The last time we went to Europe our favourite places were those represented in this collection of photos, which has been displayed in our house ever since. These four photos depict (left to right) the Greek island of Paros, the Italian city of Siena, a Venetian canal, another Greek island – this time, Corfu.

Easy then to see we loved Italy and Greece. Now we are heading to Europe again (after we’ve travelled through North America) but we’re not going to Italy at all this time and have chosen an entirely different Greek island. Why? Mostly because this trip has been planned around catching up with our friends who live scattered around the world. But also because we didn’t want to risk spoiling our memories. The world has changed so much in the interim and many European destinations are now thronged with tourists, whereas we remember idyllic days wandering around ancient cities and islands, mostly free from crowds.

We hope to come home with a new set of favourite experiences with photos to match. Perhaps we’ll invest in another rimu frame in which to display them in our house in Kirikiriroa.