Cheryl & Neil Our Story

Ship Wrecker

Posted on November 8, 2025 by Cheryl & Neil

October brings the start of winter which for us means travel time…….yay!

Our first trip of the season was to Portugal. Starting with a few days in Lisbon before taking a train to Porto to then board a Douro River cruise.

Lisbon was a port stop on the cruise last year and we decided that it was worth an extra few days to see the attractions that we missed. Our accommodation was interesting. Neil booked it well in advance as it was a short walk from the metro & train station which we would use on arrival from the airport and departure by train to Porto. A few weeks before we were to travel, we began to have doubts, so Neil had another look at our options. It turned out that we had booked an absolute bargain with many of the other options 50% more expensive and not in such a good location. ‘How bad can it be?’ we asked, and of course, Neil said ‘It’ll be fine’.

It was indeed a short walk from the station, but no one mentioned it was an incredibly steep climb up a very narrow cobbled street. Our accommodation was in an apartment on the third floor which had been split up into several rooms and a communal kitchen where breakfast was served and guests could make tea & coffee 24/7. The entrance to the building was sketchy to say the least, and the room needed some TLC, like the entire set up, but it was clean, and the enormous bed was comfortable. The room came with a Juliet balcony and the fabulous views across the river made up for any shortcomings. It was a 20 minute walk to Tram 28, less than 10 minutes to the station and a 15 minute walk to our day two sightseeing, Sao Jorge Castle. Fine indeed!

The famous Tram 28 winds its way through the streets of Lisbon allowing us to take in some of the sights. It runs from Martim Moniz to Campo Ourique covering around 7kms. It takes anything from 40 minutes to over an hour depending on traffic and vehicles blocking the lines whilst making deliveries. Queues to get on Tram 28 can be huge so we got there first thing in the morning.

At the end, Campo Ourique, we discovered a huge cemetery housing hundreds of family tombs housing coffins. There were amazing views down to the river from 3 sides of the cemetery. You could see into many of them and there were up to 8 coffins stacked on shelves and most of them over 100 years old. However, there was a recent one which was dedicated to a very beautiful young lady who clearly died way before her time. It might sound morbid, but we wandered around for close to an hour just enjoying the quiet and the trees plus discussing the many unanswered questions that each tomb raised. We spent the rest of the day utilising our 7 Euro ticket that allowed us to travel on buses and trams for the entire day. It was great value as we were able to see so many things.

The hill on which São Jorge Castle stands has been occupied since at least the 8^th Century BC, with the earliest fortifications dating back to the 2nd century BC. Highly strategic, the location was used by Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans and Moors. It was a great day, the weather perfect and we spent a lot of time trying to be creative with our photos.

Lisbon, like all capital cities, has zillions of places to eat. On our first night we chose not to go too far away from our accommodation, and we discovered a really nice place with outside seating, cold beer, okay wine and good Portuguese food. It also had the most unusual happy hour with a cut price cocktail served up with a couple of free cod fishcakes. We ate there 3 nights and got to know the guys well and it had an added bonus – entertainment!

The city has many roads that have restricted access with a bollard in the middle of the road. Authorised users have an electronic pass which lowers the bollard, however we came to the conclusion that google maps didn’t know this based on the number of cars who arrived and had to reverse back. It was also unreliable and the first 2 nights we watched as workmen tried to carry out repairs while stopping every couple of minutes to let cars & buses through. Day 3 it was fixed – hurrah! But not for long. We didn’t see it happen but a BMW passed over it, possibly tailgating an authorised bus and then it must have popped up and damaged the underside. There was a significant amount of oil on the road and a very unhappy driver. It proved very slippery and dangerous on the cobbles to pedestrians and vehicles alike so eventually the fire brigade arrived to clean it up. Our last night in Lisbon was very entertaining watching the chaos unfold.

Our 3hr train journey to Porto was good and we are glad that we bought tickets in advance the day we arrived as it was absolutely packed. When we arrived in Porto we got into a taxi with a driver who didn’t speak English. Neil showed him the address of where we were to pick up the cruise, and he smiled, shrugged and generally looked perplexed. Anyway, we made it in time for a beer and a glass of wine with lunch…….yum!

We were cruising with Emerald. The ship was small with just over a hundred passengers which made it easy to get to know most of our fellow passengers. The cruise along The Douro was stunning with the scenery constantly changing. As usual we were subject to constant pressure to eat and drink! We had quizzes, we won one, went kayaking, a first for Cheryl, good shipmates mostly from the USA, along with a hint of healthy friction between certain Brit and American factions, not us!

On our first day of boarding we had free time to explore Porto. It has so many bridges including Ponte Luiz 1. It has two tiers, the lower tier for cars and pedestrians and an upper tier for trams and pedestrians – it is quite stunning. At the end of the cruise, on return to Porto, we had a guided tour of the city and free time which Cheryl used to go shopping – Neil went back to the boat for a beer!

On our first cruising day we travelled upstream and passed through the deepest lock in western Europe at 35m deep. We stood on the top deck and watched the Captain standing outside of the Bridge at a steering wheel at the edge of the deck so that he could peer over the side while he controlled the power. It was the same way that we would take a canal boat into a lock watching the gap albeit on a much, much bigger scale. All the cruise boats on the Douro are exactly the same size so that they fit perfectly into the locks with barely about 100mm of space on each side of the boat. It was quite a difficult task but the cruise line made it fun by playing the theme music from Mission Impossible as we slowly made it into the lock. He deservedly got a round of applause and from then on, we called him Ethan Hunt.

The day was spent enjoying the endless scenery of vineyards and olive groves until we reached Pinhao where we moored and had a stroll around the picturesque town.

Next day Cheryl took her first kayaking adventure. We did very well, didn’t capsize unlike some who went swimming, and enjoyed the exercise!

We had a guided tour and free time in the very pretty UNESCO town of Salamanca in Spain. The Tour included the usual visit to a market and into the Cathedral which was stunning. The most interesting aspect was on the outside. It was recently renovatied and at the entrance the stone carvings now include a modern day reference – see if you can spot it.

Before heading back to the boat, we all met at the Cathedral and were treated to a show from a Tuna Band. This is a Spanish thing that we had never heard of, but basically, they are students that perform like buskers to pay for their university course. It started in the 13th Century and the students still wear traditional dress of that time. Ours were medical students and even Neil, who doesn’t do culture, enjoyed it – they were excellent.

Of course, this is an inland cruise, so culture was heavy on the agenda and Pocinho brought us Castelo Rodrigo. Again, enjoyable culture in the picturesque village which also gave us port tasting, and bonus, more exercise!

Back on board for the afternoon we also had a demonstration by the bar staff, who incidentally were excellent, on cocktail making (and drinking), we then got to have a go plus port cocktail making.

In Regua, we were taken to the hometown of one our guides, Lamego, which has a fabulous church accessed by a huge flight of steps. The bus dropped us at the top by the church but being exercise freaks we walked down the 686 steps, back up and back down again – people thought we were quite mad.

It was worth it to build up an appetite for the splendid lunch that we were to have Quinta da Pancheca, a vineyard where we were given plenty of port to drink with lunch.

