Juan at the SEA (Sociedad Española de Astronomía)!

On behalf of Schott, this is what Juan is going to present in Teruel in September. (I want to know what's lucky about the Lucky Imager...?)

Col du Lauzon

The day I didn't pack enough lunch and we were hungry... randonnée minceuse, as Juan put it...

The 930m climb felt like 9300m (there were tears at the top) but it was worth it for peerless views down the Haut Buëch valley. Love that place...

spices, caves and sheep

Just back from an amazing 2 weeks in Turkey with a zillion photos that need to be edited into a book. Here's a short-and-sweet preview: some shots that capture the essence of our Istanbul - Cappadocia - Taurus itinerary.

At Istanbul airport you get in training for queuing - an hour to get through passport control. We aren't used to this! So, alongside visits to key and unbelievably fabulous sites...

one of the many lavishly decorated rooms in Topkaki Palace

...we went off-piste, beyond the mounds of spice, to find truly ordinary - but to us extraordinary - shops that don't exist anymore in Europe. In this one you could buy every kind of brush under the sun...

In Cappadocia our B & B hosts gave us walking directions to an early Christian church so far off the beaten track it felt as though we were the first people to discover it. Getting lost amongst the weird rock formations was half the pleasure.

Throughout this time we had rain most days - the kind of freak weather that is becoming the new normal. We knew that, in the Taurus mountains, it would be snowing. But we weren't expecting the whole itinerary to be reconfigured to day walks from two base camps at well below the altitude the botanist half of the couple was hoping it. But, overall, the routes were varied, giving a good taste of the jagged limestone Aladaglar National Park that lies smack in the middle of the country. And the sense of "unfinished business" is a good feeling to take away. A wonderful trip...

Snazzy new jacket, Rebecca? Well, er, no - borrowed from our guide when I realised my ancient goretex wasn't
up to the conditions...

We take a break with a semi-nomadic shepherd. Our guide, Adem, knows him, as he does everyone in the area, having done the job himself as a kid.

At base camp 2, on our one "normal" evening, warm enough to relax in the sun at the end of the day.

Mini marmots (squirrel size) were very at home in base camp 2.