ZOQY

This is a travelogue written by my wife and it was on an old website of mine but that website is now defunked, so being eco-friendly I’ve decided to recycle it here.
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We have visited Andorra several times since we moved to France. Richard loves driving, and the roads from home to Andorra are fantastic. They are all curves and hairpin bends, through the mountains with lovely scenery, not that he gets to appreciate any of it as his eyes are always sharply focused on the road! We usually drive through a tunnel, we are happy to pay the toll unlike practically ever other motorist, and it saves time. Andorra consists of seven communities, Andorra la Vella, Canillo, Encamp, Escaldes-Engordany, La Massana, Ordino and Sant Julia de Loria. As you get closer to Andorra la Vella there are three villages that have all merged together, Santa Coloma, Andorra la Vella and Escaldes-Engordany, is is quite difficult to see where one begins and one ends. This is where the shopping can commence.
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Andorra has an interesting history, apparently Charlemagne granted a charter to the people of Andorra in return for their fighting the Moors. Overlordship of this area passed to the local count of Urgell and then on to the bishop of the diocese of Urgell. During the eleventh century a dispute arose over Andorra between the bishop and his northern French neighbour. In 1278 all was resolved with the signing of a parage, which ensured that Andorra’s sovereignty be shared between the French count of Foix (this title would transfer to the French head of state) and the bishop of La Seu d’Urgell in Catalonia. This gave Andorra its territory and political form. Later the title passed on to the Kings of Navarre. After Henry of Navarre became King Henry IV of France he issued an edict in 1607, establishing the head of the French state and the Bishop of Urgell as co princes of Andorra. During 1812-1813 the French Empire annexed Catalonia dividing it into four departments. Andorra was also annexed and made part of the district of Puigcerda – department of Segre. In 1933 France occupied Andorra due to social unrest before elections. Then on 12th July 1934 Boris Skossyreff, an adventurer issued a proclamation in Urgell declaring himself Boris I sovereign prince of Andorra, declaring war on the bishop of Urgell. Boris was arrested by the Spanish authorities on 20th July and expelled from Spain. During 1936-1940 a French detachment was garrisoned in Andorra to prevent influences of the Spanish Civil War and Franco’s Spain. Franco’s troops reached the border at the later part of the war. Andorra remained neutral during the Second World War, becoming an important smuggling route between Vichy France and Spain. Andorra declared peace with Germany in 1958, as it had been forgotten on the Treaty of Versailles that ended the First World War and remained legally at war. Considering its isolation Andorra has existed outside the mainstream of European history, having few ties with other countries apart from France and Spain. In 1993 its political system was thoroughly modernized and Andorra finally became a member of the United Nations. More recently Andorra has become a thriving tourist industry as well as developments in transportation and communications. Tourism actually accounts for 80% of GDP. Approximately 9 million tourist visit Andorra annually, attracted to the area for its duty free shopping and of course its winter resorts.
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We are not into skiing, we go to Andorra for the shopping. Basically as soon as you begin to approach Andorra along the main road both sides of the street are lined with shops. These shops sell everything, from clothes, shoes, household goods, electrical to perfumes and jewellery. We have visited Andorra as a day trip, returning home the same day and we have also stayed overnight on a couple of occasions, we have also taken some of our guests there overnight. We stayed at the same hotel each time, as after our first stay there we liked it. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza which is a little further out of town compared to some of the other chains, like the Mercure etc. Originally we had booked our accommodation online and we were pleasantly surprised with the rooms on arrival. I think all of the rooms are suites, at least that’s what we have always been allocated. I have read some unfavourable reviews about this hotel online and equally some excellent ones, so I am a bit confused. Maybe we are getting our hotels mixed up? Anyway, I am very fussy and I like this hotel, it is clean, well run by multi-lingual staff, with everything you could possibly want or need, including an underground car park, which is why we booked this hotel initially. I have since noticed that some of the other hotels have underground parking too, but they seemed busier so we stick with this place. Admittedly I don’t think that the food is anything to get excited about but then we only ever ate there on one occasion anyway. During one stay at this hotel when we had taken some relatives there, they were tired in the evening and didn’t feel like venturing out again so they ate dinner at the hotel. I think there is a choice of buffet or a la carte, they said the food was nice. There are so many good bars and restaurants in Andorra that we like to eat out when we visit. The last time we visited we had a delicious lunch, unfortunately I can’t remember the name of the restaurant. I do remember the food though, there were lots of fondue type dishes which seemed very popular, several of the tables near to ours were occupied by people cooking their own dishes of various meats and vegetables. I also remember that the tables, we were seated at a table for two, were absolutely massive. I couldn’t see Richard that clearly, he was so far away! The menus were huge too, I don’t mean the amount of dishes offered I mean the actual size of the menu, they were so big and heavy you had to seriously rearrange yourself to be able to read them. The service was excellent as was the food, so good that unusually for us we went out the same evening for dinner as we wanted to repeat the delicious food experience. So we took a slow stroll back into town, about 5-10 minutes, and after reading some restaurant menus we decided on a restaurant at the Art Hotel, which was very busy. Thankfully they had a couple of tables available outside on the terrace which overlooked the river. Apparently they have a fifth floor restaurant too, or so I have read since we visited. Art Hotel Andorra is located on the main shopping street of Andorra la Vella alongside the river and a park. The restaurant is modern, light and airy, with a good food menu a lovely wine menu and excellent staff. We were there for over four hours, eating, drinking and watching people arrive dine and leave, the atmosphere was just so welcoming and relaxing that we didn’t want to leave, so we kept ordering more wine! As well as good food and wine there was one bit of excitement when some fireworks from across the water started lighting up the sky. All of the diners outside on the terrace were happily sitting watching them when suddenly the laughter and smiles turned to fear, a rogue rocket came hurtling onto the terrace narrowly missing some rather concerned diners. Thankfully no one was hurt, but it did make a big mess of the table linen, well it was getting quite chilly by now so I guess someone thought that us al fresco diners might need warming up! After a good nights sleep we were out again to do some more shopping. As well as all of the smaller shops there is a good department store in Andorra called Roca & Ribes where you can buy a wide selection of goods including many well known brands. On our first visit to Andorra we bought a car full of Alessi stuff as it was so much cheaper than where we live. We always come home with a boot full of goodies from our shopping trips to Andorra, as well as luxury items we like to stock up on the duty free cigarettes and booze too. We usually buy the cigarettes and drink after we leave the main Andorra la Vella shopping area on the way back home to France. There is an area on the main road with just a few shops, one of which sells cigs and drink, another sells perfumes and across the road is a very large several storey shop that caters for passing tourists. It is in the tourist shop that you can purchase the usual tourist tat as well as more regular goods such as lamps, ornaments and they have an excellent selection of animal hides. The main ones are cow hides, which are a quarter of the price as a shop in the next village, you can also buy other various hides from smaller animals like springbok etc and they have lots of sheepskins too. We always visit Andorra during the low season, although we haven’t been for quite a long time now, but I am sure we will go again once all of the snow has melted and most of the visitors have left. We both like Andorra very much and would recommend this small landlocked country for a good overnight break.

