Where Are They Now?

We arrived in Cairo hopeful that we would see some changes since our last visit. The recently completed airport was impressive, so was the fact that our tour guide was there to greet us as we came through customs. The modern roadways leading from the airport quickly lead to the chaos we knew to be the Cairo of old. There is no such thing as lanes, car horns and aggressive driving are used to determine right of way. Major intersections lacking traffic lights become a tapestry of cars, utes, overloaded buses and combi vans, donkeys, camels, peddlers, motor bikes and extremely brave pedestrians. We were fortunate to be in the hands of an extremely capable driver who also contended with obstacles on the road way including peasants sweeping major roads in the midst of the traffic.

There are fields among the low rise unfinished apartment buildings which the government is building in an attempt to deal with the large population. The Nile runs wide and plentiful dividing the east from west. We travelled out of the heart of Cairo following irrigation channels whose banks are lined with rubbish. You would see the odd fisherman presumable catching a meal amongst the rubbish floating in the channels. At times the smell of rubbish fermenting in the heat left you gagging.

At first it was hard to distinguish when people were showing common courtesy or providing a service for which they expected a tip. By the end of three days we realized the over service came with the expectation of a tip. This became annoying as people were jumping out from everywhere doing basic things like opening a door, pushing the elevator button, putting your towel on sun lounge, all of which we were quite capable and happier to do ourselves. If you did tip for any service it never seemed enough. It got to the point where you didn’t want to go anywhere or do anything because of the hassle of the expectation of tips. Even if you said no to a service, they would persist to take over with gentlemanly politeness, then uncomfortably hassle you until you had paid them something. The most disappointing example was the tourism police at the pyramids who would offer to take your photo and then expect payment for it, they were also letting people climb parts of the pyramids for payment.

We did however achieve our main goals of showing the girls the awesome Pyramids of Giza, the Cairo Museum, the Sound and Light Show over the pyramids and the Cairo market. We also visited the Mohamed Ali Mosque which was built by the same architect as the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, there were many similarities in the architecture however the interior décor was quite different. The girls got to see a different culture and talked about how interesting it was looking out at the streets from the safety of our transport. As we drove along they occasionally voiced their discomfort at being in such a different environment but also expressed their appreciation of how fortunate we are to live in Australia. They did however think the idea of riding a donkey, camel or in the back of a ute would be “cool”. The girls spoke more about having a camel ride through the hot desert more than any other Egyptian experience.

We left Cairo thankful we had chosen a 5 star hotel, with upset stomachs and looking forward to returning HOME.

Did you know about Turkey?

We didn’t until this last 2 weeks!

Turkey has 2 of the original 7 wonders of the Ancient world.

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

Mausleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus

And has one of the Medieval wonders also

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul

And has one of the 10 Travel Wonders of the world

Cappadocia

Turkey is the only country that is in two Continents

Asia and Europe

3% is in Europe and 97% is in Asia (and they are trying to get into the European Union)

Turkey has the oldest known human settlement.

Humans came out of the caves and settled on the plains to become hunters and gathers near Konya around 8000 BC.

The backside of most playing cards is a design from Turkey.

(except for the nude variety)

Santa Clause comes from Turkey even though he may live in the North Pole today.

Saint Nicholas is Turkish.

The Tulip was first grown in Turkey. They were then exported to Holland in the 16^th Century.

This is why you will see tulip designs on a lot of their woven carpets and historic designs and even most of their old monuments.

The Turks were drawn into WW1 as German allies mainly because of an earlier gift of a drinking fountain from the Germans.

The Turks did not get involved in WWII.

Simpson and his donkey are legends in Turkey as well.

Simpson and his donkey carried not only injured allied forces to safety but also Turks.

Turks love Australians.

I kind of knew this but did not realize how much. When they find out you are Australian they really do go out of their way to make you feel welcome. Lots of G’day Mates and Aussie, Aussie, Aussie Oi Oi Oi’s.

That Turkey has so many neighbors.

• Iraq to the southeast
• Syria to the south
• Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest
• Armenia, Georgia, and Iran to the east

Any wonder it has had so many conflicts in its history.

