John and Emma's Escapades

21/07/2023

Here at Paloma Orenda just noticing the differences in how we name stuff… watch to the end!

21/07/2023

Just enjoying lunch on our last day here at Paloma Orenda in Side, Turkey. Quite, quite blissful…. 😎🍷⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

19/07/2023

Poolside bouncing between 11am and noon with aqua, paragliding and general Tom Foolery. Quite a vibe 😎

19/07/2023

Early morning shot of the beach bar Quentine here at Paloma Orenda. Fantastic spot to lounge out with a 🍻 in the 🌞👍

19/07/2023

Start of day 2.
Omelette station ✅
Big sexy salad for breakfast ✅
Beautiful big black olives ✅
Bean to cup fairy liquid coffee ✅ but the Bistro 24hr cafe does a cracking espresso so no drama, but….
Turkish delight for breakfast ❌ How will I fix last night’s GnT excesses? 😳 I’ll just have to laze by the pool until I have another one…. 😎

17/07/2023

We’re setting off to the airport! 😎☀️✈️

What habits or traditions do you have when setting off on holiday?

✅ bleach in the loo
✅ unplug the router
✅ obligatory passport double/triple check
✅ I always watch Sexy Beast on the flight over.

10/07/2023

Who doesn’t love an omelette station at breakfast time?

07/07/2023

Early morning poolside here at Paloma Orenda, Side.

A little bit of cloud (which will all be gone by breakfast). A little bit of solitude and a lovely symmetry with the reflection of the trees in the pool.

07/07/2023

Dreaming of a wonderfully relaxing week in the sun, having drinks served on roller skates by an idilic pool under a crystal blue sky, then relaxing back in a first class hotel room before enjoying an evening of great food, easy entertainment and fabulous service…?

Check out Trendy Lara Hotel in Antalya, Turkey. We did. We thought it was ace and so we made this little video about it.

Put it on your shortlist 😎😉🍷👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✈️

Trendy Lara hotel Antalya Turkey scores an 4.7 out of 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for a week by the pool or on the beach. Check out our reviews of its location, layout, poo...

12/06/2023

Stayed here last year. Really excellent. Looking forward to staying in their sister hotel Paloma Orenda later this year ☀️😎🍷👌

08/06/2023

That is one heck of an infinity pool. About 100m of cascade all the way across the Augean to the mountains behind Marmaris, looking from Kos to Turkey…

Every moment at is a memorable one!


#

08/06/2023

Good God! This is a glorious place to spend an afternoon… warm, hazy sun. Big comfy sun beds. Shade if you need it. Short walk to the bar… bliss

Enjoy our adults-only sundeck to release your stress and enjoy the ultimate vacation experience!

06/06/2023

Saturday morning in Paris. A few photos on our way to the Louvre.

06/06/2023

First night dinner,Le Barav, Paris. Another fantastic experience of charcuterie and good wines enjoyed in a bar, full of bustle, prisons and tourists are like all chatting, drinking, soaking up the atmosphere.

Review of Le Barav, Paris: Very popular, very good charcuterie, great wines, and Parisian bustle

06/06/2023

https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en

Eurostar Official Website. Book your train tickets to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Lille and many more European destinations with Eurostar.

06/06/2023

All aboard the Eurostar. Our first time on it since my Dad’s 60th. This trip was for his 80th! Chapeau Father.

Not as fast and a little dearer than flying but so much easier, more comfortable and ecologically sound. We got the train into Saint Pancras in London, switched onto the Eurostar and got out at Gare du Nord in Paris right in the heart of the city.

Big comfy seats. Really easy journey, leaving us, refreshed and ready for Parisian adventures.

05/06/2023

From the cemetery on the underground (super easy to use) to Milan’s Navigli. These are the canals created, by Leonardo da Vinci to transport the rose pink marble used to build the Duomo, from over 90 km away into the heart of Milan.

It’s now a canal, lined with fantastic bars and restaurants. Really easy picking for some great food and a few delicious drinks before back to the hotel for final packing is and heading off to the airport and home.

Thank you Milan. You’ve absolutely done us proud. What a brilliant weekend!

05/06/2023

After a very pleasant walk north through the city, stopping for breakfast, espresso and danishes, we arrived at Cimitero Monumentale do Milano.

