You do have to wonder if, in years to come, people will look back on this period in time and say: "Do you remember when you'd go to the beach on holiday and see couples doing ridiculous photoshoots for their Instagram feed? What was THAT all about?"
Having recently spent a week in Crete, marveling at the absolute lack of self-awareness some people display when perfecting that hair tossed casually about, slight pout, poke arse out photo, it does make you think humanity is in a weird place right now.
But hey, each to their own, we've all got to have hobbies, right? Maybe me writing this and posting it on social media is just as self-indulgent as if I splashed about coquettishly in the water on a beach making someone take hundreds of photos of me. (Maybe that should be the next blog post?)
But I digress. I'm supposed to be telling you about Crete. It was my second visit to Greece, after a trip in October 2015 that took in Athens, Amorgos, Naxos and Koufounissia. This time, it was just one island and one week but Crete is Greece's largest island so there is plenty to explore.
We landed in Heraklion and the plan was to spend a couple of days there, then rent a car, drive into the middle of Crete to stay in a house in the countryside and then onwards to Chania.
The main draw around Heraklion is supposed to be the archeological site of Knossos, which had a palace built on it around 2000 BC. The only problem is, the English archeologist who excavated quite a lot of it in the early 1900s decided to rebuild certain parts of it and these additions looks a bit crap to be honest.
If you're going to Crete and you're a bit short of time, I'd give Knossos a miss, because as the island's big tourist attraction it's also pretty crowded and expensive. And there are so many beaches to explore!
I'm not normally one for a lot of beach time on holiday but when they're as spectacular as the ones in Crete, it's time to get your book out and slap on the suncream. We spent time on Elafonisi, Balos, Seitan Limania and Kalathas. Would recommend them all, but if you're there in summer, don't expect any of them to be deserted hidden treasures. Still, you can usually find a quieter patch somewhere.
One place we didn't factor in enough time for was Rethymno. We only spent an afternoon here but it would have been well worth stopping overnight here. And we certainly should have skipped a town called Bali on the way there. Not sure what I'd read that made me want to visit Bali but it's a packed tourist trap with very little of note.
What I would highly recommend is getting into the countryside and spending a couple of nights away from the busier coastal areas. We stayed in Natura House near Limni, where the owner greeted us with her mother who had made dinner for us and left it in the oven for when we arrived at 9pm! Cretan hospitality is the greatest. (I've hyperlinked the name because we liked it so much.)
A couple of nights in an Airbnb near central Chania gave us time to explore the city's charming Old Town and Balos beach, before catching an inevitably late Easyjet flight back to London.
Now the pictures. I apologise in advance for total lack of Insta-photoshoot material. Next time eh?
Knossos - an example of the kind of bad rebuilding work Arthur Evans inflicted on the site. Even the information boards around Knossos sounded a bit unsure about what the hell he was actually doing.
Boat next to the pool in our hotel near Heraklion. Don't think it's been a seafaring vessel for some time.
Went to a great Cretan restaurant in Amoudara called Mourelo Cretan Food & Drink Philosophy, where we had snails, which is a local speciality. Despite a silly name it's a fantastic restaurant.
Stopped for lunch in a small town called Bali and this cat was probably the highlight.
Would have liked to spend an extra day/night in Rethymno, but half a day here gave us a feel of the place and its narrow winding streets. This is the lighthouse in the town's Venetian Harbour.
Elafonisi Beach was well-worth the drive to get there through narrow, twisting mountain roads. It wasn't quite the hidden gem I was hoping for (everyone knows about it) but beautiful nonetheless.
Balos Beach - If you go here, take a ferry from one of the nearby towns rather than bumping your way along the mountain road that leads to the beach. Our rented Nissan Micra got there in the end but it was a real test for the suspension. Plus, if you arrive by car you've then got about a half hour trek to the beach, although you will to see the whole beach from above.
Chania's harbour at night. If you find yourself having to decide between Heraklion and Chania (that's where the main airports are), go for Chania. It's got more going on, is nice to wander round and is more Greek-picturesque in my opinion.
Another beach reached by a zig-zagging walk down a cliff, this one's called Seitan Limania. It's a small beach at the bottom but swimming between the steep cliffs was one of my highlights of Crete.
At Seitan Limania, inquisitive goats are on the lookout for any food beachgoers might be willing to part with. Harriet's keeping a low profile and hoping they don't guess what's in the rucksack...
"What ya got? Come on, I know you've got some food, don't be holding out on me."
St Francis of Assisi in a courtyard in the old town area of Chania.
A floral doorway in Chania
Some of the buildings in Chania reminded me a bit of Havana, especially this one with paint peeling off the facade.
Budapest is one of those cities I feel like I should have visited ages ago but just hadn't got round to. It's like that list of films everyone has that they haven't seen yet, but feel like they probably should have. For example, I've never seen Gremlins or Gone With The Wind... there, I've said it. Don't judge me.
