In words & pictures
Friday 23rd We often have an overnight stay near the airport the day before departure, but this time it was straight to the destination. An early evening flight meant we had plenty of time for travel. We arrived at Manchester with time to kill, enjoying a few beers and a nice Italian meal before setting off. The down side of this, …
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This was our second river cruise. We had enjoyed our previous journey along the Rhine & Moselle so much, that we booked another one with the same company. This time we were joined by friend Pete & Donna. There was an extensive blog about this holiday, which I wrote copiously each day during lulls in exploration. It went into an …
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Thursday 23rd It was dark when we began our journey to Lisbon. 05:30 on a cold January morning. That’s one of the reasons we had chosen to do this, to escape the long winter misery that is January in the north of England. For once our journey was smooth and uninterrupted. Well, apart from a bit of unscheduled turbulence. Owing …
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We had long thought about going on a river cruise, but the cost had been putting us off. That and the thought of being shepherded around on the daily excursions which most of them seemed to include. Then Jill stumbled across this one with Tui. A river cruise of the Moselle and Rhine valleys, at a reasonably affordable price and …
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We had talked about going to Italy for a while, and finally got around to it at the beginning of spring. We had hoped to escape the incessant rain and enjoy a bit of sunshine. Friday 22nd An early start meant that we landed in Pisa late afternoon, with plenty of time to enjoy our first evening in Italy. A …
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Tuesday 10th Manchester I had found a good deal for a night in a hotel followed by secure parking and transfer to the airport. So we drove to Manchester on Tuesday afternoon, intending to leave the motorway and approaching from the south. I completely forgot to look out for the exit however and ended up taking the usual busy M60 …
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A holiday that was several years in the planning, and meant to be one of those ‘once in a lifetime’ events where the experience is much more important than the expense. Originally it was to have been a celebration of my 60th birthday but Covid-19 got in the way. The following year we made plans again and this time everything …
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Amble, on the North Sea coast of Northumberland was not a place I’d heard of before. Not far from its more famous neighbour Alnwick the town of Amble is a small harbour whose habitants seem to be largely tourists. It also seems compulsory to own a dog. I couldn’t exactly describe it as picturesque or even quaint, but it was …
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This was our third attempt at a cruise in the last 5 months. The first was cancelled after I was admitted to hospital for a month long residency owing to a blood infection. The second was cancelled after discovering that my passport only had 3 months left on it. And then we almost missed the flight for this one. Buying …
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3 days in Buxton with a chance to visit the Buxton Brewery tap house sounded like a damned good idea to me. We housed up in a cottage within walking distance of the centre, albeit down (and up) a rather long and steep hill. We spent the first day exploring the local area, enjoying the Pavilion Gardens and wandering around …
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