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We visited Gibraltar quite recently, and loved it. We had been on a little driving trip from our home in France, we traveled down through Spain and Portugal and then to Gibraltar. We had intended to stay for just one night to catch up on some sleep before we drove back home, but we liked the place so we ended up staying for two nights. I think we stayed the extra night because although we had eaten some lovely food on this trip the last couple of meals had not been so great. The food here made it well worth staying for another night, we had enjoyed a lovely meal in one of the many pub/restaurants on our first evening and felt that we owed it to ourselves to repeat the taste experience! We hadn’t been to Gibraltar before and didn’t know that much about it other than it was very popular for tax free shopping and monkeys. The Upper Rock Nature Reserve is where you can see the famous Barbary Apes, Macaques and the Barbary Partridges, Gibraltar is also a great area for Dolphins. During the summer months especially, the border over to the Rock can be seriously busy and take hours clear, but as it was December we drove straight over without incident. There have been many occasions when the border has been closed for long periods at a time, thankfully there were no shananigans for us. Once on the Rock we drove around until we found a hotel that we liked the look of. We decided on the Bristol Hotel as it was very centrally located (we had done a lot of driving by this stage and it would be nice to be a pedestrian for a little while), just a quick walk from the main shopping street and it had lots of safe parking too; in fact we were lucky enough to park directly outside the reception which was great. Aside from the shops the Bristol Hotel was very close to a couple of interesting attractions; the museum and the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. The hotel also had a lovely swimming pool (nice in the warmer weather), and a secluded walled garden. The room was very large if a bit out dated, and the staff were exceptionally friendly and helpful. For such a small place there are a surprising amount of things to keep most people occupied. As well as the famous Barbary Apes there is a cable car for those with a head for heights, a casino with an excellent a la carte restaurant, and great views along Spain and as far as Africa on a clear night. The cafe at the museum apparently serves really good food too. Then there is the Moorish Castle which has a very interesting history and the 100 Ton gun. The gun is one of only twelve made by Sir W C Armstrong in Newcastle Upon Tyne in 1870. We were mainly interested in the shopping that Gibraltar has to offer. Having been away from the English language and shops, we were pleased to see that there was a Tesco supermarket and a branch of Marks & Spencer. We didn’t actually buy that much as the boot of our car was already pretty full with goodies from Spain and Portugal. But we did buy some delicious Christmas puddings in Marks & Spencer though, and we stocked up on some more mundane basics in Tesco. Our hotel was just around the corner from the shops; Main Street which was one long road full of shops that had ajoining lanes housing more shops. You could buy almost everything along this road including glassware, porcelaine, pottery, leather goods, perfume & aftershave, spirits/alcohol, cigarettes, jewellery, silk goods cashmere and electrical goods. This area is known as the Shopping Centre of the Western Meditteranean. Apart from our Marks/Tesco bits, we bought some perfumes and aftershaves and magazines and that was about all. It was a very pleasant stop off on our route home, the sun was shining, everything was open all day/night, most people were speaking English (it had been so long we had trouble understanding them)! Basically we spent the whole time sitting outside a couple of the many, many, many pubs relaxing in the sun whilst enjoying a nice cool drink, (and smoking very cheap cigarettes – Richard not me)! It was quite busy whilst we were there with lots of families and young children, mainly English but also some Spanish. All of the people there were just sitting chatting, relaxing, drinking and eating, outside and inside the large pubs in the main square. Gibraltar was very nice, friendly and relaxed and we would like to go there again, but then again as we have family in the U.K. we would probably drive in the opposite direction, then we wouldn’t just have a small branch of Marks & Spencer, Tesco and zillions of pubs to get us excited we would have the whole of London. I can hear Bond Street and Sloane Street calling me now! We are both very happy living in France, but where we live is very remote, and after being able to walk from home in London to all of those fantastic shops in the capital it’s understandable that occasionally we yearn for a bit of luxury!

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This is a travelogue written by my wife and it was on an old website of mine but that website is now defunked, so being eco-friendly I’ve decided to recycle it here.
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PROVIDENCIALES
The Turks and Caicos Islands consist of two island groups between Haiti and the Bahamas, the capital is Cockburn Town (on the island of Grand Turk). The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Dependent Territory, which comprises of eight islands in total with some forty cays. The islands lay at the south eastern end of the Bahamas chain, about 575 miles southest of Miami, and 90 miles north of the island of Hispaniola. The story is that the islands were named after the barrel shaped Turks Head cactus, which resembles a Turkish fez and the Spanish word Cayos which means small islands. The islands are the landfall of Christopher Columbus’ first voyage in search of the far east. Columbus first set foot on the island of Grand Turk in 1492, where he was welcomed by the friendly inhabitants, the Lucayan Indians. From there he set sail for the Caicos Islands, before stopping at Pine Cay for fresh water, and then continuing on to Providenciales, before he departed to Cuba. The islands have had an interesting past with both the Spanish and the French, and for nearly a hundred years during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Caicos Islands provided a hideout for many pirates; Blondel, Captain Dulaien, Calico – Jack Rackham, Francois L’Olonnais, Mary Read, and Anne Bonny. The American Declaration of Independence left British loyalists without a country, therefore many took advantage of British crown land grants in the Turks and Caicos. Cotton plantations prospered for nearly twenty five years until a cotton bug, and a severe hurricane brought this all to an end in 1813. An act of parliament in 1799 saw the islands formally federated with the Bahamas. In 1848 they separated from the Bahamas leaving way for a local government or Presidency for the Turks and Caicos Islands. Then in 1873 the Islands were obliged to abandon their adminisration and become annexed to Jamaica, remaining so for the next 90 years. Then in 1976 the Islands were granted a new constitution and an elective form of government. A governor was appointed by the Queen to represent British interests in the Islands. Well that’s the rough history over with, and as we only went to stay on Providenciales (Provo as the locals call it) for a week I thought I needed to pad it out! We had flown over to Provo from Heathrow for some business. When we boarded the plane in London we were stuck onboard for over an hour before take off whilst some final air conditioning checks were made. The plane was not full of passengers but busy enough. We were all asking for something to drink as the cabin was extrememly hot without any air conditioning on, and we were told that we couldn’t have anything to drink until after take off. Thankfully there were no diabetics onboard, although many of the elderly passengers were becoming very unhappy. Eventually, after some of us informed the cabin crew that we would be disembarking with or without their approval, we were told that some refreshments would be served straight away. So once everyone was calmly seated the not so bright cabin crew brought some ….. tiny packets of biscuits, salty snacks, great just what you need when you are feeling very thirsty. Thankfully before there was a full scale riot we were informed that the plane was air worthy and we would be taking off immeadiately, Hooray! The flight stopped off at Nasau breifly before continuing on to our destination, Providenciales. The airport is small so it didn’t take more than about ten minutes before we were out, and into our hire car. I can’t rememeber what make the car was, it was a small 4 x 4 of some type, a very basic model. We drove to our hotel, which was actually so close to the airport that we could easily have walked! Most of the holiday accommodation on Provo is found all along the coast at inclusive resorts like Grace Bay and Beaches. As we prefer to do our own thing, and this was not a holiday, we had booked into an independent family run hotel. The family who owned the hotel were incredibly friendly as was everybody we met on the Island. The owners of our hotel explained to us that the vast majority of the holiday makers on the Islands were couples on their honeymoons. The Islands are also very popular with diving fanatics, and as we were neither on our honeymoon, or fans of diving, we knew we had made the right decision to stay away from the resorts. That said we did spend a fair amount of time drinking in the bars of these hotels as our place didn’t have a bar as such. The Island of Providenciales is a long thin strip, with the main road Leeward Highway running along the centre, and practucally everything runs off of this main road. The beaches are as you would imagine, beautiful white sand flowing into gorgeous turquoise water. Many of the beaches were deserted whilst we were there, and although we are not sun bathers we did take a pleasant stroll along one of them, well