A Cyprus Road Trip

What's one of your favorite road trips?  Mine is the day spent exploring the beautiful island of Cyprus in a rented car.  First stop was the birthplace of Aphrodite, Petro tou Romiou, off the southwest coast in Paphos.  Just look how gorgeous that water is! Up into the hills next to find a winery and a cozy lunch spot. Just looking at these photos makes me want to be someplace warm! Do you have a road trip planned for next year?

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Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid, Spain

Yep, still here.  I'm busy with life and work.  I'm still traveling when I can and taking tons of photographs.  Not sure if or when I'll ever get around to posting them.  I miss writing so much!  I really need to find a way to make the time in spite of a full-time job and a busy life.  Any suggestions on how you find the time and motivation to write?  In the mean time... I present to you more photos with no context.  Actually...

A week in Cyprus

It's a beautiful day today.  I'm home early from work and have the doors open.  It's sunny and in the 70's. Living in Texas in the winter is ideal.  I no longer have that crazy, urgent desire to chase the sun.  No reason to take those late winter trips further south to warm the bones.  Here are some more photos from our week in Cyprus.  Just such a trip... in search of sun and sea.  I certainly found both in Cyprus! 

Perast, Montenegro

It's a new year! In recent years, I've done the usual blogger thing.  A post to recap the prior year.  A post to talk about my "word" for the new year and the intentions I've set for myself.  A post to recap the holidays.  A post to lay out my travel plans for the new year.  I always loved the opportunity to look back and look forward.  This year, I'm not going to do that.  It was obviously a rough year.  The past six month have been particularly difficult and I've looked back enough.  I have no idea what the new year has in store and i'm not ready to challenge the fates with a "word" this year.  However, I'm feeling more like myself than i have in ages.  I'm finding my way.  I'm fitting in travel and adventure, while enjoying being so close to my family again. I'm learning the lessons.  I'm laughing again.  I'm hoping the desire to blog again will shortly follow.  But, for today... more photos. 

Whirling Dervishes of Lefkosa, Cyprus

It's time to start blogging about our week in Cyprus.  Honestly, I'm having a difficult time writing currently.  Lots of changes and my free time is limited.  Not to mention all of the "stuff" I'm processing.  But I'm just going to get started with the photos and hope the words eventually catch up.  This seems like the perfect place to start.  Seeing the whirling dervishes in Lefkosa was a definitely highlight of the trip for me.  Moving as an act of worship and meditation has been around for centuries.  This particular ceremony was mesmerizing and so peaceful to watch. 

Budapest Bastion

I'm off today on my first trip since moving back and also my first US city break.  I loved all of our city breaks in London and it's something I hope to continue here.  So in honor of that here are my last bit of photos from our Budapest trip.  The Fisherman's Bastion was a great place to take in the views of Budapest, Hungary.  Up, up, up in the furnicular to stroll around in the sunshine. Budapest was definitely one of my favorites. 

Time out in St. Petersburg, Florida

Well, I guess it's official.  I've lost my words.  I can't, for the life of me, write a blog post.  My mind is constantly going, but I can't seem to organize any thoughts.  Meanwhile, over a year's worth of photos sit on my computer taunting me.  So I'm just going to start posting them without the words to give them context.  It makes me sad, but so much has changed in the past six months, that I guess it's no wonder.  I'm also not going to worry about going in chronological order.  Gasp.  But sometimes, forward momentum, even at the slowest pace, is what's needed. 

Vajdahunyad Castle in Budapest

Everyday I want to blog and every day I don't have the words.  I'm sure they will come back to me.  In the mean time, I'll just post photographs.  These are from our visit to Budapest, Hungary.  On our last day before heading to the airport, we took the tube to the City Park to visit the Vajdahunyad Castle.  In 1896, the castle was constructed for the 1,000th birthday of the Hungarian State.  It was a temporary structure for the Millennial Exhibition.  The castle was built to showcase the history of Hungary through its architecture.  The people loved it so much that it was eventually rebuilt to be a permanent structure and now houses a Museum of Architecture. 

Budapest City Break Photo Journal

Matt and I would probably travel full time if we could.  Alas, we have to work to be able to afford to travel.  If only we could win the lottery.   So city breaks are sometimes our only outlet.  As often possible, we leave on a Friday night and explore a new city for the weekend.  Our general criteria is a direct flight of less than 3 hours and good value for money.  That's pretty easy to do from London, tons of options.  I'm planning a future post of our favorite city breaks as well as some tips.  We're still settling in from the move  and I'm leaving for Texas on Monday. So for now I'll just post some of the photos from our Budapest city break.  (If I call it a "photo journal" will you forgive me for not writing much?)

A Coo & a Castle in Oban, Scotland

Look!  It's a Wee Coo!  They are adorable and I must have one.  It will fit in perfectly with my dream menagerie that includes a hippo, giraffe and camel.  Matt continues to tell me NO, but I think I'm wearing him down.  Someday.  This gorgeous Highland Cow was spotted as we explored the area around Oban, Scotland.  Scotland continues to be a top three favorite destinations for me. Everything about it is perfect including these shaggy beasts.