This was our first European River Cruise and it was different to ocean cruising. We never cruised overnight but moored up late evening ready for excursions (all included) the following morning before returning to the boat for scenic cruising and activities in the afternoon. Food & drink were excellent as usual and these were served with different Portuguese wines each evening. We were offered local dishes alongside the usual international fare. Neil tried the octopus which he enjoyed but Cheryl did not like the texture of the little suckers. Staff were excellent and as it was a small boat we got to know them well.

There was an interesting incident. After dinner there was usually some low key entertainment laid on in the bar. One night it was a music quiz with extra points on offer for those teams who got up and danced appropriately. It was the usual stuff, Macarena, YMCA etc. Regular readers will know that we can get quite competitive and that night was no exception. It was all going well until they played ‘Let’s Twist Again’ We leapt up while fellow team members wrote down the tune plus artist and started twisting. Unfortunately as Cheryl was challenging Neil to twist lower and lower he over balanced backwards and his razor sharp glutes crashed into the glass sides of the bar – and let’s just say the bar came off worst – oops!

It was a great trip, enjoying some fine food and wine, great scenery and surprisingly interesting culture.

Cheryl spent a few days in London celebrating Alex’s 40^th birthday while Neil stayed home to run the bar for the band, The Dub Pistols at The Gateway. We had never heard of them but listened to them on Spotify. They sounded good on the radio and even better live. It was a great show with the singer even crowd surfing – absolutely mad! There were masses of people dancing on the stage with the band and for the first time ever we emptied 2 kegs of lager, and on top, all the cans of lager got drunk as well. We’ll be having them back next year!

This post has been brought to you by the following sponsors (and yes, we are still not getting the hang of monetising the site as we didn’t get anything from these cheapskates!!)

On The Road Again

Posted on May 7, 2025 by Cheryl & Neil

After the extended travels we needed a quiet March and April. Well, we wish! Multiple family visits around the country, a surprise not to be missed event in London and a visit to foreign parts meant we were busier than ever.

Family values

Back home for four days for Neil and one night for Cheryl before bags packed again and off to Keynsham to spend time with Neil’s son and family. It was great to see them, and we had an opportunity to watch Sunday morning rugby, see the new school and to listen to the little man’s constant chattering – he never stops!

Next stop June and Roy a few miles outside Gloucester to see how they are getting on and get the latest on niece Anna and her constant fight against the silent assassin. It was just one night as we were on our way to Cheshire to spend some time with Leanne. She showed us her new business where she does her sports massage. A grand day out at Biddulph Grange where we learnt something new – do you know what a stumpery is? Finally a quiz in Macclesfield. It was an excellent quiz, very different in several ways with some local knowledge required and let’s just say it was not our finest moment.

Finally back in Seaton in time to watch the Grizzly in glorious sunshine. It’s an annual event attended by runners from around the country and the town was packed.

Scrummy

Now, the sensational one-off as mentioned in the opening paragraph. June sent us a fairly cryptic WhatsApp message that, on enquiring further, revealed that great nephew Fred would be playing rugby for his school, the under 18’s, in the schools final at the home of English Rugby Union, Twickenham! Well, it had to be done didn’t it.

After a bit of rapid messaging, we had all of Neil’s siblings together and lots of nephews and nieces to give King’s School, Gloucester the support they deserved for getting to the final. What a day and what support from so many people who arrived in coaches and cars.

At half time King’s were 11- 16 down even though our supporters out shouted and out hollered the opposition’s supporters. Having resigned ourselves to the inevitable defeat, and we had heard the opposition were the favourites, the disappointment soon changed as King’s came out all guns blazing in the second half and set about demolishing the opposition scoring and scoring again and again.

Final result, 29-16. At the final whistle a huge cheer rang around the amazing Twickenham Stadium. We booked a nearby hotel and that evening we had dinner with Bill, Sue, Kate, Sarah and children Jack and Evie. An absolutely amazing and unexpected day. Cheryl then headed off for a few more days in London to have more cuddles with Lyra & Luke.

A tale of two quizzes

Having failed miserably with Leanne and Neil in Macclesfield we didn’t rate our chances at the Gateway Fundraising quiz at the football ground. We joined forces with our Gateway bar chums Linda and Dennis plus Liz and Graham from The Twinning and U3A. Dennis came up with the team’s name, The Bar Stewards, and we duly made amends for the previous quiz by winning, hurrah! There was a prize, vouchers to spend at a local beachfront café, The Hideaway. We had a lovely lunch, a couple of drinks, lots of laughs and watched in awe as Graham polished off two cream teas.

Hola amigos

Then we were off again – this time for a short break to Spain to see Neil’s old school mate, Clive and his wife Karen. They’ve been living in the really attractive small town of Alcalali for around 10 years. We had a great time, visiting nearby resorts Calpe, Denia and Javea. Clive cooked us paella one evening, delish, and on another night, we went to a nearby restaurant that served up wild boar – also delish!

They were quite insistent that they took us to a special Sunday lunch in the nearby hills which was located in an old Roman Villa. The host was just amazing, giving everyone a tour of the premises before we sat down for an excellent five course lunch with as much home-made wine as you could possibly drink. What could possibly go wrong?

There were about 70 covers in the restaurant and it was the league of nations. French, Norwegian, Russian, us Brits, Spanish and Lithuanians. After lunch each table had to sing a song which C&K had warned us about. We chose Nellie the Elephant and quite a few people joined in with the chorus. We received a great round of appreciation from the rest of the restaurant when we finished.

Next the professional entertainers sang a mix of Spanish and popular songs. As the wine flowed soon everyone was up singing and dancing.

Then it went a little bit downhill from there, and we did our bit to help. Neil was dancing like his dad and Cheryl performed a heartfelt Karaoke ‘I Will Survive’. It can’t have been all that bad as she did get a well-deserved and raucous round of applause and cheering. It was an amazing afternoon and a great stay with C&K – thanks guys we had a fabulous time with you.

We finished off our trip to Spain with a few nights in Valencia which is has lots of green spaces, excellent walking in parks, a huge indoor market, stunning buildings and fine tapas. The river which previously flowed through the city was diverted in the 1950’s following severe flooding. The riverbed is now an extensive city park with a futuristic science park and entertainment complex as well as sports pitches and themed garden spaces.

Under pressure

Our apartment was perfectly placed for us to reach all the attractions and restaurants on foot and was only a short walk to the metro to get to the airport for the flight to Heathrow However, our careful plans came to an abrupt halt on arrival in the lounge where we got the first text to tell us our flight was delayed by an hour. As regular readers know, ‘lucky’ is Neil’s middle name and the decision to use up Avios and travel business class really paid off as at least we were comfortable in the lounge as the delay became longer and longer.

You would expect everyone on board the plane to be fed up with the delay but there was an air of anticipation over whether we would break the 3 hour late deadline. It was tense and we did circle over Heathrow a few times but the pilot and crew managed to get the plane down, at the gate and the doors open at…………2 hours and 56 minutes, pah!

We finally made it to Alex & Freddy’s house for a couple of nights before finally getting the train home.

Heard it on the grapevine

April ended with some beautiful weather, our first BBQ of the year and our Annual Town Council Meeting where the council reviews its highlights of the past year and public have a question and answer session. Last year was a tad awkward as no members of the public attended at all! The date of the meeting is on the council website but you do have to search to find it so Neil decided to do his bit for community engagement and publicise the meeting on social media. It must have had an effect as we actually had some people there and they did ask some questions – success! So much better than last year.

Enjoy the sunshine.