In 2005 six 000000 were dropped from their currency.

So 1,000,000 Lira became 1 Turkish Lira.

The first coins / money were minted and used in Turkey.

It is believed the first coins made of gold and silver were used in Turkey in the 7^th Century BC. Well before the Romans.

Noah’s Ark landed on Mount Ararat in Eastern Turkey.

And the last meal served on Noah’s Ark was a pudding of sweet and  sour taste (asure), which is still served throughout Turkey today.

Julius Caesar made his most famous quote in Turkey.

Julius Caesar proclaimed his celebrated words, “Veni, Vidi, Vici (I came, I saw, I conquered)” in Turkey when he defeated the Pontus, a formidable kingdom in the Black Sea region of Turkey.

The first church was created/built in Turkey.

St Peter carved a rock Church in Turkey and began preaching in this cave church around 65AD. Amazing to know that Turkey is now 99.8% Muslim.

The last stop on the Orient Express was Istanbul

Cleopatra met Mark Antony in Turkey.

Harry Kewell now plays soccer in Turkish for club side Galatasaray.

When people in the street find out you are from Australia a lot of them talk about what a star Harry Kewell is.

Turkey is an amazing country and have been truly surprised at its history and natural beauty. The friendliness of its people is an added bonus.

Heading to Turkey, we were all very tired and bored with our limited wardrobes and living out of our suitcases. We were all looking forward to joining a tour and having all the decisions and organization made for us.

Istanbul presented us with a palace, mosques and an underground cistern. All very different in architecture to what we had seen throughout Europe. I enjoyed the tour of the Palace with the guide (Duvat) explaining the different sections of the palace and their purpose. It is amazing to see large buildings and monuments constructed so long ago out of heavy materials such as marble, iron and granite, most containing domes and arches supported by large columns. I have also gained a little more insight into the Muslim religion and the interconnectedness of religions in general. In the evenings we felt safe strolling the main shopping district of Istanbul. Colorful shops lined the streets selling ceramics, handmade carpets, haberdashery, clothing and stain glass lanterns most of which we could just admire as our suitcases we too small for such souvenirs. The shop owners came out onto the street to cheerfully and politely invite us into their shops. I was surprised at how many people who spoke excellent English having never traveled out of Turkey. I got the impression they enjoyed the opportunity to speak with you to make use of their second language skills. Sophie attracted a lot of attention in the streets, being called a princess many times as they looked into her blue eyes and gently touched her fair skin or pinched her cheeks. She was a good sport about this even though she found it a bit invasive. The girls both enjoyed the baked potatoes and steamed corn. Mark and Sophie enjoyed chicken and chip kebabs and I enjoyed the some fresh fruit.

One the main reasons we came to Turkey was to visit Gallipoli. It was a long drive until we arrived at the peaceful coast line of Gallipolli where the turquoise waves of the Aegean sea gently lap the narrow coastline of sand and rocks. The girls waded in the shores of Gallipoli and collected a few souvenir rocks. Looking towards land from the shore it was unbelievable to think that they proceeded to land the ANZACs in such an unachievable landscape of rising cliff faces. We learnt a lot about the events of Gallipoli from this experience. The Turkish government have set up many monuments to acknowledge and remember the soldiers whose blood was shed at Gallipoli. Of course to the Turkish people Gallipoli was an important victory as they successfully defended their soil form invasion, but not without the huge fatalities on their side.

You cannot go to any war grave site without being emotional. The useless loss of life, with the out pouring of grief inscribed on the memorials is heart wrenching. We viewed memorials, monuments and cemeteries of the Aust, NZ, and Turkish soldiers and the handful of English, French and Indian soldiers. It is at least a peaceful site now with colorful butterflies, flowers and a soothing breeze all caressing the many memorial sites. We walked through the trenches, many of which are being lost through time but some which have been maintained to allow visitor to experience them. Looking down over the beautiful bay filled with turquoise water it is hard to believe such an horrific event occurred here.

