2013 was all short-haul for a change.

It was Poland for the British Guild of Travel Writers’ AGM in February with stays in Krakow and Zakopane and its ‘alkoholes’ where much Polish vodka was drunk.

An Alkohole in Zakopane

An Alkohole in Zakopane

Soon after, I had to dash off to Glasgow..

James Watt statue, Glasgow George square

George Square, Glasgow

In March it was three weeks in Hungary where I was hit by the snow and had to do my research in temperatures of -8C.

Paprika drying in Balaton Hungary.

Paprika in Balaton, Hungary.

April belonged to Germany: three weeks from Munich to Cologne via Freiburg.

Heidelberg view from the castle

Heidelberg

 

Late May and early June it was Greece; mostly and Athens and Rhodes where I was struck by Lindos

St Paul's Bay, Rhodes

The bay where St Paul anchored in Rhodes.

July and it was the beautiful north of England: Durham Newcastle and Lindisfarne which I found fantastic.

Lindisfarne Castlewith sheep in the foreground

Lindisfarne Castle

September and it was Greece again (Lesbos).

Molyvos, Lesbos, Greece

Molyvos, where my Greek roots are from.

In August I found out I was GCSE material.

November was quite fun with the WTM and all that.

The Slovenian Tourism Office demonstrates a Roman iPad.

The Slovenian Tourism Office demonstrates a Roman iPad.

December: well it had to be Vienna and its Karlskirche.

Bric-a-brac, Wiener Christkindlmarkt, Rathaus Vienna

Vienna Christmas bric-a-brac

The highlights were far too numerous to mention, with honourable mentions to Heidelberg and Lindisfarne but managing to find a century-old church on Lesbos built by my great grandfather can’t be compared to anything else.

Church of Aghios Ioannis, Vafios.

The church of St John the Baptist, built my great grandfather outside Molyvos, Lesbos, Greece

So what do I have to look for in 2014? France, Greece, Romania so far planned.

Oh well. Here it goes again…