Author: travurple

Monday (30 October) an early start, check out of the AirBnB and on the first metro train at 5:37 to Gare de Nord to catch the Eurostar to London. They tell you to get there early, so dutifully we arrived an hour before our train was due to leave, at 6.56 however they had not yet opened up, and as there are three trains an hour there were a lot of people waiting.

Got to the French passport scanners, Nic’s passport scanned OK, so Nic had to move through the system (the UK passport scanners and then security), however Rog’s passport wouldn’t scan in the French scanners, so had to join the manual line, then the border control guy, scanned the passport, studied his computer, looked around and left his station, came back, still not having said a word, used the phone, nobody answered. Told Rog to stand aside and wait! Finally someone arrived in full security gear, bulletproof vest etc, took one look at the passport and said ….. “everything is fine, I’ll just get your passport stamped” phew that was a little worrying for a couple of minutes. UK passport scanner and security then worked fine.

Eurostar was not too busy, and a pleasant journey. For our train back up to York we used the Seatfrog app to bid for a 1st class upgrade, and won for £9 each. We had two hours to kill in Kings Cross station, so used the 1st Class lounge, and got our money’s worth of tea, coffee and biscuits before even boarding the train. Once on board we had even more tea, coffee, biscuits, then sandwiches and beer! £9 well spent.

Monday afternoon, we unpacked, started the washing and began the repacking process.

Tuesday, more washing and repacking!

Wednesday, lunch out to celebrate a family birthday, and a little retail therapy at Monks Cross shopping centre in York.

Thursday, lunch out again in Burnby Hall Gardens, nice to see the autumn colours. Catching up with more family in the evening.

Friday, we had a booked train at 14:02 back to King’s Cross, but at about 11am the train was showing as cancelled so we headed to York station early to solve that issue. We managed to get an earlier train, but ended up standing all the way to London, what a contrast to Monday’s 1st Class experience!

That night’s accommodation was the Premier Inn in Hampstead, 6 mins on the tube from King’s Cross, and a third of the price of the King’s Cross Premier Inn. The reception and restaurant had a newly refurbished feel, and it was well worth the short tube journey.

Met with family at the Nell Gwynn Tavern on The Strand, a real proper London boozer, then on to The Port House for tapas, a lovely meal.

Saturday, checked out of the Premier Inn, and headed to Heathrow for our flight to Auckland, New Zealand via Zurich and Singapore. All the flights were OK, we managed to get seats together, despite not paying for reserved seats. On the Zurich to Singapore, our seats were just behind Premium Economy, and had loads of leg room. Result!

Sunday, on a plane and/or in an airport! We wouldn’t get to New Zealand until Monday.

Singapore Airport was incredible with a fountain coming from one of its ceilings, and a butterfly garden to visit to pass the time.

Monday (23 October ) spent a quiet day getting over the excitement of the weekend, including the excesses of food, drink, walking, rugby and generally enjoying ourselves. Published last blog, did some washing, checked and double checked all the plans for our next ‘big’ trip, see next week’s blog for more details on that!

Tuesday, looked like the best weather forecast of the week, so we decided to head to the Palace of Versailles, this involved a metro journey then an RER train. At Versailles we decided to only visit the gardens, and not the Palace itself, the queues for the Palace were crazy, and it was not cheap! In actual fact, having walked all the gardens, including the musical fountains, neither of us was up for walking any further, so the Palace and gardens may well have been to much to take in on one day! Well that’s our logic and we are sticking to it.

Wednesday, the weather was not great, we managed a short walk and a visit to the local Aldi supermarket to do some shopping, this travelling lark is not all glamour, you know.

Thursday we walked from the flat to Montmatre and the Sacré-Cœur basilica, a nice arty part of Paris with a lot more tourists, so plenty of people watching as well.

Friday, another walk, this time to the Park de la Villette, at one time it was the home of the Cattle markets of Paris, now a technology and science park. We then wandered back, via the St Martin canal and the Place de la Republic, without the protesters of Sunday.

