Rhodes – 13th September

Tuesday 13th September was another wonderful day with a few surprises thrown in. We were up and about fairly early so we decided to check out and get an early bus to Lindos. We’d enjoyed staying at Summer Memories, although the WiFi wasn’t up to much, and would consider staying there again. The bus got very busy but by 10.30am we were in the super touristy town of Lindos. By complete coincidence an old school friend and her husband were going to be in Lindos today too so we arranged to meet up. Captain Caveman found us a nice little cafe called Eklekton and we went right up to the roof top terrace. I wasn’t feeling 100% so I just had an apple juice but Captain Caveman had something eggy on toast. Miraculously, Sam managed to find us easily and we caught up over a drink after almost 34 years. It was really lovely and of course there was lots to talk about – I bet Captain Caveman and Gerald, Sam’s husband, were in danger of having their ears start to bleed! Sam and Gerald didn’t have long to explore Lindos and we had to get to our next destination so we said our goodbyes and promised to meet up when I finally got back to Sheffield.

Captain Caveman and I had a short wander around the winding streets of Lindos with our backpacks on, and in midday sun, before stopping for a beverage. I had a grape smoothie (that’s not code for wine) and Captain Caveman had a Mythos beer at Pal’s.

We got a taxi from Lindos to Vlycha and ended up on the beach with our bags as the taxi driver didn’t know where our hotel was. Captain Caveman had very little cash on him so we didn’t get lunch at the beach bar, just a nice cold beer each. I’d spotted a turn off to our accommodation, Vlycha Beach studios and apartments, so we headed towards it. We checked in with the lady owner who was lovely, if not a little extraordinary. I had a dance with her on the balcony when she showed us our room and then she told Captain Caveman he had to walk to the top of a very steep hill for the nearest cash machine.

While Captain Caveman hiked in full sun, I relaxed at the hotel which was really lovely and one of my favourites of the trip so far.
When Captain Caveman returned we went for a wander to the small supermarket below then drank wine on the balcony until it got dark.
That evening, we walked a short distance to a new eatery called Gaea Beachfront restaurant and bar, part of the Lindos Aqua Terra resort, which looked fantastic. On the way we passed a working ATM machine which meant Captain Caveman needn’t have walked up the hill to the one further away. We ordered a bottle of the Cair Cabernet Sauvignon which was really good and decided to have a few dishes to share. The food was absolutely amazing and at a reasonable price, we even shared a dessert.

Rhodes – 11th & 12th September

I was feeling rather under the weather on Sunday 11th September and I couldn’t get out of bed. We’d left the party shortly after eating some birthday cake as I’d started to feel sick. I put it down to the gluten and dairy in the cake, at first, but as the morning went on I got worse. I got a message from Julio reminding me that I had drank a half bottle of white wine, 2 Proseccos and 2 large wine and sodas between 7pm and 1.30am. This was not that excessive for me, to be this ill, so I thought it was something else.
We were invited to a BBQ and pool afternoon for Steve’s birthday at a villa in the hills but I couldn’t go. Instead, I sent Captain Caveman off to party on with his newly acquired friends and I slept as much as I could. I had a high temperature, cramps and an excessive need to urinate. I kept going from hot to cold and didn’t like the light.
Captain Caveman came back in the evening to check on me and he had been having a great time. We sussed out that I was probably having an allergic reaction to something I’d eaten and we thought it could be whatever was in the sauce of the prawn dish that I shared. It was a similar reaction I had suffered on 2 separate occasions; one was caused by scallops, the other by clams in a lobster bisque.
Captain Caveman went back to the party and they had a lovely time, I went back to sleep hoping to be better tomorrow.

I woke up feeling weak but much better on Monday 12th September, we desperately needed to get some laundry done so we decided we would do that. Summer Memories hotel, where we were staying in Pefkos, didn’t offer a laundry service so we got a bus to nearby Lardos. After walking in the hot sun to the launderette and back, we met Michelle and Steve for lunch. I just had chips, Captain Caveman had a toastie, Michelle and Steve shared Gyros and a spring roll. The food was nice and not too expensive with a nice view of Lardos square. For dessert Captain Caveman and I went to the local bakery and ice-cream shop where I can’t recall seeing a happier Captain Caveman. He had 2 scoops of pistachio ice-cream in a cone, I had an apple sorbet.
We got the bus back and chilled at the hotel with a couple of glasses of our Lidl wine. It was actually really good for €3.50 but meant we didn’t have time to get in the swimming pool.

We went back in to town by bus, only €1.80 for both of us each way. We decided to eat at Valantina’s in Lardos which looked really nice. I got a table and ordered water and wine while Captain Caveman walked to get the laundry (€10 for a big bag full). I was surprised to see that there was a girl with a bikini top on and a guy without a shirt eating dinner behind me – it wasn’t that warm! I had a steak and Captain Caveman had a lamb shank which were both lovely and the pomegranate flavoured ouzo went down well.
Captain Caveman even had another pistachio flavoured ice-cream from the same bakery to finish off the night while I had an amaretto sour at Memories bar. The bar man let Captain Caveman bring his ice-cream in but then he had a beer to finish the night off. We got a taxi back, although it was tricky to flag one down, we were in bed before 11pm as we had a busy day tomorrow!