you can’t go all the way to the Caribbean and not get a little sand between your toes. The weather was perfect for us, we hate being cold, and with temeratures averaging 70f in the winter, and 90f in the summer, we were definitely not going to be feeling cold. The humidity is usually around 60% which is low for the caribbean, which means that you can enjoy the warmth without being uncomfortable. The currency on Provo is the American dollar, and we found everything to be reasonably priced, especially eating out at the restaurants away from the resorts. We enjoyed some absolutely delicious meals on the Island, including conch which is a molluscs and an Island staple. One day whilst driving along out of the main town area, we found a little beach shack which served lovely cold beer and conch. We were not hungry at that time but did get to watch a fisherman behind the shack as he liberated the conch from its large heavy spiral shell. There was a makeshift table behind this beach bar, on which were several conch, and every now and then one would make a brave bid for freedom scraping its way along the edge of the table, it looked just like a forearm coming out of the shell dragging itself along. Whilst we were there drinking, not one conch made it to freedom. There are some very good restaurants on Provo which seemed to be very popular with visiting American holiday makers. We found a great place near to one of the supermarkets on the main road, I think it was called Danny’s Express, it was mainly a take away joint, but did have some seating iside too. The food there was good, old fashioned, plain, cooking, no frills, dishes like chicken and mashed potato etc. There were not set meals as such, you just ordered what you wanted form the counter, delicous I could eat something from there right now, but it’s a bit far from here in France just for some chicken and mash! On our first evening we ventured out looking for a restaurant, and ended up at the Gecko Grill at Ocean Plaza which was packed with Americans, and had a very pretty garden. We were seated outside in the garden, which was full of trees and lit by lots of candles and lamps. We were both so tired though that I cannot remember what we ate, I do remember that we both ordered just a main course. We wanted to get to bed, so made our way back to our hotel straight after dinner. There was lots of construction taking place during our stay in Provo, and many of the roads were not finished with tarmac, this explained why the majority of vehicles on the roads were huge four wheel drives. Even this far away there was an Irish pub, that’s what this Island is all about I think, relaxing and eating! There were a few shops on Provo that sold goods of interest, mainly jewellery for us. The main duty free shop is on Leeward Highway, and we went there to have a browse. I quite fancied a particular watch, but unfortunately they didn’t stock the make I liked, but the assistant who was serving us arranged for us to visit the duty free shop within the Beaches resort. She phoned ahead to let the security know that we would be arriving, and we were swiftly shown through the gates to the hotel. The shop there held a large amount of jewellery of most makes, including lots of watches. In fact there were so many I had trouble deciding, but finally settled on my original choice and struck a great deal with the manager. Our week passed by very quickly as we spent most of our time dealing with various bits of business, and all too soon we were on the plane homeward bound. We both loved the Island of Providenciales, and it is our dream to retire there one day, well there are no taxes on income, capital gains, property, or inheritance, what’s not to love! But most importantly, to be able to wake up everyday to bright blue skies, and endless sunshine, would be fantastic, no more heating bills, no woolly jumpers, bliss!

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This is a travelogue written by my wife and it was on an old website of mine but that website is now defunked, so being eco-friendly I’ve decided to recycle it here.
We were very busy renovating our central London property when we visited Tunisia. Although it was not the ideal time to take a holiday, we were completely fed up with everything to do with our house. We needed a little break from knocking down walls, building walls, mixing plaster, mixing cement, and all of the dust and dirt that goes along with every renovation. It was winter in the U.K. Neither of us had been to Tunisia before, but we knew it would be warm, and it was the best deal we could get at the time. We flew to Skanes for a week of sun, rest and relaxation.
SKANES

Skanes is a suberb 8km south of Monastir. At the time of our visit most of the hotels were located in Skanes. It seemed like most visitors stayed very close to the beaches outside their hotels. The beaches were very clean and there were a wide variety of watersports available. As we had only travelled to Tunisia to rest, that’s exactly what we did. We spent our time relaxing, eating and drinking. The food was very good. I think we tried couscous for the first time, and funnily enough I didn’t enjoy it. Now I make it often and I love it. The food was all quite spicy which we both like, lots of aniseed, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, all spices that we use a lot of in our cooking at home. I think our hotel was the Hotel Neptunia Beach, but I am not positive, it was a long time ago. The Hotel Neptunia Beach was right on the beach which was very popular with sunbathers and water sports fans. There were the usual choice of water activities including windsurfing, pedaloes and jet skis. The hotel is situated between two of Tunisia’s oldest cities, Monastir and Sousse. Our holiday included breakfast and evening meal although we only ate there once in the evening, which was on the night or our arrival, as we were too lazy to go out. The dining room was large and packed, which meant you had to share tables with other couples, yuk, not for us! After that first evening, we ate out or at the pizzeria terrace cafe, within the hotel gardens by the swimming pool. At least there it was less busy and we did not have to sit with anyone else, the food was good too. Our room was also very good, it was a two storey room with the bedroom upstairs looking down over the main lounge area. There was a good sized clean bathroom, and the lounge had lots of seating, although it was all solid fixed concrete. We had come away to get away from concrete, oh well! The maid came every day and we had nice clean fluffy towels, what more could we want.
I was convinced that I would spend some time on the beach as I was determined to relax. So I dragged Richard round the shops and I finally found a bikini which I wore for about fifteen minutes in total. I had settled myself in a good spot on the sand and sat back relaxing for …. ten minutes, before Richard, who had wandered off came back and asked me if I was ready to go! I was more than happy to go though, as neither of us are beach lovers. I just thought I’d try it, see if I liked it, I didn’t, oh well it was worth a try! We would have to find something else to do, not surprising for us we wandered off for a drink. The hotel next to ours was a five star place with a much nicer bar, where we spent quite a lot of our time.
Aside from our very brief stint on the beach we did venture out most days. The most popular tourist places in Tunisia are Carthage, Dougga and El-Jem. We didn’t visit any of these! However we did visit the capital Tunis, Monastir and Sousse, and we also went way down south by car. We had hired a car for one day to get us out, but it turned out to be a slightly different day out than we had imagined, but more of that later.
SOUSSE
Sousse is Tunisia’s third largest city, a major port and a very popular tourist destination. It was in the old walled medina that we found most of the city’s attractions. The walls were an impressive sight, stretching 2.25km at a height of 8m. The ribat (small square fort), which was built at the end of the 8th century AD features a round watchtower which offers excellent views over the city. We spent a good few hours in Sousse wandering round the bustling medina with its busy souks which sold everything from clothes and food to jewellery and perfume. It was quite pleasant walking round, and although we were encouraged to stop and look at everything by eager sellers they were not aggressive. We were happy enjoying the sights and sounds and wonderful smells, the aromas from the pyramid shaped piles of brightly coloured spices were intoxicating. But it was not the experience of the souk that we enjoyed the most, we found a casino. We spent a few hours on the floor, Richard enjoyed playing Black Jack, and being flirted with by a couple of gorgeous women who were playing at the same game. I was happy walking round watching everyone gambling. Once we had had enough of the gambling, we felt like something to eat, so we ventured to the casino restaurant. The food was excellent, it must have been because even after all this time I can remember what we ate. I won’t write everything we ate, but I will say that we enjoyed several courses, each of which was served with a refreshing sorbet in between to cleanse the palate. The food was excellent as was the service and the atmosphere, we stayed there for hours before heading back to our hotel.
MONASTIR
We took a taxi to Monastir to visit the fort. Monastir was similar to a lot of other places in that it was a purpose built tourist town. The most impressive landmark in Monastir was the golden domed Bourguiba Mosque, which was the final resting place of the founder of modern day Tunisia and its first president, Habib Bourguiba. It was very clean everywhere in Monastir, even the roads and pavements looked clean and fresh. It had been raining when we first arrived so I guess that’s why the roads looked so clean. It was not that busy with tourists, and the local people were friendly. We had lunch in Monastir, can’t remember what we ate, something spicy no doubt.
