Out for a hike above Cheddar Gorge!

We've done a lot of walking in the past couple of months, but it's been mostly flat city walking, not an actual trail hike that includes some climbing. And with our big ten day Albania hike coming up in just over a month, we need to get our legs in better shape.

So yesterday we went up to Cheddar Gorge to do their 5 km (3 mile) Gorge Top Walk.

The smallest city in England

We never did get any rain, but it was after lunch by the time some blue sky arrived. It turned out to be a nice afternoon, with high around 20C (68F).

Tony drove us over to the city of Wells... the smallest city in England based on the fact that it has both a cathedral and only 12,000 residents. We had gone through on the bus the other day and Lindsey had said she would like to go back and wander around. Helen stayed home... she has a bad foot and is trying to give it some rest.

Made it back to Helen and Tony's

On Monday, we walked almost 2 kms to the Bristol Bus Station and took the 10:55am bus from Bristol to Glastonbury. 

The bus was right on time, and it cost an amazingly cheap £2 ($2.50 USD, $3.40 CAD) per adult, and half that for Sadie.

April Expenses

We've been busy since the end of April, and just haven't had time to post our monthly expense report!

We started the month of April by arriving in Kuwait City on April 1st and had two flights throughout the month as we made our way to Istanbul and Antalya, Turkiye. 

Our budget called for $3,115 CAD ($2,300 USD) for the month, but we knew we had some medical things to get looked at, and ended up spending $3,512 CAD ($2,566 USD) in total.

Fantastic news!

Well, the "maybe some good news" from yesterday unexpectedly turned into fantastic news today!

I had mentioned yesterday that because our easyJet flight from Paris to Bristol was late arriving that we may be entitled to compensation. The European Union (EU) has some strict regulations governing the airlines and their commitments to their passengers, and if your arriving flight is more than three hours late, you can submit a claim to the airline.

Arrived in Bristol, England... and maybe some good news!

Yesterday's blog was posted late, so if you missed The view from the Eiffel Tower you might want to go back.

We were up at 5:45am to catch the bus to Paris airport for our 9:00am easyJet flight to Bristol, England. The bus outside the hotel arrived right on time, but we didn't have any small bills to pay for the bus. Only a €20 note. It was supposed to cost €2.50 each for the adults, but when I went to pay, the driver just waived us on through! So the ten minute bus ride to the terminal was totally free.

View from the Eiffel Tower

Friday was a bit of a hectic day! We had to be out of our apartment by 11:00am, but had arranged to be able to leave our bags behind, provided we were back to pick them up by 1:00pm.

So we headed out to return to the Eiffel Tower in the hopes of getting up there to match up another photo or two.

Busy day touring Paris matching my father's photos

For whatever reason, Paris has never been on our "to do" list. I guess that's why it took 62 years for us to get here!

We've only got a day and a half to explore the city, so we were pretty much planning on sticking to the highlights. But with lots of walking, we would see other stuff along the way.

Welcome to Paris!

France is not a new country for us. However we have never been to the actual city of Paris, despite having flown in and out of Paris airport a couple of times.

So when our granddaughter Sadie said that she wanted to see Paris as part of her trip across the pond, we decided that now is a good time!

Next blog post coming to you from Paris, France!

Our daughter Lindsey and granddaughter Sadie arrived in London, England yesterday morning after doing the overnight flight from Halifax, Nova Scotia. 

They spent the day exploring London, and then the evening and overnight at Ruth's aunt who lives in the city.  Today, they plan to go to a theater show, among other things. Then tomorrow afternoon they will take the chunnel train from London to Paris.

Road Trip Savings: 5 Top Tips for Economical Car Hire Deals

No one can deny that cars are among the technological advances that have made everyday life much easier. An additional and extremely important benefit is that travelling has become much less tiring and much more fun. Brits know how great road trips are, as they’re their favourite getaway holiday plan. In doing so, they not only experience something out of the ordinary but also get to know their own country better. However, not all of them know how to save money when looking for a car. You can avoid pitfalls by following our top tips for economical car hire deals in the UK.

Liverpool’s Concealed Delights: A Day to Discover the City’s Hidden Charms

London is the top destination in the South of England, but in the North, the elegant Liverpool is a city that takes everyone’s breath away. Its musical legacy, its maritime heritage, and the urban beauty make it stand out. You may have read articles about the special character of this English city before. However, this one can be the first to reveal Liverpool’s concealed delights. Spend one day of your holidays going to the underrated attractions mentioned below, and you’ll get to know Liverpool in more depth.

