So Mark and I have just had the most wonderfully exciting week… Well, week and a bit. It really gave us a taste for the adventures ahead, and let me tell you – we’re ready! Totally and completely ready. We quite happily lived out of a suitcase for 2 weeks, quite happily didn’t know exactly where we were going to be sleeping the next night, and quite happily lived in each other’s pockets without getting tired of one another.

I am all of a sudden SO SO SO excited to be going!!!

So our Thrilling Week and a Half began with a ride on the Blue Train… oh my goodness, how to describe the Blue Train? I’ll post a real review of it on Just the Planet, but let me just tell you it was 27 hours of heaven. We boarded the train tired and stressed out (we were really busy before we left) and disembarked calm and happy. Magical, indeed.

It wasn’t just the train ride – although that was amazing, watching the world go by through large panoramic windows. And it wasn’t just the food – although that was delicious, and plentiful (3 course lunch, afternoon tea, snacks and sundowners, 3 course dinner and breakfast). It was partly the service, which was incredibly friendly and totally on-the-ball. But it was mainly the experience of it… To be on a train rumbling through the wild open spaces of South Africa, perfectly comfortable but simultaneously out in the open. We loved it.

And were actually really sad to step off the train. I felt quite down.

Lucky, then, that our next port of call was the beautiful Illyria House. Totally over-the-top, completely bedecked in antiques, but with an extremely comfortable white-linen-bed and a delicious garden pagoda jacuzzi. Who knew Pretoria could be exotic? We headed off after a silver service breakfast to the Mexican Embassy to get our visas (easy as pie), and shortly afterwards made our way to the bustling heart of Joburg.

I’ve never been a fan of Joburg. It’s one of my least favourite places in South Africa, in fact. But if I could stay at AtholPlace all the time, I might even consider moving there. It was that beautiful. Every segment of the house fit into each other so perfectly that it looked like the pages of an interior design magazine… Only it was deeply comfortable at the same time. I had to do some work while we were there, and my desk was set up in front of white wooden shutters looking out over the garden… Heaven, I tell you!

After AtholPlace we spent a night with Mark’s sister-in-law and nephew (what a cute baby!) and then flew home (to Durban, the city I’m still in love with) for a few days with my family, before heading off to Phinda Private Game Reserve. Mark had only seen a rhino in the wild before we arrived at Phinda. When we left he’d seen a herd of elephant, a journey of giraffe (isn’t that a great collective noun?), a white rhino and her baby, a black rhino marking his territory, a rather shy leopard, a cheetah mother with her three teenagers, hundreds of zebra, nyala and impala, and a chilled-out herd of buffalo. Throw in a bush pig, two crocs (up close!), and a monitor lizard and you can tell we had a busy two days!

Phinda was such a great experience in itself, though, apart from all the game. The staff were wonderfully friendly and really went the extra-mile for us, and their community work projects are truly inspiring. I’m writing it all up for Just the Planet – I’ll let you know when you can read them.

Till then, time to settle back into home for our last 2 weeks before The Big Adventure begins!

We’ll cross over into ITALY around the 31st of March, and drive across the North to VENICE, the city of canals. With 1400 years of history and our first taste of Italian food, this is sure to be a memorable stop… From Venice we’ll stop over at SAN MARINO, Europe’s third smallest state (after the Vatican and Monaco) to check out the place where the Grand Prix takes place (!) and then head on to TUSCANY. FLORENCE is home to beautiful countryside and great food, but also to some of the world’s greatest Renaissance art. And then from Tuscany we’ll head to ROME, to indulge in their cafés, history, architecture and culture. There are rumours that the best pizza in the world is made in Rome… Watch this space! We’ll drop off our car, and exit Italy, at BARI.

From there, we’ll catch a ferry over to DUBROVNIK in Croatia, arriving on the 16th of April. Dubrovnik is a city of marble streets and Baroque buildings on the Adriatic coast. We’ll explore the museums and sights, and then head off to discover what Croatia is famous for – island paradise. MLJET ISLAND sounds like just such a paradise, 72% of the island is forest, and there are two saltwater lakes. By this stage, we’ll probably need some down time, so if we spend a week on a paradisical island, that will be just fine!

Our second-to-last country is GREECE, where we’ll land in ATHENS on the 2nd of May. We’ll spend a day or two seeing the Parthenon Temple in Athens, soaking up the vibrant street life and walking along Europe’s longest pedestrian promenade. Then we’ll take a ferry to the island of SKIATHOS, where pine-fringed beaches and picturesque monasteries give a picture postcard view of Greek island life. From Skiathos there’s a ferry to CRETE, Greece’s largest island and a place of stunning natural beauty, traditional mountain villages and treasures off the beaten path.

We end our epic journey in TURKEY, where we’ll land in ISTANBUL on the 18th of May. Istanbul has a lot to offer, from the Tokapi Palace, the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar, to historic buildings and tranquil cay bahcesi (tea gardens). Once we’ve drunk our fill of Istanbul we’ll head to CAPPADOCIA by an overnight bus. Cappadocia is home to hotels built in caves, ancient churches, fairy chimneys, hot air ballons and Byzantine frescoes. Magical, no?
And finally, to end our trip, we’ll spend a few days lying on the beach of the TURQUOISE COAST, catching our breath after ten months of travel, and gearing up for the Soccer World Cup in CAPE TOWN when we return home!