Troy was the beginning of several ancient acropolis (high cities) visited on our tour, each containing something unique which added to our knowledge, experience and image of the ancient world. We approached Troy with limited expectations from what people had told us. But we still enjoyed seeing this sight, and revisiting its story while standing among the ancient ruins. The girls enjoyed climbing inside the giant wooden horse as this was the closest they had come to a theme park for a while. Pergamum was the next ancient site, it contained an acropolis as with a library and amphitheater. We enjoyed walking through the ancient archways of the library and climbing the steps of the amphitheater. Ephesus was the next and best ancient city, here we sat on ancient communal public toilets, which contained an intact sewerage system and a duck pond to camouflage the toilet sounds. The original library facade was very pretty and stood 2 stories high. The amphitheater was the most impressive we were to see in Turkey, we climbed its many steps to view it from top and bottom.

The often long bus rides provided an opportunity to view the country side in between short naps. The drive along the west coast heading south crossed hills and plains cover in olive trees as far as the eye could see. There were small camp sites of the fruit pickers, trucks with men sitting in the back being transported to work sites, motorbikes with up to 4 people on them including adults and children wearing no helmets, trucks overflowing with watermelons, tractors, children driving cars while sitting on adults knees and still the occasional horse and carts. The southern areas of Turkey were very picturesque with rocky mountains lining the coastline which followed the many bays and inlets of the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. Small sea villages with mariners and sun beds with umbrellas line the beaches.

Turkey is well known for their hand made goods. We visited a carpet factory where we saw carpets being made and viewed many beautiful finished products and a leather factory where we saw a fashion show of many stylish designs of jackets, they didn’t quite look as good on us as they did on the models. We visited a ceramics factory where we were all given the opportunity to try our hand at making our own creations out of the local red clay. We visited a factory where they used the semi precious local stones to make jewelry and other sculpture objects such as chess pieces, vessels, and ornamental statues.

Turkey has many sites which claim to have therapeutic qualities. We enjoyed paddling in the pools created in the calcium cliffs of Pamukkale, Cleopatra had apparently visited the pools because of their therapeutic qualities so they are sometimes called Cleopatra pools. They were esthetically pleasing but a little rocky underfoot. Some contained more of a silt bottom which was a relief on our feet. We had fun swimming in the therapeutic hot spring of Hierapolis among ancient Roman ruins. The pools were formed by an earthquake and contained warm, bubbly water. The ruins in the pools were little slimy from the algae making them somewhat slippery to climb over. We took a mud bath by the lake in Koycegiz, enjoying sloshing about in the tepid mud and digging our feet into the clay at the bottom. A welcome swim in the picturesque lake helped to wash off the mud in a fun and refreshing way. We had a second mud bath at Salikikat Gorge were we rafted down a river created by the melted snow from the nearby mountains. A mud bath half way meant a dip in the icy water was inevitable. I finished my therapies with a traditional Turkish bath where my whole body was scrubbed, lathered in lotion and bubbles, massaged and doused in buckets of warm water while lying on a warm marble bench. Ah! Just what I needed.

We took several boat cruisers enjoying a swim in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Marmaris , the lake of Koycegiz and at Turtle beach a surf beach which was the meeting point of the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas. My favorite sailing day was off the coast of Fethiye, where we took a sailing boat around the 12 islands, the boat anchored to provide many opportunities to swim in the clear refreshing water of the Mediterranean. On all the cruisers we enjoyed sitting back and enjoying the amazing scenery, having lunch provided for us while being entertained by Turkish people dancing and singing. We wished we had had more time in the southern coastal areas of Turkey.

We started to head north, inland along the ‘Silk Road’ once used to trade between Asia and Europe. Stops along the way included a museum in Konya where we visited a mosque to view early pray carpets and early recordings of the Koran. We stopped for a cave walk which was a good opportunity to stretch our legs and cool off. By far the most interesting stop on this day was at the camel train hotel. This was a restored historical building providing an example of one of the many such hotels which existed along the silk road. They provided safe and secure shelter and rest for traders and their camels from pirates as they traveled from Asia to Istanbul.

