We’ve not been to Sri Lanka before and so this was going to be a real treat. We’re going ashore at Colombo, Sri Lanka’s largest city, leading (and very modern-looking) Port and commercial capital – home to some 750 000 locals. A hosted half-day walking tour is probably a good introduction to this country, just …
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Category:Holiday
Cruise Day 5 and 6 (10th/11th April): At Sea
Tuesday, 10th A formal night tonight – “Black and White Ball”. The clocks went back an hour last night. As we’re at sea for the next couple of days, it’s time to wake up our brains and take advantage of some of the onboard activities! Well, three out of four isn’t bad, I suppose!*Under International …
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Cruise Day 4 (9th April): Phuket (Thailand)
There’s nothing like a Cruise Holiday – long lie-ins, late breakfasts and no need for an alarm clock!And that’s why today was nothing like a Cruise Holiday!We had to set the alarm for 5.30am, breakfast followed at 6.15 and we were on the Tender Service for 7am!In spite of the super-early start, it was means …
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Cruise Day 3 (8th April): Langkawi (Malaysia)
It’s our last full-day in Malaysia today and we’ve docked around the island of Langkawi (1 of 104 in this archipelago, north-west of Malaysia). We’re currently very close to the Thai border. We’ve not been to Langkawi before, so we weren’t sure what to expect. Our original cable-car trip (that took in Machincang Mountain and …
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Cruise Day 2 (7th April): Georgetown, Penang (Malaysia)
Our day began in the laziest of ways – breakfast in our room!The combination of a smaller shoebox Cabin compact Stateroom and the legendary in-room Cunard Breakfast meant that there was hardly room for the brekky AND us… but we managed! The Ship’s connection with the outside world continues to be a problem. Quite apart …
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Embarkation & Cruise Day 1: Arrival in Malaysia (Heading for Kuala Lumpur)
THURSDAY: Embarkation was mostly as smooth as it comes (apart form the queuing). After a S$10 Cab-ride to the Cruise Terminal, we were soon on-board (after only an hour of sitting around waiting to queue and then standing around enjoying the queuing). Did I mention queuing? It’s now just after 2pm, on Thursday and at …
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Day 4: Bye-Bye Singapore, Hello Queen Mary 2
After a few days on dry land in Singapore, we’re now swapping it for extreme amounts of the wet stuff – courtesy of Queen Mary 2. This is the flagship of the Cunard Cruise Line and is the biggest/largest/heaviest/tallest in their fleet. We’ve been lucky enough to do quite a few Cruises over the years, …
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Day 3: Singapore – The Singapore Flyer and Lunch at The Sands SkyPark
Yes, another hot sticky one today – and our last full day here before joining the Ship tomorrow! We’re off to take a ride in The Singapore Flyer and then Lunch at the Sands SkyPark that takes in some spectacular views of the Bay. This is an interesting and newish attraction (opened in 2008), standing …
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Day 2: Singapore – Gardens by the Bay/Afternoon Tea
Ahh, good news for the citizens of Singapore! The removal of the Kevlar from my side of the mattress made all the difference, and unlike yesterday, I slept well. No more ‘Mr Grumpy’! ..and it looks like another hot, sticky one is on the cards today! Today, the main events are: first – the Gardens …
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Day 1: Singapore – Singapore Zoo
One of us slept well, the other is Mr Grumpy (because they didn’t!) It was either the time-zone change, the Kevlar-coated mattress, or a mixture of both! Back to the itinerary! Today, it’s Singapore Zoo for us – luckily, as visitors!! We haven’t been here since our first visit to Singapore, 32 years ago! and …
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Day 0: Arrival in Singapore
We left home just after 10.30 on Easter Saturday, courtesy of Philip, our Driver (all part of the Emirates service!). It’s been a while since we (well, Philip) tackled the M6, and given that it was a bank holiday weekend, the traffic, although busy, moved along at speed without any hitches. We therefore arrived at …
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Turkish Delight: Day 3 – Istanbul (Mosque Mania)
The Blue Mosque and The Hagia Sophia are right here on our doorstep, but every day we’ve passed them, the queues have been far too long. As it’s our last full day here in Istanbul, the plan today is to have an early breakfast and try and get to them both ahead of the crowds. …
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Turkish Delight: Day 2 – Istanbul (Turkey on a Bus)
Turkey on a Bus? No, not a packed lunch! Today, we took the easy way for seeing Istanbul – by Bus! – courtesy of Big Bus Tours. The morning trip was the ‘Red Route‘ and in the afternoon, the ‘Blue Route‘. Total cost, just under £30 each and that included both routes (free wi-fi too). …
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Turkish Delight: Day 1 – Istanbul (Topkapi Palace and More)
With Istanbul’s ‘call to prayer‘ meaning there was no need for an alarm clock, we woke at around 7.15! Eeek! that’s 4.15am back at home! Oh joy!And to add to the challenges, the weather forecast doesn’t look that good either – but on a more positive note, at least it’s going to be dry. First …
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Turkish Delight: Day 0 – Istanbul (Arrival)
We dropped Biscuit off at Val’s yesterday, leaving us all set for a early(ish) departure from ours. We left just after 7.15 and looking at the volume of traffic on the A14 & M6, we were soon reminded of the ‘joys’ of the daily commute! Next stop was Birmingham Airport and a date with a …
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The Gang’s All Here (almost!)