TUNIS
We visited the capital Tunis by train which was a very pleasant journey. We were the only foreigners in our carriage, and were of particular interest to a young boy who was travelling with his mother. He seemed to take a very keen interest in Richard, maybe because at the time Richard was very blonde? The young boy sat with us for some of the journey, during which time he drank almost all of our 2 litre bottle of water, so maybe it wasn’t Richard and his lovely golden locks that interested him after all! Tunis had a very modern feel to it, with a European style and tree lined streets. The medina is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The medinas main entrance is through an arched gateway, the Bab el Bahr or Porte de France on Place de la Victoire. The main thoroughfare through the medina was busy with tourists, but there were more authentic souks to be found in the myriad of surrounding alleys. Once again we were enveloped by the most amazing aromas of spices and scents and essential oils. The Bardo Museum is very popular with tourists, it houses one of the world’s greatest collections of Roman mosaics. The museum houses archaeological treasures from the Carthaginian, Roman early Christian and Islamic eras. The mosaics in the Roman section are the main attraction, they cover entire floors and walls, most of them nearly completely intact.
WAY DOWN SOUTH!
I’m not exactly sure where we ended up, but we were a long long way from our hotel. Richard had decided that he wanted to hire a car and get away from the area we were staying in. The car rental was all arranged at our hotel and the car was delivered to us there. It was a basic small hatchback. We set off very early in the morning, the plan was to drive for a few hours, stop for some lunch and a walk, and head back to the hotel. Well we drove for a few hours and there never seemed to be anywhere nice to stop. Eventually we did find a nice looking town, where we parked up and then wandered off to get something to eat. I don’t think that the local people had ever seen any tourists before, as we were watched intently by everyone. We were very hungry and tried to get some lunch but we couldn’t find anywhere serving food There was one place but it was men only so that was no good. The time seemed to be going so fast so we decided to get back in the car and head back to the hotel. Hoping to find something on the way back, as we drove a different way back to the route we had driven there. Richard likes to take different routes to and from places if possible, it’s more interesting! It was getting dark by now and the roads were not tarmac they were more like rough sand tracks, glad it wasn’t our car! After driving for hours we saw a shop open, maybe they would sell something to eat and drink, anything even some sweets would do. Unfortunately they didn’t, they did have the head of a camels for sale though, but we didn’t fancy one of those! In fact there was a camel head hanging from the wall, blood dripping all over the ground. After this we saw quite a few shacks along the road side with hanging camel heads, by now I was not feeling quite so hungry, can’t think why! The road was really hard going, all bumpy and then we came to lots of road works, which made visibility even worse. The dust from the road and the complete lack of any lights except our car headlights made it real slow going. Thankfully there was not much other traffic, apart from a motorbike coming towards us … wait a minute, as it got closer we realized that it was not actually a small motorbike but a huge truck! It only had one side light on at the front, and obviously really took us by surprise when it was practically level with us and we saw the size of it! After that there were a few more vehicles, all of which only had one light on at the front, I guess light bulbs were expensive in Tunisia. As there were no road markings what so ever, and oncoming vehicles all looked like small mopeds or motorbikes but where in fact great big HGV’s, this journey was rapidly turning into a nightmare. We had not eaten anything since the night before and now it was after midnight. We just wanted to get back to the hotel, but what with the condition of the road, and the complete darkness, we were going nowhere fast. Eventually we did arrive back in Skanes, and the lights of our hotel felt so bright after driving in complete darkness for so long, but they were such a welcome sight. Never have two people been so glad to arrive at civilasation! All in all it had not been a perfect day. By now it was the early hours of the morning, we were too tired to get anything to eat, which was just as well as there was nowhere to get anything to eat, even the hotel receptionist was fast asleep. We went straight to bed, both of us just happy to be back safe, and definitely looking forward to breakfast!

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This is a travelogue written by my wife and it was on an old website of mine but that website is now defunked, so being eco-friendly I’ve decided to recycle it here. There are no photos for this travelogue because the film in the camera was ruined because damp got into the canister.
Whilst on our travels in South Africa we visited Lesotho. The first thing we noticed was the lack of fences, after barbed-wire mad South Africa. We hired a car in Bloemfontein and so were free to travel anywhere, as long as we stayed on the tarmac roads, you will need a 4 wd for some of the more rural roads which are very rough indeed. We stayed a couple of nights in the capital of Maseru which is a very friendly place with reasonably priced hotels and enough places to find something to eat. Maseru is fairly modern with shops, fashions, technology etc, but it is not unusual to see blanket wearing villagers and the odd horse-drawn cart. We stayed at the Lancers Inn in Maseru which is centrally located and has comfortable rondavels and chalets with en-suite bath. The grounds were fairly large with lots of places to laze on the grass and a swimming pool. There was a good beer garden and restaurant there too. We had heard about the wonderful basotho blankets, that are still worn all over the country, before we arrived and we were determined to buy at least one. These blankets were originally made in Birmingham England, but today they are made in Port Elizabeth South Africa. We went to the Lesotho Blanket Company to have a look as they carry a large number of them in many different designs. We bought two pure wool ones which we posted back to the U.K. The locals wear them as clothing fastened with a large safety pin, as they are very practical helping to keep the body at an even temperature except when the weather is really hot. The blanket designs all have a meaning, fertility being the main one which is depicted by a maize cob. Apparently young brides wear the blankets tied around their hips until they conceive their first child. One of the most popular designs; which interestingly retains links with British imperial symbolism, features a large crown in the middle. We had wanted to buy this one but unfortunately on our visit the shop had sold out. Another of the more popular designs has British military warplanes on. We still use our blankets to snuggle up on the sofa when the weather turns cooler. We decided bright and early one morning to take a drive to see the Katse dam which our guide book made sound interesting. On the map it appeared that we would be able to make a nice round trip of it ending up back at out hotel. We always prefer to drive to and from things on different routes, it makes things more interesting and seems less tiring on a long drive. The drive took a couple of hours, and although the town of Katse is drab the dam is really impressive even if you are not at all interested in engineering, it is absolutely massive. Apart from the dam there was nothing else of interest for us, so after taking a couple of photographs we headed back to our hotel on what we thought was going to be a scenic route. With every kilometre we drove the road surface deteriorated, until it was quite clear that unless our car magically transformed itself in to a 4 wheel drive we would have to turn round. We had only driven about 10kms and it had taken so long as we were barely doing 10kms an hour. So much for a scenic drive back to the hotel! By the time we finally got back we were very hungry and very thirsty as we had not eaten all day, but thankfully we did have the sense to take some water with us, not that we didn’t really enjoy a nice cold beer once we were back! The next place we visited in Lesotho was Hlotse to the north on the road between there and Maseru, there are a few attractions like the caves at Mateka and the woven crafts at Teya-Teyaaneng. Hlotse itself does not have that much of interest except for the remains of a small military tower built by the British, the most interesting thing to see was the set of dinosaur footprints a few kilometres south of the town. They are pretty tricky to get to you have to climb up the rock overhang above the church, so it is probably best to have a guide help you (guides can be found at the Tsikoane Mission), but it will be worthwhile as there are about 40 pretty clear footprints. We stayed the night in Hlotse at the Leribe Hotel which is the towns main accomodation. There are a choice of rondavels or terraced rooms overlooking the pleasant garden. On the night we were there, a beauty contest was being held in the hotel hall. This meant that there was a large number of young single guys hanging round nursing coca-cola’s! The beauty contest must have been a great success, because if memory serves it was a very loud and very late night!
