The magic of Istanbul

We recently spent three nights in Istanbul which - with its amazing architecture, incredibly friendly people and apple tea - has won a place in our hearts as one of our favourite cities in the world.

The cliche of East meeting West really is true in Istanbul, with the city straddling two continents. The last time I was there was in my previous life as a journalist during which I only had time to view a brief glimpse of the city's charm. I knew Jay would love it just as much as I did and getting to meet up with my brother Adam and his girlfriend Elena (who live in Madrid) was an added bonus.

We arrived late at night, in the pouring rain, and took the tube and tram from the airport to the historic part of the city where - somewhere! - our apartment awaited. Unfortunately many of the streets don't have signs and the best word to describe our, increasingly soggy, map was 'interesting'.

After the warmest welcome we've ever encountered we dried off and headed straight to a restaurant for some kebabs and beer - delicious.

The next day we were all set to hit the city's sights. We were then somewhat surprised to find a police blockade, complete with tanks, at the end of our street. It transpired that Barack Obama had also decided to visit the mosques that morning, which meant that we were forced to hit the markets instead (oh well!).

It seems we weren't the only ones who were not happy about Barack Obama's visit!

I love to rummage through markets when abroad, and these were my best yet.

Istanbul has a population of 13 million, and yet everyone was so friendly and helpful. It was wonderful to be in such a foreign place and to feel so at home.

The view from our apartment. It was amazing to hear the call to prayer floating across the city.

We drank a lot of apple tea...yum!

All photos by Jay - mine are still in the camera!

New Year in Madrid

After a very hectic December we took the opportunity to recharge our batteries in Madrid over the New Year. This brought back lots of happy memories for Jay and I, who spent our honeymoon there in May 2007.

This time we were accompanied by my parents, and were fortunate to have two fantastic tour guides, my brother Adam and his girlfriend, Elena, who live in the Spanish capital. They even managed not to laugh too much when I tried to buy a new tripod and asked for one that was "muchos grandes" (many great ones) than the one on display.

Highlights of our trip included a visit to the Retiro to see an amazing carousel designed by a French artist for the festive celebrations. We also spent a great deal of time soaking up the atmosphere in the many tapas bars and celebrated New Year in traditional Spanish style by eating 12 grapes (washed down with Cava) as the clock struck 12.

As usual we travelled extremely light, except when it came to cameras. I was very excited to get to use my new camera - an old film SLR that Jay gave me for Christmas. While I absolutely love the digital age (I am so impatient that I relish the opportunity to see my photos straight away) there is something very nostalgic about the feel of an old camera in my hands. This reminds me of my very first camera, bought at the age of 8, although I like to think that my photography has moved on since then! There is also something magical about entrusting your film to the photo elves and the anticipation as you wait for your prints to come back.

Meanwhile, Jay was armed with the big guns - his digital SLR and his Holga! Here are some of our digi pics for now...