Saturday, September 7, 2013

Bloglovin

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5094163/?claim=z9gnfxvvqps">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Just adding a bit of code to connect my blogs to Bloglovin'. I'm trying it out as I'm looking for a good app to access the blogs I follow on my iPhone, and while the Blogger app lets me write my own posts, it doesn't show me the blogs I follow and I've been so busy I haven't had time to sit down on my computer and read other blogs and I miss them!!! :p  Hopefully this should help me stay in touch a bit more...

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Catching up...

Soooo... how long has it been? And I don't mean since my post reminding you about World Ocean's Day... Nope! I haven't written anything about travelling since FEBRUARY!!! *shock* 

Not only have I abandoned on a Greek island (although you're probably not complaining about that, there are worse places to be abandoned...), I never got started on the New Year's Eve trip to Granada!

"El Patio de los Leones" in the Alhambra
Cousins having fun

And since then there have been a few more trips! *gulp*

A quick overview might be in order...

Saturday, June 1, 2013

World Oceans Day is coming up!

It's World Oceans Day next weekend!!! Have you got anything special planned? How about participating in an ocean-themed blogging marathon? ;o)

Next weekend I'll be hosting my fifth annual Oceanic Blog-A-Thon over at my other blog. It's always a fun time with bloggers from all over the place sharing their stories about the marine environment and its inhabitants! 

Hopefully, if I can find time this week (as you'll have guessed from my disappearing act this Spring I've been just a little bit busy lately *sigh*), I intend to write something travel related to post as my participation from this blog for the Oceanic Blog-A-Thon. Will depend on how I manage to organise what little time available I have, and how long it takes me to put together my post for the other blog and the Blog-A-Thon itself! Last year because of the trip to Greece I wasn't able to write anything here, but two years ago I wrote about the majestic Milford Sound in the Southern Island of New Zealand! I have a couple of ideas for this year... we'll see which one looks more feasible to do in a short period of time.

So how about you guys join in? Help raise awareness for the oceans on your blog! Spread the word to your readers! Find out more at "Join the Oceanic Blog-A-Thon for World Oceans Day!". I hope to sea many of you guys there! ;o)

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Dokos: water, rocks and a bbq on Saronic Sailing Day 3!

So when I asked if I should continue with Greece or table it for a while and move on to Granada at New Year's, I got votes for both destinations and a suggestion that I just alternate between the two! So I've decided I'm going to that, and start off with Greece just to start reminding myself about the trip since it was now 7 months ago! :o(

So, when I left off back in October (yikes!) we were enjoying the island of Spetses. We left Spetses right after lunch on our third day in the Saronic Islands and had a delightful 2+h sail to neighbouring Dokos (where we had stopped for lunch the day before en-route to Spetses from Poros).

Dokos
Dokos. Hmmm... when I look it up in the two guidebooks sitting on the shelf next to me (Guide du Routard and Lonely Planet), Dokos doesn't appear in either of them! Not only does it not have a section of its own under the "Saronic Islands", but it doesn't even appear in the index! In fact, you have to know it's there to spot it on the map of the Saronic Islands! Even on Wikipedia it's barely got a couple of paragraphs... Why so little love? Well, it probably has to do with the fact that it's an uninhabited island (except by some goats and a shepherd or two) so none of the tourist boats take you there (you can hire a water taxi from Hydra). It's a pity 'cause the coves are great for swimming and there was some nice hiking up the mountain looking for old ruins! Those ruins are a sign that once upon a time it was inhabited (between 3000 - 5000 years ago), and even housed a Byzantine castle (good lookout spot) whose remains I didn't get a chance to go looking for.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Greece or Granada?

Has it really been 3+ months since I last wrote here?! Where has the time gone? It just flies by... To be sure they were very busy months. Work, job hunting, helping my parents out for a time with some serious health issues (my dad had triple bypass surgery), the holidays (Christmas and New Years are always for me, but this year more so as we had extra special visitors in town!)... not to mention my regular (non-travelling) blog and the new blog I started last summer about King Arthur, Robin Hood and other heroes of my youth (and their portrayal in different books and movies). With the BBC series Merlin on every week that gave me quite a bit of work to do! :p

I promise to start blogging here again asap (Merlin's over *sob*, can give the other blog a small break for a while). But I've got a conundrum! Should I continue with my Greek sailing tales? Or should I interrupt them with tales of the Alhambra? And the rest of Granada and the Renaissance castle of Calahorra. Yup! I've been on the road again! We had a family New Year's celebration in Granada!

I think Greece would be another 5-6 posts, and Granada not sure... I might cut up the Alhambra into several posts so they aren't too overwhelming, and I'd mix in with tales and photos from my previous visit 7 years ago (I've only been to Granada 5 or 6 times!).

So I ask those of you reading this: which should I do first - Greek sailing or Granada? 

Oh! And in March I'm going to Santander (capital of the community of Cantabria in the north of Spain) for a wedding. It will just be 2 days, 1 full-on wedding, so very little to share... but I will be blogging about it as well! I definitely need to finish off Greece or Granada before then...