Saturday, Rog was feeling a little worse for wear, a bit of a cold (man flu) so didn’t go out today, Nic went for a walk to the local park, one of the highest points in Paris, so a nice view over the city.

Sunday, after the rain stopped, we went to the Pere Lachaise cemetery, a large old cemetery still in use. A few interesting famous people are buried there, including Jim Morrison.

Back at the flat, we packed for an early start a 5:37 metro to Gare d’ Nord for our Eurostar.

Monday (9th October), a travel day, moving from Widnes to near Alicante, Spain. So starting with a lift to Widnes station for a train to Manchester Oxford Road, and then change trains to Manchester airport. All nice, easy and civilised.

The airport security had no queue, almost unheard of, but true. Once through to the terminal it was fairly busy, as you’ll remember our original flight was from Liverpool, which was cancelled by Ryanair, so we switched to Manchester, it appeared that a lot of people had done the same, so our flight was full.

A uneventful flight, passport control was easy with no real queue, no baggage to collect, so straight to pick up our hire car, again an easy process, then a 30 minute drive to our friends place!

All in all the day was pleasant travel experience, we wish all travel could be this uneventful, but that would make for boring reading !!

We spend the rest of the week, walking the family dog early before it got too hot, pool time, generally relaxing, eating, drinking and watching the rugby quarter finals. On Saturday we visited friends in Elche for lunch, at a lovely Latin American restaurant.

Monday (16th October) we left our friends and drove to Barcelona a 5 & 1/2 hour drive, not too busy, and most of the road was good quality! We dropped off the hire car at Barcelona airport and got the bus into the city, followed by a 10 minute walk to our accommodation. It was a hostel, a private room with share facilities, it was pleasant, clean and cheap (for the centre of Barcelona). We were rudely awakened, at 6am, on our first morning, by raised voices of other hostel users. As well as the aggrieved voices, there were some calm ones trying to settle things down. We left them to it and tried to get back to sleep.

We had planned this visit to Barcelona, as we didn’t make it there last year, when we had the issue with brakes of the Motorhome.

In the evening, we had a wander around the Gothic quarter (where the hostel is) had amazing carpaccio & pizza in a small Italian bar. Chatted to a fellow diner, who had just managed to get out of Israel, and was still waiting for her parents to get a flight out, it put everything in perspective!

She also recommended a ‘free’ walking tour. So we signed up for the following day.

Tuesday, we enjoyed the walking tour, around the old parts of the city, our tour guide was from Argentina. Obviously there’s no such thing as free tour, a tip is expected, but worth it!

After the tour, we set off on our own walking tour, heading around the Gaudi buildings, they have still not finished La Sagrada Familia.

Wednesday, we had a restaurant booking at ‘Los Caracoles’, fulfilling a family challenge to visit and have lunch on table 2. Following in the footsteps of family since the late 1960’s.

Unfortunately nobody told us they had more that one table 2, so we started with a drink at the wrong table, consulted the old family photos, asked a waiter to take a photo, worked out we were on the wrong table, but managed to move to the correct table 2! A great meal!

Wednesday, was an early start, back to the airport for a 9:05 flight to Paris Orly. It was a busy flight, but we did manage to sit together, despite not paying for reserved seats.

The trip into Paris takes a bit more organising to get to the right side of Paris for us, so we got a local bus to a Juvisy station, then a train to Gare d’Austerlitz, followed by a 15min walk, a little bit far dragging our bags, but we got there.

We had come Paris for the Rugby World Cup, semi finals, Rog attended with his brother (Friday & Saturday evenings).

Friday, we walked to all the major sites in Paris, Notre Dame, The Louvre, Place de la Concorde, Les Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides and the Pantheon, we walked about 13 miles! With a few coffee and lunch stops!

The boys headed out to the Stade de France for the match, New Zealand v Argentina. The girls when out for dinner and drinks.

Saturday, a bit more walking, but not as much as Friday. The girls went on a evening river cruise.

The boys were back out to the Stade d France for England v South Africa, “we was robbed!” South Africa won by 1 point!

