Riga, Latvia.

The bus trip from Tallinn was actually quite comfortable; the journey took 4hr 40 minutes but unlike any other bus trip like this we had been on, it had in-coach entertainment! We were able to watch a couple of films which made the journey go quicker and they had free tea and coffee and a toilet if required! We encountered a blizzard on the way,  but unlike the UK the roads were adequately prepared and there were no delays.  There is no hard border between Estonia or Latvia we just had to present our passport before we boarded.  We had a couple of stops on the way including Parnu and arrived at Riga bus station at 5pm.

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Tallinn, Estonia.

For New Year and birthday celebrations we struggled to decide where to go; there are certain destinations which we think of as winter destinations and our mission to explore as much of Europe as possible led us to consider Estonia and Latvia.  Due to the fact it was over New Year, flights were unfortunately not our £10 bargains however as we had a week we thought a dual city break would be a good option.  The flights were £120 each return which is way more than we would usually feel comfortable with but was expected because of the time of year.  When the time came we moved on to Riga by coach which was a 4-5 hour trip each way but only cost 30 euros each return back to Tallinn to fly home from there. There was a substantial saving by flying home from Tallinn as opposed to from Riga.

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A Week in Malta.

Malta was somewhere on our list of European countries we hadn’t been to and looking for a warm break in October is no easy feat! After ruling out Cyprus due to the cost and looking at a map we decided to check out Malta.  With average temperatures of low to mid 20 degrees Celsius, it seemed a comfortable option although we were aware there was also a possibility of rain at that time of year.  We had arranged to go away with Caitlin and a friend, and with Malta as the agreed destination (having ruled out Croatia on grounds of lower temperature), we managed to find reasonable flights with Air Malta from a new airport for us,  Southend.  We had dropped someone off there previously and had a good run so didn’t discount it from future travel and here was our opportunity!

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Sopot, Gdansk and Hel! Poland.

We decided to have a ladies short break away in September and knowing how much we all enjoyed Krakow for the sights, food and affordability we decided to have another trip away in Poland, this time heading to the Gdansk region.  There was some planning involved but we decided that a Wednesday to Saturday trip was more affordable and convenient for us all.  With flights and accommodation costing just over £100 each for a 3 night trip for 7 of us we decided to go for it!

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Ambitions, aka The Bucket List

I’d like to see the whole world, but I don’t think that’s achievable in my lifetime. What is more realistic is;

  • To visit each of the 51 countries in Europe (2/3rds of the way there, 17 to go)
  • To visit each of the 7 continents (5/7 on that score, South America and Antarctica to go)
  • To see, and hopefully join in a Tango in Buenos Aires (and maybe try my first ever steak. If you’re going to do that once in your lifetime, that’s the place to do it surely?)
  • To cage dive with Great Whites (happy to do this anywhere, but South Africa is looking favourite)
  • To see the big (and small) 5 in southern Africa.

What’s on your bucket list?

Nigel

Frankfurt, Germany, Perugia, Italy and San Marino, San Marino.

After some deliberation and the fact we had some time off, we decided to head away for a few days in July for Nigel’s birthday.  After a few searches of Skyscanner.net for what was cheap on the dates we had and a bit of deliberation about destinations we hadn’t been to before we decided to head towards San Marino!

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A weekend in Morocco – Marrakech & Ouzoud Falls

As a certain family member was celebrating a big birthday (yes Mum this means you!) we decided to treat her to a weekend away and after some deliberation, we decided on Marrakech; none of us had been there before and Nigel had never been to Africa so we decided to go for it.  Easyjet flies directly from Gatwick to Marrakech and so we booked some reasonable flights, found a Riad on Booking.com and off we went on a 3-night break! Continue reading “A weekend in Morocco – Marrakech & Ouzoud Falls”

A few days in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Sofia was our final and shortest stop; we had worked out our route, and we were able to fly back to the same airport we left from. This meant we could make it to Sofia for a short break. Our prior research showed that we could get a bus to Sofia for 15 euros each, booked directly at the bus station.  The journey was due to take around 5-6 hours, depending on stops at the border.   We arrived at the bus station and departed on time at 8.30 am.

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Skopje, North Macedonia.

We left Pristina bus station on the Albus bus to Skopje which cost 5 euros each.  The journey took just under 3 hours with a stop on the way and quite a long delay at the border before we arrived at our accommodation Hotel Super 8.  We were lucky in the fact we passed the hotel and the bus driver allowed us off nearby rather than having to find our way back from the bus station. Continue reading “Skopje, North Macedonia.”

Pristina/Prishtina, Kosovo

How many countries are there in Europe? Google it if you have to. Some say 50, others 51. Why the difference? Kosovo. Some countries recognise it as an independent country, including the UK and the US, whilst others do not.

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