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what, who, why?
What is a middle-aged flashpacker? See below: Hello! This is me, Jill, on the Bangkok train to Trang, Thailand. You’ll notice some similarities to a back packer – a backpack (ok, it’s small), travelling on a train, beer. However, it’s the differences that make me a flashpacker. Please observe the luxury (!) of the 1st…
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Calabria – Coast to coast and other things
Days 13 and 14 – Tropea Tropea. We are here. Did we save the best til last? Well…no but that’s because we’ve seen such a variety of places that it’s difficult to say one is better than another. Tropea is perched high above the sea and is beautiful because it’s dramatic. The town is a…
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Calabria – Coast to coast and other things
Day 12 – Scilla Scilla is an historic fishing town, linked to Homer’s very long poem , The Odyssey. The town is named after Scylla who was a sea monster that killed and ate sailors. Nice. It’s a perfect place to wander around. Winding, little lanes with tiny restaurants and cafes scattered about it’s a…
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Calabria – Coast to coast and other things
Day 11 – Pentedattilo We had a very leisurely morning and in spite of the trains (they’re electric so not particularly noisy) a pretty good night’s sleep. We popped into Lidl to pick up some lunch on our way to Pentedattilo, the deserted village. As many of you are aware my relationship with Lidl is…
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Calabria – Coast to coast and other things
Day 10 Reggio Calabria This morning had us bustling around, trying not to forget anything and making sure all the right rubbish was in the right bag. Italians are really big on recycling which is surprising when you see how much rubbish is dumped in various lay-bys or basically anywhere that someone fancies leaving it.…
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Calabria – Coast to coast and other things
Day 8 and 9 – Capo Vaticano Yesterday and today have been chill days. Yesterday we toyed with the idea of renting a pedalo and even got so far as wandering down to the beach that does all the touristy stuff but apathy overtook us and we wandered back again to relax on our own…
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Calabria – Coast to coast and other things
Day 7 – Capo Vaticano A combination of yesterday evening’s excitement and weary legs etc from the trek meant a leisurely day was on the cards. After coffee (Antonia left us some far superior coffee than yesterday’s) , breakfast and another coffee, we got the washing on and sauntered up to the local shop. Nothing…
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Calabria – Coast to coast and other things
Day 6 – Pizzo and Capo Vaticano Our bed was very comfortable and in spite of some noisy late night revellers we managed to sleep ok. It is marvellous to eat breakfast on a beautiful terrace overlooking the sea, so we forgave the very mediocre repast we were served, ( shocking coffee, we are now…
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Calabria – Coast to coast and other things
Day 5 – stage 3 of ctc. Monterosso to Pizzo Our accommodation proved very comfortable and a breakfast was provided in town via a voucher. This is a very popular and sensible way of supplying breakfast without the owner having to provide an eating area or even be present at the b&b. I am getting…
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Calabria – Coast to coast and other things
Day 4 – stage 2 of coast to coast My ear, head and jaw were much less painful last night but still not totally back to normal. Hopefully tonight will see it off. This morning didn’t go as well as one would have hoped. Steve’s attempt at his first coffee of the day proved very…
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Calabria – Coast to coast and other things
Day 3 – stage 1 of Coast to Coast Awful night last night. My ear, jaw and neck were so painful, I just couldn’t get comfortable. Ibuprofen helped a little but not much. Googled it this morning and it could be due to the air pressure changes when flying, especially if you’ve had a cold.(…
Middle-aged flash packers
The ramblings and wanderings of two middle-aged travellers up for adventure
- 2021 – There are no plans. Covid
- About
- Australia/Vietnam Revisited 2025
- Bulgaria – Roses and Trains 2025
- Cabo de Gata 2024
- Calabria – Coast to coast and other things
- Costa Rica 2015
- Escape to Italy 2017
- Going round in Circles – Circumnavigating Spain 2021
- Gran Canaria – The Isle of Dogs
- Greece – Pottering The Peloponnese 2021
- Into Africa – 2022
- Into Africa -November/December 2022
- Jordan Jaunts 2023
- Mini adventure in Northern Portugal – 2018
- Mission Triglav – Slovenia, Italy, France 2017
- My blog
- Myanmar and Thailand 2019
- Oman 2019
- Oz Odyssey – Australia, Fiji,Hawaii 2016
- Panama 2023
- Return of the Road Warriors – Europe revisited 2019 Liechenstein, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Germany
- Road Trip to Anywhere – France, Italy, ? 2022
- Roaming the Rhodope – Bulgaria
- Sicily wanderings – on the volcano trail
- Spain La Mancha – tilting at windmills 2026
- Tea, Trains and Temples – A journey around Sri Lanka 2017
- Tenerife 2024
- The Grand Tour – Driving from UK to Turkey and back again 2015
- The Hills are Alive – Austria road trip September 2025
- The Silk Road – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan 2019
- Turkey – 2020
- Wainwrights Lake District UK part 2 2022 March
- Walking the Wainwrights part 1 – Lake District UK 2021