Rhodes – 10th September

We landed at Rhodes airport a bit later than scheduled so it was only minutes in to Saturday 10th September that we were in a pre-booked taxi. Our friends, Michelle and Steve, had recommended a nice little boutique hotel in Rhodes Town so we had booked in to there. We arrived at the old town taxi rank, by the port, at 12.30am and walked up the hill and winding cobbled streets to Evdokia where we had booked a double room. It seemed a tad frivolous to have spent €95 on a double room with breakfast but we had heard that Rhodes Town was expensive.
The room was upstairs and had the key in the door and a note with our names on because there wasn’t 24 hour reception. Our room was quite small and my first impression of Rhodes Town was that it was pretty but not great for disabled people. We had no running water so were unable to take a shower after a long journey and there was nowhere to get any drinking water. We put the AC on and went to bed around 1am, after getting messages from the owner to apologise about the water.
We were of the first up for breakfast at 8.30am and we met the lovely owner, Savvas. His omelettes are well known so Captain Caveman ordered one while I just had bread and jams, there were lots of different jams on offer. We checked out about 10.30am and went off to meet Michelle and Steve as planned, at the fountain down the road.

Steve & Michelle are the couple I met at Deep Blue Bar in Fethiye on a trip with my parents, Julio, Vanessa & Matt, Mark & Kate and have since been members of the Deep Blue Leg-ends (DBL) after Steve broke his ankle that night, on the dance floor. Captain Caveman was about to meet them for the first time as we had been invited for a meal tonight in Pefkos for Steve’s 40th birthday.
While Michelle waited for Julio at the port, Steve came to meet us at the fountain and it was great to see he was walking without crutches, albeit with a limp and still a bit of pain. It was great to meet up again and introduce him to my other half, he walked us through the cobbled streets and down to the ferry port. Here, we met up with Michelle and I was pleased to see Captain Caveman getting on with my friends straight away. We waited a while for Julio, the Turkish looking Italian Welshman from Fethiye, who was in the queue to be let in to Greece. He arrived a little disgruntled at the lengthy wait but happy to see everyone again and to meet Captain Caveman. We all walked to Michelle’s car where she had very kindly offered to give us a lift to Pefkos, we were even given a bottle of water which was needed after standing in the hot sun.
Our first stop was an absolute treat; Rhodes has a Lidl where our friends needed to call in to. It’s no understatement of how excited Julio, Captain Caveman and I were to see the prices of wine in there and we bought as much as we could carry. The most expensive bottle of Merlot was under €6 and the others spotted warm sausage rolls, which they ate by the car. Captain Caveman even went back in to price up and check on the cuts of pork, thinking we would take some back to Turkey.
Michelle dropped us off at our hotel, Summer Memories, which was basic but very nice while Julio carried on with them. We were a bit knackered and wanted to unpack and get ready for tonight as we knew it might be a late one! The birthday meal was booked for 7pm so we decided we had better scrub up and look lively. Michelle, Steve & Julio came to pick us back up at 6.30pm and we drove a short way to meet the rest of the party.

Philosophia Beach Restaurant in Pefkos was a gorgeous place for a birthday meal. We arrived in time to watch the sunset and meet the rest of the party over a refreshing drink. I ordered a bottle of white wine and some soda water while Captain Caveman had a beer. We took some photos but it didn’t do it justice, really. For dinner Captain Caveman had pâté, I had garlic mushrooms and we both had the pork for main. The food was lovely and I even did a little sharing with a guest to my right who had a prawn dish.
After the meal we had a champagne toast, of which I had two because Julio gave me his.

Our next venue was a lovely pub, near to where we were staying, called Pal’s. Here we had a wonderful birthday celebration with drinking, dancing and singing to the live act, who were absolutely brilliant. Most of us joined in with the frivolities, including Steve getting on the dance floor. It was a very merry night and we had a right old laugh – I even had some birthday cake which was so good and we were still there after midnight.

Holland to Greece – 9th September

We were up early on Friday 9th September and it was a bitter sweet morning; Captain Caveman was pouring away rum (crikey) because we couldn’t take it on our flight at 4.40pm! It was a Friday so I did my measurements only to find I’d increased between 0.5cm (calves) and 4cm (hips) everywhere, except for reducing my bust by 1cm. That wasn’t great news but still we went down for our included breakfast at the Ibis hotel. Captain Caveman was feeling rough after drinking too much IPA last night and we were meeting Ingrid for brunch in Rotterdam so I made a sandwich and took a gluten free cracker for my hotel breakfast takeaway. Captain Caveman hardly ate anything and I just had a piece of ginger cake with butter and some fruit juice. As we were leaving the dining area, me with a sandwich in a serviette in my grasp, the receptionist told us the manager wanted to have a chat with us. I thought I was going to get told off for stealing sandwiches! The manager came out and told us there had been a mistake when we checked in and that the breakfast wasn’t included at all. If we had known that, we wouldn’t have bothered paying for it but Captain Caveman seemed not to be functioning well at all and agreed to pay the €36 extra when we checked out.

Captain Caveman was still rather unwell when we arrived at Bake & Moore to meet Ingrid, who was already waiting for us.
Ingrid and I ordered an English scone (with jam and cream) and a croissant each, on account of Queen Elizabeth II dying yesterday. It was the appropriate thing to do given that we heard the news while we were living it up in FoodHallen, in Rotterdam.
If Captain Caveman could have called in dead he probably would have and, as my friend and I chatted away, we kept seeing that he looked extremely peaky.
Ingrid kindly gave us a lift to Rotterdam station where we had booked the Flixbus, because today there was a train strike. We said goodbyes while holding back tears and hoped it wouldn’t be as long until we met up again.