After the match, there was a heavy police presence around the stadium, and one of the two railway stations was closed, so not sure what was going on.

Sunday, checked out of the hotel, again went for a walk, this time around La Marais and Bastille districts.

Before heading our separate ways, family heading back for the Eurostar, and us heading for an AirBnB in the Belleville district.

We got off the metro near La place de la Republic, to find some sort of demonstration in progress, and another big police presence. We chose a route heading away from the action, and once again Rog dragged our bags towards our accommodation. On arrival, our host was still cleaning the flat, so asked us to wait a few minutes outside. We stood in the doorway, dodging several men coming from an upstairs apartment, with, what looked like, most of it’s contents, which were then being piled up in the street. Those few minutes felt quite lengthy due to the vibe of the area being, what can only be described as colourful ! (The last place we described as colourful was Naples).

Once we had checked in, we did a quick supermarket run, to get provisions for a pasta meal, followed by an early night.

Monday (2nd October), still on the Isle of Man, went to the Calf Sound to see the seals, whilst watching the seals, a bus tour turned up and the passengers got in the queue for the cafe before us, so had a little wait for coffee and cake, but they are always well organised, so not a long wait.

Tuesday, we went out for lunch with lovely friends to The Shore, on Gansey bay, a lovely meal, ate far too much for lunch, but it was all good!

Rog went out in the evening for drinks, again catching up with friends!

Wednesday, yep, you guessed it, more lunch and drinks out catching up with a good friend. Plus a quick visit to the manx museum to fill in time before lunch! Rog’s second visit to Winedown in less than a week.

Wednesday evening, watching the weather forecast again, it looks a little bit dodgy for the Manannan (fastcraft) to Liverpool for Thursday afternoon, but Steam Packet would only say that disruption /cancellation was possible, but no final decision would be made until 12noon on Thursday! So we had to make a decision! We changed our crossing to Thursday morning to Heysham on the new Manxman ferry! And hoped the trains were working, following strike action.

Thursday, with hindsight, we made the correct call as the Mannanan was finally cancelled! The new Manxman ferry was a pleasant crossing. The trains did work down to Warrington. More welcoming friends, and lots more food and drink!

Friday, we went to Speke Hall, a national trust property just outside Liverpool, we joined two tours around the hall, a Victorian and a Tudor one. Both very interesting tours giving different insights into the different eras for the halls history by very engaging guides.

Saturday, a boozy lunch followed by the Rugby.

Sunday, more Rugby including the Fiji v Portugal match, a good game and the best result, Portugal won their first ever World Cup game, but Fiji got a losing bonus point, therefore qualifying for the quarterfinal against England, ahead of the Australians.

Monday (11th September), left the Lodge (‘North’) and drove the hire car back to Liverpool, the weather was not great, but the traffic was not to bad, so an uneventful drive.

Returned the hire car, walked to the train station to get a train to York, our train was cancelled again! But as we were at the station early we managed to get the earlier Trans Pennine Express train to Leeds (rather than direct to York), so we had to change trains in Leeds, but we still got to York sooner than we originally planned, and managed to get an earlier bus back to Pocklington.

Spent Tuesday unpacking and repacking! Rog was the ‘IT Helpdesk’ working up to Parents upgrading their phones. Had Flu jabs in the afternoon.

Wednesday, Rog spend the morning dealing with travel plans and the associated admin, New Zealand electronic Travel Authorisation (not Visa ??) and the Australian equivalent, buying travel insurance, checking all the baggage allowances on our flights to ensures we pack the right size and weight of bags! Booking a hire car whilst we are in Spain. It all takes time!

Thursday we went out for lunch with both sets of parents to celebrate 2 birthdays. We went to the North Star at Flambrough, a lovely lunch all round.

Friday, we drove south to Kent (‘South’) to see Nic’s brother and family, and yes, surprise surprise we spent the weekend eating, drinking and watching the rugby! We did also get out for a walk around Knole.

We were watching the weather forecast for the Irish Sea, and after chatting with our friend on Island, we decided to swap our ferry booking for Thursday, and booked a flight from Manchester instead!