We arrived in Cappadocia to a very different and unusual landscape. This provided some unique ancient cities to explore which where build underground, and in volcanic rock formations. These underground cities had us marveling at the social structure that existed in ancient times hidden beneath the surface of the earth. Many instantly recognizable room such as schools, churches, wells, wineries, stables, kitchens and dining rooms. At the underground city of Derinkuyu we had to maneuver our way through a labyrinth of tunnels leading to the various purpose build rooms, there was even a confession box where Mark finally confessed to losing the second jar of vegemite. There were eight levels to this underground city which also included escape tunnels and heavy round stone which could be used to block the tunnels in the event of an invasion. This city was only discovered in 1965 so the inhabitants had done an excellent job of camouflaging the entrances from the outside world. They predict that there are around 200 underground cities in the area.

A short trek through picturesque Ihlara Valley which used to be village community. There were the remains of ancient churches and dwellings carved into the rocky cliffs of the valley, built to protect the inhabitants from invasion. The girls enjoyed spotting donkeys, frogs and lizards and we came across a Shepard with his heard of cattle and men and women collecting wood by sending the branches down stream. We stopped in a tranquil sport for a cup of tea and refreshments. The valley of Goreme was stunningly different again. The city structures were built into cone like volcanic rock formations. This landscaspe is commonly referred to as the ‘fairy chimneys’ while some of these structures are part of the outdoor museum many are owned by the residence and used as restaurants, hotels and houses.

With a couple of spare hours in Cappadocia we decided to take the short walk around the corner into the local’s area to stock up on a few supplies. We attracted friendly glances from the locals as we stood out in our Western clothing and with our fair hair, skin and eyes. After stocking up at the supermarket we were keen to take in a bit more of the local atmosphere as the tour bus really only stops at the tourist areas. In the centre of the square there was a tea house filled with picnic style tables of men sitting around chatting. We decided to sit at one of the tables to eat our ice creams even though we were not sure if women were allowed here. We enjoyed listening to the tables of men having polite and passionate conversations around us while sipping their tea. We watched the locals come and go from the shopping area, going about their daily business. There were children riding their bikes care free down the middle of the streets, men and women sharing rides on motor bikes, cars which the dry, rough terrain had quickly taken its toll on and a colorful father with his son cheerfully riding through town on an elegant horse and cart. Of course the girls could not conceal their delight at the sight of the horse and carriage and drew the owners attention, he smiled back at them. After a cup of tea we headed back up the hill towards our hotel. As we were doing so the father and son came along in their horse and carriage and offered us a ride up the hill. There was much excitement as we all climbed into the cart with the lovely man and his shy son. We thanked them with some money and our last remaining kangaroo and koala toys to which they were overwhelmed. Such a special experience.

The Turkish people like their tea, their board games and to dance. There was always cups of tea offered everywhere you went, the most popular was apple. We spent an evening learning to play backgammon from our tour guide, we just hope we can remember how to play when we get home. We went to a traditional Turkish evening where we enjoyed watching traditional Turkish dancing and sampled their wine and raki. Many opportunities were provided for audience participation, all in all a colorful, entertaining and enjoyable evening.

We met two lovely Australian girls on the tour.  Ayfer was a Turkish born and her family moved to Australia when she was about 2, we enjoyed sharing her journey as she rediscovered her birth country.  Kym was a gorgeous Brisbane girl who worked in education, so we had lots to chat about.  They were delightful with the girls and have endeared themselves to our family.

We changed hotels and location for our additional two days in Istanbul.  We booked a bed and breakfast in a traditional Ottoman style house which had just recently been renovated.  It proved to be in a very cosmopolitan location with the main area lined with outdoor cafes and many restaurants having roof terraces with views of the Blue Mosque and AyaSophie on the European side and the business district on the Asian side of Istanbul.  We spent the first day at the Grand Bazaar which is like the Vic market but 20 times bigger and full of Turkish style goods such as ceramics, scarves, carpets and jewelery.  On the second day we traveled by ferry to the Princes Islands.  We hired bikes to ride around the island and took a dip at a colorful beach off a pier filled with sun lounges and sun beds.   We had a horse and carriage ride which delighted Sophie as we had finally found one which was a reasonable price.