After being dropped off at Rotterdam station by Ingrid, we sheltered inside as the rain was coming a bit heavy and it was quite cold. Only Captain Caveman had brought a long sleeved top and coat, I hadn’t but had lent the blue top which was of course too big for me. As we waited for the Flixbus I needed the toilet and decided to try to find one, at the same time as another customer. We were both helped by a member of the Flixbus team who said it was her bus to Schiphol airport, in Amsterdam, and she would wait for us while popped in to Subway, the sandwich shop. As we left Rotterdam, Amsterdam airport bound, the rain poured and it was a little bit sad that this part of our trip had come to an end.

When we got to the airport it was a bit weird. As warned by our friends, the airport was overcrowded and understaffed. Walkways had been constructed to push the queues of people back out of the building then back in via a serpentine route. There were signs up to tell us how long it would be to the front and so I got my sandwiches out. It was organised chaos, I will give them that, and I’ve certainly been in worse airports but we noted we may try an alternative next time. We only just had enough time for Captain Caveman to visit Duty Free and for me to eat my remaining croissant with jam and cream.
When we got to the gate our flight to Athens was delayed but we didn’t really know what was going on. As we were boarding it was also chaos and we had to stand on the air-bridge for too long. Our transit time in Athens was only 1.5 hours and that was how delayed we were. We were a bit disappointed that we would not land in time to board our next flight to Rhodes but, as Captain Caveman pointed out, the airline would have to sort out some overnight accommodation for us.
I decided to relax and let our hotel know we were delayed once we arrived in Athens. We had red wine and a gluten free sandwich for our inflight meal with Aegean Airlines, then Captain Caveman had a snooze.
We were now due to land in Athens at 22.05 and our next flight should take off at 22.20.
There were 4 of us to get on that flight to Rhodes so they held it for us. One passenger feigned illness to get off the first flight before everyone else but we still got on the same bus to the main building, where she was absolutely fine.
We got on the flight, I messaged our hotel to say we were on our way but 1.5 hours late.

Holland – 8th September

Our day in Holland on Thursday 8th September was such a great one however it started with comedy gold from Dalyan!
I’d slept very well in my single bed at the Ibis and woke up to updates on the group chat with Kate and Sausage Dick. I won’t bore you with the finer details but needless to say, an early morning sausage exchange for Kate proved harder than she had imagined. She came away from meeting Sausage Dick at his hotel with more sausage than she had requested, but less than she had paid for, as well as the pair of them managing to lose 2 lots of sausage in the process. Both Kate and Sausage Dick were apologetic and stressed about the situation while Captain Caveman and I could only laugh about the debacle.
After our (included) breakfast at the Ibis hotel, we took a bus and a train in to The Hague for a bit of shopping and a nice walk about. The ticket was €4 each for both bus and train and lasts for 2 hours. Captain Caveman needed Toothy Tabs from Lush, they are great for when he’s in the cave or for travelling without liquids. I’d also bought a couple of shampoo bars for the same reason but had got them on offer at the local ‘Superdrug’ style shop (€15 for 2). We walked through the lovely streets of The Hague to meet a friend for lunch at Mama Mia restaurant. We found it easily and had arrived early so we ordered a glass of wine.

We know Quang (and his Dad) from Vietnam so it was great to see him again in Holland, where he is studying. We chatted a lot and even surprised Quang’s dad with a video call from us all. The pizzas were absolutely amazing and I really loved Mama Mia’s. Quang wasn’t drinking as he had work to do that afternoon but we had a limoncello as a toast. The whole bill came to €87 for 3 pizzas, 6 glasses of pinot grigio and a Coke Zero, the limoncello was free.
We said our goodbyes outside a museum, where we were about to go inside. It would turn out to be a bit of a revelation for me!

We had thought we might visit the Escher museum while we were in The Hague. Quang also said it was good to visit so we bought our tickets at 3pm for just €9.50. Our hotel had given us a discount, it is normally €11 each. We only had 2 hours as it closed at 5pm and, strangely, you have to put all bags in a locker but can have your phone to take photos. The place is amazing and if you get the chance to go it is very well presented and informative. I had a bit of an eye opener when I realised that all the early work of Esher had been plagiarised by me as a child. In our art class I had thought that our teacher had invented Tessellation, the specific fish and bird ones by Escher. I felt that my childhood had been ruined as I walked through the museum saying I’d done that at school. Captain Caveman thought this was amusing but I was feeling slightly cheated, I even sent a message to a friend to ask the name of the teacher but neither of us could remember.