Take a walk on the wild side

Posted on December 27, 2024 by Cheryl & Neil

How do you to mark a major milestone in life? Yes, the old girl was about to hit the onset of her sunset years as she reached the ripe old age of 60. This would have gained her official OAP status in the good old days, however both Tories and Sir Keir have agreed she needs to grow up a bit more before she gets that honoured status. But hell, who needs to grow up? She’s perfectly happy to continue to act her shoe size, and Neil wouldn’t have it any other way.

Mmmmmm, we haven’t been to South America, and I really want to visit Ecuador and Peru. Cheryl’s bucket list ‘ticks’ number one and two The Galapagos Islands followed by Machu Picchu. Regular readers will know that this year’s theme is ‘Just Do It’ and if you are going to do it, then do it in style and that’s exactly what we planned for this special trip.

Trains, planes & automobiles

The Journey logistics weren’t great as there aren’t any direct flights to Quito. We had to go via Madrid or Schipol but each one required setting off at silly o’clock to get the flight done in one go. As we are lucky to have the time we decided to take it slowly with an overnight stay near Heathrow then fly to Madrid for another overnight before the long haul to Quito. We were also aware that we may take time to adjust to the high altitude and we allowed a few days to relax and acclimatise before we joined our tour group.

Day one – taxi to Axminster station, train to Feltham, overnight at The Travelodge in Feltham with beers and food in the nearby Spoons. OK, the start of the trip didn’t qualify as doing it in style, but it did come with the added entertainment of observing the clientele around us. Day two – Full English Breakfast in the Spoons (surprisingly good) then bus to Heathrow T5 for our cattle class flight to Madrid. Shuttle bus to a simple hotel near the airport, a brisk walk around the area and a really pleasant night in Lola Gastro Tapas Bar. Day three – Shuttle back to airport before breakfast in the Iberia business lounge next morning.

We didn’t pay the extra to book seats in advance as it’s usually easy to sit together in business. On boarding we worked our usual charm to snag two seats side by side and were intrigued by strange goings on in the nearby pod. The staff were clambering all over and under the seat and spent ages fishing underneath to retrieve an object that looked like a tin of Spam which had managed somehow to get wedged in. The owner of said tin, now known as Mr Spam, looked like the kind of guy you wouldn’t mess with and spent most of the flight sending messages on his phone. With an overactive mind and knowing that Ecuador has something of a reputation as a moderately lawless drug riddled country, Neil was convinced he was a Mr Big and was ordering a few executions and it was almost definitely something more interesting in that tin than the contents of a tasty fried fritter. Intrigued, Cheryl couldn’t contain herself and as we were disembarking, plucked up the courage to ask what was in the tin. Not spam but a tin of very good pate! …..well that’s what we thought he said and Neil wasn’t going to ask twice.

Regular readers know that our usual travel style is to make all our own arrangements and travel independently. However, we’ve been changing the mix and trying a few cruises and this time we also opted for an organised land tour especially as access to Machu Picchu has been limited since Covid times. This would also give us the opportunity to experience staying in some places we wouldn’t normally book, very swanky! We were a little concerned that we may not appreciate the regimentation involved and would we get along with our fellow travellers?

Despite arriving well before the tour started we did get the included transfer from the airport and were met in arrivals by the Celebrity Rep, Carla. On the journey from the airport to the hotel she gave us a brief modern history of the 1999 financial woes of the country plus the eruption that took place. Quito is surrounded by over a dozen active volcanoes which, thankfully, chose to behave while we were there. From the airport to the city centre you climb over 400m via very steep and winding streets. To avoid the rush hour traffic the small mini bus that we were in was weaving it’s way along narrow streets through hairpin bend after hairpin bend until something went ‘bang’ and we stopped half way round a corner. Something had broken with a loud thud, possibly the prop shaft, which meant we weren’t going anywhere. Just then a taxi just happened to pass by. A local guy directed traffic around us and Carla whisked us into the cab and we left the unfortunate mini-bus driver to get a tow. Everyone involved was incredibly polite and helpful so it was a great introduction to Ecuador.

We checked into a quirky B&B and it was only after taking our bags up the stairs did we feel the first effects of the altitude.………wow………how difficult was that? We quickly discovered how thin the air was at 2850m so decided to take our time over things. After a couple of days resting and exploring the local area we wheeled our bags to The Marriott for the official start of the tour. By the way, we even impressed ourselves by returning to our old travelling packing skills and had around 12kg each in the cases plus about 5KGs in carry on packs. We got an early check in and had a huge room with a fabulous view of the volcano that erupted in 1999, Guagua Pichincha.

The following day we met our guides and were being divided into small groups and set off for sightseeing beginning with a viewpoint with a statue of The Virgin of Quito followed by a walking tour of the Old Quarter before lunch.

The afternoon was spent at the Equator park. We couldn’t resist the cheesy photo opportunity to stand with a foot either side of the equator. Our local guide gave us a simple science lesson how the earth’s forces operate at the widest part of the planet. This included a demonstration on which way the sink drains in each hemisphere, standing an egg on end and lots of other silly stuff. It was great!

Dinner was at a lovely local restaurant with great food and getting to know our group.

Galapagos Customs are very strict as the ecology of the Islands is paramount so we had been told to have our cases packed but unlocked and taken to a store room where they would be searched overnight for any organic matter before being loaded for our flight.

Next morning we traveled to the airport for the 2hr flight to The Galapagos Islands. Excitement doesn’t really describe how we felt as we walked from the plane to the terminal – the wildlife frenzy began with land iguanas everywhere!

The one hiccup in the logistics was the long wait for the local buses to deliver us to the very small dock where we then boarded the fleet of tenders from the boat which to us to the ship. Wow, what a ship. Celebrity Flora was specifically designed to be a luxury expedition vessel and she did not disappoint.

Our cabin was spacious and had a quirky design they called an infinite verandah. That meant that instead of a separate balcony, the whole window opened up to make the entire room feel open to the outside. It’s a small vessel, 100 passengers max and just 92 on our cruise, so doesn’t have the multiple restaurants, nightclubs, pools etc of the mega ships but what it has is top notch and beautifully designed.

The upper deck was like an exclusive beach club with a small restaurant and bar where you could dine under the stars, a huge hot tub and a couple of glamping pods alongside designer loungers and sofas.

The food was excellent, drinks were all included, the entertainment largely self-made and the bar well stocked. We had a silent disco, karaoke, yes we did very bad karaoke, and generally made friends with the mostly American passengers. We soon bonded with Catherine and Amy from Arizona, Monica from California and Dennis and Michael from New Jersey.

In Darwin’s Footsteps

Since studying evolution at school Cheryl has wanted to visit The Galapagos to see the wildlife and the islands did not disappoint. The ship had it’s own team of naturalists who were incredibly knowledgeable and professional and really added to our understanding and enjoyment of the excursions. The wildlife was incredible.

Land and sea iguanas everywhere. More sea lions than you could possibly count.

Flamingos were enjoying the brackish lagoons just behind the beaches. There were birds everywhere including the very dramatic frigate birds. Penguins stood and stared from rocks. They were only there because they were brought by the Humboldt Current and evolved to become one of the smallest penguin species.

The geology was equally amazing with the islands all very different. The beaches were different colours, red, black and white, and we walked across a black lava flow.

