Travelling allsorts

Our short break to Toscana / Tuscany in Italy began with our arrival in Pisa and a quick visit to the leaning tower - from the outside only as there was a queue to climb the eight storeys of steps - tickets are now available for tourists to enter the tower, unlike our previous visit. You will note a recurring theme throughout the post that refers to long queues and full car parks during Easter so if you can arrange your visit for a less busy time, you will probably benefit. Our next stop was Siena  (you may recognise this from the James Bond film ). We parked reasonably easily about 100m from the northern gate then wandered along the busy streets and crowded piazzas, taking in the architecture and popping inside a few buildings for a different perspective. So many people though! For a change of pace, we decided to visit a couple of smaller walled villages. Monteriggioni is a tiny place where, apparently, Ezio from the Assassin's Creed game lived for a while. So compa...

Gare de l'Est The first weekend in April didn't have the best weather forecast for Paris (cloudy on Saturday, rain on Sunday) but we had booked the London to Paris Eurostar train and our hotel at the Gare de l'Est, a 5 minute walk from Gare du Nord. Arriving on Friday, there was time for a stroll - via the Notre Dame* cathedral - down to the bistros of the Latin Quarter and a brisk walk back to the hotel in the cool night air. After a huge breakfast on Saturday morning, we headed for the Sacré-Coeur* (further than it looked!!) and Montmartre, the Artists' Quarter, which is situated immediately behind it. The weather was beautiful - sunny and warm, as we then found our way back down the hill to find the Moulin Rouge (big disappointment, don't go out of your way) and a café-bar. Duly refreshed, we wandered over to Gare St Lazare of Claude Monet's oil painting fame (from an arty viewpoint, the modernised station was also disappointing) past the fascinating ar...

New Year's Week in Florida was a mixed bag of temperatures: from mid-20s Celsius to mid-20s Fahrenheit! No rain, though. Mostly sunny and a cold, cold wind. The TV forecasts are quite accurate and allow you to plan your week, e.g. theme park, beach, shopping mall.   At the Theme Parks Surprisingly busy. Parks schedule annual maintenance during the winter months so one of the rides in each park may be unavailable. With Disneyland Paris so easily accessible, we decided to limit our Disney time to the Animal Kingdom. We took the Jeep Safari and rode Expedition Everest, a slightly more intense version of Big Thunder Mountain. We bought a 2-day, 2-park ticket for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We were stunned that Express Pass , their version of Disney's free fast-pass system was being offered throughout the parks for $60 per person!!! (And even more stunned that people had actually bought them.) Interestingly, a big new section is under construction where Jaws us...

I don't think we made the best of Jamaica. We stayed at a very nice all-inclusive hotel in Montego Bay, which sounded glamorous because I always think of the song. The staff we encountered were friendly and the food was pretty good. I'm not sure why 'very nice' was disappointing. There was an uninspiring shallow beach which we had virtually to ourselves because guests seemed to prefer the pool areas and security staff guarded the beach perimeters to ensure that the private beach stayed private. And I think that was the problem, we felt like prisoners - might as well have been guantanamo bay as montego bay. Of course, we were allowed out of the hotel but always with an underlying message of lurking danger which, if you have children with you, you take no chances. To join escorted tours and even to hire a taxi was priced astronomically high per person, so we elected to remain in our open prison. Thank goodness it was only for a week.  (Montego Bay : Bobby Bloom)...

Islands off the west coast of Africa are popular for not-quite-so-long-haul winter sun breaks. Our visit to La Gomera began with a flight to Tenerife and a ferry across to San Sebastian, although there is a small airport. We hired a car for our week and drove around most of the island, which is basically a large rock in the Canary Islands. Although a small island, the climate is diverse. The northern shores were shrouded in mist whilst the southern coast was baking in full sun. Our favourite place to visit (which we did more than once) was the Garajonay National Park at the centre of La Gomera. It enjoys its own micro-climate and can be enchantingly misty or beautifully sunny. There are enjoyable walks through the woods and family picnic areas with adequate car parking. La Gomera is a peaceful and quiet island with winding roads and some interesting geography, best for people who want a relaxing short break in a warmer climate. It is not the place to choose if you want glitz, gl...

This year, we are planning to spend a couple of days in Le Touquet (again); we have previously stayed at The Westminster, the Novotel Thalassa Le Touquet (on the beach) and the Holiday Inn resort hotel. There's a  Christmas Market  on 14th & 15th December but from the end of November until early January, Le Touquet is transformed into a magical place with an abundance of simple but tasteful decorations, "tens of kilometres" of fairy lights, an enchanted forest setting for christmas stalls, activity workshops for children, an ice rink and specialities in the local shops. There are organised trips around the lighthouse, too. The St Nicholas parade is in the evening on Sunday 22nd December. Click here for official information of Le Touquet Events .

California is long - over 1,000 miles, which is more or less double* the length of Britain (*depending which criteria you use) therefore the temperatures between the northern and southern-most areas varies greatly, enabling visitors to enjoy a pleasant climate at any time of the year, somewhere in the 'The Golden State'. There are also differences between coastal regions and inland (mountains, valleys and deserts). At the time of writing, mid-October, the current temperatures midnight-midday are: North Lake Tahoe 34F - 66F (1C - 19C) San Francisco 49F - 63F (9C - 17C) Sacramento 55F - 81F (13C - 27C) South Santa Barbara 52F - 67F (11C - 19C) Los Angeles 62F - 66F (17C - 19C) Palm Springs 69F - 91F (21C - 33C) One reason why wealthy people often have homes in Palm Springs is quite obvious; there is also the aerial tramway and many golf courses. By contrast, Lake Tahoe is close to Mammoth and June mountains...