Back to Pocklington (‘East’) on Monday (25 September).

Tuesday we had our fifth Covid jab! Spent Wednesday doing a couple of jobs to help out.

Isle of Man Steam Packet, still couldn’t decide if the ferry was going to sail on Thursday, so they offered to change our booking at no cost, so that’s what we did! By keeping the ferry booking for our journey to Liverpool, and booking a return to the island for next June.

Thursday, back to York train station, by bus with a very jovial bus driver, who had a selection of rubber ducks displayed on the dashboard.

Then the train to Manchester, an interesting journey! Our reserved seats were right behind a group of young women, who had started drink at 12noon and were really enjoying themselves, very loudly. Unfortunately they were also going all the way to Manchester.

We walked from Manchester Victoria station to Piccadilly station, for a train out to the Airport.

The flight was uneventful to the Isle of Man (‘West’) and our friend was there to meet us.

Friday, we started the day with a visit to the dentist, all good!

Rog then met a friend for lunch, and Nic also met a friend for lunch and a bit of retail therapy.

The evening was spent with friends, having a few drinks, a takeaway, and some Harry Potter film watching in honour of Micheal Gambon!

Saturday saw us meeting more friends for brunch. There is a theme to the week emerging! Then after a lazy afternoon, and a nap for Nic. It was off to the pub for a few drinks and a very good Pizza at the Restaurant next door.

Sunday, a leisurely day, a good home cooked brunch, a walk to Fleswick bay and saw Seals. More sport on the telly, horse racing and rugby.

Monday (4th September), we drove back up north from Norfolk, through Lincolnshire and over the Humber bridge.

Tuesday, Rog and his parents went to see Yorkshire play Derbyshire, part of the Scarborough Cricket Festival, it was the 3rd day of a four day test. Yorkshire spent most of the day batting and declared at 520! Derbyshire then batted but held to a very slow run rate. A nice day, with nice weather

Nic declined the cricket, and went out for lunch with a friend in York.

Wednesday, We went to Scampston Walled Gardens, free entry with our Burnby Hall membership, an stunning walled garden and grounds.

Thursday, a packing and organising day!

Friday, Nic set off to Manchester to see some friends for the weekend. While killing time in Manchester she went to the Art Gallery and the John Rylands Library. The Library was built by Enriqueta Rylands, in memory of her husband, and then it was given to the people of Manchester. It is one of Manchester’s hidden gems, open to all and free!

Rog also met an old friend who he knew from the Isle of Man.

Saturday, Rog watched his nephew play rugby, then watched England play in the Rugby World Cup.

Nic enjoyed catching up with her friends from Uni, on a day out in Stockport. Who knew it had a lovely market an old streets to explore! Followed by cocktails and a lovely Italian meal.

Sunday, Rog was getting a lunch time train to Manchester to met up with Nic, but headed in to York early to see the Flying Scotsman, as it was leaving the station for a day trip up to the Settle to Carlisle railway. To continue the train theme Rog visited the Railway Museum, before getting the £7.20 trains to Manchester via Leeds!

Nic enjoyed a bite of lunch with a friend in Manchester before meeting up with Rog at the Station.

Overnighted in the EasyHotel in Manchester, not a bad hotel for £40! Had drinks and food at the Wolf in the Wall bar.

Monday (11th September) checked out of the EasyHotel, had breakfast over the road at Ezra & Gill, headed for Manchester Piccadilly train station, walked over the canal, stopping to watch the narrow boats, bringing back memories of 2021, then a boat came in to view, looking a little familiar, it was ‘Life in Slow Motion’ the very same boat we had!! What are the chances. We stopped to talk to the current crew, who were on board for 3 1/2 months, waiting for their new house to be completed in just outside York, yes in Pocklington!! They would not believe that we were from Pocklington. It is a small world!

Got the train to Liverpool, Rog did a little retail therapy! Looking for a new baseball cap, ended up buying 4!! ‘When cheap caps fit buy them!’.