At around 5pm we bought another ov-chipkaart for the public transport. This time we got the €9 ticket which enabled us to use multiple times on train, tram and bus for the rest of the day. We travelled from The Hague, which I loved, in to Rotterdam where we had arranged to meet Ingrid & Angelique at FoodHallen. Ingrid is my great friend who I have know for about 38 years, Angelique is a more recent friend who I met in Dalyan about a year ago – both ladies live and work in Rotterdam but had never met each other. Ingrid arrived first and, after some confusion over parking and how to get in to FoodHallen, we were reunited. It was great to see Ingrid and she looked really well. I’d already had 2 cherry beers, Captain Caveman was on the draft IPA but I switched to Heineken. Ingrid was driving so we went to have a look around the different food outlets. The place was very much like Wolf in Belgium but it turns out there is a similar one in the area because Angelique and Ingrid had both thought I meant the other place. I ordered Bau buns and edamame beans, Ingrid had a salmon poke bowl and Captain Caveman ordered meatballs. The food was very good, Angelique arrived from work but wasn’t eating and also was driving. We all got chatting and laughing quite a lot – we were out late for a school night. Captain Caveman used our public transport tickets to get back to the hotel, even though Ingrid kindly offered to drive us there. It had been such an amazing day so Captain Caveman and I had some rum and cokes back in the hotel room to celebrate. We also needed to try to finish the rum because tonight was, sadly, our last night in Holland.

Photo credit – Captain Caveman

Belgium to Holland – 7th September

There were previous plans made for the 7th September which we had to move or cancel. We were meant to be meeting a Dutch Dalyan friend, on our way from Belgium to Holland, for lunch but we couldn’t get the bus until the afternoon. We were meant to be seeing Ingrid but she had a funeral to attend and we moved our meeting to tomorrow. Meanwhile, Sausage Dick was going to be arriving in Dalyan later with some sausages (obviously) and Malt Loaf. He would be staying in a hotel so I’d arranged for Kate to meet with Sausage Dick to collect his delivery, give him his tobacco and sort the money out.
As we had a free morning before we had to leave Belgium we decided to take a train to Knokke, a posh seaside town. We were a bit woolly headed after last night’s shenanigans so we bought croissants at the shop on our way to the train. Captain Caveman fell asleep on the way to Knokke but by 10.15am we were walking past the Castle Huts. By 10.30am we were walking down the busy high street, then just 6 minutes later we were at the sea front eating our breakfast looking out to sea. We decided to walk the length of the promenade and it was quite a distance.

The beach was very quiet and had lots of fancy beach clubs along the way. We saw a good sign that would be useful in Dalyan, fining people for wearing swimmers when not on the beach. It took us just over an hour to walk it to the end then we came back, all the benches were wet so we couldn’t have a sit down until we got back to where we started. It was the longest I’d walked for, since before my injury and my legs ached.

Captain Caveman had got the idea that he would like to try the lobster rolls in Knokke so, after stopping for a dance with a bear then a beer in a sea front bar, we arrived at Lobster ‘n’ Rolls at 1pm. We debated ordering the Summer Lunch menu which looked great but settled on beers and a lobster roll each, truffle crisps and chips to share. Because I hate mayonnaise and can’t eat chillies, I had to ask for mine without sauce which was lovely but after only eating half we realised the time. We had to get back to the train station to catch the 2pm train. It was lucky we didn’t have the set lunch as I had to take half of my roll with me and I didn’t finish my beer. We couldn’t miss this train because we would only just have time to collect our bags from the hotel and get the bus, which we were booked on, to Rotterdam in Holland.

We had to hurry back to Knokke train station and we only just made the 2pm train, the last one to get us back to Bruges in time to collect our bags and get to the bus station.
By 3.40pm we were sat waiting for the Flixbus from Bruges to Rotterdam, this time we had reserved the front seats for the 3 hour journey. Captain Caveman kindly snaffled my remaining lobster roll so that I didn’t have a bad stomach for the journey.
When we arrived we went straight to Punjabi Food Stadhuisplein for a dinner which was really tasty, if not a bit on the spicy side for Holland. I had the butter chicken which came with loads of rice and a nan bread, Captain Caveman had a mixture of food on his tray. The homemade lemonade was good and the food was very tasty, I’d definitely recommend the place.
Our next mission was to get to our hotel, we got a €4 ov-chipkaart which can be used on public transport for up to 2 hours. We got a train to the nearest station and then had to wait 30 minutes for a bus. It was cold so Captain Caveman had to get me an extra top out. We had booked a double room at the Ibis Rotterdam The Hague airport hotel but when we arrived at almost 10.30pm they had no record of our booking. The girl on the reception eventually found it but, unfortunately, only had 1 room available which had single beds. She told us that we could have the beds moved together, that the booking included breakfast and we got the lift to our room on the 4th floor.
When we walked in to the room the single bed lay out was not for moving so we had to sleep in separate beds.

Bruges – 6th September

Tuesday 6th September was a rather eventful day. We woke up to disturbing news from a neighbour in Dalyan that our apartment block had a leaking roof. I was asked if I knew of anyone who could come and quote for the work because 2 contractors had not shown up. I got in touch with Leanne at King Emlak and asked her to send someone round. I also checked what the weather was like back in Dalyan because it seemed odd that it would be raining so much to make a roof leak in summer.
The next thing to cause concern was that there was a train strike due for this coming Friday. We were due to travel from Belgium to Holland by train to see my friend, Ingrid, so we immediately booked a bus instead when she let us know about the strike.
Captain Caveman went to the shops and came back with a pain au chocolat for me which was delicious, still not as good as Charli’s but better than at Maro.
After a busy morning we went for a walk in to town and Captain Caveman promised me a bit of a pub crawl. I could actually feel the proverbial carrot being dangled in front of me as he filled me with hope that the next stop would be for a snack or a beverage. Our pub crawl did not start well and, when questioned, Captain Caveman had to admit that he had thought the church coffee morning would turn out to be a bar, not an opportunity to sit down and chat about life’s problems.

