January – Corfu, Ioannina and Meteroa .
You might have expected me to have chosen a beach in Corfu or the monasteries perched high on the rocks in Meteora but instead I went for this tree in a rather wet off road carpark in Ioannina. Why? It reminds me of getting better after a bad cold, walking down to the lakeside and seeing my favourite photographic subject. I only spent a few days in the town and that day walking down to the lake and over to the castle area remains with me.
February – Meteora and Thessaloniki
Although I didn’t visit any of the monasteries in February, (the four I did visit were seen in January) I did take a hike up into the hills and was pleased to get up as high as I did. I took this shot of the town to show off just how far up I could get at 66 – my birthday was just one week later. I also wrote a post about my airbnb stays in both places – the link is here.
March – Thessaloniki, London, Somerset and Sheffield.
Was I glad to be back in the UK? I loved Thessaloniki and was sad not to have any photos chosen from there, (so used the one of the cat in a box as the main photo for this piece.) Instead it was this pic of a mural in my ‘home’ town of Sheffield that made it into the 12. I have been photographing street art on my travels since I started and I just loved this one just a mile or so from the city centre. It was painted by Elle Koziupa, who lives in nearby Chesterfield and is called ‘prepared to be illuminated.’
April – Sheffield and Dronfield Woodhouse.
Catching up with friends and trying to sort out more stuff from my storage unit were the must do’s of April … and I tried to do as much of the first as possible (apologies if I missed you.) This pic of one of the entrances to Graves’ park in Sheffield was my favourite pic for quite a while. If you want to read more about my time in Sheffield and Dronfield – there is a link to my blog post about it here.
May – Sheffield, Bacau and Iași.
Back on my travels and onto Romania, a country I have wanted to visit for a very long time. It didn’t disappoint and my favourite city of the trip was Iași. So many photos to choose from but I think finding this bench near the botanical gardens is my favourite memory. I also have articles on Bacau which you can find here, and Iasi which you can find here.
June – Iași, Chișinău and Bucharest.
Out of Iași by train to Moldova and the city of Chișinău where I stayed for just 10 days (and wish it had been a lot longer) and then on the 17 hour overnight train to Bucharest … (more here) but it was Chișinău that stole my heart and unusually for me I asked this two young women if they would pose for me – and they gladly obliged!
July – Bucharest and Brașov
It may have been an odd photo to choose, but this, from Brașov, of a tree down in a sudden thunderstorm serves as a reminder that my travels have not always gone the way I would like them. This was a minor inconvenience though – but so sad for the tree. More about my time in Brașov here.
August – Brașov, Sibiu, Craiova, Giurgiu, Veliko Tarnovo and Sofia.
Talking of travels not going smoothly, this was the month of the difficult journey from Romania to Bulgaria which I talked about here. I think too much travel in one month – and especially in August when many other people are on the move is not a good idea (note to self for the future.) Out of all those places, I chosen a pic from somewhere I only spent a few hours in … the town of Sinaia, near Peles Castle in Romania. I had a lovely afternoon there and particularly liked the park. This serves as a good memory of the place.
September – Sofia, Kulata and Plovdiv.
I’ve included Kulata on my list of ‘stays’ even though I only visited overnight (see my post here) but in the end I felt I had to have a memory of Sofia as I really enjoyed the city. This photo is from when a travel mistake went right! I caught a bus going the wrong way and found this en-route, so had to get off and take a few shots. And there is more on Bulgaria in this post here.
October – Plovdiv, Erdine and Istanbul.
The second half of my stay in Plovdiv and the bus journey into Türkiye … I found myself very torn for this month’s photo … but this one showing part of the stage of the Roman theatre in Plovdiv seemed fitting. It’s been a long while since I trod the boards and never on some so ancient.
November – Istanbul
My longest stay of the year extended right through the whole of November. I was blown away by how big and how busy the city was and there were so many things I could have chosen, but I went with a tram because it is my favourite form of transport and I have not included one on any other pic., (they were a feature of Iasi, Bucharest and Sofia as well.) I’m due back to the city in March and may well try to stay somewhere near to that tram route … I loved it.
December – Istanbul, Madrid, Granada.
Taking a break from my ‘journey’ and in Spain for the winter … I have already fallen in love with Granada and it will be a real wrench when I have to leave. The Alhambra was something special and I think this picture from the walls looking out over the part of town where my digs are sums up how lovely this place is.
That’s my summation of the year. Let me know if you feel I have missed something out. I know Veliko Tarnovo got missed and probably one or two other places – but there are the blog posts to look at as well. I wish all the readers of my blog a safe and happy 2025.
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