As we have actually arrived in Singapore, our trip to the UK and Europe finally feels real.
We ( myself and Mr WitG, also known as @Sicut Cervus to the denizens of Ecclesiantics,) will be in Manchester from 17-23 April, Birmingham from 24-28 April, York 29 April- 5 May, Durham 6-8 May, Edinburgh 8-11 May, Berlin 12-17 May, Paris 18-24 May, Amiens 25-29 May, Brussels 30 -31 May, Amsterdam 1-2 June, River Cruise, Prague 17 -20 June. We would love to meet anyone in or near these places for coffee / a meal and a chat.
We've just had confirmation that our ETAs are in place for our trip to Canada (after a last minute hitch that threatened to cancel it all). Everything is now ready. In just over two weeks we will be flying to Calgary for the start of our adventure. Really really happy!
As we have actually arrived in Singapore, our trip to the UK and Europe finally feels real.
We ( myself and Mr WitG, also known as @Sicut Cervus to the denizens of Ecclesiantics,) will be in Manchester from 17-23 April, Birmingham from 24-28 April, York 29 April- 5 May, Durham 6-8 May, Edinburgh 8-11 May, Berlin 12-17 May, Paris 18-24 May, Amiens 25-29 May, Brussels 30 -31 May, Amsterdam 1-2 June, River Cruise, Prague 17 -20 June. We would love to meet anyone in or near these places for coffee / a meal and a chat.
I'd be happy to meet for a coffee/meal in Birmingham.
Recently returned from over 2 weeks in the USA. First a big family 'reunion' week in Florida, to mark a 70th birthday, doing the Disney stuff and remembering our earlier trips there when the boys (now in their 30s) were kids ....after which we split into separate groups to travel home or on to other places. My second week was spent touring the Deep South with my ex husband, (not quite as awkward as it sounds as we have remained on friendly terms, especially more recently when I've been on my own since A's death) including visiting New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville.
I'd been somewhat worried about visiting the US in the present 'regime' (it didn't bode well having to declare what social media I used on my ESTA for instance) but in actual fact I've never had such a friendly welcoming US border force experience, and so pleased to report that all the Americans I actually had conversations with, were lovely 'reasonable' people who very much shared my opinions about their president etc!
Just back from a trip playing music in Ennis, Couty Clare in Ireland. For anyone (?) who knows Ennis we stayed at The Old Ground Hotel which is practically perfect in every way! A holiday mostly based in pubs and bars means not rain nor cold nor fuel price protests could spoil a wonderful break!
A far ranging couple of days. On Wednesday we travelled to Liverpool and visited the Metropolitan (RC) cathedral, spending a long time in both the Lutyen’s crypt and the cathedral above. Just breathtaking. We then did the walk of hope, but the Anglican cathedral was closed for a private event, that being graduations of the university nearby.
On Thursday we picked up a car at Manchester Airport, quite an adventure in itself, then drove to Preston and met up with our son and his partner who had travelled over from York. We had lunch at a lovely Italian restaurant, then visited the Commercial Vehicle Museum at Leyland, then returned to Preston to St. Wilfred’s, a Romanesque church in the Main Street almost.
A slightly exciting drive back to Manchester thanks to getting some roundabout exits wrong.
We didn’t get to Tuscany this Spring as I hoped we might, because family-related stuff took us to Hong Kong. The fun part was a few days recovering from jet lag first in Taipei - Ms. Marsupial spent some of her childhood there but hadn’t been back in almost 40 years.
I’ve been travelling to HK on and off since 2001. Some things never change; other things seem to be constantly changing for the worse. We poked our heads into a once-independent bookstore chain that is now controlled by a PRC company and prominently features the works of Xi Jinping (in multiple volumes) on its main display tables (in fairness, they also still carry books on less political topics that Ms. Marsupial thought were worth buying, including some published in Taiwan). National Security Education Day (April 15 if anyone is curious) was being prominently promoted with frankly Orwellian posters of happy children running in the grass.
On another note, the duty free shops at the airport are no longer called Free Duty but now are called Duty Zero. Perhaps someone read our puzzled comments on the Ship a while back.
Not sure what’s next on the agenda. Somewhat tempted by Budapest now that Orban is no longer in charge…
In a couple of years there will be a Significant Birthday for myself, my wife AND my daughter (ie, ending in 0). We have come up with an idea that the three of us will go on a special holiday to celebrate this. It has to be:
a) Somewhere none of us have been before.
b) Somewhere relatively easy to get to (in other words, not on the other side of the world).
c) Somewhere warm with good seaviews.
Two suggestions so far are Madagascar and Cabo Verde.