We climbed dormant volcanoes, and we snorkeled with beautiful fish, sharks and at one point a sea lion glided underneath Cheryl as she gained her confidence in the shallows. We planted native trees and waited patiently for giant tortoises to cross roads. We had 7 days of stunning sightseeing, informative well qualified guides, never a dull moment, in fact, full on fun.

Stop it

Right, there is something we need to get off our chests and out of our systems. Boobies! Yes BOOBIES lots and lots of Boobies tee hee hee. Stop sniggering and get serious – these are not just any boobies, these are your Blue Footed Boobies and their feet are an incredible shade of blue. Of course there are a whole load of boobie spin offs, more on those later – because, well, you would wouldn’t you? There are also red footed Boobies but we didn’t get to see any of those.

Each day on the boat was full on as they wanted us to get as much out of the visit as possible so most days involved excursions morning and afternoon plus options for experienced snorkelers and kayakers with all equipment provided. On our first day we had wetsuits fitted, given snorkel equipment, fins and storage bags and a special place to put these on the loading deck. We had to use the ships tenders to access the islands and this meant a combination of wet landings onto beaches and dry landings onto rocks/steps and small dock areas. It was an incredible mix of walks, hikes, climbs, wades, swims and snorkeling from both beaches and the tenders.

Now that’s an unexpected sight

Between the trips we loved just gazing at the glorious views which were of endless ocean or remote islands in the distance. It was so calm and peaceful with not a soul in sight. One morning we had just returned from a wet landing excursion which included beach snorkeling. We completed the strict return to ship routine. Wash off beach shoes in a tub, hiking shoes soles scrubbed, wetsuit off and rinsed in another tub, quick shower down, hang up wetsuits, hang up snorkel bag, wash hands, check in and back to the cabin for a hot shower, wash out swim wear and dry off beach/scuba shoes. It was a hot sunny day so we set to stacking our damp gear in front of the huge sun drenched window with the endless view of the empty ocean.

Suddenly there was a huge roar coming from below and we saw one of the ships tenders loaded with around a dozen snorkelers returning to the ship passing right below our window. Ooops – Cheryl was in her undies but Neil wasn’t – so what would you do in this situation? No prizes for guessing the correct answer – Cheryl fled and Neil posed in the window for them. How embarrassing, Cheryl asked Neil if he recognised anyone in the tender and he seemed to think we were OK and that they couldn’t possibly have seen that much detail from that distance. ‘It’ll be fine’ he said confidently.

That evening, as usual we headed to the bar before dinner for cocktail of the day and the briefing on the next day’s excursions. We were beckoned over by our usual group of friends. Michael was excited and couldn’t contain himself as he was bursting to give us his news, ‘You two just won’t believe what happened to us as we came back from snorkeling, It was hilarious, there were these naked people on the top deck of the cabins standing right next to the window! We could see straight in! Our guide was very quick to reassure us that it wasn’t that type of cruise ha ha ha …………….’ Oh no, thought Cheryl, he must have seen us and is just teasing now, so might as well admit it. ‘Ummmmmm, that was us’ we said solemnly looking very sheepish.

That’s when he had an even bigger laugh as it turned out he had absolutely no idea it was us and couldn’t believe we had just given the game away. He nearly exploded when Neil adopted the same pose, this time thankfully fully clothed, as total proof. Both he and husband Dennis dined out on that story for the rest of the week, and he’s probably telling it now. We did get kudos for admitting it was us and we learned the valuable lesson that the huge picture windows are not coated in privacy glass and just because it’s normally miles and miles of ocean out there don’t assume a boat load of people won’t come flying past at any moment!

I’m sixty and I know it

Whilst on board we celebrated Cheryl’s big birthday with a table full of friends with the staff singing Happy Birthday, and playing the guitar, followed by Cielito Lindo a Mexican folk song, with the catchy chorus of Ay Ay Ay Ay whilst everyone joined in and waved their napkins around their heads. What a way to celebrate being 60, sailing around The Galapagos eating delicious food and drinking fine wines! Inevitably, there were a lot of birthdays on board so this became a nightly ritual, sometime multiple time a night but it was still great fun.

Friends in high places

Turned out our new best mates Michael & Dennis were in the Penthouse Suite and they invited us along to a pre-dinner cocktail party towards the end of the cruise. It was beautiful and Cheryl was very tempted to pretend these photos were our cabin! They were such fun to be with and included us when they had an invitation to visit the Bridge for a tour. Cheryl was also gifted a massage in the Spa to celebrate her birthday present which was wonderful and very indulgent.

Friends Catherine, Amy, Michael, Dennis & Monica

In Paddington’s footsteps.

We had attached a follow on trip to the end of our cruise which took us to Peru. Of the 92 passengers on the cruise 20 people continued on the tour to Peru including the lovely Dennis and Michael. It was sad to say goodbye to our other friends who were returning home. It was an extremely long day as we had to disembark Flora early, fly back to Quito, transfer to day hotel near airport before a long wait at Quito airport before the international flight to Lima in Peru.

On route to the airport one of the guides told us to empty the refillable water bottles we had been given as you couldn’t take water on an international flight. ‘Empty your bottle’s he said several times. The trouble was he had a heavy accent which made it sound like ‘empty your bowels’ and everyone just burst out laughing.

The tour was for 7 nights staying in some very, very expensive hotels whilst taking in guided tours of Lima, Machu Pichu, Cusco and lots of other Inca sightseeing. Arriving very late in Lima meant we missed the worst of the crazy traffic. Next day we had a short tour and lunch in a beautiful restaurant. Lima has a very quirky climate, it’s apparently always overcast skies through the whole of winter although it’s not cold. We were transitioning into summer so managed some blue sky in the afternoon.

Sacred Valley

Next morning another early start and we flew into Cuzco which at 3400m is even higher than Quito, so we were glad to be heading straight to The Sacred Valley, a mere 2800m where we stayed for a two nights at The Tambo del Inka hotel. The hotel had it’s own baby alpacas as well as a Spa with indoor/outdoor pool – and best of all we got some free time to enjoy it!

The Big One

Next day we set off early and took the incredibly scenic vistadome train towards Machu Picchu. Arriving at Aguas Calientes we took a short walk and finally a bus to the historic site entrance. The weather that day was damp but looked as if it was improving and the rain stopped as we finished lunch and headed in. It was truly awesome, and it’s the whole panorama which makes it so special. The clouds swirled round and around the peaks which tower above as Machu Picchu is at 2430m.

Unfortunately we were part way round when the rain bucketed down before we could get the rain jackets on and we were soaked. However without rain you don’t get a rainbow. The return to The Sacred Valley was an absolute treat. We had champagne and canapes in the Sanctuary Hotel at the site then boarded the luxury Hiram Bingham train and had a gourmet dinner on the way back.

The guide we had, Diego, was fantastic, full of useful information without being too intense and he had a great sense of humour. We thought that The Galapagos was full on, but this was so intense getting on the minibus at 8am, morning tour, big lunches, afternoon tour, drinks and dinner. Talking of dinner, there was so much food on this tour, served up in so many interesting places including on a ranch with an accompanying horse riding display. We tried llama – not great, but didn’t get to try ‘Cuy’ aka Guinea Pig, which is a local delicacy.