Not everybody’s cup of tea, but this was a very beautiful way to spend a quiet and reflective Sunday morning.

Monumental Cemetery: Stunning and soulful Sunday morning activity in the warm sun of Milan - See 3,855 traveller reviews, 4,787 candid photos, and great deals for Milan, Italy, at Tripadvisor.

05/06/2023

Dinner overlooking the Duomo. How very cool!
A couple of cocktails, and dinner at Rinscsente Milano Piazza Duomo.

05/06/2023

A quick whizz around the Castello Sforzesco and the farmers market in the park at the back, was a very pleasant end to the day. We didn’t go into any of the museums, that this castle boasts, we were possibly a little full up with culture by this point. Definitely another stunning display of Milan’s position of significance and style in the north of Italy. Almost certainly worth a better luck than we gave it.

05/06/2023

The Duomo in the very heart of Milan. Adorned with 3400 statues, 700 marble figures and 135 gargoyles. This is a stunning cathedral.

A guided tour through GetYourGuide walked us around the outside, buttresses and parapets, and then took us inside to see the splendour and stunning statues, including a peeled Saint Bartholomew. 

Whether you believe this kind of building is a glory to God, or a glory to man, either way, it is a must visit on a city break here to the Lombardi. Capital. 

05/06/2023

Dinner on the first night at Taglieri e Bicchieri. What a treat. Sensational, dinner, wonderful wine, great company.

Review of Taglieri e Bicchieri, Milan: Absolutely wonderful for cured meat boards, fresh bread, and divine wines.

05/06/2023

First day in Milan. Just getting a feel for the place. Absolutely beautiful! The Duomo and Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II are quite breathtaking. This city is dripping in class and elegance. We might have to up our game…

05/06/2023

City break to Milan for my sister’s 50th birthday. Stayed in the NH president Milano. Fab hotel, right in the centre, just south of the Duomo. Easy access to all amenities. Great staff. Very chic bar…

NH Collection Milano President: Very nice location for a Milan city break - See 3,754 traveller reviews, 1,278 candid photos, and great deals for NH Collection Milano President at Tripadvisor.

05/06/2023

A lovely day out at Wentworth Woodhouse near Rotherham in South Yorks. Very happy to see my boy Dionysus represented.

Beautiful house, gorgeous gardens. Now being used as a filming location for loads of British period dramas. Wentworth Woodhouse is well worth a drive out

05/06/2023

Evening entertainment can also be pretty hot stuff!

05/06/2023

Evening entertainment here at Dimitra Beach can be quite sedate, calming and relaxing…

05/06/2023

Photo dump. Lazy day at Dimitra Beach Hotel and Suites.

05/06/2023

Three Island boat trip to Pserimos and Kalymnos organised by TUI. It’s a really fantastic way to spend the day towards the end of your holiday when you’ve perhaps caught a bit of sun as there’s not a massive amount of shade on this trip.

What there is is a beautiful boat ride to the gorgeous bay of Pserimos, where you can enjoy a beer and an hour paddling in the sea before onward to Kalymnos and it’s beautiful, colonial looking main town. There is a tour of the sponge museum and a relatively inexpensive meal is included with the price of the boat trip. My advice is to avoid both. The boat trip to the two islands is an absolute must and a sheer delight, but both the sponge museum and the meal they provide underwhelm.

There are a number of eateries and bars where you can get a perfectly decent sandwich and a glass of beer, and a wander on your own around the back streets is quite quite beautiful.

There is the obligatory stop and swim on the way home, which, by the time you’ve had a couple of beers and a day in the Sun on the sea is a really welcome splash of excitement and very refreshing.

The tour get back to Kos town harbour at about 5:30 pm with transportation back to your hotel, if you’d like it, although sticking around to enjoy cost town in the evening is well worth the trip. 

05/06/2023

Our traditional trip put up into the mountains of Kos to visit Zia and Oromedon. Fave restaurant. They’d sold out of the local boar so we both went with the 18hr lamb dish. So good! So, so good.

As the sunsets over Kos you’re sipping a cocktail, tucking into a freshly made loaf of bread and Greek houmous, waiting for your bottle of wine to breathe, picking at an olive or two reminiscing over the days relaxation, knowing you’re about to tuck into one of the best lamb dishes you’ve ever eaten, and that your dessert is going to be something made with a locally produced honey. This is a very beautiful dining experience.