Hearing the news about Michael Jackson’s death as we arrived back into Istanbul put a dampener on the end of our stay, Sophie’s dream of one day seeing him in concert was shattered.

We leave the uneven footpaths, chaotic traffic, kebabs, cart pedlers, colourful shops and markets, loud dancing music and the gentle, cheerful people of Turkey enriched by an amazing experience and with fond memories.

Hoggy’s Perspective, Week Seven and Eight

Jason and Shannon’s London

We left New York exhausted hoping to get a good rest on the flight across the Atlantic, however we were supposed to connect with Air Canada through Ottawa but while waiting at the terminal we found out the flight to Ottawa had been cancelled. The staff at Air Canada were fantastic; they retrieved our bags and got us on a flight to London via Toronto. This meant our bags could go straight through to London and it meant we would only be about an hour later than previously planned. I texted Jason to let him know, I got a reply from him so all was set.

The planned rest over the Atlantic didn’t happen as our flight was early evening and everyone was excited about seeing Uncle Jason. It was by far our best flight, I had a spare seat next to me, the meals were the best I have ever had on an airplane and there were plenty of good movies.

We arrived at Gatwick about 9.30am London time but about 2.30am our body clock time, so we were all a bit tired but excited about seeing Uncle Jason, the girls were a bit nervous. They remember Jason from about 3 years ago when he was last in Australia. They remembered having lots of fun with him but were a bit anxious because it had been so long. We were the last to clear immigration, we never ever rushed getting off the planes, probably because we were normally down the back but also it was easier to get ourselves organized. It is amazing how many people rush to get off planes only to find everyone waiting at the same baggage terminal. We cleared the doors at immigration and right in front of us was Uncle Jason doing some sort of silly dance to greet us / embarrass us. He was just as the girls had remembered. Fun and Silly. They also noticed he had a little less hair than they last remembered. Actually that was me.

Jason guided us up and down stairs and travelators to get to the train terminal, he took us in circles a few times, I noticed but I think the girls were too tired to notice. We then got on a crowded train that would take us into London where Jason lives. We arrived at Barbacon station and had to climb a few the flights of stairs to get to the street level. Already the girls noticed the lack of lifts and escalators in London over the US. Every set of stairs so far they asked where the lift was. Jason would reply ‘’you’re in London now’’. As we walked up the street just outside the train station, Jason asked the girls to see if they could see where he lived. I didn’t take them long to notice a giant Aussie Flag hanging from a first floor apartment. That was his way of laying out the welcome mat, when you are away so long it is nice to see things that remind you of home.

We got into his apartment and noticed it was small but still bigger than what we were expecting for the middle of London. We were to use his apartment as a base but him and Shannon (his girlfriend) had rented another apartment down the hall where they would sleep and we would shower as his apartment is a true English apartment with only a bath. The girls were happy; he had internet and a flat screen TV with cable and a big bowl of chocolates and lollies.

We had 9 days in London, it was to be longer but our tour in Turkey caused other dates to be put back and a few days taken from London. But London was about finally catching up with Jason and seeing a few sights of London town. We freshened up and decided to head out and see a few things, Jason had done the Atlantic crossing a few times and said it was better to keep going and have an early night rather than to sleep during the day. We walked out of his apartment block and straight past the London Museum and then around the corner we were at St Paul’s cathedral. We walked past St Paul’s and then along the Thames up to the London Eye. From here we could see Westminster and Big Ben. All the while Jason was giving us history lessons of the sights we were passing. We then walked back to check out the times for shows at the Shakespeare Globe. Angela was very keen to see a Shakespeare show while in England. By this stage we were all starting to wilt and Shannon would be home from work so we headed back to Jason’s apartment. He guided the girls to his apartment by saying from anywhere in London you walk towards the Giant Gherkin then walk past St Paul’s onto the two towers of Barbicon.