The Incas abandoned Machu Picchu in the mid 1500s when the Spanish began to conquer the Inca Empire. The Incas built other settlements in The Sacred Valley and we visited a couple. Ollayantambo – with a perfectly placed temple to view the rising sun in the cleft on one side of a mountain on the Spring equinox and watch the sunset travel across until it hit another cleft on the Winter equinox. It’s the Southern hemisphere and the biggest Inca celebration was held on 24th June, when it was clear to see by the sunset that the days were getting longer and summer was on it’s way.

The building skills of the Incas could clearly be seen at Saqsaywaman. The Incas built stone roads at an 8 degree slope which enabled men to use ropes to drag huge boulders to the site. They then cut and stacked them with extreme precision.

We stayed in some amazing hotels, including a restored monastery in Cuzco. This place was stunning with cloistered courtyards, and incredible public areas crammed with amazing architectural features and artifacts. There were old and somewhat creepy religious paintings above the beds in the rooms. Dinner here was extra special in atmospheric cloisters with silver service from white gloved waiters and Opera singers serenading us from the old pulpit whilst we ate.

On our return to Lima we had another fun trip to finish – a mixology class in a very trendy bar.

The trip was exhausting but absolutely amazing. We have new friends and we have more stories to tell including about ‘whisky galore’. On the Iberia flight out Neil couldn’t sleep so he just watched films and decided to have a whisky. The steward said ‘is blue label Johnny Walker, OK? ‘Fine’ said Neil having only heard of J W red and black label. It wasn’t till he looked it up on’t t’internet that he realised it’s £160/bottle from Amazon. Needless to say, we filled our boots on the flight home!

A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our readers

Back home and just enough time to put up the tree before a visit from Alex, Freddy and Luke and we all took a ride on The Polar Express. They also visited the new Jurassic Discovery Centre where the dinosaurs were also in festive mood.

Just before Christmas we drove to Bristol for some time with the family there. Another great pre Christmas get together for Marlpit Lane Social Club, this year hosted by Maureen & Paul, and our silly secret Santa was a lot of fun. After such a full-on trip to South America, Cheryl having quite a bit of dental work and lots of other lunches and dinners we decided to have a nice quiet Christmas Day ‘home alone’ with a walk along the beach.

This post has been brought to you by the following sponsors and BTW, they are all cheapskates as we received nothing for all this valuable publicity!

Take a chance on me

Posted on November 13, 2024 by Cheryl & Neil

Here’s the latest roundup of what we’ve been up to, and guess what? Yet another trip, which this time wasn’t one we had planned, but was an offer we couldn’t refuse.

Andy, our cruise guru, messaged out to all his customers to say that he had booked a cruise for himself which he now couldn’t make due to a training course that his wife wanted to go on. We saw the WhatsApp message and Neil said ‘that’s good value – is that for 1 or 2 people?’ It was for 2 so Neil said ‘just grab it’ as he rubbed his hands together. It was never in the schedule but the opportunity to get some Autumn sun and visit Lisbon & Valencia amongst other places we had never been was just too big an opportunity to miss.

There were just a couple of negatives but we went for it anyway. It was P&O, which we had previously decided not to use again, and it was a huge ship, The Iona, which holds 5200 people. On the plus side it was from Southampton and it was a new ship. It was also October so probably wouldn’t be full, and at two weeks long, unlikely to be packed with kids. We cruised at the same time last year and it really felt like the summer had been extended so with the disappointing weather this summer who wouldn’t want some last minute sunshine?

Boarding was swift and our cabin décor was fresh and modern and we were on Deck 15 so certain to get plenty of exercise using the stairs! We explored the ship and really liked the enclosed dome area on the upper decks where some circus style entertainment would take place over the pool area on some evenings, and the large and airy atrium and generally the fact that everything looked shiny and new.

The weather was a little grey as set sail later that afternoon. There was an announcement from El Capitano to say that storm Kirk was on it’s way and that he intended to miss our first port of call, La Coruna, and just head south at great speed to avoid the storm. That meant an extra sea day but at least it was smooth sailing. It wasn’t the weather for the sun worshippers to toast themselves so the public areas were packed – and that’s when we realised there were a lot of school age kids on board as well. Scotland have different school hols, they had two weeks and the ship was at full capacity – ugh. Another surprise was that on such a huge ship you had to use an app to book into the big shows in the theatre, the special shows in a really tiny venue, the main dining room and any speciality dining – and some people had done this before they boarded so most things were full up – more ugh.

Hey ho – as you know, regular readers, we are resourceful and soon discovered that we could rock up to the main restaurants (choice of 4) without a booking, agree to sharing a table and we were straight in. Same with shows – hover outside and ten minutes before the start if there were seats, and there always were, we could get in. We found some quieter spots, got chatty with the bar staff enjoyed the excellent wines in The Glasshouse and generally settled in despite the chaos and noise all around.

Our first port of call was Vigo in Spain – not a hugely exciting place but we enjoyed a stroll around the town.

Another sea day – with not a lot to do and then to Lisbon in Portugal where the ship stayed two days. We really enjoyed Lisbon, and have decided to go back there, probably next year.

We tried to get on the historical tram 28 but the queue was huge so wandered around and eventually stumbled upon a strange doorway with a small queue inside – a near vertical tram and we took a ride.

We arrived in the early hours so didn’t realise what a scenic ride the sail away from Lisbon was going to be. It was really picturesque as we left the cruise dock and headed towards the sea taking in the amazing views of the town. We got to an enormous bridge but as we got closer it was apparent there wasn’t going to be much room left as we passed

Hola Amigos

The weather wasn’t kind as we left which was a pity but as we sailed into the Mediterranean it warmed up. Our next port of call was Valencia. We had previously arranged to meet old friends Clive and Karen who live about 2hrs away. We had an excellent lunch, a drink or two, and lots of laughs. Clive reminded Neil that they have been friends now for over sixty years, and they are still as daft as the day they met! Great to see them and now we’re looking forward to visiting them again in 2025. Valencia, by the way, was lovely and we’ll be back there next year as we fly there for a few nights before meeting up with C&K.

Next stop was Barcelona where we last visited more than 20 years ago. The Gaudi Cathedral is still ongoing and probably will still be ongoing in another 20 years. It is one of the weirdest things we have seen and we were keen to find so were some of the other Gaudi buildings. Cheryl plotted a route back to the ship via a number of buildings that were Gaudi inspired. Whatever he was smoking we’d like some!

There was one major surprise that we didn’t know about until we got on board. Gary Barlow has been working with P&O cruises, particularly with creative input into some of the entertainment venues on the newer ships. He was going to join the ship in Lisbon to put on a couple of shows, but entry was by ticket only and to get a ticket you needed to donate £10 to his two favourite children’s charities and you would be in a raffle. Lucky is Neil’s middle name so of course we won tickets, and the charities got a huge £27,000. Cheryl really enjoyed the music and the show but Neil, who is not a big fan of his music, had to admit that the show was superb. How about that, Gary Barlow for a tenner a ticket!

Last stop was Cadiz which we visited last year. A really pleasant town and we enjoyed a long walk following the old city walls and then exploring the charming old town.

A couple more sea days – again with miserable weather, and we were back in Southampton. There were quite a few things we didn’t enjoy about the holiday, but there were many positives – Lisbon, Valencia with C&K, Barcelona, Gary Barlow, the excellent wines and Ryan North the pianist in The Crow’s Nest who played some perfect late night cocktail music whilst we sipped all sorts! Another bonus was we decided to take the upgrade on the travel insurance to cover missed ports as it only cost £13 and got £300 back in our bank account on our return- woo hoo!

