are in NZ ……. but the temperature of the Atlantic is hardly the Pacific or even the Tasman. In Bude (where we stayed) anyone (who took to the water) wore a wetsuit and so people wander around the town wearing them …… at times it felt like we were encroaching on a seal colony.
Paris beckoned for my birthday ……. The Eurostar is so easy …… and Paris still enchants us, as it did on our first visit over four years ago!!! Four years have flown and while there is still heaps we want to see and do, our thoughts are starting to turn to NZ and we are studying (when our employers are absent) to set ourselves up for another phase of our lives when we return………….so maybe in the next year (or so!)………..we have had a little influx of visitors from NZ recently and it’s always fab………come while you can, we’d love to show you this environment and part of the world…………..much love xx