The Lesotho Government Portal
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This is a travelogue written by my wife and it was on an old website of mine but that website is now defunked, so being eco-friendly I’ve decided to recycle it here.
We visited Switzerland whilst driving from the U.K. back home to France. It was winter and obviously very cold, and both of us really dislike being cold, and yet we still really enjoyed our visit to Switzerland. We drove through many places in Switzerland stopping in a couple of places to have a look round, and we stopped for the night in Spiez to rest.
SPIEZ
Spiez is a very pretty place dominated by its medieval castle, and amazing views over the lake surrounded by mountains. We decided to stay overnight in Spiez, and after a quick drive round found ourselves outside the Seegarten Hotel Marina. I went in to see if they had any vacancies, whilst Richard waited in the car in the adjacent car park. Eventually I found a member of staff, they had a vacancy, and we checked in. The hotel is located right on the lake with wonderful views across it. Our room was reached up a spiral stairway, good exercise. The room was large enough, clean, and well furnished, although the furniture and decor was all very old and dated. The room felt very cold, so I had a look at the two radiators, they were off, no wonder it was cold. I turned them both on full blast, although I thought that they would probably have been controlled by a master switch elsewhere in the hotel, it was worth a try. We decided to venture up the hill into the town, we needed a bank or more accurately a cashpoint machine. Everything was closed as it was Sunday, but the main high street looked quite good with a wide variety of shops. Once we had withdrawn some money we had a walk round before heading back to the warmth of the hotel for something to drink and possibly some food. In one wing of the hotel there was a pizzeria which as well as pizza, baked fresh in the large stone oven, served the usual meals. In the other wing there were two dining rooms where the fish from the lake was served. We sat in one of these although neither of us ordered any fish. It was fairly busy considering we visited during the low season, the other diners were mostly families enjoying Sunday lunch together. We both ordered a large beer while we sat chatting and enjoying the views out across the water. The menu was pretty basic, and as we had expected not very reasonable. We were so tired from all of the driving that eating anything too good would have been wasted on us, which was just as well because the food was very average. At least it was warm and the beer was cold. Once we had eaten and relaxed sufficiently we headed up to our room which I wasn’t looking forward to as I knew it would be cold. Well I was wrong, we stepped into the room and the heat hit us, it was wonderfully warm. It did get very cold though during the night, and the bed and or the mattress was well past its best. Early the next morning before we checked out, we thought we would have breakfast for a change, we don’t usually eat early in the day. There were a few other couples already in the dining room when we entered, and we were offered tea or coffee, and then left to it. It was the usual buffet of cereal, fruit, cold meat and cheese etc. Although there were a couple of choices of each, none of it looked very appetizing, it all looked rather cheap and stale. After a warm cup of tea we went out for a walk up to the castle. The castle, Schloss Spiez (April_Oct Mon 2-5pm, Tues-Sun 10am-5pm, Fri 4pm) dates from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries but the foundations are earlier. The castle was the residence of the Stretlingen family before it passed on to the Bernese noble dynasties of Von Bubenberg and from 1516 to 1875 Von Erlach. You can enter several of the grand halls inside, including the Baroque Banqueting Hall of 1614. The adjacent Romanesque church has original frescoes in the apse and the crypt and a seventeenth century spire. It was closed during our visit, but we enjoyed walking round and admiring the scenery. Although the weather was very cold, and the sky was so dull and grey, and most things were closed, we still managed to enjoy our stay in Spiez. Just going for a walk was a real pleasure, everywhere was so clean, and the air was fresh, and practically all of the houses were decorated with ornate coloured wood edging around the roofs, doors and windows. After our walk we went back to the hotel to check out and continue our journey home.
AIGLE
The next place we stopped for a stretch was Aigle. Aigle is the main town of the Chablis wine region, so a perfect place for a spot of wine tasting, although not for us at this time. Other than the wine the towns main attraction is the Chateau d’Aigle, a fifteenth century folly complete with corner towers and turrets shaped like witches hats. We had a pleasant walk along the cobbled lanes to the Chateau (July & Aug 10am-6pm, April-June & Sept -Oct Tues-Sun 10am-noon 7 2-6pm). Apparently the ramparts walk is especially spectacular with frescoes in the watchtowers and breathtaking views over the vines all around. The Chateau d’Aigle really is picture postcard material, with its fairy tale turrets framed by lush green vines and snow capped mountains, definitely worth a visit. Now it is the home of two museums devoted to wine and its production. In 1476 the town was integrated into Canton Bern as the first French speaking territory to join the Swiss Confederation. Later in 1526 newly converted Bernese Protestants sent Guillaume Farel there to preach the Reformation in Aigle. This was the first time that this had ever occurred in a francophone region. I guess this is why everything felt like home to us, I kept thinking that we were back in France. After walking round the stunning Chateau d’Aigle and taking some photos, we headed into the main part of the town. It was lunch time so the only places open were a bar and a restaurant. We went into the bar for a drink before once again hitting the road toward home.
Switzerland was as I had imagined it would be, clean, efficient and picturesque. I am very pleased that Richard decided to drive us home via Switzerland, as we both thoroughly enjoyed our short time in this lovely country.

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We spent an enjoyable weekend in Belgium sampling lots of the delicious beers. We departed from London Waterloo on the Eurostar (http://www.eurostar.com), and arrived in Brussels 2 hours 40 minutes later. We had not travelled on the Eurostar before but had wanted to do so for some time, and as it was close to the time of my birthday we had a good reason to try the Eurostar. The journey was excellent we were very impressed, and we would definitely travel on it again. Before we knew it we had arrived, we left the station in Brussels and took a taxi to our hotel (cannot remember the name of it though), which was in an excellent central location. The hotel was nothing grand, and I remember the room was quite small, but as we planned to spend most of our time out and about we didn’t care. As soon as we had dumped our belongings in the room we went out, walking to the centre of town, about 5 minutes along the road. One of the first places we stopped for a drink was the Cafe Metropole at the Hotel Metropole (http://www.metropolehotel.com/) in the Grand Place area. The hotel itself is from the late nineteenth century, and the interior was very ornate with marble and gilt everywhere. We sat in the Cafe/Bar which has comfortable leather seating, a marble fireplace and excellent service. The bar menu has an amazing six pages, plus some particularly tasty sounding specialities from the head barman, although we were not tempted this time, we ordered a bottle of champagne to start my birthday celebrations. There would be plenty of opportunities to sample the beers later, as Brussels has more than enough bars and cafes to keep the thirtiest of customers happy. After this first port of call we headed to the Grand Place, an old market square surrounded on all four sides by magnificent architecture of large, beautiful, ornate buildings, most of which are in the Italian Baroque style brought to the area by Pieter Paul Rubens. Some of the older buildings date from as early as 1365, but the majority of them were rebuilt in 1697 after the French blew the place to bits. The bars and cafes that seemed to dominate this square, with their large outside seating areas, were obviously very popular with tourists and a great place to relax and watch everybody going about their business. One of these was La Chaloupe D’or, designed by the architect D.Bruyn in 1697 for the guild of tailors. On top of the building was a statue of Bishop Saint- Bonifacius the patron saint of tailors. Leading off of Grand Place are lots of cobbled streets which were full of very busy restaurants lining both sides of the street, most of the customers were eating outside even though it was winter, seafood being the most popular. Belgium is probably most famous for beer, and rightly so. Wandering round the side streets we saw lots of lovely chocolate, and smelt the waffles covered in hot chocolate sauce and in the autumn you can enjoy the pheasants and delicious truffles. There were lots of shopping opportunities too, but we were not there to shop, we were there because the cafes and bars never close and we had lots of different beers to sample! A nice touch in Brussels (which we get here in France too) was that when you order a beer it always came served in the correct glass, don’t know why but I am sure it made it taste even nicer! I personally prefer the fruit beers whilst Richard liked the darker brews. One of the main tourist attractions has got to be the Manneken pis which always attracts large crowds. We had both seen it before when we were children but we thought no visit to Brussels would be complete without another look. Apparently centuries ago a great fire took hold and began to destroy the city, and a story of a little boy was born. So if you are sitting comfortably I will begin … Seeing this devastating fire the little boy dropped his pants and began to piss on the fire to keep it from destroying the city. Legend has it that his contribution was enough to keep the fire from destroying the beloved city hall. So to commemerate this little boy an unknown sculptor created a fountain. The Manneken Pis attracts visitors from all over the world, many of whom bring little costumes with them for him to wear, and he is changed every day. One of his outfits, possibly his first, was donated by the Governor General of the Netherlands; Maximilian Emmanuel in 1698. The earliest record of a ‘pee’ statue is a document dated 1377. The statue that exists today is a replica of the one made by Jerome Duquesnoy in 1619. The original statue was apparently taken away by the French soldiers in 1747. It is said that King Louis XV donated an outfit that was made using gold embroidery to apologise for the cultural slight. There is a museum nearby where all of the Manneken Pis outfits are exhibited . So without the sacrifices made by that little peeing boy, the Manneken Pis would not be … then again it could all be a myth! The weekend passed very quickly and before we knew it we were boarding the train for Waterloo. We both had a great time in Brussels and enjoyed the beers and I am sure we will visit again before too long.