I was getting a bit crotchety after over an hour of walking but then we happened upon a pub. We sat outside De Belleman, which was busy with diners and we had a nice Tongerlo beer each. We did some more walking along the canals and beside windmills until the next pub. At De Windmolen pub we had Hoegaarden Rosé and Bruges Zot beers with some cheese. There was no need for the cheese to have celery salt on but we managed to eat it anyway. We sat out in the sun and we really enjoyed this pub.
By 5pm we were in our 3rd pub, In De Reisduif, so the crawl was going pretty well. In this pub the Hoegaarden was only €2.80 (£2.44) so we had a couple in there while admiring the eclectic decor of this old man style boozer. Our last stop was more of an upmarket bar, the T’Molenhuis, not far from where we had arranged to meet friends for dinner. We sat on the pavement on high stools drinking Bruges Zot, the cheapest 33cl beer they had at €5!

At 6.30pm we had arranged to meet friends, Jo & Ben, at Du Phare, a restaurant recommended by Jo. We knew her from meeting in Phong Nha several years ago and had met up with her the last time we were in Bruges at Ribs ‘n’ Beer. Knowing that I would be eating less pork in Turkey I went for the pork ribs again, along with Ben, Jo had fish and Captain Caveman had the Beef stew. The food was absolutely amazing, we loved the view of the canal and the company was excellent. As the night was drawing to a close it started to rain so we moved under cover where Jo and I ate a fantastic chocolate dessert. As the rain poured there was only one thing to do, order several rounds of limoncello.
It was still raining when Jo and Ben had to cycle home, we were meant to be walking but decided to call a taxi. We waited in the bar with more drinks and got chatting to a nice bar man. He even made me promise to bring my mom to visit!
The taxi back to our hotel was only €18 and well worth it in the rain and cold (for us). Tonight was our last night in Bruges as tomorrow we had more exciting things planned.

Bruges – 5th September

Monday 5th September found me checking my emails as soon as I woke up. The Ibis hotel had good WiFi and a small desk behind the bathroom sink. Of course, our first priority was getting breakfast so we went to Maro, in Bruges. I had pain au chocolat with tea and Captain Caveman had a croissant with an espresso. They were good but not quite as perfect as Charli’s in Brussels. We did get a morsel of carrot cake to try though and that was pretty good. A table next to us was having the champagne brunch which looked good.

Our next stop was the Launderette as we were running short on clean clothes, I’d not quite accounted for it being so much cooler and had mainly shorts and dresses with me. Captain Caveman changed some more money, bought a conditioning bar, for my hair, and an adapter plug for our friends who were coming to Dalyan in September.

We had a lunch time stop off at De Halve Maan (The Half Moon) where I had 2 beers, Captain Caveman had 3 beers and we shared a cheese plate and an assorted charcuterie plate. The total came to €44.50 (£40 approx) which seemed reasonable.
We walked back to the hotel, it was cloudy but fairly warm. The cleaners had been and done a full clean even though it didn’t really need it.

That night we were booked in to Ribs ‘n’ Beer, where we ate at the last time we were in Bruges. It rained so we both got wet walking there and this was the first time I felt cold. Captain Caveman and I both had the all you can eat ribs and it was fantastic. The ribs were €23 each which was great value and our total bill, including 5 beers came to €68 (£60 approx). Walking the 20 minutes home was chilly but the rain had eased off and we were so full from so much food.

Brussels to Bruges – 4th September

We’d had a good sleep and a nice lay in on Sunday 4th September. The weather was a lot cooler than we were used to but the sun was shining. After breakfast with Captain Caveman’s family, we went to a place called Wolvendael where there was an event on. Lots of school children, and their parents, from the area had set up stalls in the park. It was a bit like a huge jumble sale but nicer. We strolled around the park and we even got to push Felix in the pram. After spending some time at the playground, we sauntered back home for our last family lunch. The visit to see Simon, Anna, and the 3 children went so quickly but we had loved every minute of it. After saying our goodbyes, Simon walked with Captain Caveman and I to the train station.

Our next stay was in Bruges, the train was just €14.70 each and didn’t take very long. We sat upstairs on the train and when we arrived at Bruges station our hotel was very close. Captain Caveman had chosen to stay at the Ibis hotel, right next to the train station on account of us needing somewhere convenient for exploring and not too expensive.
When we arrived my first impressions were good, the hotel was basic but had everything we needed. We didn’t even unpack before we were walking to a place for dinner and beers.

It was about a 30 minute walk to Pizzeria Aguila, but it was worth it. We drank 2 Hoegaarden beers and 1 Jupiler beer each, shared a caprese salad and ordered a pizza each. Captain Caveman had read that it was the 7th best pizza restaurant in Bruges so I had to wonder how good the others could possibly be. The bill came to €73.30 which was just less than £65 so I didn’t think it was too bad for Bruges. I got a bit of a surprise in the toilet with a strange doll staring at me and we took half of my pizza back to the hotel.
In the hotel room we decided to open the bottle of Havana Club rum we had bought at duty free, we had it with a coke and the rest of the pizza.
The room was surprisingly comfy and cosy, which was lucky as we would be here for 3 nights.