Mundane stuff took over on our return, flu/covid jab for Neil plus typhoid and Hep A for both of us, dentist, garden, chimneys taking shape and so it goes on. We did front of house at The Gateway, Bar work for the Riviera Dogs gig night, and we had the first Comedy Club night which was a great success. The next one in 3 months is already nearly sold out.

Spot the difference? There’s definitely at least six for the eagle eyed, not including seasonal differences as the first picture was taken during the viewing in April 2019 and the second in November 2024

Celebrations

Cheryl spent a few days in London to celebrate Son Alex’s birthday and spend time with the boys. Great day out at Kew Gardens, fabulous lunch on the Thames followed by using the really fast River Bus for the first time. Cheryl and Alex also had an evening learning the basics of Thai cooking at Borough Kitchen – it was delicious.

While she was away, Neil decided to tackle the redecorating in the big bedrooms to cover up the water damage from the leaking chimneys.

Our regular lunch with Neil’s siblings and spouses, June, Roy, Bill and Sue took place at a new venue, The Village Inn at Liddington near Swindon. It’s a pleasant enough venue, food was OK but the company was great. Due to holiday schedules, and Christmas, it’s looking likely that April will be the next date.

You may remember that Neil managed to spin out his 70^th birthday celebration for several months so he could fit in all his friends and family? Not to be outdone, and as she has a special birthday coming up, Cheryl decided to start hers during her visit to London then continued with a special dinner with Marlpit Lane Social Club. Chef Dariusz arrived to work his magic and produced a spectacular 3 course meal. He left and we continued with a cheese course and more wine and chat with the party finally ending after midnight.

The big day is actually at the end of November and there is something really special planned. You will have to wait for the next update to find out what it is!

Beyond The Sea

Posted on November 9, 2023 by Cheryl & Neil

You could say we got a bit carried away…..well it was very good value for money…..it took us to some places we have never visited before, and we had the ultimate sea view from our room. We spent most of the month soaking up some late summer sun on a very large cruise ship as it relocated from the Mediterranean to the Canaries.

We had a morning flight to Malta from Heathrow and as Neil likes being organised, the train tickets and overnight stay near the airport were booked well in advance. While we were on the canal boat last month Cheryl’s cousin Roy from Oz announced that he was coming to Britain and that the only day we could meet due to both his and our itineraries was the day we had to get to Heathrow. What happened next was quite odd to say the least.

Having booked the train with non-refundable tickets we took the decision to book more tickets on a much earlier train so that we could meet Cousin Roy and partner Heather. Non-refundable tickets are usually quite cheap and the original ones we booked were less than £10 each so losing them was hardly going to break the bank. Now we had non-refundable tickets booked for two trains. Guess what happened next? Yes – an announcement of yet another bloody train strike!

As our public transport options are very limited we were faced with a very expensive taxi ride and luckily we managed to book our favourite local firm but it did mean a really early start as he was committed to another job in Bristol later that day. On the bright side as it was a strike we were entitled to claim a refund on the tickets we had bought but Cheryl made sure that the transactions were made over a couple of days, just in case. So, all was not lost.

The Sunday before we were meant to leave, a Dutch lady went into Tourist Information looking for help to get to Heathrow on Wednesday to get a flight home to The Netherlands as she had just found out about the train strike. Lailla from the TI Centre posted on Facebook to see if anyone could help. Cheryl saw it and thought, hey that’s the day we are going. Slight problem was that the contact number she left was wrong. A few more posts followed trying to track her down and let her know that a solution was out there. Eventually Neil’s phone rang and it was our driver Hisham asking if we would mind sharing our taxi – and if yes, could we go really early? So, a result all round, we got the lady to Heathrow in time for her flight and we got the taxi for half price!

We got to The Travelodge at Feltham much too early to check in so we dropped our bags and headed off for a quick lunch before catching the bus to Kew where we had agreed to meet Roy and Heather who used the boat service from Westminster to Kew Gardens for the day. The afternoon was spent walking along The Thames towards Richmond, a beer in a riverside pub and then dinner in yet another pub before catching the bus back to Feltham. It was great to see them and catch up even if it was only for a few hours as they had been so good to us on both our visits to Australia.

Next day we arrived in Malta where we were bussed to our home for the next 22 nights, the P&O Cruise liner The Azura. Whilst it’s not the biggest ship in the P&O portfolio we were both blown away by the size of it, nearly 300m long and able to carry over 3000 passengers. Neil was not sure that he was going to like cruising so 22 nights seemed like a bit of a monster to cut your teeth on sailing the seas. It wasn’t just about getting a bargain, which it was at just over £100/night each including flights, full board, entertainment, the trips ashore plus around £280 each to spend on board in the bar. The ship was to take us to Croatia, somewhere we’ve never been, Sicily, Sardinia and Majorca that we had never been to plus Lanzarote and Tenerife that Neil had never been to. On top of that there were a few other places in between. We then had a flight back from Tenerife with the opportunity to stop in London for a couple of nights to visit Alex, Freddy and baby Luke.

Our cabin on deck 11 with balcony was excellent and that evening we set sail for Split in Croatia. The first day was ‘at sea’ which gave us the opportunity to check out where things were on the ship. There were 3 waiter served restaurants, 3 speciality restaurants plus 2 buffet style places to scoff as much as you wanted. There were more bars than we could dream of. The gym was well equipped, but the multiple pools were quite small, so we didn’t envisage using them much, if at all. For our meals we went for flexible dining which meant that you could use any place to eat and that in the main restaurants we could opt to go on shared tables to meet fellow cruisers. After our first dinner we quickly concluded that this trip was going to be more than just OK as the company and the food were very good. After our first breakfast it was apparent that we were going to have to be very careful just how much we ate as the food was excellent, varied and plentiful, too plentiful! Just as well we avoided the buffet restaurants!

Our first stop was Split in Croatia which was very pretty albeit very touristy and busy. We could have booked excursions at extra cost but having been independent travellers since we started travelling it seemed just as easy to wander around the town ourselves and explore. Maps were available which gave us the major points of interest and photo opportunities. It was also much warmer than we thought and after a few hours walking around we were tired and headed back for a leisurely lunch.

We set sail that evening and next morning we were in Trieste in Italy ready for our next port of call. We had been warned that it would be busy as the town was hosting the biggest regatta anywhere in the world and, boy, was it busy. We chose the explore the area away from the harbour before joining the throngs again to find the shuttle bus back to the ship.

We were still struggling to get to grips with where things were on the boat so kept finding ourselves on the wrong deck or at the wrong end of the boat, ‘fore and aft’ according to Neil or ‘pointy or flat end’ according to Cheryl. Sometimes it was both and on certain decks you couldn’t walk all the way through from one end to the other. October we thought would be a great time to visit The Med, not too hot and probably still quite dry. Well, the sea was like a mill pond, the weather in the late 20’sC and the forecast was for much of the same for as far as we could see. Fab!