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LUXEMBOURG CITY
Luxembourg is one of the places we decided to visit when we took a longer, more scenic route home to France, after visiting family in England.
Luxembourg is the sixth smallest country, and the only Grand Duchy in the world. The country measures just 51 miles maximum North-South by 32 miles maximum East-West. The population numbers roughly 420,000 and comprises the highest proportion of inhabitants with a foreign passport among the EU countries. Luxembourg also has more Michelin-starred Restaurants per square mile or per head of inhabitant than any other country in the world … not sure what the French would say to that! Luxembourg is also the world’s 8th largest banking centre. The 1997 film, American Werewolf in Paris, was filmed in Luxembourg as was, Shadow of the Vampire.
Poor old Richard had been doing all of the driving as is quite usual. We were both fairly tired by the time we arrived in Luxembourg, not quite sure why I felt tired … oh yeah, it must have been all of the map reading I was doing! Well that’s not exactly true because as well as doing all of the driving, Richard always shows me the route on the map before we head off, so basically I just remind him of the route he has chosen! Anyway as I said we were tired and fed up being in the car so as soon as we hit the centre of Luxembourg I began to look for hotels. Ideally we would have liked one that had it’s own car park or at least valet parking, no such luck though. We were looking for parking when I saw a Best Western hotel, we have stayed in these before and they are fine. So we parked up in a nearby road and went in to see if there were any vacancies. This hotel was right across the road from the railway station and it was very busy, but they did have a couple of rooms available. Thankfully the man on reception spoke perfect French, so we were able to communicate without any problems, which was good because neither of us speak any Luxemburgish! As it turned out when he saw our passports he spoke perfect English too … better than us! The Best Western Hotel International **** 20-22 Place de la Gare, B.P. 1683, L- 1016 Luxembourg-ville (Tel: 0 03 52 48 59 11), was in a good location, just a 15 minute walk from all of the best bars, restaurants and shops. After we checked in I went for an afternoon nap, whilst Richard went out to have a look round. Once Richard returned from his walk I was feeling refreshed and we both went out. We had a good long walk round taking photo’s, if only the sun had been out everything would have looked so much more prettier. Everywhere we went there seemed to be lots of other tourists, mainly Asian coach tours who were merrily snapping away with their cameras at every opportunity. After we had taken in the sights we stopped off for a beer or two. Richard was especially happy because the first bar we went into had Strongbow Cider on draught. Obviously we can’t get Strongbow where we live in France, so usually Richard only gets to enjoy a cold pint when we go back to England. After being in England it felt very cold, probably because neither of us had taken any winter coats with us, we were still in our summer frame of mind and our summer wardrobe! The cold didn’t spoil our enjoyment of Luxembourg, there were some great sights, and shops, and bars and the people were so friendly and everywhere was so clean. Whilst Richard had been out on his walk earlier in the day he had seen lots of restaurants, two in particular took his fancy. One was Japanese the other Indian, not very traditional I know. Richard couldn’t decide which he felt like eating at for dinner, so I chose, Indian. Big mistake! The restaurant was nice, and very busy which is usually a good sign, not this time though. We ordered a couple of meat dishes, one vegetable dish, a rice dish, and a nann bread. The nann was interesting, basically it had coconut inside, nothing unusual about that, but it had lots of tinned fruit salad on top. The rice was fine but the meat dishes were very disappointing, one of them was so hot we couldn’t even eat it … and we both like vindaloo! The meat dishes had no flavour at all they were just burning HOT! Oh well that will teach us, we should have eaten some of the local cuisine. Apparently about 10% of the population of Luxembourg are of Portuguese descent and speak Portuguese. It felt very similar to being in London with a good mix of different nationalities and cultures. Everywhere was very clean and had a young vibe, especially in some of the bars we drank in. We were only in Luxembourg for the one night and we both loved it, it felt very weird that everyone spoke such good English especially as where we live in France you would never get served if you spoke in English … which is how it should be, but it was a strange feeling none the less. We would both like to go back to Luxembourg and spend some more time there as we didn’t really get to see much of this lovely place.

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This is a travelogue written by my wife and it was on an old website of mine but that website is now defunked, so being eco-friendly I’ve decided to recycle it here.

There is too much to write here on this blog post about the country where we grew up and spent most of our lives, so here is a very small selection of some of our favourite places.
LONDON
Before we left England to move to France, we lived in Central London, where obviously there is so much to do and experience, endless opportunities in fact. In our younger days, when hangovers were non-existent, we spent many an evening in various public houses. It is probably fair to say that we have imbibed in almost all of the pubs that London has to offer at some time or other, not necessarily on the same night though! Aside from our liver damaging antics, there are art galleries, museums, markets and shops and so much more. With both of us having a healthy love of shopping we have spent a lot of pleasurable time in the shops of Bond Street, Covent Garden, South Molton Street, and Sloane Street, Harvey Nicks being one of our favourite department stores. When Richard and I first met, we ate out several times a week in many of Londons well known eateries and also in some of the smaller family run establishments. Being fans of cider, Chimes restaurant in Pimlico, Churton Street; which serves an excellent of selection of cider, along with rustic British food was a favourite for a long time. So too was Grumbles on the opposite side of the same street, mainly for the duck in cherry sauce, and the wonderful staff. We became such regulars in Grumbles that it was not unusual for the staff to leave us in the early hours lingering over a bottle of wine, as long as we promised to shut the door firmly when we left!
PETTICOAT LANE MARKET
London has some great markets, like Petticoat Lane market, where you can buy everything from a bicycle to a bagel, although the bias is still toward clothing particularly leather coats. Petticoat Lane is on Middlesex Street and Wentworth Street in east London. It is one Londons more famous street markets, it’s name originating from it’s long history in the clothing trade. During Queen Victoria’s reign the street name was changed to the more respectable Middlesex Street. To this day this remains it’s official designation but the old name has stuck. The Sunday market held there and in the surrounding streets is still known as Petticoat Lane market by locals and tourists alike. Despite attempts to close the market it continues to thrive, and is always incredibly busy whatever the weather, best avoided if you don’t like crowds.