Because we got a good deal, we hired a car from Liverpool for the week, to make the trip up to Ulverston easier, we had initially planned to due the whole trip by public transport, but got the Car for £107 for the week!

Stopped in Leyland to visit Nic’s family, Tea/coffee and lovely cake! It is always nice to catch up with family.

A very good friend has allowed us to use their Lodge near Ulverston for the week, a lovely place to spend some time (Thank you!!)

Tuesday, we had a walk around Ulverston.

Wednesday, the weather was a lot better than originally forecast, so we drove to Windermere and Coniston. The Lake District is a stunning part of the world!

Rog had to deal with a flight in October, that Ryanair has cancelled! At least they gave us a month’s notice, so we have just moved the flight from leaving Liverpool to now leaving Manchester, 20 mins earlier than originally planned. We also managed to book a cheap hire car for whilst we are in Spain, as the trains were proving trickier than expected.

In the evening, we attended a presentation by Dr Catchpole from Cambridge University on ‘The latest views of our universe with the James Webb Space Telescope’ hosted by the local Institute of Engineering and Technology. A very interesting and informative technical presentation, we can’t say we understood it all, but really enjoyed it.

Thursday, we walked along the coast another beautiful area. We had our coffee sitting overlooking the estuary, marvelling at how fast the tide comes in. It is opposite Morecambe, renowned for tricky tides.

Friday, we visited Barrow in Furness, as part of heritage week, Barrow town hall was open to the public, so we visited! A stunning gothic building.

Saturday, another walk along the coastal path, this time to the cafe at the Buddhist centre, really good flapjack, especially as the server said ‘wherever there is a Buddhist, there is flapjack’.

Watched some more rugby! Samoa v Chile and most of Wales v Portugal.

Went out to the lantern festival in Ulverston, fish and chips at ‘Priory Plaice’, it was very busy so a long wait, but well worth it, very good freshly cooked.

The lantern festival consisted of four processions of people carrying home made lanterns on the theme of “into the garden”, so there was everything from snails, flowers, birds, bees to watering cans, garden sheds and even a generous smattering of Unicorns.

All the lanterns ended up at Ford park for a firework display. We love a firework!

Sunday, a lazy day, didn’t do a lot except watch World Cup rugby. All 3 matches!

OK so, weeks since last blog: 2, music festivals: 2, blogs: 1 (this one) so we failed again, but in our defence, we have been too busy enjoying ourselves, and living, to be writing blogs as well!

Monday (21^st August), more eating out with Family, Dean’s Garden centre, near York, this time for lunch. A slightly strange set up, cafeteria style where you have to order at the counter, however once ordered they bring everything out to your table on a trolley. Good food all round!

Tuesday, we went to the Pocklington Arts Centre to the cinema, Nic worked in this building as a teenager when there was a privately owned slot machine museum, as well as a cinema. Lots of memories! We saw Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (AKA “Harrison Ford’s Pension”) an enjoyable film with lots of references to all the other Indiana Jones movies.

Wednesday, we spend the day packing up all the camping gear!

Thursday, we drove down to Hampshire, to volunteer at Carfest, a family car show/festival run by Chris Evans for Children in Need. Once we got there after a 4 ½ hr drive, we registered for our volunteering shifts and were offered the track crossings, which we happily accepted, it is a car show after all.

On Thursday evening we met the rest of the team at the Festaff briefing, then on Friday morning we were taken to our respective track crossings, where we would spend most of our time over the weekend. Nic got crossing point 4, a very busy crossing leading to the main stage arena. Our role was to close the track with the track Marshall and security, and then redirect the public over the foot bridge if they needed to cross. It was also interesting chatting with people who chose to stay at the trackside while the cars came past. Nic was very impressed with those (some of them very young), who could name the make and model of each car as they approached, sometimes at considerable speed!