I flew in from Copenhagen (after a three-day work trip there) and made my way to a slightly shabby but excellently located Airbnb right in the centre of Budapest, about five minutes walk from the Danube. Historically, Budapest is two cities merged into one, Buda on one side of the river and Pest on the other. Pest is where most of the action is for tourists, with St Stephen's Basilica, the Jewish district and all the best bars and restaurants.
It also has the Széchenyi thermal baths, the highlight of my visit. Around 30 or more pools of varying sizes and water temperatures, it's a wonderful way to spend a few hours in Budapest. I took the advice I was given to get there early (6am-10am) or late (6pm-10pm) to avoid the crowds in the busiest part of the day, and I was relaxing in one of the larger outdoor pools by 8.45am. Let's face it, I wasn't going to get there for 6am, this was a holiday after all.
On my first morning in the city I went full tourist and joined one of the free (but not really free because you tip the guide afterwards) walking tours. It's one of the best ways to orientate yourself in a new city, learn a bit of history about the place and spot some things to go back to later.
I was only there for three days and could easily have spent another day wandering about the city. But on the other hand it was enough to be left wanting to back again to check out the things I didn't have time for and eat some more tasty Hungarian Goulash.
Budapest's not a bad looking city at night, especially down by the Danube, with bridges and buildings on both side illuminated. This is Széchenyi Chain Bridge.
The Hungarian Parliament Building. The spotlights used to light up some of the buildings attract loads of bugs/moths, which in turn attracts a lot of birds who want to eat them. That's what all the white dots above the building in this photo are.
Standing in front of the Parliament Building.
Matthias Church, over on the Buda side of the river. Photo taken from the Fisherman's Bastion, one of the shortest tourist attractions I've ever paid for. A quick walk round a wall and you're done.
Can't remember where this was (somewhere on the Buda side of the river) but I liked the look of it.
Central Hall Market is busy but you can get some proper Hungarian Goulash in there for a few quid, as well as endless stalls selling paprika-related gifts. Hungarians love the paprika.
I tried out Airbnb 'experiences' and went to see the Secret Swing Concerts of Budapest, with a band that played swing jazz and a lot of Django Reinhardt. Would absolutely recommend if you're in Budapest on a Thursday night.
One of the outdoor pools at Széchenyi thermal baths. There are plenty of thermal baths to choose from in Budapest, and I heard the Gellert is good too, but this is the most famous one.
Another shot of the baths. It was warm and sunny when I was there but the baths are open all year round. It would be cool to go back again on a colder day and see the steam rising off the water.
Chimney cake - a Hungarian speciality. A long cone-shaped cake sprinkled with cinnamon.
The Liberty Statue was erected under Soviet rule in 1947, but when Hungary gained independence in 1989 the locals decided they wanted to keep it.
Shot of Budapest at night from the Liberty Statue's viewpoint, on the Buda side of the Danube.
Hello there. I went to Bulgaria for 10 days at the beginning of October to do a bit of exploring and now I'm going to tell you what I found.
It was odd arriving in Sofia and getting on the metro system, only to see a poster for a snooker match between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Selby but that's how the trip started. I found myself in a few places with snooker on the TV too, so there's a fact for you about modern Bulgarians: they like a bit of snooker.
Another fun Bulgaria fact is that if you go into a restaurant expecting attentive service with a smile, the majority of the time you ain't getting it. That's not to say waiters are grumpy exactly, but they just care less than you might expect and aren't so fussed about getting a tip. It's oddly refreshing in some way, and was the same in Romania when I went there six years ago.
A lot of people (including Bulgarians) asked me: "why did you choose Bulgaria for a holiday?" Most of the time I said something along the lines of I'd enjoyed Romania so thought I'd give Bulgaria a go or it was a cheap place to visit from the UK or I wanted to do some hiking in the mountains. All of which were true but it's also fun to go to a country where there's a bit of a challenge involved. Bulgaria doesn't have a big tourist industry so you've got to do things for yourself and hope you'll be able to find someone who speaks English at the bus station to point you in the right direction. Which you can, most of the time.
Anyway, enough jibber-jabber, onto the photos...
Sunset from the airplane, as I was flying to Bulgaria. Something Ryanair haven't figured out a way to charge extra for yet.
Rila Monastery was built in 927 AD so it's pretty damn old. I stayed there overnight before heading off into the mountains the next day and it was one of the most peaceful places I've ever stayed at. As you'd expect from a monastery built by a hermit, I guess. They close the gates at 8pm so you have to be done in the restaurant next door before then or the monks might not let you back in.
Luckily I didn't have to set off into the mountains alone but found a couple of guys from Israel going the same way. Autumn was in full effect at the lower altitudes, as you can see here.
(Some of the photos have a time-stamp on them because I was trying out a new Olfi camera and didn't realise the time-stamp was turned on until it was too late...)
