qaminari

Nicely situated not far from Glastonbury and Street (where Clarks Shoes have their factory, and the main street is full of shoe shops). Has a nice little covered market building (the “Butter Cross”) next to the old town hall in Market Square, see http://www.somerton.co.uk/.

I know virtually nothing about it, apart from the fact that it is in the Pennines, but I was born here so it had to be worth “visiting”!

I only visited on a day trip from Dubrovnik, “Montenegro Blue” (Atlas), including Perast, Island of St. George (in the photo), Sveti Stefan and the lovely walled towns of Kotor and Budva, but it is absolutely beautiful and I will certainly return. Also, Montenegro uses the euro which is very convenient!

I visited Mostar from Dubrovnik, also stopping at Pocitelj, another UNESCO-protected site (see pic). Both are beautiful and interesting, and I highly recommend a visit if you are in the area.

Had a wonderful time in Dubrovnik and Cavtat, visiting Mljet and Korcula islands (as well as Lokrum). One of the most beautiful places I have ever been, and I have every intention of returning.

Had a number of practical problems during my one-week tour with a French-speaking group: missing visa document, leading to delay and additional expense; mad guide (Hassan); paid-for hotel in Tripoli requisitioned by the State – but I enjoyed my stay and the Greek and Roman ruins enormously. One day I’ll go back, to visit the desert…

Re-booked for 8 April 2006 – third time lucky, I hope!

Madeira was a substitute trip for me, I was supposed to be going somewhere else for Christmas but it got cancelled. Although it is true that the hotel zone in Funchal is a bit of a concrete jungle, I thought the island as a whole (not that I saw all of it!) was fantastic, I particularly enjoyed a levada walk and a trip to Porto Moniz on the local bus, with fantastic views down sheer cliffs to little villages at sea level, and at Porto Moniz itself, huge waves breaking over the natural rock pools. Shame I had to return before the New Year’s Eve fireworks, I was told locally that they are quite spectacular, but I did get to enjoy the Christmas lights in Funchal. The gardens are beautiful and having experienced several showers, I can understand why the vegetation is so lush there. Luckily, the sun also shines a lot, sometimes even when it is raining, I don’t think I have ever seen so many rainbows!

I want to see the Roman ruins at Leptis Magna and the Greek ones at Cyrene, and also my father was among the last British teenagers to do military service, which he did in Tripoli, I think in 1948/9, prior to Libya’s independence. I was supposed to be going last Christmas but at that time it was still necessary to get a visa before departure and have passports translated into Arabic, and I left it too late to do that (now it’s possible to get the visa on arrival and they’ve dropped the translation requirement). This year I booked in August for departure on 24 Dec., flights from my city being on Saturdays. And then on 24 Nov. they informed me the trip was cancelled. After trying and failing to find another for which there was still room on a flight, including via London or Zurich, I have ended up going to – Madeira! Well I am looking forward to it even if it doesn’t increase my “country” score!