We took advantage of some really good, late booking, holiday package prices to take another trip out to Marrakesh last week. For us, November is a great time to visit Morocco. The temperature is a really nice 21C during the day. We needed a jacket in the early morning and evenings but we had clear blue skies most days with a bit of cloud bubbling up in the late afternoon. The cooler weather means less visitors so, although the main tourist attractions could be busy, generally everywhere was a bit quieter than in the warmer months.
Our first stop was a viewpoint overlooking a picturesque valley. Spookily situated next to a gift and tagine shop! I thought the terrain had a ‘Star Wars look about it. Not surprising really as lots of Stars Wars filming took place not far from here.
We’ve just returned from a weeks break in Marrakesh. We’re regular visitors here and every time we go I wonder where my images might come from. I needn’t have worried, I came back with far too many pics for one post.
The lighthouse at the entrance to the historic Venetian harbour, Rethymon
This was our first visit to Crete. We chose to stay in Rethymno as we like basing ourselves within walking distance of larger towns that we can explore on foot. We booked a package deal through TUI for a half board stay at the Aquila Porto Rethymnon Hotel and flew into Chania airport from Birmingham, UK.
My in-laws, David and Donna, visited us this weekend so we decided to make the short drive over to Wales and spend Saturday on the River Wye, canoeing from Huntsham Bridge back to Monmouth.
Enjoying the evening sun outside our Air BnB, former miners cottage. The cottage name, Golwg Y Ddinas, written in Welsh, translates to ‘The view of the city’! We were a long way from any of those.
Two weeks ago, with warm weather forecast across the country, we thought it might be nice to take the opportunity to find a last minute get away somewhere here in the UK. Long story short the former Miners cottage in mid Wales, that we stayed in last year, had a last minute cancellation and was being offered for a weeks rental with a good discount. So, on Sunday evening I booked the cottage and by 2.00pm the next day we were back in it.
We like Rhodes, in fact we really like Rhodes. In recent years we’ve been returning annually to the same area in Ialyssos, about four miles from Rhodes Town. We like Ialyssos and it just fits in with everything we want from a short holiday.
A camper van driving away from the Papagayo Beaches through Los Ajaches Natural Park. Hacha Grande is in the background, the highest peak in the south of the island. I’ve always wanted to climb it but I don’t think it’s suitable for casuals hikers like us.
We really like Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands off the coast of North Africa. Its a popular destination for Brits and other Europeans as the climate is pretty good all year round. We spent last week there having picked up a last minute, discounted, package deal. One of the benefits of being retired.
A view across to central London from Richmond Park
We were invited to visit and stay with my in-laws who live in Bournemouth, Dorset over the Easter weekend so last Thursday we drove down from Bristol to join them on the south coast. We left the planning for the weekend to David and Donna, in fact the only thing we had to do was to provide a suitable dessert for our meal on that first night!
We’re just back from a week in Cyprus. We returned to Paphos after enjoying a holiday there last March. Cyprus is popular with Brits as its usually a lot warmer than the UK at this time of year, although there wasn’t much in it this time. We landed in heavy rain and high winds although that was the last we saw of any wet weather.
It remained windy for a few days but after that we had warm sunshine. So, we packed away our fleeces and put on our walking shoes whilst the other hotel guests kicked the feral cats off the sunbeds.
We did a lot of walking on this holiday. We averaged just over eleven miles every day. It was a three mile walk in to the Old Harbour and a bit longer to reach the Paphos Old Town from the hotel, so it was easy to cover that overall distance. There is a superb bus service to everywhere local you might want to go but we chose to walk.
We’d visited some of the popular tourist sites on our previous holiday. I’ve written about that here. The Old Harbour is always a buzzy place to spend some time and enjoy a coffee. We did that several times during the week. We also visited the Kings Avenue Shopping Mall which is a really smart modern complex. It reminded me of some of the plush Malls we visited whilst we were in the states. It’s full of the usual outlets and prices were slightly more expensive than the UK.
I’ll touch on the amazing bakeries we visited at this point. I love a cake and I think Greek/Cypriot cakes are the best I’ve ever had. I particularly love Greek Orange Pie and ate my body weight of it last week. I was also introduced to Greek Chocolate Pie, and that was just as good, although I struggled to find it anywhere. No problem though as I’ve found a recipe and I’ll make my own now we’re home.
The lower right image is Cypriot Flaounes – An Easter cheese bread, only made at this time of year.
We spent two days exploring Pathos Old Town. We revisited where we’d explored last year, around Kennedy Square, but then discovered another area of alleys ways, craft workshops and the usual tat tourist shops on the opposite side of the road. A lot of the lanes and buildings were being renovated and redeveloped so getting around wasn’t always that easy. All the same, it was a pleasant way to spend a morning.
A few images from around Paphos Old Town
We spent our final full day walking out along the coastal boulevard, west of the Old Harbour, passing the lighthouse and on to a viewing point to see an abandoned ship that ran aground a few years ago. It’s been left there to rot as it’s too expensive to salvage. The boulevard is really impressive with lots of viewing points, arranged like frames, at points along the walk. I’m not sure how far out you can go along the coast, but after a few miles we took a right turn and walked back in to town.
Our week passed really quickly and we both agreed we could easily have stayed for a few more days. It’s somewhere we’ll go back to. In fact, I’ve already checked prices for next March but we’ll get a better discount if we book later in the year.
We stayed at the Louis Patheon Beach Hotel, on an all inclusive deal, with TUI. The hotel is a bit tired but the restaurant area is a new building and the food was phenomenal. The best all inclusive food choices and quality we’ve ever had. We were returning clients and we’d be happy to stay there again.
In June 2022 we decided we wanted to get out to try a few different hikes and go somewhere that was new to us for walking. We both knew Weymouth so chose that as somewhere we’d like to visit. Back in the 1970’s, when we were growing up, Weymouth was always a summer day trip for families like us, living in Bristol. That was if my Dads Vauxhall Viva didn’t break down on the way. It did just that more than once.
Steve Hyde 