1. Has anyone been to either of these places and can comment on what they are like?
2. Has anyone got any other possible places we could consider?
Summer Holiday this year is Bridlington. For anniversary (feck me! 30 years she's put up with me! She'd've got less for murder!) we're going to Bannau Brycheiniog.
Summer Holiday this year is Bridlington. For anniversary (feck me! 30 years she's put up with me! She'd've got less for murder!) we're going to Bannau Brycheiniog.
I hope you will take the time to see Lord Hereford's Knob and Fan-y-big.
Though if you don't fancy all the walking to do the latter one (the former is literally a few hundred yards from the car park) you can do Ysgryd Fawr - a little hill with a mountain's soul.
Summer Holiday this year is Bridlington. For anniversary (feck me! 30 years she's put up with me! She'd've got less for murder!) we're going to Bannau Brycheiniog.
Do wave to Granny and Grampy Feet (they retired there two years ago).
Eldest Beaky daughter in NZ has managed to book flights for herself and her children to join us in Dorset in July to celebrate our Golden Wedding anniversary.
It was touch and go due to her personal circumstances and also the global travel situation- but hurrah it's done!
Two years ago I found and booked fabulous accommodation for us- it's beautiful in its own right but is also adapted for people with disabilities. https://www.wraxallyard.co.uk/
We've got the whole site for a week and all four Beaky daughters and families will join us.
I am somewhat excited.....
@Rufus T Firefly - I've been to Madagascar. It was an organised trip. It's certainly possible to travel there independently but most people who do so seem to hire a driver rather than venture on the 'bush buses.'
It's a fascinating place but the ecological damage and grinding poverty will take a toll on your soul.
The National Parks are smaller than one might expect but full of wonders. Following a family of indiri indri into the rainforest and hearing their distinctive 'song' has to be one of my life's most spine-tingling moments.
I have nothing but respect for the park wardens and all working for conservation there.
People are friendly and genuinely pleased to see you and many expect you to give them money of course. Which is fair enough. We have it. They don't.
If you've got some French many people speak it, even in remote rural areas.
Imagine a surreal amalgamation of East Africa and South-East Asia with 1950s French road-signs and a dash of Arabic and almost Polynesian looking influence and you'll get the idea.
Don't imagine vast tracts of virgin rainforest. Only pockets remain.
There are few metalled roads and everything is on them at once trucks, tankers buses, cars, motorcycles, bikes, ox carts, donkeys, horses, hand-carts, pedestrians ... presidential motorcade... oh, he's been deposed ...
There's very diverse scenery and different ethnic groups, some fascinating tribal customs and costumes, burial rituals and so on.
It's one of the five poorest countries on earth and many live at subsistence level. It's particularly shocking in the gem mining towns and down in the southwest with nomadic people living in the 'Spiney Forest' - which lives up to its name - and ekeing out a living by selling firewood in the coastal towns.
It can be like sensory overload at times. Plus lots of competing emotions.
Feel free to PM me.
Tourist infrastructure is quite basic in places but well developed in others. Accommodation ranges from backpacker hostels to embarrassingly posh hotels but mostly basic but comfortable lodges. Few visitors stay in the kind of village hostels where the Malagasy stay themselves if they are travelling around.
It's advisable not to wander around Antanarivo alone at night but the country generally feels safe. The capital is a fascinating but heart-breaking city.
I loved it. The people. The food. The lemurs. The chameleons are ace.
I'll be over in East Anglia for a few churchy conference things and catching up with friends later this month.
I'm also planning a sponsored walk along The Two Saints Way between Chester and Lichfield Cathedrals.
I've booked myself an 'eco-tourism' visit to the Carpathians in Romania, hoping to see some bears, and a week's self-guided circular walk around the 'bastides' in southern France in the autumn.
Time and commitments permitting I may also do some more research trips to my native South Wales and around the Forest of Dean in connection with an historical novel I've been meaning to write.
Mainly staying in the UK this year picking up stamps for my Cathedral Pilgrim passport. So far this year I've got Norwich, Lincoln, and a stay in Birmingham garnered three - Birmingham, Coventry and Lichfield.
We are going on a "whole family" holiday to Crete. My husband and myself, our daughter and son-in-law, our son-in-law's parents and sister.
It's going to be different from any other holiday we've ever had. Our holidays tend to be city based and heavy on historical buildings, museums and galleries.
In fact most of our holidays have been determined by my husband going to a conference, me going too as the trailing spouse, and much of the holiday spent happily apart. If I had to pick one defining aspect of holidays with my husband over the past 20 years it would be me, delighted with life, alone in a coffee shop engrossed in the local patisserie culture.
