Travels with Steve and Glo

il nostro giro d'italia

Posted 3 months ago in Venice, Italy

(Guest blog post by Nelly)

We just landed in Italy! After a short flight from Liverpool, we made it to Rome.

As soon as we dropped off our bags, we settled in for a delicious pasta and pizza dinner! We went to see the Colosseum! It was very rainy, but we enjoyed it a lot. It was fascinating to see the amazing work that the people put in to build it 2000 years ago. It was amazing and we’re all very grateful to see it together.

Many gelatos later, we made it to Tuscany and Siena. We found the coolest thing; a hot spring called Termi di Petriolo! It was boiling, but super relaxing.

We then spent a week doing another dog-sit in the small town of Vicenza, where we were lucky enough to see the Giro d'Italia as it passed through. And we had yummy pasta at a food festival with hundreds of locals.

Finally, our highlight of Venice, we went on a gondola ride! It was superb. We saw all the small canals of Venice, and we enjoyed every moment.

Italy was so relaxing and fun.

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London, Oxford, Lake District and Peak District

Posted 3 months ago in Oswestry, United Kingdom

Our UK portion of this trip has been a wonderful time with family and friends.

A few days in London being tourists, an Oxford trip and lots of time up North where we based ourselves to catch up with family and friends, explore the Lake District and also the Peak District. We loved all the walks and talks - there's no better way to catch up.

We also did some dog-sitting, which was a chance to slow down even more and spend some time in the countryside.

The main event of the UK was Bradley and Karen's wedding. Nelly and Clementine were the flower girls and it was an absolute delight to be the celebrant for my nephew's big day.

Cape Town and the Garden Route

Posted 4 months ago in Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Town is overlooked by majestic Table Mountain and after a cable car ride up to the top, we enjoyed an afternoon walking around, enjoying the views.

Camps Bay was a favourite beach – huge ocean pool with the beautiful mountain range in the background and it was easy passing time at the local cafes and street markets.

We then went on a road trip exploring the Garden route, which spans Mossel Bay to Gqeberha. We did some fun activities along the coast – wine tasting, zip line, hikes, Addo Elephant park, climbing, but the driving days were long and tiring and we took the opportunity to have some slow days too.

Kruger National Park

Posted 5 months ago in Mbombela, South Africa

Landing in Kruger National Park was a wonderful way to start our four-month family travels.

We were greeted by elephants, giraffes and impalas on our first day, which opened our bleary, jet-lagged eyes with awe. After 3 days of self-drive safari in Skukuza and Lower Sabie we were expert spotters of the wildlife and saw hyenas, zebras, buffalos, wildebeest, warthogs, hippos, baboons, monkeys, plenty of birdlife and more giraffes and elephants (the family fave). The big cats were more elusive until we went on to Satara (“Cat Country”), and on our last evening in Kruger, we took a guided drive and hit the jackpot...

Not only did we see a black rhino as it wandered into the sunset, but when we meandered up a dirt track with our safari guide, we came across a pride of lions eating a giraffe! Then the next day we spotted a cheetah resting under a tree, all on our own - The Big 4.5*

After a week of staying in basic rest camps in Kruger, we celebrated Clementine’s 9th birthday by checking-in to the Kruger Gate Hotel. After a nerve-wracking, middle-of-nowhere, flat-tyre incident, we couldn’t have been happier to land on the soft white beds and finish the week with a little luxury.

* the Big 5 technically includes a leopard rather than a cheetah, but we figured it was close enough