Cyprus - the first leg Monday 22nd September

Monday September 22nd Larnaca Airport, Cyprus. By Jim

We're on our way to Athens this afternoon, after 4 fantastic days with Sarah, Pavlos & Konstandinos in Cyprus, but there is a bit to update until we get to here.

London was great, all jobs achieved, and as typical in London budget was blown to bits, but we had some great days and nights out seeing all of our friends. We will miss you guys, honest. It was nice to leave London though - being there without our house to use as a base was a bit odd, and not having the scooter to buzz around meant that doing things took twice as long as it should. Being a tourist in London is fun, but not the same as living there. Not missing London yet, but we'll enjoy being back there as a resident, not as a visitor.

Cambridge was lots of fun, thanks to Dan and Mima for looking after the whole Hyde clan so well.

Thanks also to Aby & Dee for putting on such an amazing wedding, it was good to see everyone from uni once again, and cant believe that it was over 10 years since we were 'studying' in the fine city, yet still know all the words and home-made actions to Angels. Hopefully the happy couple are having a fab honeymoon down under while we are enjoying ours so much too.

We got to Cannes once again with possibly the worst hangover in a long time. Racing to catch your flight at Stansted while feeling so ropey is not to be recommended. With the 20kg rule meaning we wore as much clothing as possible, to say we were sweating through security would have been an understatement. Once we arrived back at Rue Louis Perrissol we were down to Caffe Italia for pizza and pasta as soon as possible, We got talking to a couple who had just celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary. 50 years ago, they had gone to Guernsey for their honeymoon, and the most exotic that it got was a bottle of chianti.

Cannes as usual was as chilled as possible, and a time to regroup and see what we actually have got in our luggage for the next 12 months. Its soon apparent that we dont need 6 trailfinders brochures and can hopefully leave behind notebooks, address books, jumpers etc etc. We've got satellite TV in Cannes, so just as we were about to go down to the beach or at the end of our sunbathing day tuned into British daytime TV. I'm almost embarrassed to say that watching 22 people opening boxes randomly became event TV, especially when the £250,000 box was brought to the table 2 days in a row. Who could believe that Deal or No Deal could be so exciting? Its back in those student days again the last time that antiques programmes and cookery lessons were must see viewing, and if you weren't home in time for Countdown, worried glances were exchanged (these are pre-mobile phone times remember.) Obviously we still follow the antics of daytime TV and are well aware that Carol has been given the boot - maybe she will get a reprieve and still be choosing letters and numbers when we next get to see Countdown (or they will have changed its name to Upspell (C) Jim & Nik) Its still the same woman in dictionary corner after all.

Thanks to XL going bust, we had to change our trip from Cannes to Cyprus via Gatwick instead of Luton (every cloud etc) but we did have to get the 640am bus to the airport. We were lucky enough to be able to have lunch with Beej in the airport before boarding the plane to Cyprus. It was wonderful to see Sarah, Pavos & Konstandinos again, and to enjoy their hospitality. Honestly they are the most wonderful hosts and looked after us so well, so book your trip out here now, as this time next year, they will be back in Sunderland (not quite as good weather). Make sure you book the Pavlos Tourbus to take you to see all of the sites - through Turkish-owned Northern Cyprus that until very recently had its border's closed from Nicosia, to the presidents house, which would not look out of place in Abbeville Road. Saturday night out in Nicosia is good crack, buy yourself a bottle of vodka, and all of the mixers come for free. Also being on the Pavlos tour bus adds that added little excitement (so what shall we do now then?) 4 days here have flown by. It didnt matter that it rained on Sunday (first time in months - but not enough to fill the supplies) as we had the biggest pork chop ever, and some amazing crepe cake and coffee at Pavlos's parents house (where we also met the tiniest puppy ever) Once Luce confirmed that she was initially born in Sheffield, it was time to get the bus to the airport.

Now we really are off on our own adventure, with no-one to show us where to go, what to see, where to eat, or how to use the washing machine, and we cant wait!