We got back to his apartment and fell into a chair to relax. By this stage we had been up for about 30 hours. We didn’t have to wait long to meet Shannon, she came in after a busy day at work. She was a bit of a mystery to us, Jason had us expecting a mail order bride from Asia. For Mums benefit, she is a lovely young vivacious girl from Chicago. Nothing like we had been expecting. Anyway Shannon and the girls seemed to hit it off immediately. We chatted and caught up till after midnight, we had been looking forward to London and were so glad we were finally here.

The next couple of days were pretty much spent just hanging out with Jason and Shannon, we would get up and make it up as we went. Because we were with Jason we saved a lot of time getting around, as he knew the city very well we mainly just walked or used the city double decker busses. We went to Covent Garden markets, we did the West End area, Leister Square, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard, Big Ben and the houses of parliament, the London Eye and then I remembered what was told to me as the girls mentioned how hungry they were. A voice from home said ‘’don’t wait to be offered a food stop, you have to speak out”. After I remembered this and also remembered Jason lived on mini meals we started to call out food stops. And coffee stops. When we had early morning starts and Jason would say, ‘’yes Hommie, we will stop for a coffee in a minute’’. After walking past about 30 Starbucks and Pret a Porter’s it was past coffee, it was lunch time. So from then on each morning I would say first things first and lead the posse to a local coffee shop. We would also start calling out lunch when we were hungry.

We were lucky to have Jason take some time off as I reckon we covered about a weeks worth of touring in only a few days. We went and did the best of all the museums, we were able to get straight there and then get escorted directly to the most interesting parts. We went to the London Museum which is in the old part of London just near Jasons apartment and saw a very interesting exhibition that mapped London’s history including the significant Great fire of London in 1666. We went to the British Museum and got to see some very interesting stuff, they have really done some great work with this museum since we were last in London. We particularly enjoyed seeing the Rosetta Stone, and reading of its significance, particularly considering we will be visiting Egypt later on.

There is also some great pieces of Greek artifacts that they have which they have used in replicating what the monuments would have looked like had they had all the pieces. We also visited the National Gallery near Trafalgar Square which had some very significant pieces of artwork. Angela was particularly excited about this gallery, she wished we could have stayed longer but Jason had other places to visit. He took the girls to the largest toy store they had ever seen. We left the girls to explore the seven or so floors while we went and had a coffee.

As the days went by I got to remember the brother I don’t see much these days but also realize that he is still the same guy with much more knowledge of the world than I realized and much less hair.

The girls got to meet their Uncle Jason again and now they are a little older, got to see him for who he is. An individual, kooky, funny and loving uncle that they would not have seen before. They became very attracted in particular to his kooky ways, mostly his one liners that he had for just about every situation.

Such as,

“Heyyyy, I’m walkin here”

Used whenever someone gets in his way or he gets in someone else’s way. Like we are jay walking across a busy street and a car has to stop for him, he would turn and say……… Heyyyy, I’m walkin here”

“How you doin”

He would just this at random to us and people. They would just look at him.

“Show em your guns”

He would get the girls to say this and roll their sleeves up for a photo.

“Computer says noooo” and coughs.

He would say this in a slow English accent (as in the TV skit show Little Britain) whenever the answer was no.. So he would say it a lot..

(PS.. 3 weeks down the track Georgia is still using this one and driving us crazy)

And many more quotes from Little Britain and the Simpsons and just about every movie in history. In fact we started a running count each day to remind us of how many TV or Movie quotes he uses in every day conversation. The girls thought it was pretty funny watching his antics and in the end were contributing. Sophie added chaa-ching (sound of a cash register, not sure where she got it from) to his list. They would use this sound loudly whenever they did well financially or got something they wanted. Like when Sophie saw the toy shop it was a huge chaa-ching.

We don’t know how Shannon puts up with it. But as the days go by we start to hear her adding her bits and pieces to the repertoire.

