Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Looking Forward
This time next month I’ll be in Barcelona, Spain; having had already spent a week travelling south through France, in what will be the first stage of my two-month tour of Europe and Egypt.
Leaving Norwich on April 20th, I’ll travel down to London to spend a day in the capital before meeting up with my travel companions on the 22nd, and making our way to Dover then across to Calais, France - Where the adventure truly begins.
The planned route takes me through France, in to Spain, back across France to Italy, Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and The Netherlands.
I’ll be stopping in some of the world’s most spectacular and historically significant cities, and travelling though some truly beautiful landscapes, from the French Beaujolias region with its Château’s and Vineyards to the sun-soaked Mediterranean coast - adorned with remnants of the once great civilisations that ruled over it; and from the Nile Valley, and Red Sea to the Swiss Alps, and the Rhine Valley.
I look ahead to this trip with great excitement, and hope that it lives up to be everything I imagine it will be. I recently put together a list of the cities and experiences I have a real desire to visit/try (we’ve all done it!). So far the list stands at 50 (25 Cities, 25 Experiences), this trip will see my tick off no less than 15 of them! (Coincidently, I will soon add the list in full).
Sailing down the Nile on a Felucca is once experience I am eagerly awaiting. The experience itself will be amazing, but knowing that each stop will bring me to some of the places I have wanted to visit and explore since my days spent dreaming of adventure as a child (…alright my days spent daydreaming at work!). The Pyramids at Giza; the Temples and ruins in Luxor, Karnak and Abu Simbel; for me; looking ahead, they stand out as the highlights. I realise my views on Egypt are somewhat romanticised, but I’m confident I will not be disappointed.
If you hadn’t guessed already one of my major interests is history, especially concerning ancient civilisations. Italy, Greece and Turkey also stand out as they still bare signs of the Roman, Macedonian, Greek, Byzantium and Ottoman empires; Rome, Athens and Istanbul particularly. I’m hoping to spend a lot of time exploring all three cities, and straying away from the typical tourist areas to get a feel for both the history, and of life for the locals. I think witnessing people in their natural environment will give me a better feel for the character of the place I’m in.
I realise that this entry is in danger of becoming quite long, as I’ve not even mentioned Venice, Verona, Florence, Vienna, Budapest or Bucharest. All of which are on my list, and again all places I’m really excited about exploring.
But I think I should bring this entry to a close, as it won’t be long before I’m actually in these places. It will be interesting (for me at least!) to read this entry once I’ve actually been to the places I have mentioned.
I’m not sure how regularly I can update this whilst I’m away, especially when I reach Egypt and Turkey. I’m sure I’ll find away, if not. I’ll just be uploading a lot of entries when I get back to London.
- comments