Brussels – 3rd September

I woke up sweaty, thirsty and hungover on Saturday 3rd September in Brussels. The opening night of the Belgian Beer Festival, last night, had been great and Captain Caveman spending time with his brother was fantastic. We had to check out at 11am so we had a cheese and salami sandwich to sort us out. We left the Citadines Sainte Catherine aparthotel, which I’d definitely recommend, and headed through town towards the tram. We got the one to Uccle as we were invited to spend the rest of the weekend with Simon & Anna – we were both really looking forward to that a lot. We had not seen Captain Caveman’s two nephews for far too long and we had not met the third nephew at all, thanks to the pandemic. One of the things we really appreciate when we visit family and friends is to do ‘normal’ family things. I really enjoyed sitting at the big dining table to eat a delicious pasta lunch, I even had to give Captain Caveman a nudge to leave some for everyone else – he was also loving it. The youngest nephew is super cute and has a lot of similarities to Captain Caveman when it comes to meal times. In the afternoon we offered to go to the supermarket with Simon, while Anna looked after the kids. It was an experience, as Simon had chosen the self-scan method. We piled the trolley full and then the man in the queue in front of us had trouble letting us through because we had more than 10 items. It was good fun when Captain Caveman went to get our purchases of wine and some meat to contribute to tonight’s BBQ.

We managed a short walk through the nearby woods but it did start to rain a little by the time we were halfway round. The evening with the family was great and we got on the Prosecco surprisingly easily, considering last night’s shenanigans. I was impressed when one of the children managed to complete a house of cards but he was gutted when the little one wafted past, causing it to fall. By the time bed time came round I was tired and was looking forward to some sleep. I felt bad that we had kicked the youngest out of his room, he would sleep with Simon and Anna. The two eldest are so grown up now and when they argue they do it in French. They were both very polite and well behaved though, no arguments when it was time to go to bed.

Photo credit – Captain Caveman

Brussels – 2nd September

Friday 2nd September was an important day! Not only was it Vietnamese Independence Day but it was also the start of the Belgian beer festival in Brussels.
We were awake before 7am and went to breakfast at Charli Boulangerie, where the baker is on show while you eat. I had the best pain au chocolat with a green tea, Captain Caveman had a double espresso and a plain croissant. The cost was a reasonable €10 and the place was quite busy. It was mesmerising to watch the baker, who was working very hard.

We were back at the hotel before 9am and then went to the farm shop close by to get something for the kitchen. We bought ham, goat cheese and a baguette, then couldn’t resist a second breakfast.
For lunch we met Simon and Anna, Captain Caveman’s brother and his wife. It had been a long time since we had seen them and it was great to catch up again. The restaurant they chose was called In’t Spinnekopke, which means The Spider’s Web in Flemish. I loved it there, the food was excellent and the waiter was impressive. Simon and I had the beef stew, Captain Caveman had sausage and Anna had fish. The meat eaters amongst us had our meal paired nicely with a Belgian dark beer which was surprisingly nice, so much so that we managed a second one.
It was still a working day so Anna and Simon had to get back but Captain Caveman and I took the afternoon to do a bit of shopping. We went to the Base phone shop and bought a SIM card which we would be able to use while in Europe, the man in the shop was very helpful and it cost €15, including a package for up to 30 days. We finished our shopping with a beer in the Delerium pub while we waited for Simon to finish work. Of course Captain Caveman had to take a photo of me next to the Jeanneke Pis, for good sightseeing measure!

Captain Caveman’s brother works in the brewing industry so he is involved in the Brussels beer festival. He had very kindly invited Captain Caveman and I to join him at the annual event. Unfortunately, Anna wasn’t able to join on account of her having the 3 children to look after. Captain Caveman went over to the Grand Place in Brussels to wait next to the Town Hall. Here we saw various important people coming out of the building and going in to the beer festival as the first guests. This included the Belgian Prime Minister who seemed very nice.

Videos of the VIPs coming from the building in to the Belgian Beer Festival

It will come as no surprise that we had several beers during the evening at the beer festival and I did my best to keep a note of them all – I’m sure some slipped through, though. My first one was a Kriek Boon as I do love a cherry beer and I was a little thirsty. We made our way round all of the beer stands enjoying our free beer samples and comparing notes. We liked the Van Den Bosch, Aparta and Martens – the cardamon flavoured beer was one of our favourites of the night and I thought it would be great with a curry. The Paranoia at Delirium had a great name but it wasn’t in my best beers. Floris was good, as usual and I was pleased to see that Huyghe had a Gluten Free beer which I had to try. If it hadn’t said that the Mongozo premium pilsner, served in a coconut shell, was gluten free I wouldn’t have guessed. It was light and easy to drink but I found the shell with bracelet style stand a bit tricky to hold and inadvertently put the ‘bracelet’ on then forgot to return it with the shell. Another top beer was the Paix Dieu at the Caulier bar, this also got extra points for the gorgeous glass. Stuut beer did cans that matched my dress but there was none available to try, the Super 8 had nibbles and a lovely glass too. By the time we were sampling Haacht, Kasteel, then De Dool my note taking was slightly fuzzy – not unlike my photos. If I recall correctly, we finished on Leopold 7 and thought it would be a great idea to get some food.