Exploring the Unforgettable Journey of Kevin and Ruth: A Tale of Wanderlust and Adventure

So I was wasting time on the internet, and playing with the free ChatGTP Artificial Intelligence program.

Just for fun, I asked it to come up with a blog post about the history of Kevin and Ruth from Travel with Kevin and Ruth. And literally less than two seconds later, it came up with the text. It's quite amazing... and almost a little spooky! Here it is...

More photo matching coming up!

Saturday afternoon, we walked down to the beach. 

Even though the property where we are staying is billed as being a beach stay, it's still a 2 km (1.3 mile) walk to actually get to the beach. There is a big open "forest" area between us and the beach with a lot of walking tracks, but none of them appear to actually lead to the beach. So we had to go along the road.

Moving day

We chose our new place east of the city of Antalya at Lara Beach. Somehow we had to go almost 16 kms (10 miles) with all of our worldly belongings.

I checked the price of a taxi, but that was going to cost over 400 lira ($12.30 USD, $16.80 CAD). Not really that expensive, but we had lots of time so I checked into taking the bus. The problem of course was carrying all of our "stuff".

This is our third time in Antalya

The first time we were here was back in December of 2020, during Covid. At the time, we had an inexpensive rental car, and that convenience enabled us to get an inexpensive apartment on the outskirts of the city so that we could do a lot of day trips.

The second time we were here was in late February of 2022 when we were here with our motorhome Max. 

Lots to look forward to, and it's coming up quickly!

We've proven to ourselves again that two weeks in one spot is enough for us. 

Even when we like where we are, we get itchy feet after a maximum of two weeks and it's time for a change of scenery. And sometimes that's all it takes, is a change of scenery... and some different areas where we can go walking and explore.

Fun to watch the Turkish Stars aerobatic team

We didn't leave the apartment until 3:00pm Tuesday afternoon! Not sure exactly where the day went, but the time does seem to pass quickly, even when we are doing nothing. Neither one of us seem to have any problem wasting away a few hours on the internet. Wasting is perhaps the wrong word, as I am generally researching either future travel or something to do with our investments in the gold market, and Ruth spends a lot of time labeling and organizing our photos.

And speaking of photos, I sure took a lot yesterday!

Booked another flight!

2024 is turning into the year of flying! We've already been on 10 different airplanes so far this year.

Still, it's a long way off from the 21 different airplanes we were on in 2019. We keep track of all of our flights since 2012 at this website... https://my.flightradar24.com/karead7/. You can use the drop down box in the bottom right corner to see the flights by year.

We heard the very loud noise of low flying jet engines overhead!

I've started doing our tax returns. We always have to pay each year, so I never file until the last minute. The Canadian filing date is April 30th, so I've got a few days yet. I find it easier to do a little bit each day.

But because our income isn't very high by Canadian standards (in fact, we are considered poor!) we really don't pay very much in taxes. Most of what we end up paying is the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions because our income is considered self employed, so we have to pay both employer and employee portions. 

Windy day in Antalya

For several days they had been forecasting deteriorating weather conditions here in Antalya that were supposed to culminate in a big storm on Saturday. They said there would be 100% chance of heavy rain on Saturday morning.

Well... Friday had that odd fog that sort of hung around all day. And when we woke up Saturday morning, it had been spitting with rain and the roads were wet. 

Exciting plan during the month of June!

Back in October of 2022, we were in the small city of Peja, Kosovo. 

Peja is located on the north eastern edge of the Accursed Mountains, also known as the Albanian Alps. It's an absolutely gorgeous area, and is still virtually unknown to the masses. While we were there, we did some day hikes in the area, specifically on part of what is called the Peaks of the Balkans trail.

We went for a long urban hike here in Antalya

We headed out at 10:30am to walk down to the Duden Waterfall. It's a long 9 km (5.6 mile) one way walk through the city of Antalya. But from the central area most of it follows the coastline, so it's really quite scenic.

Temperature was a pleasant 23C (73F), but it was a bit muggy with an odd fog in the air.

Keeping expenses down

Our original plan was to come to Antalya to get the doctor stuff looked after, and then head north outside the city to some of the smaller towns and explore some of the countryside. However, current car rental prices here are not what they were during Covid! 

One of the reasons we love the motorhome form of travel... we can go where we want and when we want and it's easy to stay in the countryside where we can enjoy the fresh air and get out hiking.

Finished at the eye doctor, and a little walking tour of old town

Yesterday was our 10:00am appointment with our ophthalmologist. We had intraocular lens replacement surgery in December of 2020, and we totally trust the doctor who did it and so we like to return to him every now and then to get our eyes tested. Plus, coming back to Antalya is really not a hardship!

