Morning all! We’ve three days remaining on the Isle before we head home and the weather so far has been fantastic! Today looks to be much the same, maybe even warmer!! 😎😎 A packed programme sees us heading north to Newport, then southwards to Carisbrooke Castle, followed by a visit the Isle’s famous garlic farm, …
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Category:Holiday
Holiday: Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight – Day 6
Today, we’re heading West along the coast road, taking in The Needles, English Heritage’s Yarmouth Castle together with the town of Yarmouth and finishing at National Trust’s Mottistone Gardens. Phew! 9.15am/21°C: We decided to set off sharp today. Why? The weather forecast is promising a scorching 24°C by lunchtime, and it’s already 21°C. After enjoying …
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Holiday: Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight – Day 5
So, it was goodbye to Portsmouth today, as we headed for the Ferry Terminal in Southampton and our 11am crossing to the Isle of Wight. For the remaining days of our holiday, we’re staying at the quaintly named Wight Mouse Inn in Chale, located in the south of the Isle (more about that later). For …
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Holiday: Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight – Day 4
Hello All! Yes, it’s Monday and the forecast is rain!! – and no, I’m definitely not going to comment on last night’s soccer result! There’s an air of gloom around the hotel this morning! ☹️ We’re now four days into our break – here’s what you’ve missed… Blog – Day 1Blog – Day 2Blog – …
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Holiday: Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight – Day 3
Morning Reader! Ahh, that’s more like it on the weather front- only a very slight chance of rain! I plugged the car in for a top-up without any drama and we headed for breakfast. For our main event, today, we’re off to where The Repair Shop is filmed, located in the… Weald & Downland Living …
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Holiday: Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight – Day 2
Hopefully, a less stressful day today, after yesterday’s various ‘challenges’. The weather looks a bit disappointing though! 9.25am: We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with plenty of variety on the menu. It was also very quiet, which was somewhat surprising after hearing herds of sprogs screaming in the corridor last night and earlier this morning (it’s …
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Holiday: Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight – Day 1
10.07am: It’s just after 10am and our journey begins! We’ve got ‘Robert‘, our EV, fully charged with 245 miles of range, and we plan to get to our first stop by lunchtime. With our overseas foreign travel on the back-burner, we’re taking time to visit – and revisit – places on our doorstep (ish). Our …
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Holiday: Devon in Seven! (Day 4)
No stress at all for ‘the driver’ today as we’re leaving the car at the station and travelling by train to Plymouth! Thanks to ‘Lockdown 2.0’, it’s also our final FULL day here as we’re heading home tomorrow (instead of Saturday). I shan’t miss those narrow, twisty-turny roads at all! 😏 10.05am: It was a …
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Holiday: Devon in Seven! (Day 3)
Here we are on day three of our seven-day five-day break here in Devon. Last night felt like the Cottage might take-off with the gales blowing for most of the night. A quick inspection this morning revealed that there wasn’t any damage and everything of significant weight was still where we left it! (The car… …
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Holiday: Devon in Seven! (Day 2)
Just when you create a title for your blog-post that works perfectly, along comes something to ruin it! After BoJo’s announcement last night, it looks like ‘Lockdown 2.0’ will require us to pack up early here in Totnes, and return home on Wednesday! – two days short!! “Devon in Seven!“ – now, what rhymes with …
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Holiday: Devon in Seven! (Day 1)
With our foreign holiday plans in tatters (for this year at least) due to you-know-what, we’re still travelling, but instead, we’re staying closer to home and re-discovering the UK. Recently, we spent a brilliant time in Scotland and for this latest trip, we’re the opposite end of the country – in Devon. But first we …
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Holiday: Scotland – Day 8, Seven Days a Highlander!