A trip to London is not complete without the drunk phone call home to Geelong. Well to achieve this we had to go and get drunk. Jason organized one of his specialist drunks Tom to assist and I had made contact with a best mate, Matt who now lives in London (Brighton, about 100kms away) to meet at a pub in the West End. Well it was a great night drinking London ales and talking a lot of garbage. We were lucky the pubs closed at 1.00am as we were still going pretty strong. But we did fit in the phone call to Mum and Dad who were on holidays in Northern New South Wales. I don’t remember much of the conversation but I have had them from the other side and I am pretty sure there was not much sense made. It was great catching up with Matt again, we have not seen each other for a few years. We tried to catch up again before we left England but it didn’t work out. So we have made a promise to catch up when he is next in Australia.

After a week of this in London we decide to take this show on the road. A 7 seater bus on tour through the South of England. Will be interesting.

Shannon and I get to travel to Gatwick airport together to pick up the hire car. It is a good chance to sit on the train and compare notes. And get to know each other a little better. Jason must have rang about 5 times to see if we were OK. Each time we told him we were lost. I think he then realized we would be OK. Anyway we picked up the car set up the GPS and then drove back into London to pick up the others.

We then began the drive to Stratford Upon Avon, along the way we stopped at a Sainsbury’s (huge grocery store) to pick up a few travel goodies. (chaa-ching) As we approached Stratford we began looking for a bed and breakfast, but we did not anticipate it being the bank holiday long weekend. So we began getting a little nervous that we would be sleeping in the van. We stopped at one farm house that was decided it would be too spooky. So we ended up scoring a great little B & B only walking distance to the river of Stratford. We decided to walk into town and grab a bite to eat, we came across a fish n chip shop. We hadn’t had fish n chips yet and Angela was hanging out for some mushy peas. So we got some fish n chips and sat on the grass in front of the Shakespeare theatre to eat. After eating the girls remind Jason of their last memory of him about 4 years earlier where he piggy backed them together. They have never forgotten and urge him to try again. We suggest it is not a good idea but he shows the guns and says to the girls ‘’lets do it’’. Georgia hops on first and Sophie tries to attach herself to Georgia. Well our trip nearly finished there and then. Sophie fell and hit her head on a metal chair she had climbed on. She immediately starts really crying, once Jason realized she was OK. He tells her that it was lucky she hit the hard part of her head. She learns something about the anatomy of her head and Jason realizes they are 4 years heavier and his guns are not that big.

After wandering through Startford it reminded Angela and I why we liked it so much 17 years ago.

The next day we packed and headed towards Bath, we made a stop on the way at Stonehenge. We did the cheap option which is to park just down the road from the car park and walk the perimeter fence. We got all the snaps we needed. You cant get any closer than about 10 meters away and it costs 11 pounds to get inside the fence. Its kind of an interesting place but can be done for free. (chaa-ching)

From Stonhenge we drove to Bath, while looking for a B&B we ended up doing a pretty amazing wrong turn that took us all over the top of bath through some incredible little streets. We struggled to find a B&B and ended up in a little town called Bradford just outside of Bath. It was a little pub with some very rooms above. It was pretty plain but we were thankful we found something as we found out it was an English long weekend. Angela and Sophie went and had fish and chips while the rest of us found a Thai restaurant that sounded good. After dinner we went for a walk through the town which had no street lights, and when we walked past the church with cemetery Jason decided to scare the wits out of Georgia. We then had to head back to the pub for a couple of pints before bed.

The next day we drove into Bath and took the girls to the Roman Baths which they have done some great work to since the last time we came and then hit the road towards Dover and our ferry to Paris.

We arrived in Dover around 5pm and found a B&B pretty close to town, once we unloaded we went down to the ferry terminal to work out plan for tomorrow we then went for a drive past the Dover castle to the white cliffs.

Our departure from England was very emotional, the girls in particular had grown very fond of their long lost uncle and Shannon. We boarded the bus that took us through immigration and onto the ferry with the girls very upset. They knew it would be some time before they got to see their uncle and Shannon again. I think they were a little upset that we were on our own again. They had really enjoyed the company while in England. So had Angela and I.

Thank you so much Jason and Shannon.