Ruth had been diagnosed with a minor tear in one retina, and she needs to have it checked regularly. My eyes are fine, but I've got a few floaters in one eye. Doesn't really bother me though.

Doctor visit results

We don't normally talk about our health issues, unless they directly affect our travels. First of all, we really don't have any to speak of, other than the ones we've already written about and our regular readers know all about them. Ruth's gluten allergy (which isn't really an issue), my heart health, and our eye surgery back in December of 2020.

What brought us back to Antalya is a checkup with our ophthalmologist, but Ruth had another issue she wanted looked at.

This is pretty tough to take!

Sunday's plan was to walk up to a gluten free cafe and shop north of the old harbor to see if they have any decent bread. We had found this little place last time we were here in Antalya, and they also have lots of bakery treats... all gluten free!

So we headed out and up through the old harbor area.

Kind of a funny story, actually

We don't have much planned for our time here in Antalya. That's one of the reasons we chose to pay a little extra for a central location, because at least there is a lot of walking to be done. Antalya has some beautiful coastal walks right here in the center of the city.

The other reason we have no plans is because Ruth has a medical issue she wants an opinion on. I won't get into the details yet, until we know for sure what the problem and solution is. Don't worry, it's not life threatening!

A situation like that could get out of control

We were up at 5:45am Friday morning and out of the apartment by 6:00am in order to get to Istanbul's SAW airport in time for our 9:50am flight to Antalya.

It was a 15 minute walk to the metro station, and then almost an hour on the subway, running the full line from Kadikoy to the airport.

Someday we will have a rematch!

Cheryl is still on holiday, so on Thursday, she and her boyfriend Ahmet, took off for the day, and we didn't mind looking after Gus again. We've been so lucky with the weather, and yes, it was another gorgeous day. It's spring in Istanbul, and you can tell by the people out in the park that they've been looking forward to this kind of weather!

Lunch with fellow full time travelers

On Wednesday, we took the ferries to the Istanbul neighborhood of Fener to meet fellow full time travelers Ken and Mary for lunch. This is one of the couples we had met the day we arrived back in Istanbul a week ago.

Our friend Cheryl had recommended the Fener area because of the old and colorful houses built onto the hillside.

We love going to the local Turkish market

There are a lot of nice fruit and veggie shops in the area that we are staying here in the Kadikoy area of Istanbul, however it's always cheapest to get your supply at the local market. Unfortunately the nearest one is 2.5 kms (1.2 miles) away, and the main market only takes place on Tuesday... but yesterday was Tuesday!

So we walked over there to pick some things up.

The spring tulips in Istanbul are really pretty

We figured we should get out and do some exploring, so we hopped on the ferry to Eminonu which is the main historical district. We have been there before, but we wanted to go back to Gulhane Park to see if the spring tulips were still in bloom. 

Another beautiful day, but with a cooler high of about 18C (64F) and a strong breeze. Lots of sunshine though!

Our second eSIM experience was much better!

The day wore on yesterday without ever hearing back from Maya Mobile. Really terrible customer service, and I will leave a review in that regard. Eventually, 24 hours after buying their eSIM, I sent a new email to customer service asking for a refund. Ten minutes later, the refund was granted... no questions asked.

So at least there is that.

Not a good first eSIM experience

The last time we spent any length of time here in Turkiye, we had no problem getting an inexpensive data plan on my phone. However, things have changed!

The local providers only have expensive "tourist" plans available for non residents. And there is only one choice... and it costs 1,100 lira ($34.50 USD, $46.75 CAD) for 20GB of data over 30 days.

Scammed on our first day in Istanbul!

I mentioned the other day that we had a story to tell, but I didn't want to tell it until I knew the end of the story. And I tell the story as a warning to others so hopefully it won't happen to you!

We arrived in Istanbul at SAW airport in the eastern end of the city. From there, it is an easy ride on the underground metro system to the ferry terminals at Kadikoy.

We did something a little different yesterday!

This is our third time in Istanbul. As far as big cities go, we kinda like it. Especially the Kadikoy area where our friend Cheryl lives. Lots going on, a 15 minute walk to all ferries and public transit, and really nice park space nearby. 

We are going to enjoy the next week looking after Gus the dog. Especially with the perfect weather forecast!

Return to Istanbul

We've been pretty busy the last couple of days! With more than a few stories to tell, but some of them we don't know the ending to yet, so they'll have to wait. 

But I'll give you a condensed version of what we've been up to the last couple of days. It's all a bit of a blur!