Yep, another (very pleasant) excuse to get together with our good friends and neighbours – the return of Tom and Julie from their long break in Tenerife! It was almost the ‘full gang’ except for Rosi who couldn’t make it, as she was poorly with this dreaded ‘flu thing’ that’s doing the rounds. Paul and …
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Anniversary 2017 – Spain (Day 6) – Around Málaga by Bus (Last Day)
Today is our last full day here as we’re flying home tomorrow. If the weather forecast is reliable, we plan to make it ‘a local day’ and see as much as we can, on our doorstep, here in Málaga. We decided that the most effective way to do it was using the hop-on/hop-off open-top Bus …
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Anniversary 2017 – Spain (Day 5) – The Alhambra – Granada
Ouch! It’s not a great day weather-wise, but I’m sure we’ll make the most of it! Brollies are packed!! Oh, and gloves – after yesterday’s temperatures! Today, we’re off to Granada by local bus (90 minutes) to The Alhambra – it’s the most visited tourist attraction in Spain, so we just had to do it! …
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Anniversary 2017 – Spain (Day 4) Our Anniversary – Córdoba
Non-Scorchio! Today is our 6th Wedding Anniversary – and 33 years to the day since we first met! We always do something special on this day, and being in Spain was no exception. We said goodbye to Seville and headed for Córdoba by train. We’ll finish our day by heading to Málaga and our final …
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Anniversary 2017 – Spain (Day 3): The Train in Spain – Cádiz
Today’s adventure was visiting Cádiz by Train. We’re scheduled on the 9.47 from Seville that gets us to our destination by 11.26 – all for the measly sum of £24 each return (not bad for the distance travelled!). It’s our last day here today, before we head back to Málaga and our second hotel… for …
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Anniversary 2017 – Spain (Day 2) – Shutters, Sausages and Seville
Today, it’s more of the same – taking in the local sights and sounds of Seville. Last night, having discovered the benefits of the electric window shutters in our room (they cut out all the light and sound), this morning we discovered the DISADVANTAGES. As we woke in complete darkness, a casual glance at my …
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Anniversary 2017 – Spain (Day 1)
Not surprisingly, after yesterday’s adventure, we slept well. If anything, it was too warm here even with the AC on ‘min’ (never satisfied, that’s us!). Sleepy Seville A lazy breakfast in the Hotel just after 9 was the first order of the day. It was a good restaurant with a wide variety of brekky items …
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Costello Curry
We got together at ours tonight with our good friends, the Costellos – Trish, John, Sean, Conor and Conor’s girlfriend Shantalle. No special reason except a perfect opportunity for one of our legendary Curry feasts! Ann excelled with three different curries – Cod, Lamb and Chicken, whilst my contribution was a much simpler (and always …
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Holiday: National Trust’s ‘Strode House’ (Day 6) – Final Day
It’s our last full day here today in Cider Country – and there’s a storm a-comin’! The local forecast paints a very (very) wet picture of this area JUST after lunch. So, with welly weather in mind, we’re going to cram in TWO properties before the wet stuff hits us. On a more positive note …
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Holiday: National Trust’s ‘Strode House’ (Day 5) – Birthday Boy!
Well, here we are – In Somerset for my 61st. It was good to wake up and (when I eventually got a signal) to see all the good wishes via social media. I think for the first time, there were more ‘happy birthdays’ via the ‘interweb’ than by traditional cards. The main event for today …
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Holiday: National Trust’s ‘Strode House’ (Day 4)
First job of the day, was to ask NT to retrieve the monkeys (the brass ones) from all the rooms and sort out the complete lack of hot water. We managed to get through to them on the phone, but they were a bit lack-lustre, and even by the time we got home, we weren’t …
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Holiday: National Trust’s ‘Strode House’ (Day 3)
Today is a cultural marathon, where we’ve planned to take in the following locations. In fact, we squeezed in an extra one, so read on, loyal reader… Muchelney Abbey Somerton Lytes Cary The Royal Naval Fleet Air-Arm Museum They’re all fairly local to here, so we’re not planning to drive further than about half-an-hour from …
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Holiday: National Trust’s ‘Strode House’ (Day 2)
A slightly later start to the day as we realised that the travel clock we use for holidays was an hour behind the rest of the UK. I suspect it wasn’t changed the last time the clocks went forward. No matter, our mission for today is quite simple! – drive to Honiton and then grab …
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Holiday: National Trust’s ‘Strode House’ (Day 1)
After a good night’s sleep and leaving the laptop on overnight to download the photos we’d taken yesterday, I discovered that the router was still at it, having spent all night downloading just TWO! (shown below). For the biggest router I’ve ever seen in my life, it certainly lacked speed! After a hearty breakfast, we …
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Barrington Court – Arrival
Ahh, what a quaint property! No mobile signal and almost non-existent wi-fi (in spite of having the dwelling’s router right next to me). This week looks like it’s going to be fun attempting to post blogs! Sorry reader! Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – …
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