We'll be going to Knossos, of course, but also time by the pool, and various sporty activities, such as archery and paddle boarding.
My daughter's mother-in-law is almost a decade younger than me (9 years and ten months younger!) and is, literally, half my weight. We'll be in swimming costumes at some point every day.
It's going to be an adventure!
We have been to Crete. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort which had a whole range of options for food, drink and activities. It also had a tiny chapel.
It turned out that my daughter's mother-in-law doesn't swim, so no direct swimsuit comparisons (whew!), though I clearly look like an elephant compared to her in group photos.
We had two days out. The first was an 8 hour tour which included 2 hours in Knossos, olive oil production, and lots of scenery. The second was a trip into Heraklion. I was blown away by the museum!
We spent the rest of the time in the resort. Unfortunately we had two days of thunder / lightning / torrential rain which reduced the swimming opportunities, but increased the eating opportunities
The best bit, though, was the "whole family" aspect. In my son-in-law's culture (Gujerati) a marriage is not just between two people but a joining of two families. And so we have gained a whole extended family and I love it. At no point in our marriage would it even have crossed our minds to go on a week's holiday with both my parents and his, and I feel very blessed that my daughter and son-in-law want to do this.
Back when I was a travel rep on Kos, we had a whole family on holiday, from kids to grannies. They even had tshirts printed like the Club 18 - 30 holidays, except theirs said Club 8 - 80!
When the coach picked them up to take them back to the airport, they all said they'd had a brilliant time, and they were keen to do it again!
At no point in our marriage would it even have crossed our minds to go on a week's holiday with both my parents and his, and I feel very blessed that my daughter and son-in-law want to do this.
That also works with chosen family!
We just got home from Tennessee a week ago today, after staying in a large cabin with my daughter's three closest running friends and her best friend and family. The four of them ran the initial Dollywood half marathon. We had such a wonderful time together that we are planning to stay together for all the future races, too!
At the departure gate, waiting to board our plane to Canada. Huzzah!
I was thinking of your travels, as I just came back from Vancouver. (I love how the Rockies resemble a child's drawing of mountains: sharp purple triangles topped with a bit of snow.) We enjoyed amazingly beautiful weather, I hope you have the same.
Comments
We ( myself and Mr WitG, also known as @Sicut Cervus to the denizens of Ecclesiantics,) will be in Manchester from 17-23 April, Birmingham from 24-28 April, York 29 April- 5 May, Durham 6-8 May, Edinburgh 8-11 May, Berlin 12-17 May, Paris 18-24 May, Amiens 25-29 May, Brussels 30 -31 May, Amsterdam 1-2 June, River Cruise, Prague 17 -20 June. We would love to meet anyone in or near these places for coffee / a meal and a chat.
I'd be happy to meet for a coffee/meal in Birmingham.
I'd been somewhat worried about visiting the US in the present 'regime' (it didn't bode well having to declare what social media I used on my ESTA for instance) but in actual fact I've never had such a friendly welcoming US border force experience, and so pleased to report that all the Americans I actually had conversations with, were lovely 'reasonable' people who very much shared my opinions about their president etc!
On Thursday we picked up a car at Manchester Airport, quite an adventure in itself, then drove to Preston and met up with our son and his partner who had travelled over from York. We had lunch at a lovely Italian restaurant, then visited the Commercial Vehicle Museum at Leyland, then returned to Preston to St. Wilfred’s, a Romanesque church in the Main Street almost.
A slightly exciting drive back to Manchester thanks to getting some roundabout exits wrong.
I’ve been travelling to HK on and off since 2001. Some things never change; other things seem to be constantly changing for the worse. We poked our heads into a once-independent bookstore chain that is now controlled by a PRC company and prominently features the works of Xi Jinping (in multiple volumes) on its main display tables (in fairness, they also still carry books on less political topics that Ms. Marsupial thought were worth buying, including some published in Taiwan). National Security Education Day (April 15 if anyone is curious) was being prominently promoted with frankly Orwellian posters of happy children running in the grass.
On another note, the duty free shops at the airport are no longer called Free Duty but now are called Duty Zero. Perhaps someone read our puzzled comments on the Ship a while back.
Not sure what’s next on the agenda. Somewhat tempted by Budapest now that Orban is no longer in charge…
a) Somewhere none of us have been before.
b) Somewhere relatively easy to get to (in other words, not on the other side of the world).
c) Somewhere warm with good seaviews.
Two suggestions so far are Madagascar and Cabo Verde.