PORTOBELLO ROAD MARKET
Another good market is Portobello Road market in Kensington, it has the feel of several markets all mixed into one. Saturday is the day when all of the separate areas come together in full swing, again there are a wide variety of goods on sale there but it is mainly known for second hand/vintage clothes and antiques, and it was featured in the film Notting Hill which starred Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. There are also many talented and bizarre street performers eager to entertain visitors. During the week Portobello is home to the many fruit and vegetable market traders, who sell the usual everyday fruit and vegetables as well as lots of more exotic options.
CAMDEN MARKET
Camden market in Camden North West London is another favourite for market lovers, where most of the stalls are open 7 days a week, except for 25th December. Camdens group of different markets are supposedly the fourth most visited tourist attraction in London, probably true it does get seriously crowded! Once again you can buy almost anything here, but clothes are the main feature along with all manner of weird and wonderful pieces of furniture, antiques and general bric-a-brac. From Camden town station the first part of the market is at the Electric Ballroom nightclub which on Sundays transforms into a bazaar selling cheap designer fashions, second hand clothes and jewellery. More clothes, new and second hand are on offer in the main part of Camden market. Camden lock market, the nerve centre of the area, attracts the largest crowds. This part of the market has continued to grow rapidly in size since it opened in 1974, and has a cobbled courtyard leading towards the Regents canal. The majority of the market traders there specialize in handmade crafts, new and second hand fashions, delicious vegetarian fast-food, books, records and antiques, so there is something for everyone. Many people descend on Camden lock for the atmosphere, especially in the warmer weather at the weekends, when you can enjoy the buskers who perform alongside the canal. At the weekends there are lots of traffic jams as thousands of visitors flock to the area. Camden has a great choice of pubs, bars and restaurants and you can also get a good feed from one of the many stalls that sell food in the market itself.
GREENWICH MARKET
Before we moved to Central London we lived near Greenwich (http://www.greenwich.gov.uk), which also has a good covered market although it is much smaller than the others mentioned here, it is still well worth visiting. At the weekends Greenwich feels more like a seaside town with it’s many maritime shops and fish restaurants. There are lots of restaurants serving foods from many countries like Mexican and Asian to choose from, it’s not all about chips! There are also some great pubs and food stalls where you can get a good bite to eat. The covered market at Greenwich mainly specializes in wooden toys, model ships, trendy clothes made by local designers, handmade jewellery and lots of accessories. The antiques market offers mostly 20th century collectables and bric-a-brac including medals, coins, banknotes, second hand books and Art Deco furniture. With a similar feel to Camden the central market offers interesting items including good quality second hand clothes and junk shop type bric-a-brac. There are some good bookshops in the indoor village market area which is near to the food market.
The impressive Cutty Sark (http://www.cuttysark.org.uk/), a ship weighing 963 tons and the only remaining tea clipper, was launched from Scotland Linton’s shipyard at Dumbarton on the Clyde on Monday 22nd November 1869. Her name was to become famous all over the world and was destined to win a place in the hearts of British seamen second only to Nelsons immortal Victory. The Cutty Sark is now in dry dock at Greenwich near to the Gypsy Moth IV, the name apparently comes from a Robert Burns poem; Tam O’Shanter. She carried her last cargo of tea in 1877. Later from 1885 to 1895 she was used in the wool trade with Australia, and by 1895 she was sold to the Portuguese because she was losing her owner money. She worked for these new Portuguese owners for over thirty years until 1920 when she was sold again. Two years later in 1922 she underwent a refit in the Surrey Docks London, but was driven from shelter during a storm in Falmouth harbour on her way home. Then a man by the name of Captain Wilfred Dowman saw her and he bought her from the Portuguese returning her to British ownership once again. When Captain Dowman died in 1938 his widow presented her to the Thames Nautical Training College at Greenhithe on the Thames, who used her as a training vessel. In 1954 after the second world war she again found herself surplus to requirements, she was eventually towed to Greenwich where she was placed in a specially constructed dry dock. After lots of restoration work she was finally opened to the public in 1957, and since then more than 13 million people have visited her. The Cutty Sark is a magnificent ship and she still attracts huge crowds especially in the summer season, she is well worth visiting, as is Greenwich itself.
BRIGHTON
Outside of London we like the coastal town of Brighton, only an hours drive away we would go there frequently to enjoy the sea air. Brighton is a lively Victorian seaside town with a young population, mainly from the university. There are the well known ‘lanes’ full of jewellery shops selling all types of silver and gold from many eras, and there are the surf type clothes shops and some funkier and hippie clothes shops. There are lots of great bars, pubs and restaurants and obviously the candy floss, fish and chips, and sticks of rock that everyone associates with the English seaside! Then there is the pebbly beach and the amusement arcades, Brighton is like lots of different places all rolled into one, there is something for everyone whether you like to shop, swim, eat or just relax and take in the sea air and people watch. As Brighton is so close to London it has much the same feeling, but with a lot less people. And for fans of celebrity, Brighton is home to quite a few of the stars like the DJ Fat Boy Slim aka Norman Cook, the Boxer Chris Eubank and probably the most famous, ‘glamour’ model Jordan; Katie Price.
WILTSHIRE , Malmesbury
Malmesbury (http://www.malmesbury.gov.uk/) in Wiltshire is another of our favourite places, it is a small very friendly place, with a selection of little shops and some good pubs and restaurants. Rather than make a day trip of it we often used to stay for a night or two at the wonderful Old Bell Hotel (http://www.oldbellhotel.co.uk/), which is a beautiful heritage property full of character with a lovely walled garden. There are log fires, stone walls and period furniture which all complete the feel of the place. Said to be Englands oldest purpose built hotel, it sits adjacent to the famous Abbey (http://www.malmesburyabbey.com/) in Malmesbury, which is on the edge of the Cotswolds, the whole region is absolutely gorgeous. At the Old Bell Hotel you can enjoy a drink in the bar and dine in elegant Edwardian splendour in the award winning (2 rosettes from the AA) restaurant which serves English cuisine, there is also an excellent, extensive wine list. Or you can indulge in a delicious cream tea served in the lounges or the library. The cream tea is very popular with non-guests as well as guests of the hotel. Built in 1220 the Old Bell Hotel has a quintessentially English feel, and offers a pleasing atmosphere, comfortable surroundings and fantastic hospitality nearly 800 hundred years later. The hotel provides luxury in sophisticated surroundings whilst retaining the ambience of a time long forgotten. All of the bedrooms, of which there are only about thirty, are furnished in individual styles with antique furnishings and paintings which makes a refreshing change from the bland interiors of the large well known chain hotels.
