Our plans for this year

So far it has been a difficult year in terms of health. Pauline is still suffering greatly from bursitis which really restricts her movements. A new hip joint would make no difference because the burser is a sac which exudes the lubricant for the joint. It is leaking. For my part I have had a chest infection since being in hospital over the New Year. Chest infections can cause havoc with my underlying condition known as COPD. If I have another exacerbation I will suffer scarring to my lung tissue. Allowed to continue like this, COPD will kill me. I am waiting to get on a course lasting 10 weeks where I discover different ways of exercising to keep me fitter and more able to fight off this blight.

All this has made us realise we are not invincible and that if we are to enjoy travelling in retirement the time is now, before we are too restricted to travel abroad. We had hoped to travel in France this year, but when we started to look for villas/gites etc they were all unavailable. So we simply said, "Let's go back to Anghistri for 3 weeks." Anghistri is the small island we often visit 20 miles from Athens. We know many people in the village where we stay and are always welcomed with open arms by Christos and Beverly, our hosts. We therefore looked for flights and were able to book two using Easyjet who now fly from Manchester to Athens. Bev confirmed room 10 and the trip is on for July.

A few days ago we decided to take a look at villas in Spain. We found a suitable cottage for two weeks in September and made the enquiry. Yes, it was available, and it has a pool which provides excellent therapy for our respective medical problems. The flights were booked, a car hired and the deposit transferred today via the Internet banking service. All that remained was to book the car into the Shuttle Car Park at Manchester Airport for each holiday. Job done!

Travelling to Anghistri will be like going home for a break in July. The Spanish experience we hope will be quite different! Holidays in Menorca, Majorca and the Canaries are not what you think in terms of Spain. I have always wanted to visit Granada, Seville, the Alhambra Palace, Gibraltar etc and all are within driving distance of our little cottage up in the hills of Andalusia. The photo above shows a view of Mount Maroma from the swimming pool. We understand that there will be a welcome like Anghistri provides when we go to the village for supplies. That is very appealing!

Watch this space for news of our travels. It might be some time before I provide a report but do keep a look out.