After a mostly ascending six-hour trek up Ivan Vazov, we came to the house we would be staying in for the night. I don't think I've ever stayed somewhere so remote. The only way they could get building materials there was by horse, coming up from the valley below. The menu there was concise - bean soup, bean soup or bean soup. When it snowed and clouded over the next day, visibility out the front door was about 10 metres.
Our shoes (and my socks) were a bit damp but soon warmed up next to the wood burning stove. We thought our six hours was pretty good going until a Kiwi named Scott arrived just before dark, having powered through in about 4.5 hours. Bloody show off. He joined us on the next leg of the trip the following day.
We weren't sure if the weather was going to let us leave the house the next day but we wanted to get to the Seven Lakes, so off we went. There was still a fair bit of snow on the ground up there but it wasn't too cold as long as we kept moving.
When we got near the top of a mountain pass it was pretty windy. Enough for the snow on this signpost to be frozen horizontally.
Oh yes, it's an eight-second video. Hit play and be transported to the Rila Mountains. Kind of.
The sight that awaited us when we came down out of the clouds to see the Seven lakes was incredible. Makes a long walk worthwhile.
Ofri, me and Itamal, celebrating reaching the Seven Lakes. You'll notice they look a lot better equipped for mountain hiking than me. That's because they were a lot better equipped. Big thanks to Ofri and Itamal for letting me join them for a couple of days and avoiding freezing in the mountains like Jack Nicholson in the hedge maze at the end of The Shining.
Striking a manly pose on top of a mountain is what I do best.
The day after the mountains, it was on to Koprivshtitsa, a small town but a crucial one in the April Uprising of 1876. You're all familiar with that uprising, I'm sure. In case you're not, it was the one when Bulgaria decided it had had enough of Ottoman rule and kicked off, with the help of Russia.
A Roman amphitheatre in the old town area of Plovdiv. Built in around 97 AD and still used today. I liked Plovdiv, friendly place. After watching Bulgaria get hammered 4-1 by France in the football, I played table football with some locals and helped them drown their sporting sorrows.
I painting of Plovdiv that I liked in the city's art gallery. Not sure what drew me to it, maybe all the pretty colours. Probably wasn't meant to be taking photos in there but that's the kind of loose cannon, reckless, don't play by the rules, maverick I am.
A lion guards the gates of Tsarevets Fortess in Veliko Tarnovo, northern Bulgaria. This was the next destination after Plovdiv and was a cool little mountain town/city. The fortress was built in the 12th century and was the "tsars medieval stronghold" according to history-types.
A sign on the wall of Tsarverets Fortress. No sitting forwards, no sitting backwards and no ballerinas.
The day after the fortress I went on a hike to Arbanasi. Just a few hours this time and no snowy mountains involved. This photo was taken from a bridge that was roughly the starting point on the walk. Although it took me a while to figure that out because the signposting was a bit sparse. Ended up getting a bit lost and charged at by a massive junkyard dog which was luckily on a leash.
On the way to Arbanasi I got stalked by goats, as the title of this blog so intriguingly hints at. A herd of them decided to follow me. I was a bit worried that I would take them away from their shepherds so had to keep stopping, facing them and sort of waving my arms at them. Which made them stop following for a moment. Then I would turn my back and keep walking and they would follow again. It was a bit like a game of musical statues, but with goats.
Decent view of Veliko Tarnovo from the window of a pizza restaurant called Ego on the high street. The city is built around the Yantra River, which snakes around a bit so there are quite a few dramatic backdrops like this if you have a wander.
On my last night in Veliko Tarnovo I went to a bar called Melon Live Music Club with a couple of guys from the hostel I was staying in. I drank some pretty good beer, the name of which now eludes me, and watched some guys play jazz. Bulgarian jazz is much like English jazz, except you can't understand what they're saying between songs.
I used to love the sitcom Allo Allo when I was a kid, so it pleased me to discover a theatre was doing stage version of it in Sofia. Didn't get to see it, unfortunately, but did discover that the sitcom is a still-popular favourite in Bulgaria.
Ivan Vazov Theatre in Sofia. Same name as the mountain I climbed, named after a popular Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright.
An imposing looking statue of Tsar Samuil in Sofia. He ruled Bulgaria in the 10th century and at night the eyes of this statue glow in the dark, which is probably how all great leaders wish to be commemorated.
For the last couple of days of my trip, I was joined in Sofia by none other than Alastair aka The International Gentleman Traveller (IGT for short). Some say if there's a country he hasn't been to then it's probably not really a country at all. Either way, he was excellent company to end my holiday with and we went to a restaurant where there were things like 'Hooded Pheasant' and 'Rabbit killed with gun with expired shooting license' on the menu. I guess they were trying to be a bit whacky but the food was damn fine. And that was Bulgaria.