We’d met a few people along the way and one guy came with us to L’Express Kebab where we had Beirut or Heineken bottled lager. I’m no beer snob but it definitely wasn’t my favourite drink of the night! The kebab was a winner though, and definitely what I needed to help sober me up a bit before the walk back to the hotel.
Captain Caveman’s jetlag had certainly caught up with him as he was fast asleep on the bed, the wrong way round, by the time I had got undressed.

Dalyan to Belgium – 1st September

Our first European holiday together since before the pandemic started in the early hours of Thursday 1st September. Captain Caveman had fallen asleep on the sofa but I woke him up in time for our taxi to the airport. Fikri was on time and we were off to Dalaman at 1.45am, it was going to be a long day. When we arrived at Dalaman airport we were early and the check-in desk didn’t open until 2 hours before the flight instead of the 3 hours we were expecting. It took a lot of willpower not to fall asleep, stood up in the queue.
We checked in and were due to fly at 5.35am to Dusseldorf, the airport has no free drinking water which is a bit poor and we had to buy bottled water.

Photo credit – Captain Caveman for the airport ones

We both managed a little sleep on the plane but it was only for a couple of hours at the most.
We landed at 8.15am in Dusseldorf and were asked the purpose for our visit as we went through passport control. Captain Caveman was asked how long he planned on staying. I was surprised that Dusseldorf airport didn’t seem that clean to say we were in Germany. We got a train from the airport, €3 each, to Dusseldorf Central station then walked for about 10 minutes to the bus station. We found a cafe which seemed to have some dodgy dealing rough characters outside. We bought a big bottle of water, a double espresso (for Captain Caveman) and a sandwich each for €7.50. We weren’t staying in Germany, we had a Flixbus booked to Brussels in Belgium. We left around 1pm, the bus was great; comfy seats, free WiFi and only 3 hours.

Photo credit – Captain Caveman for a couple of these

When we got off in Brussels we found that we needed coins to get on the tram or metro, we didn’t have any so we walked. We were peckish so we went to a place called Wolf in the town centre. We shared dim sum and got ourselves a beer. The dim sum were €5.50 for 3 so it wasn’t super cheap but they were very nice and we had 6 between us. We also got a pulled pork Bao, €7.50 each and one more beer each. I thought the Wolf logo on the glasses looked more like a thirsty dog. We walked to our hotel around 4pm and checked in to a nice room with a kitchenette. The Citadines Sainte Catherine aparthotel was great and would be a good location for what we had planned in Brussels.
We decided to have a little lay down but fell asleep and missed dinner – we were very tired.

Photo Credit – Captain Caveman for the one of Wolf restaurant

Dalyan – 31st August

At 4.20am on Wednesday 31st August Captain Caveman had landed in Istanbul. At 6.50am he was on the plane to Dalaman and I was already up and about. I was excited for his arrival and had arranged for a taxi driver to pick him up from Dalaman airport around 8am. I’d agreed with Mark to have the borrowed bicycle returned to him by the evening but was conscious I would have a busy day. I decided to cycle over there to drop it off before it got too hot. It was just after 7am when I saw Kate feeding the cats, I had a glass of water and admired their new mobility scooter type vehicles which had arrived yesterday. I even took a photo sat on one and then walked home. It had not crossed my mind, until Kate mentioned it, that I now looked like I was doing the walk of shame back from their house, before my fella got home. Crikey – that would get the Dalyan rumour mill started (again)! Kylie and JC, the cats, followed me almost as far as the water spring and were very vocal. When I got home I did a few chores, then got prepared for my Turkish lesson. Captain Caveman arrived around 10am with lots of luggage and was pleased to be back in Dalyan. After all this time he was also surprised to have to push through the ‘born again’ bougainvillea outside of the gate to get in, with all his luggage. Sausage Dick had requested some tobacco so Captain Caveman had managed to get him 500g of Amber Leaf for €53.90 at Dalaman airport. Unfortunately Captain Caveman couldn’t get too comfy as he wasn’t staying long. In 16 hours we would be on our way back to Dalaman airport.

We both walked to the Casablanca Hotel, where my Turkish class was, then Captain Caveman went to the hardware shop to buy some screws for the door handles. My class was challenging because I’d missed 3 months but I wasn’t as badly behind as I would’ve been if Sioned had not been sending me the lessons. Vanessa and I had also been keeping up with a bit of it while away from Turkey so it seemed to be ok. Sioned told us that our Turkish classes were changing and we would have them on Tuesdays at 10am from next week. We also had a fella from another group join our class and the only other original members there today, were Steve and Janice.
After Turkish class, I walked to meet Captain Caveman at Okyanus for lunch, a tradition Vanessa and I had started. We bumped in to Babs and had a bit of a natter, she said she’d come over to join us shortly. Captain Caveman and I had a cold Efes, said hello to Bakı, who works at Okyanus, and ordered wraps each. My chicken wrap was lovely and Captain Caveman enjoyed his meatball wrap, the chips were home cooked and it came with a good salad selection. At 2.50pm I left Captain Caveman and Babs to finish their drinks and went back home.