Well, we’ve just spent the past seven days in Scotland. The first half was a bit ‘off the beaten track’ with friends in Gartly, Aberdeenshire and then we drove to Inverness’s largest hotel – The Kingsmills – for the remainder. Not sure if that makes me a (temporary) ‘Highlander’ or not!? Although we’ve been to …
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Holiday: Scotland – Day 7(8): My Birthday 2020
Thanks for all your good wishes, cards and gifts! They’re mostly all back at home and I’ll enjoy them when we’re back tomorrow! Here we are then, in Bonnie Scotland, on the occasion of my 64th. It’s another day of discovery today and we’ve got two locations in mind:- Nairn – a well-known seaside town …
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Holiday: Scotland – Day 6(8)
My last day of ’63-ness’ today, and we’re off to Loch Ness! Given our complete failure to spot any dolphins during this trip, I don’t hold out much hope for an encounter with Nessie! KEY FACTS ABOUT THE LOCH22 miles longAverage depth of 433 feetMaximum depth of 744.6 feet1.8 cubic miles of water1 monster We’re …
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Holiday: Scotland – Day 4(8)
Well, that’s the first half of our Scottish break over – and it passed really quickly! After a relaxing and VERY enjoyable few days with Richard and Lynn in Gartly, we’re off to our next (and final) ‘home’ for the final four-days – the Kingsmills Hotel in Inverness. In some respects, our leaving was perfect …
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Holiday: Scotland – Day 3(8)
It’s our last full day here before we drive to Inverness tomorrow – and we’ve a busy one planned (nothing new there ehh?!) After yesterday’s adventure that took us to the rather beautiful areas of Banff, Portsoy and Cullen (ending with a drive through next-door Buckie) today, we’re soaking-up more of the area to the …
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Holiday: Scotland – Day 2(8)
I was up early, mainly down to me setting the clock an hour fast! The weather forecast looks promising (although not quite as warm as it predicted yesterday) and so on Richard’s advice, we’re heading for the Moray Coast about a 40 minute drive from base-camp. 11.15am: First stop was Banff, a small town and …
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Holiday: Scotland – Day 1(8)
We always go away for my birthday and this year is no exception. Although the official celebration is still a week away, we thought we’d start early! What a difference a year makes! Twelve months ago for my celebration, we were in central London, shoulder-to-shoulder on a sweaty tube-train! This year, we’re heading in completely …
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Holiday: Marlborough – Day 5 (of 5)
7.00am: Morning! 😁 The latest weather forecast suggests that it’s not going to be as bad as we thought, but we still need our weekly dose of ‘retail therapy’! So, we’re NOT packing the sun cream, instead, we’re heading for Swindon Designer Outlet. Last time we were here was back in March 2012 during Ann’s …
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Holiday: Marlborough – Day 4 (of 5)
6.30am: A bit of a lie-in this morning! 💤 According to the forecast, it’s another warm one today, so we plan to make the most of it. We’re heading out to Heale House and Gardens in nearby (ish) Middle Wooton and then onto NT’s Cherhill Downs – armed with a picnic of course! Actually, the …
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Holiday: Marlborough – Day 3 (of 5)
6.10am: I certainly slept better than yesterday and if they can get the service right at Breakfast after yesterday’s fiasco, then all will be right in the world! 7.55am: It’s breakfast time and I’m happy to report that it all went very smoothly and there was no visible wounds showing on the staff from where …
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Holiday: Marlborough – Day 2 (of 5)
6.45am: Morning all! 👍👍 Strangely, I didn’t sleep too well, waking up at 2.30am (!!!) accompanied by a head that felt like I’d overdone it on the shandies! Disappointingly, I hadn’t!!! I popped a few pills and tried to get back to sleep. My pounding head (like my hairline) receded quickly, but I never really …
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Holiday: Marlborough – Day 1 (of 5)
10.00am: Well, here we are back in ‘holiday-mode’ where we’re spending six days in and around the beautiful town of Marlborough. Marlborough is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire on the Old Bath Road, the old main road from London to Bath. The town boasts a population of between …
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Holiday: Israel – Day 5 (2020)
It’s our last full day here and if the weather forecast is to be believed, it won’t be a day for anything outside! A quick look through our guide-book offered some indoor-alternatives, so we dressed accordingly and headed out into a very grey day. We were umbrella-less due to ours self-destructing during yesterday’s adventures with …
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Holiday: Israel – Day 4 (2020)
The weather forecast for today, Wednesday, is not so good! In a word: ‘showers’! In another word: ‘cold’! Time then, to discover more of Israel, but from the inside of somewhere! 😃 To maintain our sense of adventure (but mostly to dodge the showers!) we’re diving again into the world of Jerusalem’s public transport system. …
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Holiday: Israel – Day 3 (2020)
A slightly earlier start to today as we have a list of places to visit including our continued trek around more of the old city walls that we started yesterday. On our planned itinerary today… Luckily, the weather is much-the-same as yesterday with only a slight chance of rain. Our first stop today was Temple …
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Holiday: Israel – Day 2 (2020)
Well, the forecast was a good start to our day! We slept well and headed for breakfast on floor 8 at a very relaxed 8.45! 😋 An excellent selection to eat, setting us up nicely for the day. We set-off around 9.45am and hatched a plan to see as much of the old city as …
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Holiday: Israel – Day 1 (2020)
Today was a day of travel. Luton to Jerusalem was pretty much 12 hours door-to-door! We do get about don’t we??? 😁 4.12am: Yes, it really was that early! 😵💫 We soon packed-up our things at the Holiday Inn, Luton, and headed downstairs to wait for our pre-booked taxi. 5.15am: Our Taxi was on time, …
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Holiday: Israel – light!
We’re off to Israel for a few days — and we’re travelling light! No unnecessary baggage (what will I do without the sink?). Just the essentials then, for our 2,446 mile, sub-five-hour flight. And keeping to the theme of ‘light’ and ‘easy’, we didn’t even use our car. Instead, David dropped us at the station …
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China – By the numbers!
Welcome to my second – and final – piece reflecting on our recent holiday in China, (the first was posted HERE yesterday). Our 19-day adventure included shiny modern cities, smaller towns, rural locations, large retail malls, small local shops – and pretty-much everything in between! We saw the uber-rich, the rich, the poor and the …
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