Around the World in 200 Blogs

In the three years we have been writing this blog we have visited fourteen countries and written two hundred stories about the places we've seen and the people we've met. What began as a travel diary and a way of keeping in touch with friends and family has grown to the point where more than four thousand people have read some of our most popular entries. There have been more than 150,000 visitors to our blog in total. So, although we are currently basking in a sub-tropical paradise near the ancient city of Olympos in southern Turkey, through the magic of the blogosphere we thought we would take you on a whirlwind tour around the world to revisit some of our most treasured memories.

Let's start in London - our favourite city in all the world. Here's the London Eye that gave us spectacular views of the entire metropolis...

France is a very special place for us - not least because of the two grandchildren who live there. But we will always remember our wonderful cruise on the Canal du Midi aboard the good ship Carmen with Captain David...

In Spain we visited the great citadel of Alhambra which overlooks the ancient city of Granada....

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is a bustling place full of exotic sights and sounds, and although we rarely buy anything we love the razzmattaz of markets...

Luxor, on Egypt's Nile, is surely one of the world's greatest treasures, and sailing in a felucca at sunset was magical...

Speaking of magic - our time by the river at Champakulam in India was just a dream...

And then there was Thailand and the Royal Palace in Bangkok...

Luang Prabang in Laos...

Halong Bay in Vietnam...

And the rice paddies of our friend Tony in Bali, Indonesia...

However, many of our favourite places have yet to appear on our blog - Venice, Lucca, Rome, Dubrovnik, Paris, New York and Hong Kong are all places to which we will happily return whenever we get a chance. But there is one place to which we often return, and we know that it is the most beautiful place on earth. It is Gabriola Island, British Columbia - our home...

This is the view from our front window.