Category:Holiday

Day 5, and it’s all a bit dull out there! So we thought we’d stay local today – and visit Alnwick, as we haven’t wandered round here for nearly 20 years. Perfectly on cue, as soon as we parked, it started to rain. First priority therefore, was a coffee-stop at the White Swan. The White …
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I think it rained all night here! Looking at the forecast, it looks as though it’ll be dry in Edinburgh during our journey there by train – and then rain, rain and even more rain just as we arrive! Welcome to Scotland!Last time we were here was in August 2008 for The Fringe (it’s a …
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Up ‘late’ again today! 8am!!!! Unheard of for us, but a good sign that we’re chilling-out. Today  was the day that we’d planned to ‘do’ the coastal route from Amble up to Bamburgh. The weather forecast suggested some rain, so we took the chance. What-a-mistaka-ta-maka!!     First stop was Amble – one of those little coastal …
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It’s just before 4pm, and after a six-hour drive (stopping off at Morpeth for their food and drink Festival), here we are – our home for the next seven days – Breamish Valley Cottages.  Affectionately called ‘Craggy’, it’s one of a small number of holiday cottages in the village of Powburn, near Morpeth, that’s so …
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It’s that time of year where we start to count the weekends until the end of the year and begin to catch-up with those friends/neighbours who we’ve not seen so much of. Ideally, it would be a great to do it all in one single get-together, but trying to fix a date that suits everyone, …
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It was off to Gill and Chris’ tonight in Northampton – that’s TWICE we’ve been out in the XKR this week, and I think that’s a record! Abi was there too and it was good to catchup with news of her new job. The evening got off to a great start (for me!, anyway), when …
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My final post from Cuba!!It’s our final full day here today, so one of our last chances to soak up the sun, eat at the Troughery, and try out a themed restaurant. Tomorrow, we’re off to the airport at about lunch-time on an overnight flight – and hopefully in Blighty for Lunch on Friday. We …
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Ralph, Karen and Ann tried out the Gym whilst I tried out the internet connection. I think we sweated about the same amount – connectivity was a nightmare!Then it was off to the trough for breakfast, and thankfully the eardrum-bursting background music from yesterday was nowhere to be heard!Also working in our favour today were …
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Today, we said goodbye to Parque Central Hotel and took our pre-booked taxi to our next ‘home’- Paradisus Princess Del Mar in Varadero – until Thursday. Bye-bye to the View from Room 548 Our Taxi was early, picking us up just before 9.45. We hit the highway heading east, and two-and-a-quarter hours later, we arrived …
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After yesterday’s mega-tour, we had a lazy day today – it’s our last day here as we’re off to ‘Cuba – part two’ tomorrow, specifically Paradisus Princess Del Mar in Varadero until Thursday. After breakfast, we headed to the roof-top pool where we stayed until lunchtime, when the sun temporarily disappeared and it became very …
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This was the day of the MEGA tour. Lillian, from our previous Tour, a few days ago, returned as our Guide, and we set off just before 9am. Unlike Tuesday’s Tour, the distances today were pretty vast, so we had the help of Luis and his air-conditioned taxi! The first part of the Tour meant …
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After yesterday’s mega-tour of Havana, we planned to take things at a much slower pace today. We took breakfast in the ‘right’ restaurant (and collectively decidied we preferred the ‘wrong’ one that we ate in yesterday), and made a rough plan for the morning. We decided to re-trace the steps from yesterday’s official tour, but …
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We slept well, and maybe not surprisingly with the time difference, were awake very early. We headed down to breakfast just after 7, and Ralph and Karen joined us not long after. Actually, locating the restaurant was surprisingly difficult and we ended up in the ‘other’ one on the other side of the hotel, after …
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After the 9 hour Virgin flight (very nice!) from Gatwick, and the twenty-minute taxi drive (very scary*), here we are, having just checked into the rather splendid 427 roomed Iberostar Parque Central Hotel in Havana. First impressions are good – a free glass of bubbly, air-conditioning and all the staff seem to speak English! The …
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John dropped us over to Bedford station this afternoon, and we jumped on a direct line to Gatwick. I think this was the slowest train we’ve ever been on! Still, it didn’t really matter as we’re not travelling until tomorrow. Two hours later we arrived at the Hilton Gatwick (where we’d also stayed back in …
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We caught up with Gill, Chris and Denise tonight – we all know each other from our days based in Sainsbury’s Romford Area Office in the 80s. It’s been a while since we last got together with the gang, and it was our turn to host. I did most of the food preparation, whilst Ann …
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When it rains, it does it in style here – and it was evident, looking out of the window first thing, that they’d had a bucket-load overnight. And yet, minutes later, it was 14 degrees outside – that’s Dublin weather for you!!! Up until now, we’d avoided the hotel’s buffet breakfast offering, not because of …
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It’s our penultimate day in Dublin and it’s a rare treat today, as no rain is forecast until 6pm! However, having learned that the predictions here can be a bit hit-and-miss, we dressed accordingly – and that included an umbrella each!  We decided to make today, a day of culture, but not before we found …
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After a great night’s sleep, we were both ready to take on the World – but maybe NOT Dublin’s changing weather! Looking out of the window suggested that we were going to enjoy a blue sky, but 5 nano-seconds later, having emerged from the hotel looking for breakfast, we had the unique combo of: heavy …
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  My new(ish) Windows Tablet developed a fault last night, that even I couldn’t solve – the firewall turned itself OFF and no matter what I did, I couldn’t get it to start again. My AV program refused to run properly (so I couldn’t check to see if I had any ‘nasties’!), and what’s more, …
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Twenty months is a long time in the world of technology – especially when it comes to Tablets. Back in February 2014, I spent a King’s Ransom on the (then) all-singing-all-dancing Asus Transformer – a sort of Tablet/Laptop hybrid running on Android. Fast forward to now and this shiny bit of tech is being donated …
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The Table Awaits…In what my be considered by some to be an example of poor planning, we hosted a dinner party tonight for Jo, Janet, Valerie and David – whilst David and I were on Day 2 of our Eat-for-£1-a-Day-Challenge! Talk about temptation!!!!! Whilst the girls tucked into Nachos & Dips, followed by my homemade …
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An unusual evening tonight – but it did include our three favourite subjects: wine, food and chocolate!! Gill and Chris’s daughter, Francesca, is off to Tanzania in the new year for three months (as you do!) to work with some of the poorest communities there. The deal is that in return for her travel and …
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