Souk Madinat Jumeirah Dubai

Here are my last few photos from our time in Dubai.  Unfortunately, I never made it to the beach but I did manage to get a view of the fabulous Burj Al Arab hotel.  I enjoyed my time at the old souks so much, I thought it would be fun to visit one of the modern versions.  The Souk Madinat Jumeirah is a posh version of a middle eastern marketplace offering shopping, restaurants and entertainment.  You can even ride in a traditional abra along the waterways. 

Bur Dubai Hindu Temple Complex

I still haven't figured out how to keep up with the blog while working.  I apologize for the sporadic postings.  In truth, I don't think many people are even reading blogs these days.  We can get such a quick fix of travel inspiration on Instagram, reading a blog post can feel like picking up an encyclopedia in comparison.  Although having said that, I was one of those kids that would sit and read an encyclopedia from front to back.  Regardless, I want to keep blogging.  This is my scrapbook of our travels and our life.  It makes me happy to go back and read about our adventures.  So I shall keep blogging.  I've taken thousands of photos and the thought of them just sitting in a folder on my desktop is just unacceptable.  So (most overused word in the English language lately, has even exceeded the word "like") today I'll share some more photos from my Wander with Nada Dubai walking tour.  Down a little alley in the Bur Dubai old souk, you will find the only Hindu temple complex in the UAE, 

Dubai Mall & Burj Khalifa

Can you feel spring in the air?  I can and I'm so thrilled and so ready.  This Texas gal needs some warmth.  A little update on us... we're moving back to London just in time for spring.  Surrey has been lovely, but we miss the city and are eager to get back.  Speaking of warmth and cities (see what I did there?), here are some more photos from our visit to Dubai.  

Museums of Dubai - Wander with Nada

My previous post included photos from the souks I visited with Nada from Wander with Nada.  Not only did we visit several markets, but we also visited two museums and took a little boat ride.  Dubai isn't really known for its museums.  I definitely recommend a stop at The Women's Museum at Bait Al Banat and The Dubai Museum and Al Fahidi Fort.  Both of these are small but important.  Throw in a boat ride on a traditional abra across the Dubai Canal and you see why this walking tour was the highlight of my time in Dubai. 

Souks of Old Dubai - Wander with Nada

I've been eager to visit the Middle East and I finally got my chance.  I tagged along with Matt on a work trip to Dubai.  He was working all day and I was happy to enjoy the hotel pool or walk around the famous Dubai Malls by myself.  But I also wanted to see a bit more of the city.  I was reluctant to set out on my own so I booked a morning tour with Wander with Nada.  It was the perfect way to explore beyond the skyscrapers and shopping.  This tour was the highlight of my time in Dubai.  I came away from it buzzing with information and a new appreciation for a different side of the city. 

Oh, the places we will go in 2017!

Good grief, how the years fly by!  It's no lie that the older you get the faster they go.  Can you believe it's that time again already?  A quick recap of the previous year and making travel plans for the new. This blog of mine is now five years old and when I look back, I just can't believe the wonderful places that we've managed to visit.  I'm so thankful for the beautiful people we get to go through life with.  If I'm ever feeling blue, I just have to read a few old posts to cheer me up and get me excited for the future (in spite of recent political events that have set my head spinning).  What a fabulous world we live in. 

The Channel Island of Herm

I don't know about you, but I often dream of just escaping.  Running away from all of the stress and responsibilities of life.  At times I simply desire to be dropped off on a deserted island.  But that's a bit extreme, isn't it?  Some might even accuse me of being dramatic.  (Ha! Me? Dramatic?)  But what if that island was only a little bit deserted?  And what if there was a pub? And puffins?

Weekend Getaway to Guernsey

Matt and I often lament the fact that we can't travel full-time.  Oh, if only.  We just squeeze it in as we can and most of our travel involves weekend excursions.  We're always looking for someplace new to visit for a few days.  I've mentioned before that we usually start our search on Google Flights looking for inexpensive flights that are less than 3 hours in the air.  This was an easy one.  It took us longer to get to the airport than it did to fly to Guernsey. 

Galleon Cruise in Gdansk

Here are a few more photos from our weekend in Gdansk, Poland.  They're from our ride on a pirate ship and an important historical monument.  You may wonder why pirate ships in Gdansk, but it makes perfect sense.  Gdansk is one of the maritime cities of the Hanseatic League, an association of towns along the Northern coast of Europe that banded together in the 13th century.  The league dominated Baltic trade into the 19th century.  It was developed to organize and control trade, but it was also needed for protection from pirates.  So when you go to Gdansk, plan to ride on a pirate ship.

Gdansk, Poland City Break

I've said before that one of my favorite things about living in the UK is the close proximity to the rest of Europe.  After just a few hours on a plane, you can be in the most incredible city.  Like most of our weekend City Breaks, this one started with Google Flights. We filtered by flight duration (3 hours max), non-stop, and price (£150 max).  For 2 hours and less than £100, a trip to Gdansk, Poland was the obvious choice.