Rog was allocated crossing point 5, which was not on the festival’s public map, so had less members of the public crossing, however it was one of the main (non-racing) vehicle access points on to the track so lots of contractors, in all manner of vehicles including, fork lift trucks, golf buggies, cars, trucks, and a Segway! It was also a VIP entrance, so got to spot famous faces, so even Rog recognised Richard Hammond (Presenter Top Gear (previously) and the Grand Tour), Chris Evans (Radio Presenter), Suzie/Eddie Izzard (Comedian), Rick Parfitt Jnr (Musician (Son of Rick Parfitt of Status Quo). Actually Rog didn’t recognise him, but Rick introduced himself as he need to find the stage! Jodie Scheckter F1 World Champion in 1979, is the owner of Laverstoke Farm Park, a 2,500 arce farm where Carfest is being held and now rides a Segway! Rog swiftly moved the barriers to let him through whenever he approached. Crossing point 5 was also just before the finish line and paddock, so had a great view of all the cars.

Each evening there was live music, including Boyzlife, Razorlight, McFly, Reef, Rick Parfitt Jnr, Rich Astley, The Feeling SuperGroup with Ricky Wilson & Tony Christie, Village People and Texas. All the music was great with the exception of Village People, who did not come on at the scheduled time, despite Chris Evans build up and introductions, when they finally did come on, we were less than impressed, they did a half hour (ish) set, when everybody in the audience only wanted a rendition of YMCA which they eventually did, and then left the stage. Chris Evans was obviously not impressed and showed his frustration!

The evening was saved by Texas, who always put on a cracking show!

All in all a very enjoyable weekend.

On Monday (28^th August) drove home for a rest, but not a very long rest, we spent a couple of days sorting all our gear out again.

Thursday (31 August) we drove back down south, to Norwich, Norfolk. This time to volunteer at ‘Sundown” weekend music festival. We were scanning tickets and “wrist banding” 2 x 8hrs shifts each for free entry to the festival, a very different type of festival, with a lot of younger people.

Friday and Saturday, we both did our shifts, it’s been a long time since either of us have done 8 hours on our feet, but we survived and then headed into the festival, to spend our meal vouchers! Listens to some music before heading back to our tent!

Sunday, we broke camp at the festival in the morning, and went in to Norwich city centre for a walk around as we had never been. A nice city, reminded us a lot of York.

We then drove to one of Rog’s old school friends for a very enjoyable evening of chatting, eating, drinking and sitting in the sun, then near the fire pit, dark skies with amazing stars. We spend a lot of time reminiscing, talking about and comparing our various ailments, a sure sign that we are getting old.

Yes, we know we have been slacking, our last blog was on 30 July so we have missed the last two weeks, you just can’t get the consistent bloggers! So thanks for bearing with us.

 Ok, so a round-up of the last three weeks.

You’ll, hopefully, remember from our last blog we were in Bethesda in North Wales. We continued to explore the local area and footpaths, found a lovely waterfall just on the edge of the village, once we found the public footpath through somebody’s garden. We managed to do a circular walk, back to the village and stopped for coffee/hot chocolate in the café.

The weather had been slightly better, so we planned a longer walk following Afon Llafar, a valley with little human impact, as the valley doesn’t lead anywhere, it just runs into the hills and stops at a wall of mountains. There were sheep and horses roaming. Again due to the previous weather the ground was very boggy. We took our coffees and lunch with us, so spent some time sitting enjoying to peaceful surroundings.

We were booked into the AirBnB until 9 August, but headed back to Pocklington a couple of days early for family business. We packed up and left on Sunday 6 August, also the only day when there were no Rail strikes/work to rule planned, so actually leaving early gave us a better chance of a smoother journey back, however it was not to be,

The bus from just outside the door to Bangor rail station was uneventful, other than the two young lads, who were still out and drunk from the night before, it was only 9:30 Sunday morning! Then the train to Chester, again uneventful, a quick change onto a train to Manchester Victoria. The train was actually going all the way to Leeds, but because of our cheap tickets, we had to get off in Manchester Victoria and get the next train to Leeds, rather than staying on this train, Rog did try to sweet talk the conductor to let us stay on the train, but she was having none of it. So a change it was, we only had about 20 mins, to wait for the next train to Leeds. Just enough time to eat our butties, better in the fresh air as Nic had egg mayonaise in hers! The next train got as far as Rochdale, then was cancelled due to a mechanical issue, but not before the driver  had turned it off and on again to see if it would work! It didn’t.

