Tuesday 27 June 2023

After Lockdown...

In post-apocalyptic, post-Brexit Britain, we gave our passports a rest until we ventured out for a long weekend in Normandy during the record-breaking hot spell in England in 2022. As one of us has medication to suppress immunity, we made sure to keep our distance from, well, everyone - in the hotel, restaurants and on the ferry. This apprehension dampened our relaxation somewhat but all went well and we were (are) fine. 

Trying to return to life as we knew it...

We braved a whole week in the Lake District last month, renting a house in Braithwaite, near Keswick. As with most people now, we don't really think about catching covid on an everyday basis. Braithwaite is a small, sleepy village with an excellent pub, only 50 yards staggering distance to our temporary residence! 

Keswick is a lively holiday hub with plenty to do for all ages, as long as the weather's good. If it's not, you can wander around the pencil museum :) It sounds boring but it's actually quite interesting and you're given a free pencil! There's a gift shop at the end for any arty types. 

The shops in the town predominantly provide clothing, footwear and accessories for walkers; there are adequate numbers of cafés with seating inside and outside in the pedestrianised area. There's also a decent, large supermarket if you're self-catering and several activities in the town, both land-based and water-based. Strolling along the shores of the lake is very pleasant. 



The area is superb for photographers and artists, especially at the end of May when there is an abundance of stunning flowering shrubs. 

Within a very short distance, other places to visit include The Old Sawmill Tearoom - you can park here and buy tickets to visit Mirehouse - there is a lovely wooded walk behind the tea room and the Mirehouse walk leads through the grounds to the lake. It's easy to take the wrong path, though. 

We picked up some leaflets of other places to visit but didn't have time to fit them in, such as breakfast, lunch or afternoon tea at Bassenthwaite Lake (Railway) Station and a quiet walk around Castlerigg Stone Circle. 


Verdict: quite relaxing while you're there but a nightmare journey on Britain's motorways!! 

Monday 4 January 2021

No World-Wide-Wandering in 2020

2020. What a horrible year for everybody. We didn't go anywhere and haven't planned where we're not going in the near future! Time to catch up with the places we've been in the past.

This blog has covered various places in Scotland, Wales and England (see the list on the right); a few in France plus Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal - and their islands. Long-haul destinations included are the Caribbean, USA, South Africa, Mauritius, Hong Kong and more. 

Our next few posts are likely to be UK-based, although there are several here already.

See you on the other side of lockdown!


Tuesday 19 November 2019

Holiday in Barbados, 40 years on

Barbados, Caribbean

Our first trip to Barbados was in September 1979! We stayed in a self-catering apartment at the Silver Sands Hotel for 3 weeks at the tail end of the hurricane season - and it was fantastic!

We recently returned for a couple of weeks self-catering in an apartment near Hastings and, guess what - it was fantastic!

The essence of Barbados hasn't changed. It remains totally laid back yet modern. Everyone has smartphones and multiple TV channels but the traffic has increased by about 1000% and some of the vehicles wouldn't pass an MOT, even with a hefty bribe. Very few roads have unbroken surfaces, there are meaningless signposts and the road maps are not exactly accurate. Advice: just chill. The west coast area is mostly navigable but don't expect an easy journey inland or towards the east coast. After realising that we'd driven through the same village a couple of times, we gave up.

We failed to find Eddy Grant's place but succeeded in finding the underground water caves (well worth it) and the nearby gully/nature walk that Ainsley Harriott likes.

There are monkeys that occasionally roam around and we were lucky enough to witness a baby turtle rescue operation. Turtles from newly hatched eggs are collected for their own safety and released in a safer environment where there are fewer predators. This was amazing as, a few years ago in Tobago, we had witnessed a giant turtle burying her eggs on the beach.

Shopping in Barbados isn't cheap and eating out costs more than our local pub in the UK (there's a price to pay for a fabulous setting). However, everyone we met was friendly and polite, crime rates are fairly low and we had a fantastic time.

Our favourite thing to do was to walk along the boardwalk at the edge of the beach, starting just before sunset. Wow!

Barbados, Caribbean

Sunday 28 July 2019

A Week in Cumbria

Not far from where we stayed a few years ago, we rented an apartment in a country manor house just outside Grange over Sands, across the bay from Morecambe. 

The weather was changeable, of course - rain on some days, warm sunshine on others. However, it was a lovely few days' break, thoroughly recommended.

In addition to coastal walks, "things to do" included: Cartmel horse-racing, Lakeland Motor Museum and a Safari-Zoo where we saw hippos and capybaras (see photographs). 

Cartmel Horse Racing


Lakeland Motor Museum more of a transport museum as it has bicycles and 'flying machines' too! It's an amazing collection; the photographs below show a 60's Aquacar, exhibits from the Monte Carlo Rally, a Mini and various attempts to produce even smaller cars. There are also exhibits of life from 50+ years ago, including shop window displays, arcade games (mechanical rather than electronic) and a café/milk bar. These are just some of the photographs from the dozens that we snapped as we wlaked around.




Safari-Zoo

It was a beautiful day when we visited the Safari Zoo and we walked around for hours, taking photographs. Our favourites are below - marching rhinos and an excaped capybara!



For more things to do in Cumbria & the Lake District, read about our previous visit (click here).



Saturday 25 May 2019

Anglesey & North-West Wales

We've been to Wales before so, obviously, we packed for wet weather. Our plan: visit Portmeirion and Snowdonia and a few relatives who we've not seen for years.

Of course, plans are for breaking so we abandoned them and wandered around Anglesey and the North Wales coast. We walked through a woodland where there was a hide for watching red squirrels; we visited Holyhead where there was a small maritime museum; we ran out of time to visit the nearby gardens and manor. Our favourite visit was to Beaumaris Castle (A UNESCO World Heritage Site) details on gov.wales/cadw.








Red Squirrel

The ‘new’ bridge to Anglesey leads to the famous little village of Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch but we preferred to use the beautiful original Menai bridge. And, as it was our anniversary while we were on Anglesey, we ate at a very nice restaurant, Harry’s Bistro  at Henlly’s Golf Course.Also, there was a family gathering, organised within 48 hours, just for us! All aunts, uncles and cousins who live in the area assembled near Conwy Castle and we all had a lovely time.

Finally, just to say that we have been to Portmeirion before, the last time was 20 years ago and it was fascinating. It has its own brand of ceramics and was where the cult TV show, The Prisoner, was filmed around 50 years ago.





Sunday 3 February 2019

Scottish Highlands - self catering in style

I've discovered a fantastic house on the west coast of Scotland, sort-of near Inverness. Just looking at the photographs on the website and reading about the facilities in the area made me want to holiday there! Additionally (though not necessarily for me) there are rugged activities, such as mountaineering and kayaking.

The dining options look great but it's the house itself that is the draw. It's in a fabulous location overlooking a sea-loch and walking distance to the village & pub. There must be opportunities to see glorious sunsets and the Northern Lights.

Inside the house is top quality. It's spacious with high quality finishing and furnishing - and there's even a steam room. It has four double bedrooms so the not-inexpensive costs of hiring for a week can be shared between four couples. Let's face it, if you want cheap, you can find loads of place to 'slum' it! I shall try to find some suitable friends to share this wonderful house in the next year or two, possibly staying in Edinburgh for a night or two on each leg of the journey.

Take a look at the An Cos in Shieldaig website and see if it makes you want to visit.


Photograph from their website. I'm sure they won't mind if it results in more visitors!