Next stop was Zadar in Croatia. It had a lovely sea front promenade plus old city walls and pretty narrow streets containing lots of little restaurants, tourist tat shops and the usual overpriced clothes and gift shops. It also had two very unusual attractions. On the promenade they had built a ‘Sun Salutation’ which had several concentric circles of solar panels each about the size of half A4. This is meant to be much more attractive at night when the panels emitted a light show which sadly we didn’t see. The other quirky item is probably one of the most unusual things we have come across. It was called The Sea Organ and it was a series of underground tubes which were positioned to allow the sea water to flow through. The sound emanated from a series of holes in the promenade and the effect was a little like pan pipes, whale noises and a church organ. We went straight to it when we arrived and loved it. On our walk around the town we kept talking about it and Cheryl had the idea that before we got the shuttle bus back to the ship we should revisit and lie on the floor next to the holes where the sound came from. It just blew our minds as it was so much louder, and you could really hear the different sounds being caused by the waves lapping against the pipes. It wasn’t long before we had lots of other people laying around the promenade listening. We should become tour guides!

We set sail that evening and the next morning we arrived in Dubrovnik, a place we have both really wanted to visit. It is very touristy, but it is stunning beautiful with distinctive red roof tiles in the old town surrounded by old and high city walls. It got badly bombed by the Serbs in the 1990’s but it has been restored to great effect. At 35 Euro a ticket to walk around the walls it was something of a rip off but the chances of us returning are relatively low, so we went for it. We obviously enjoyed it as we didn’t moan about the cost afterwards so maybe it wasn’t such bad value after all.

Our next day was at sea enroute back to Malta for some people to get off and for others to board for the remaining 2 weeks. We discovered the gym which we used on sea days to help offset the amount of food and drink we were consuming. Unlike most of the other ‘inmates’ we used the stairs rather than the lifts which also helped get the heart pumping especially if you were going to and from deck 4 to get ashore for trips and deck 11 where our cabin was.

By now we were also starting to get to grips with the layout of the ship plus the evening entertainment. We had comedians which were very funny, especially the ‘adult’ shows late at night. These were especially amusing, and naughty, but thankfully the use of the F and B words was very, very low which especially pleased both of us. We had a comedian/ventriloquist who had been a finalist on one the TV talent shows, and he did have us laughing so much and then we had a magician/illusionist who mesmerised us with his wizardry which was mixed in with humour. The top draw act was however The Headliners Theatre Company. 3 female singers, 3 male singers and a host of other performers. The singing was outstanding, the sets just so professional and the choreography was absolutely top notch – just so unbelievably in step. We saw them as often as we could doing a number of different shows and we were never disappointed. The quality and variety of evening entertainment was proving to be the added bonus we hadn’t anticipated.

Back in Valetta we had the chance to explore the pretty old town in the morning, and then take a bus in the afternoon to the gorgeous old walled town of Mdina and the neighbouring town of Rabat. A full days sight seeing for 3 Euros each!

Now, one aspect of the cruise that Neil wasn’t happy with was the formal nights held about twice a week when there was a black tie dress code for eating in the waiter service restaurants and a couple of the bars. Neil didn’t possess a dinner jacket and nor does he want one. Not taking part limited the various restaurants that we could eat in, in fact, it was either the buffet or one of the specialist restaurants that you paid a little extra for. On the first night we ate in the buffet which wasn’t exciting, next time we chose a speciality restaurant which did give us a spectacular widow view as we left harbour but food was not exciting. We didn’t fancy the overpriced Indian restaurant so were left with the casual dining restaurant selling lots of different wines. Sadly, the tapas we had was poor so Neil began to feel a little guilty as he knew that Cheryl really enjoyed glamming up. We had met a couple, Geoff and Alison, at one of the drink tastings and Geoff offered to loan Neil a DJ as he had brought two! Initially, Neil declined but then with a little thought and a lot of guilt he reluctantly accepted for the next formal night. After that we met them both in Brodie’s Bar for a beer before dinner.

We think that the excursions in Catania weren’t selling well as the Captain came on the ships tannoy to say that Catania was a little down market, in fact shabby chic. We thought different, we actually quite liked it and enjoyed wandering through the streets.

In Palermo we took our first excursion, to the catacombs. These were not your average catacombs where the bodies are laid horizontal on shelves or in caskets. These were vertical and hanging from hooks on the wall. If you had money you could get yourself a place on the wall so that you had, in effect, immortality. Some of the corpses were very well preserved with hair and stubble. There was even a set of conjoined twins just a few years old. It was actually quite spooky and whilst we understood why we couldn’t take photos it was a pity we couldn’t get just one for the blog to demonstrate just how weird this place was. This was followed by a guided tour in the town which took us to the Benedictine convent and some spectacular churches. Our guide was brimming with information she was determined we should know. Regular readers are aware of Neil’s attention span and will not be surprised to hear that we did not make it to the end of the tour. We beat a hasty retreat back to the ship for a well earned beer and lunch.

Next stop was Cagliari in Sardinia. Again, we just wandered around the city and visited the inevitable church or two plus a Roman amphitheatre where gladiators and Christians fought it out with each other and the array of exotic animals like lions. Not quite as impressive as The Coliseum but you could imagine the noise from the crowds and the animals and picture the thumbs down as another poor soul was condemned to an early grave.

Quickly moving on we visited Palma in Majorca and it’s huge and impressive Cathedral. We really liked Palma and it’s little winding streets lined with shops selling baguettes loaded with Palma ham. They looked delicious but with so much food being consumed on the boat we resisted the temptation and chose instead to leave it for a future visit perhaps?

One of the competitions that we didn’t know about was the ‘build a boat on a boat’. That meant building a boat that would float, then remain afloat with a cargo of 6 cans of coke on it and finally withstand a tsunami in the swimming pool. The rules were quite straight forward, you could use anything you could find on the ship but you weren’t allowed to break anything to get a small part of it. Geoff and Alison had started to build a boat but they needed a few more things to be sure that it would pass all the tests. Cheryl had the idea of going into one of the overpriced fashion boutiques to see if they had anything that they could use. They did manage to find a few items and then one of the ladies suggested that they might like to take part in a fashion show modelling some of their clothes in return. Cheryl jumped at the chance, but Alison declined. At this point the unsuspecting Neil wandered in and was immediately pounced upon to take part.

We did model some very expensive clothes and had to walk down 3 flights of open stairs in the atrium so that all could see. This was on the arm of an Officer of the ship. It was a laugh and when Neil handed back the clothes and accessories that he had modelled he worked out that his outfit, if you wanted to buy it in the shop, would cost around £500!! The Lacoste polo shirt alone was almost £100 and the Ray Ban shades £135! We both decided not to buy.

We had a day at sea when the fashion show took place before arriving in Malaga for yet more churches, cathedrals and sightseeing.

The weather continued to bless us with beautiful weather and temperatures in the mid to late 20’sC. After another day at sea we arrived in Cadiz where we had booked our second excursion. A walking tour of the town followed by a dancing lesson, flamenco! There were about a dozen of us and we did our best but we decided to stick with our day jobs, being retired! We were also fed some very nice tapas, like we needed more food, and a glass of some very dodgy sherry. Hey, when in Spain!

We had planned to leave the port that night to head towards The Canary Islands. However, our first wet day in Cadiz was to be made all the worst by high winds and rough seas. Thankfully, the Captain decided to play safe and delay our departure until the following morning much to Cheryl’s relief. Our two days at sea were crammed with activities including watching the final of the ship’s Master Chef Competition. We had missed the heats but the final was to be between our very humorous Captain and a rather arrogant Michelin star chef. Why he was in it we don’t know but we enjoyed the Captain’s off the wall sense of humour and the fact that the Captain won…..yes, yes, yes!