So we lost about 30mins, before the next train to Leeds arrived, obviously this one was now very busy including a lady who had booked assistance, so we helped her off and back on the train. We directed her to a seat and then stood by the doors, with the bags, next to a guy sitting with a very large suitcase and a boxed 42’ TV. 

We missed our connection in Leeds, a quick google search showed that the next train leaving for York was actually not the first train from Leeds to arrive in York. So we waited 15mins in Leeds and got a direct fast train to York, and still made our intended bus to Pocklington. Result!

Once back in Pock, We re-arranged all our stuff in our family’s loft and garage, went out for lunches and the odd drink. As some family are on holiday, we house sat for them, or should I say they kindly allowed us to use their house whilst they are away.

Nic’s niece and nephew came to stay and it was lovely to catch up on a day out to Whitby, with the obligatory fish and chips, and ice cream. The games came out and together with Rog in their team they won at Trivial Pursuit, there was also a concerted effort made to complete a jigsaw on the evening before they left.

Friends from the Isle of Man visited us for a couple of days, we had a great catch up and managed visits to Burnby Hall and Millington Woods, along with the essential eating and drinking that these occasions demand!

We are volunteering at a couple of festivals later this month, so we have checked all our camping gear, including putting the tent up to check no moths have got to it since we last used it!

Today (Sunday) after watching the women’s world cup final,  we have walked to Burnby Hall gardens, again, as there was the “New York Dance band” playing in the bandstand, as the weather is good it was well attended, we had a coffee and listened to the band from a distance. 

 

“We must publish a blog every week !…..”

“We must publish a blog every week !…..”

“We must publish a blog every week !…..”

“We must publish a blog every week !…..”

Another missed blog last week, but as we are in the same AirBnB for a month, with not the best weather, we do not have that much to write about, therefore we are going to step away from our daily narrative blogging style, as it would be very boring, so here goes:

We are in Wales in July, unfortunately so far the weather has not been kind to us, but at least the weather forecasts have been reasonably accurate, so we have been able to plan our walks for the short, relatively dry periods.

We have managed couple of good longer walks; For one we got the local community bus, the 8 minutes to Llyn Ogwen, a nice chatty bus driver, we were his first customers of the day. We walked around Llyn Idwal, replicating a walk we did with good friends a few years ago. The R.A.F. use the valley for low training flights, at times we were level with the planes!

On the walk back to our AirBnB we passed a load of film crew, the internet rumours say they are filming the next series of ‘House of Dragons” in the Games of Thrones saga, but we didn’t see any dragons.

Second: we headed up the east side of the valley, very wet underfoot on the plateau at the top, and this time we were above the planes in the valley. The path was a little tricky to follow, it was on the map, but not very well used, but the weather held to give us another good walk, all be it with soggy shoes for Nic by the end of it.

We have spent a lot of time, planning and booking travel arrangements for our future adventures, which include New Zealand & Australia and Central America, which takes us up to the end of April next year, it might sound crazy booking so much, so far in advance, but we have managed to get some good deals.

We have also had three sets of visitors, two just for the day and one overnight. It was lovely to see all of them, and with them all driving we managed to travel a little further away from our AirBnB than usual. Twice going to the Garddfon Inn in Y Felinheli, overlooking the Meni Straight and Anglesey. We went the first time because it was a Tuesday, and not that many restaurants were open and it was good so we went back again.

We were also taken over to Anglesey, we went to Red Wharf Bay for coffee and cake (or tea and bacon butty!).

The AirBnb is small, but four of us managed for a couple of days, and we would only recommend it with very good friends!  Much eating and drinking happened, including drinks in the garden, anyone would think it was summer! We also had a couple of good games of dominoes…..we know how to live!

Following eye tests when were back in Pock, we have both got new glasses, for Rog the first time wearing vari-focals, so struggling a little until he gets used to them.

Yes, we know we missed one, as this will be our 108^th we decided to take last week off!