1. Has anyone been to either of these places and can comment on what they are like?
2. Has anyone got any other possible places we could consider?
I hope you will take the time to see Lord Hereford's Knob and Fan-y-big.
Though if you don't fancy all the walking to do the latter one (the former is literally a few hundred yards from the car park) you can do Ysgryd Fawr - a little hill with a mountain's soul.
Do wave to Granny and Grampy Feet (they retired there two years ago).
It was touch and go due to her personal circumstances and also the global travel situation- but hurrah it's done!
Two years ago I found and booked fabulous accommodation for us- it's beautiful in its own right but is also adapted for people with disabilities.
https://www.wraxallyard.co.uk/
We've got the whole site for a week and all four Beaky daughters and families will join us.
I am somewhat excited.....
It's a fascinating place but the ecological damage and grinding poverty will take a toll on your soul.
The National Parks are smaller than one might expect but full of wonders. Following a family of indiri indri into the rainforest and hearing their distinctive 'song' has to be one of my life's most spine-tingling moments.
I have nothing but respect for the park wardens and all working for conservation there.
People are friendly and genuinely pleased to see you and many expect you to give them money of course. Which is fair enough. We have it. They don't.
If you've got some French many people speak it, even in remote rural areas.
Imagine a surreal amalgamation of East Africa and South-East Asia with 1950s French road-signs and a dash of Arabic and almost Polynesian looking influence and you'll get the idea.
Don't imagine vast tracts of virgin rainforest. Only pockets remain.
There are few metalled roads and everything is on them at once trucks, tankers buses, cars, motorcycles, bikes, ox carts, donkeys, horses, hand-carts, pedestrians ... presidential motorcade... oh, he's been deposed ...
There's very diverse scenery and different ethnic groups, some fascinating tribal customs and costumes, burial rituals and so on.
It's one of the five poorest countries on earth and many live at subsistence level. It's particularly shocking in the gem mining towns and down in the southwest with nomadic people living in the 'Spiney Forest' - which lives up to its name - and ekeing out a living by selling firewood in the coastal towns.
It can be like sensory overload at times. Plus lots of competing emotions.
Feel free to PM me.
Tourist infrastructure is quite basic in places but well developed in others. Accommodation ranges from backpacker hostels to embarrassingly posh hotels but mostly basic but comfortable lodges. Few visitors stay in the kind of village hostels where the Malagasy stay themselves if they are travelling around.
It's advisable not to wander around Antanarivo alone at night but the country generally feels safe. The capital is a fascinating but heart-breaking city.
I loved it. The people. The food. The lemurs. The chameleons are ace.
I'll be over in East Anglia for a few churchy conference things and catching up with friends later this month.
I'm also planning a sponsored walk along The Two Saints Way between Chester and Lichfield Cathedrals.
I've booked myself an 'eco-tourism' visit to the Carpathians in Romania, hoping to see some bears, and a week's self-guided circular walk around the 'bastides' in southern France in the autumn.
Time and commitments permitting I may also do some more research trips to my native South Wales and around the Forest of Dean in connection with an historical novel I've been meaning to write.
Later this month, Truro and Exeter!
We have been to Crete. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort which had a whole range of options for food, drink and activities. It also had a tiny chapel.
It turned out that my daughter's mother-in-law doesn't swim, so no direct swimsuit comparisons (whew!), though I clearly look like an elephant compared to her in group photos.
We had two days out. The first was an 8 hour tour which included 2 hours in Knossos, olive oil production, and lots of scenery. The second was a trip into Heraklion. I was blown away by the museum!
We spent the rest of the time in the resort. Unfortunately we had two days of thunder / lightning / torrential rain which reduced the swimming opportunities, but increased the eating opportunities
The best bit, though, was the "whole family" aspect. In my son-in-law's culture (Gujerati) a marriage is not just between two people but a joining of two families. And so we have gained a whole extended family and I love it. At no point in our marriage would it even have crossed our minds to go on a week's holiday with both my parents and his, and I feel very blessed that my daughter and son-in-law want to do this.
Two days later... us too!
When the coach picked them up to take them back to the airport, they all said they'd had a brilliant time, and they were keen to do it again!
That also works with chosen family!
We just got home from Tennessee a week ago today, after staying in a large cabin with my daughter's three closest running friends and her best friend and family. The four of them ran the initial Dollywood half marathon. We had such a wonderful time together that we are planning to stay together for all the future races, too!
Thank you! I really enjoyed myself.
I was thinking of your travels, as I just came back from Vancouver. (I love how the Rockies resemble a child's drawing of mountains: sharp purple triangles topped with a bit of snow.) We enjoyed amazingly beautiful weather, I hope you have the same.