Travelling allsorts

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...

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 doz...

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 more attractive 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, j...

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...

A post-hurricane, pre-Christmas trip to Florida was very pleasant: ten days of sunshine with temperatures in the high 20s Celcius. Shopping We took a small suitcase each plus one empty one, so our first outing was a trip to one of the Designer Outlets just off the i-4, to buy our holiday clothes and save at least 50% off original $ prices. It wasn't quite straightforward as many shops were stocking for the 'cold' winter to come. Always a plethora of T-shirts and a good choice of sports shoes, though. Theme Parks Not too busy. Having avoided Disney parks during our previous visit, we spent two days exploring Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom - this time, we took the Jeep Safari in the dark and it was worth it! The animals, especially the lions, were more active at night than during the hot days. In the Studios park, we also enjoyed the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. We spent two days at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, our favourite theme...

Our first visit to Bruges for almost 30 years - yet it's so close and easy to drive to! It was a last minute decision, based on having a free weekend coming up, that promised to be sunny and warm. So we hit the internet and booked our ferry and hotel! We drove to Dover, sailed to Dunkirk, and were in Bruges / Brugge less than an hour after docking. We stayed near the centre in a quaint hotel (Martin's Relais Hotel) which was perfect for the weekend - we had our own front door which led to the room above a small garage (possibly a former stable). On leaving the hotel's courtyard and turning left, we were a few steps from a couple of small cafés which faced Jan Van Eyck place, complete with statue and a bench that was featured in a scene in the film 'In Bruges'. The bench faces a canal which is now home to a large blue whale, made from recycled plastic rubbish (see the photographs at the end of this post). From here, we could walk along canal paths, taking ...

How lucky we are! Our friends rented a house in the Pyrenees and invited us along when their daughter had to drop out at the last minute.  We flew from Stansted to Lourdes and spent a couple of hours wandering around this interesting spa town before meeting with our friends who had driven south from their home in north-west France.  We were staying in Cauterets, a spa town at the foot of a ski resort, a short walk from the cable car which went to the small ski resort. It's less expensive and less crowded that the Alps, perfect for a long weekend. For non-skiers, the cable car ride is spectacular and there is a large snack bar/restaurant to sit and watch the activities. In the town, there are restaurants (of course) and thermal baths.