So this week’s blog is a quick catch up from Monday 3 July. 

Still in Pock and spent the time catching up with family, helping out with a few domestic jobs, celebrating a birthday, doing some washing, getting haircuts, eye tests and packing for our next trip.

We also paid for annual passes for Burnby Hall Gardens, where we got married. They are lovely gardens and have a nice café, so we got our monies worth and managed 3 visits in the first week.

Saturday (8^th July) – we set off on our next trip, a lift to York station (thanks!) and trains to Chester via Liverpool, or at least that was the plan, unfortunately ‘Trans Pennine Express” had other ideas (or possibly “no idea”)! Our train was running a little late, then stopped in Huddersfield and the conductor announced that the train was now awaiting a new driver, who was delayed on a different train! A group of very young “drinking” football fans got on the train, being very chatty, including the comment that “we can’t go to Weatherspoons, as we won’t get served, they always ID people”. Thankfully the conductor then announced that there was a faster train to Manchester on platform 3, for anyone who wanted to transfer, the young lads weren’t listening to the announcements, but Rog was happy to tell them, so they all rushed off and a little bit of piece and quiet was restored!

After about 20 mins a driver did turn up and we set off again, only for the train to then be cancelled at Manchester Victoria, with the conductor advising anyone travelling on the Liverpool to stay on the same platform and get the next train! However the train after that was advertised as Chester, our final destination. So we checked our tickets, which allowed “Trans Pennine Express and connecting routes only”, as we’d been on a TPE train, we waited for the Chester train! Rog then applied online due to our delay, and got a full refund for the ticket. So in the end we got to Chester for Nothing! Hooray for train travel.

Stayed with family just outside Chester, had a good meal at the local pub on Saturday night.

Sunday, helped out with a few jobs, then watched some of the Wimbledon coverage.

Monday, after a lift to Chester station (thanks!), we got the train to Bangor in Wales. We then had to wait for a bit in Bangor station for our bus to Bethesda, which dropped us right outside our AirBnB accommodation. We are here for a month, as part of our 3 month UK stay in order to renew Nic’s passport (the Passport office currently says passports could take up to 10 weeks to renew).

Tuesday, we’ve booked our first ever Tesco shopping delivery for this morning, (other supermarket deliveries are available !), a cheap 4 hour slot, anytime between 9am & 1pm which arrived at 9:15. Our AirBnB is not the easiest to find, it is hidden behind our hosts house, but the Tesco driver loaded all our shopping onto a sack barrow and got it up the sloped path, nearly to our door.

Tuesday afternoon, walked along the A5 into the village, a busy road, so we managed to find another route back via the woods. Nic spotted bilberries growing, so in a break in the weather later in the day went back to pick a few.

Wednesday we managed a walk along the path through the woods, around the local park and dog walking circuit, then back through the woods again, only stopping for a brief chat with a grandma pushing a baby in a pram who had cried all day. The weather for the rest of the day was not great, so we stayed in and watch more tennis.

Thursday, the weather was predicted to be a little better, so we packed our coffee/tea and headed for a walk, via some woodland and up the valley, up being the operative word!

When we set off, the vague plan was to get half way up the north side of the valley, cross to the south side and return home, however due to all the up, and the weather starting to look ominous, we decided to turn around and head back the way we had come. 

Friday, another day with bad weather, after all it is July in Wales, so we only managed a short walk around the wood. Following our eye tests last week we both decided to order some new specs online.

Nic’s new passport was delivered to Pocklington, just two weeks from the online application and the old one being posted in!

Saturday, walked into the village, to the Londis shop, to get some bread. Every review of the shop online shows a picture of their beer selection, and for the size of the shop and the village it is an impressive selection. We got a bit wet on the way home. Then watched the Wimbledon Women’s final. 

Sunday, another walk while the weather stayed dry, this time up the south side of the valley, a much better path underfoot, it is a national cycle path and runs around the slate quarry. More tennis, the Men’s final this time, then a quick walk round the village to get rid of some of the adrenalin from watching such a good match.