I was in the middle of doing something on my laptop when I started getting messages and phone calls asking where I was. It was around 4.30pm and I thought it was a bit strange.
It turned out that an event I had created on Facebook, while still in Vietnam, for 7pm tonight, was showing as 3pm today.
It was meant to be at River Terrace tonight for Captain Caveman’s welcome back drinks but Nanny Kay, Leanne, Katrina, Debbie and Sarah were already there. I didn’t realise that Facebook changes the time to the country where your phone says you are located. Captain Caveman went to find people and explain, then ended up having a drink with Katrina at Lukka bar. He briefly saw Sarah and Jamie but the others had gone home. Poor Nanny Kay was a bit cheesed off, especially as she had paid 40 lira (£2) for a can of diet coke while she waited, then we didn’t arrive.
We had a table booked for 5.30pm at Bistro Blue, for just the 2 of us. It was nice to see Annie and Selahı again and we had a table outside in the sunshine. We shared cheese rolls and liver & onion starters then both had salads for mains. Captain Caveman had Halloumi, I had steak and blue cheese, all the food was delicious and the red wine went down rather well.

At 7pm, as intended, I went over to River Terrace to meet anyone who was still coming to Captain Caveman’s ‘not quite 1 night in Dalyan’ event. He was meant to be following close behind but got chatting and was even later. Katrina, couldn’t stay long but Ann, Jax, Debbie (Darling), Rach, Nuri, Mark, Kate, Maddie, Sam and Sarah made it out out. We had a good night and Captain Caveman was happy to be back.
After lots of drinks, Captain Caveman was hungry again so we went to Kebapçı Yusuf where I had the chicken liver wrap and Captain Caveman had some sort of lamb meal. The food and service was very good, as always, and it was still one of my firm favourites to eat at. Captain Caveman managed to fall asleep a couple of times so we went home, just before midnight, to wait for the taxi.

Dalyan – 30th August

I was woken at 4am on Tuesday 30th August by someone calling me from Vietnam. I had forgotten to put my do not disturb on and it would be 8am there, I didn’t answer it but then I couldn’t get back to sleep. As the call to prayer went off I checked emails then had a sandwich which I still had left from the airport lounge.
In the afternoon I went to get my Turkish phone sorted because the SIM card was no longer working. It cost me 300 lira (£15) for a new one with 15GB of data, some texts and minutes. If you’re not a resident then it costs another £5. Next, I went to the pharmacy to get contraceptive pills and antihistamines. This cost about £7.25, much more expensive than when I last bought any. My last stop was to Migros to get toilet roll, noodles, spaghetti and milk at a cost of 86 lira (£4.30) – prices in Turkey were definitely increasing but seemed generally cheaper than the UK. When I got back to the apartment, I noticed that the outside lights were on, which was good but the light at the top of our stairs wasn’t working. The gate proved hard to get in and out of with shopping bags because of the overgrown garden and the broken wire netting on the gate. I had leftovers and a crisp sandwich for dinner then an early night. I decided to wait until Captain Caveman arrived so he could deal with what needed to happen about the pool and garden maintenance which definitely needed some attention. Captain Caveman was on a flight from Saigon at 9.25pm (Vietnamese time) and would be in Istanbul by the time I woke up in the morning.

Dalyan – 29th August

When I woke up on Monday 29th August Captain Caveman was already about to start his journey, from Vietnam to Turkey. It had been almost 3 years since he had last been to Dalyan, mainly due to the pandemic, and he was looking forward to returning. He had managed to move all of our belongings from Elements Collection back to the Glass House with just a motorbike and had said his goodbyes to Stu and the boys last night. I got up and headed outside where I was met by Kitler, the cat, and some kittens. Someone had now put the cat who looked like Hitler, hence the Kitler name, a bell round it’s neck. One of the rules of our complex is no pets but, for some reason, someone is encouraging the cats by feeding them, and there were empty cat food containers and cardboard littered about the place. I cycled, on my borrowed bicycle, to the Captainnet office to pay for our internet for the next 3 months. It cost 420 lira (£21) in total so, although it had increased, it still wasn’t too bad and the nice lady said it was working immediately.
Back home I still couldn’t find the padlock key for my important cupboard but luckily I managed to find a friend who had some tools to break it for me. As Chris was leaving, there was a couple outside the gate asking which of the apartments in our block were for sale. I didn’t know for certain, there was no ‘For Sale’ sign anywhere. They had friends who wanted to look at it and had been kept waiting by the agent so they were keen on finding out more info. I was running late to meet friends in Tez bar so I left them, waiting inside the complex, in the hot sun. On my way round the corner to another of my locals I saw Jamie and Drew at Lukka bar. They were off shopping so couldn’t come for drinks, we said we would catch up soon though.
I met Mark, Kate, Adam and Kath (another one of my favourite couples) at Tez bar where it was very nice and sunny. It was also good to see Tez and his wife again after being away for a while. I had a couple of white wine and sodas, Debbie joined us for one too, then Sarah arrived. It was nice to relax and chat with everyone, even though I hadn’t missed too much from being in Vietnam. We were all quite sensible for a Monday afternoon; Mark and Kate left to go home in one direction, Adam and Kath in the opposite one. After a couple of drinks which came to 200 lira (£10), we were all going our separate ways but I realised I had no food in at home. I had to drop off Katrina’s lemongrass oil, at Maisie Moo so I decided to go to Lukka Bar, by myself, where I had a large draft Efes beer for 55 lira (£2.75) and I had a delicious sweet and sour chicken for 195 lira (£9.75). It was very nice and I even took a little bit home with me as the portion size was substantial.