Thinking of Holiday destinations

I often see my friends planning their holidays and in truth I tend to work through most of mine. During my time with Mrs T we spent holidays in Istanbul with her parents. Now I enjoyed these for several reasons. The biggest plus point is that where they live is away from tourists, so it was a chance to see the real Istanbul, and the apartment had this amazing window which allowed you the pleasure of watching real people living real lives. Before becoming a teacher I was a compere/entertainer across many beautiful destinations, but all I saw was hotels, day trips and tourists talking about how they couldn't wait for the 2 weeks to be up so they can get some English food (if they want English food stay in England) The other nice thing about holidaying away from the masses in Istanbul was the lack of crime. Jess, Mrs T and I could walk to the keep fit parks (a really useful invention that obese blighty could do with following) without any fear of crime (ok the dogs were a different matter) in the touristy parts well the criminals know where all the money and gullible behaviour resides so they tend to flock there. Anyway I am thinking about a holiday this year and I am hoping for a holiday away from people, the antarctic is out as I only have 1 coat, so I am thinking of a walking holiday. The South of France, or Northern Italy. Maybe a 5 day stay at a Buddhist retreat. I don't know something different. Life is different so I might embrace it with my holiday choice this year. If you want to come along you better like walking more than people.


John