The final of the ‘build a ship on a ship competition’ also took place and Alison and Geoff’s ship, Titanic 2, came a very creditable joint 1^st. It should have won but the other joint winner was an entry by a boy of about 9 years old so we think the judges gave him a little extra credit. It didn’t matter, it was all about the taking part and having fun building it and giving the audience a few laughs each of the boats were put through their paces in the swimming pool.

Now, here’s the strangest thing. At the very first liquor tasing, we were treated to Cotswold Gin. Neil started to chat to a couple and the conversation started to discuss the Cotswolds and where we all lived. They lived in Ross-on-Wye, so Neil said I have a niece that lives there, and the conversation eventually came around to Gloucester and schools. To cut a long story short Colin went to the same school as Neil and was in the same year. Whilst Neil sought of remembered his name, Colin didn’t recognise Neil’s name, although they both knew various characters from the same year. Colin’s wife Iris went out with one of Neil’s friends although she wasn’t proud of the fact. What a small world. We met them for lunch on a few occasions and Colin was able to add a few names to the school class photos that Neil had.

By now were counting down the days with a stop in Arrecife in Lanzarote and Santa Cruz in Tenerife. It was good to visit as Neil had never been but it confirmed that The Canaries was not too much to our liking although if we just wanted s short flight to winter sun it might do the job.

Cruise over, we had the 4hr flight home to spend the weekend with Alex, Freddy and Luke. He’s now walking and runs around the house pushing his walking aid like a whirling dervish. Apparently, he has the same walker at nursery and no other child has ever run around at such speed as Luke. We had a great time with the boys and look forward to seeing them again later in the year.

The train journey home was uneventful and so we got back into Seaton life very quickly. That’s it, we know it’s a long blog entry, but it was worth recording as much information as we could. We did enjoy our cruise, the cabin and balcony was perfect, entertainment outstanding, we met lots of lovely people, the food was excellent and we had a taster visit to places that we might, or might not, like to return to for a more in-depth visit. Cheryl does suffer from motion sickness and took lots of medication with her but was pleased that it was left unused. To cap it all, as it was a relocation cruise it was amazing value, an absolute bargain!

It’s a good thing we did like the cruise……but you will have to wait until next month to find out why.

Always a Silver Lining

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Cheryl & Neil

Good news bad news. That was the recurring theme as we set off. Having finished our chores and getting excited about starting the trip we then had the anguish of having our final return flight cancelled at the last minute. Then it was the euphoria of finally getting to Spain to see Clive and Karen’s villa to the embarrassment of finding that the hotel we booked for us all on the way to Madrid was infested with cockroaches….hey, life does have its ups and downs!

We were just about to head off to Spain via Gloucester and London when we were casually informed via text that British Airways had cancelled our return flight in April. Obviously the route from Chengdu was not profitable so it was closed indefinitely. After several frustrating calls to BA, when all we got was ‘you can always get a refund’, we did some homework on our rights and finally got some sense so we have been rerouted from Chengdu back via Hong Kong. The silver lining here is that we are flying back with Cathay Pacific which, for those of you who don’t know, must be one of the most expensive airlines on the planet. We are expecting something very special especially as the two seats we have been allocated would cost £5500 if you wanted to book them direct with C. P. Splurgetastic. There’s also another silver lining to this story – we get around 2hrs to make the most of the C.P. Business Lounge in Hong Kong –result!

Logistics sorted we set off to Gloucester to see Roy and June and leave the car before heading off to London so stay with Alex and Freddy for a few days. Over the weekend we met Bill & Sue for lunch and finally got to meet Freddy’s parents over a lovely meal at the Hospital Club. Then it was off to Gatwick for our flight to Spain to visit Clive & Karen and to see their new home, a hillside villa in the village of Alcalali which is about 20km inland from Denia. It is lovely, with great views and a superb pool. They’ve settled in well – lots of new friends from various parts of Europe, taking Spanish lessons, joining the Harley Club, Zumba, golf and a little bit of DIY.

For some reason Cheryl has been attracted to tacky places and after the excitement of Grimsby and Skegness last summer she obviously wanted to go to Benidorm so C&K took us on a day trip. We think we found the Solana and have to admit it wasn’t as bad as we had expected, and even had some pleasant bits. Yes, it did have some pretty horrific visitors, and a number of perma-tanned geriatrics on mobility scooters, but, in the main, it wasn’t as gross as we anticipated –shame really but of course, it was out of season!

We had a wine tasting at a local Bodega in a nearby village which was great fun and fantastic value plus it converted us to Spanish wine which, until now, we have limited to Rioja – it was a revelation.

The four of us then set off to Madrid which included an overnight stop in the forgettable town of La Roda. We had booked a hotel based upon the reviews and the price only for Clive and Karen to walk into their room and find a cockroach to welcome them – we left, quick! The silver lining was that the alternative hotel we had originally looked at was so much nicer and didn’t cost very much more.

Madrid is spectacular and the apartment we booked was stunning (phew, as after the booking we made in la Roda we were getting worried about the booking we made in Madrid). It was less than 5 minutes walk from the Royal Palace, had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen and living space – the real silver lining was it cost us £40/night per couple – a steal! We hit the Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace spot on – the 1st Wednesday in the month. We also exploited the free entry for EU citizens after 4pm and enjoyed looking around the opulence of the interior. We finished up in the superb armoury admiring the full sets even for the horses when suddenly the alarm went off. Yes, you guessed it, there is always one, and it was Neil pointing at a strange piece of metal on the armour and piercing the infra red beam across the display at the same time….ooops. We also enjoyed the dining in Madrid which was excellent and amazingly cheap at around £10 for a lunch comprising a starter, main, desert, bread, an alcoholic drink and a superb setting of The Plaza Major………we highly recommend Madrid if you fancy a city break. If you do come, then you must do the very touristy 15 Euro guided tour on a segway……..what a great way to see the city and have a ball in the process.

The weather in Spain was pleasant at around 23C in Alcalali and 20C in Madrid. It was a bit of shock to backtrack to Bristol to endure a high of 8C and a low of 2C. However, it was to attend the wedding of the year of Neil’s son, and it went off brilliantly. Of course despite our meticulous planning and buying of formal wedding outfits there was a last minute crisis. The day before the wedding Neil was just about to polish his shoes when they literally fell apart in his hands……damn…….more bl**dy shopping!

We agreed on a schedule to get us all showered and ready to go on time. Neil said he would make the early morning tea and set his alarm on his phone. He forgot one thing – his phone mysteriously thought it was in another time zone so we were woken at 5.30am!! Despite the very early start we had a superb day with the kick off in the very intimate registry office in Bath Guildhall, followed by a delightful lunch at The Pig and all topped off with a party at The Manor in Keynsham which was attended by more friends and family. The Pig is set in an old manor house where we were able to really enjoy a season that we usually miss – autumn. We do miss the seasons by travelling so much so it was particularly nice to see the colours of the trees as they change for winter. Unfortunately we enjoyed ourselves so much we forgot about taking a lot of pictures so you will have to wait for the official pics to see just how posh we looked.

Wedding over, waking up to the first frost of the season – hey, time to get on a plane! Posh clothes packed away next day armed with our full rucksacks we backtracked to Madrid to catch our flight to Goa and warmth……….watch out for the next instalment.

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