The Wanderers Return

The end of June!  As DH keeps saying, it will soon be Christmas.  I'm getting back to "normal" now after my final foreign trip for a long time.  I think I must now conserve both energy and money - back to the baked beans and porridge lifestyle.  It doesn't mean I will stop dreaming and planning, my DD has given me the task of finding a holiday destination that fulfills these criteria:

• not on a fault line (because we've pushed our luck with recent trips)
• sunny (because life's just better in the sun)
• with culture, history and ruins (to entertain DD)
• beyond Europe (for an interesting passport stamp)
• non-Muslim (for a change of culture from recent holidays together)
• child-friendly (for Sam)

Ideas on a postcard please!

We had a good trip to Turkey (with some irritations that I won't dwell on as they're finished with) and did several amazing things.  We even went to Greece for the day, to the island of SAMos!!

Darling Sam was happy with a wide variety of forms of transport - car, taxi, aeroplane, coach, porter's cart, bus, boat and dolmus - and the opportunity to swim every day and eat a lot of ice cream and cake.

Saz' highlight was the day we spent in Ephesus .  Only 10% of this massive site has been excavated to date and yet there is so much to see.  It seemed we could still feel the presence of those who once walked through the city, whose feet smoothed the marble streets.

My holiday was made by our visit to Pamukkale, a geological wonder that really deserves to be called  "awesome".

So now it's a day of visiting Sainsbury's, doing the washing and then settling down to watch Wimbledon.  I have blogs, emails and post to catch up with and the garden has "blossomed" while I've been away but I'm relaxed.  A holiday in the sunshine, with my DD and DGS and without a visit to the local accident and emergency department or a trip in a Turkish ambulance, high five!