GLASTONBURY, SOMERSET
Glastonbury festival (http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/)run by Somerset farmer Michael Eavis has been held at Worthy Farm, Pilton since 1970, and is the mother of all festivals! This festival normally takes place on the last full weekend of June, every now and then it takes a year off to enable the land; as it is a working farm, and the local people a chance to recover. It is the U.K’s largest music festival, and more, it’s unique. The site of the festival is 700 acres in a beautiful valley in Somerset. It is massive, approximately a mile and a half across with a perimeter fence of about 8 1/2 miles. Everything is laid on within this fenced area both the camping and the entertainment so you don’t have to queue up to enter each day like you do at some other festivals. Don’t expect only to be entertained, there is so much to do, so just throw yourself into as much as you can, and try and check out at least one show at each of the venues. There are 100,000 paying ticket holders and around 35,000 staff members and performers. We were there in 1997, which was a particularly cold, wet and muddy year. There were a large number of non ticket holders who decided to climb over the fence and get in for free, thousands of them I’d say, judging by the number that fell on our tent in a few short hours late on the first night! We spent a great deal of the days huddled up in our car with the heater on full blast, drinking wine and trying to keep warm, I know alcohol lowers body temperature! In fact we used practically a whole tank of petrol in a bid to stay warm, before deciding that we had better leave just enough for us to get out when we left the festival. Although a lot of the people there were enjoying rolling around in the mud, we were obviously already beginning to feel way too old for such shenanigans! Quite a few fans left early on the second morning, and they had to pay £5 to get their cars pulled out of the mud by a very profitable young man and his tractor! Can’t quite remember who was playing the year we went, and I am not sure if that’s down to old age or the copious amounts of red wine we were drinking! As well as the music there are over 700 stalls in the markets who sell clothes, crafts, food etc. The festival also raises money for good causes, the three main ones are Wateraid, Oxfam and Greenpeace, so Glastonbury festival has a conscience as well as being great fun for everyone. I doubt if we will ever go again now that we no longer live in the U.K. But if we do I think we will be ‘camping’, not in a tent like before but in a camper van with the other sensible people, well I did say we are getting old!
READING, BERKSHIRE
Another music festival we love is Reading festival. Apparently the oldest U.K. music festival it started in 1960 where there was a national jazz and blues festival. In 1989 the Mean Fiddler took over the fading festival and changed it’s image by bringing in more popular bands to lead it into the future. In the 1990’s everything changed again with the appearance of grunge bands, in fact this is where Nirvana first appeared in the U.K. Reading Festival is usually held on the last bank holiday weekend in August, so you get 3 fab filled days of music. You can buy weekend tickets which most people do, or you can just go for any one day. There are about 50,000 people at Reading each day, so it is a much more intimate affair than Glatonbury! The difference between Glastonbury and Reading Festivals is that in Glastonbury you are almost stranded on the farm but with Reading the actual town is so close that you can easily walk there in about 10/15 minutes, and stock up on booze from the supermarket and visit pubs to make use of their lovely clean toilets and have a wash! On one of the days we were there we went into town and had lunch at a river side hotel, the ladies toilets was full of young women leaning over the sinks washing their hair and then drying it under the electric hand driers! It’s a messy business this festival lark!
GOODWOOD, WEST SUSSEX
Another great day out is the Goodwood Festival of Speed (http://www.goodwood.co.uk/) which any car enthusiast will love. It is a hill climb in front of Goodwood House, with people racing priceless classic cars and motorcycles along with more modern super cars. Lots of celebrities bring their cars along and join in too. The beauty of the event is that all of the cars are on display to the public, so you can get up close and personal with them and have a really good look, take photos and sometimes chat to the owners. There are also static displays of classic racing cars from various era’s, each year a different manufacturer is represented with priceless examples of cars from a bygone age being shipped in from all over the world by motor heritage museums. We were lucky enough one year to each have a ride in a modern super car on the hill climb. Richard had his ride in a gorgeous mauve Lamborghini (http://www.lamborghini.com/) and I was in a racing Porsche (http://www.porsche.com/) driven by Graham Bell. We both thoroughly enjoyed the thrilling, speed of the ride which was over way too soon, but I didn’t enjoy my finger getting shut in the electric window of the Porsche … well at least I came away with an unusual souvenir, a bruised finger!
Goodwood Revival is a classic car race meeting held at the Goodwood race circuit where enthusiasts race their classic cars, and members of the public get in on the spirit of the event by dressing up in classic clothes from the 1930-1950/60’s. There are all manner of classic cars being raced from ultra rare Bentleys to Ford’s and British Leyland cars from the 1960’s.
If you love cars as we do, then Goodwood is really worth visiting for a great day out.

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This is a travelogue written by my wife and it was on an old website of mine but that website is now defunked, so being eco-friendly I’ve decided to recycle it here.

PORTO
Portugal is where we went on a recent driving holiday from our home in France. Neither of us had been there before, we knew of the Algarve and the popularity of the game of golf, (why spoil a good walk I say)! We stopped off at various different places for a night or two depending on how much we liked the area. The first place we stopped was Portugal’s second largest city, Porto which is situated at the mouth of the Douro River. We stayed at the Hotel Boa-Vista, Esplanada do Castelo 58 Foz do Douro Tel:226 180 083. Described as a grand old hotel situated at the mouth of the Douro River with magnificent views over the river, sea, and the Castelo de Sao Joao da Foz, from the rooms at the front of the property. There is a good restaurant/bar up on the roof top. We were pleased that the hotel had it’s own garage too as parking even this far from the centre of town appeared to be in short supply. We had intended to stay there for two nights but found our room to be on the small side, so much so that we both felt very claustrophobic; so that will be just for the one night then! The roof top bar was nice with great views especially in the evening, no idea what the food was like as we didn’t eat in the restaurant but it was very busy with locals which is usually a good sign. After checking in we took a taxi into the dock area where there are a large number of restaurants all along the quay side. These mainly fish restaurants are predominately aimed at tourists, as we wandered past we were encouraged into all of them, but we didn’t bite! After stopping off at a cafe for a drink and watching people for a while we walked into the centre of town. So far the area had felt very much like a third world country to me, I am sure it is completely different on the Algarve. Once we were in the town though Porto had a very different feel to it, with roads full of huge buildings housing banks and offices around the Avienida dos Aliados. The streets that lead off of this main road is where we found all of the shops. The shops around this area sell everything, there were books shops, stationary shops and a large number of shoe and clothes shops, many stocking ‘designer’ labels. As well as streets full of shops there is some interesting architecture to be seen in Porto from Medieval, Baroque, Neoclassical to Azulejo. You can pick up a free pamphlet from the tourist office of which there are three, but the most helpful one was on Rue Clube Fenianos 25 (July-Sept 9am-7pm, Oct-June Mon-Fri 9am-5:30pm, Sat & Sun 9am-4:30pm; Tel: 223 393 470, www.portoturismo.pt), that will guide you on walks specific to these architectural styles, although you will need to be quite fit as this is not a flat option, Porto is very hilly. There are several bridges here, some modern in design whilst two are nineteenth century and they are all quite striking. One of the older bridges is the Maria Pia railway link which was designed by Eiffel and is now extinct and the two tiered Ponte Luis I, which connects the town with Vila Nova de Gaia which is home to the wonderful port wine lodges. The grapes are harvested from mid September to mid October and then they are crushed mechanically, although many of the lodges claim that they are still crushed under foot, can’t blame them for trying I guess! We both love port, needless to say we did purchase a bottle or two of it for medicinal purposes obviously! If memory serves me, we managed to find a bottle from the time of Richard’s birth, which was very tasty indeed. Apparently as far as food is concerned tripe is a speciality in Porto, no thank you, not for us! There is a story that goes to explain why they are called ‘tripeiros’ (tripe eaters) by the rest of Portugal but just the thought of tripe is making me feel slightly unwell so i’ll leave it there. We had been wandering around the business and shopping area when we started to feel hungry ,and we definitely didn’t want to go to one of the tourist, fish restaurants along the dock. So we decided to follow the first office worker we saw going for lunch and see where we ended up … No not really, we just walked round until we saw somewhere that was busy with no tourists. Although picking on no one in particular and following them does sound like an interesting idea, or is it called stalking! Anyway before I get too carried away by madness, we found a nice looking place that was very busy and we were seated upstairs. Obviously the menu contained lots of fish dishes (we rarely eat fish unless we can guarantee the freshness, that’s an Egypt related story), but we managed to order two meat dishes with the help of our wonderful waitress. We had both ordered something different but when it arrived we couldn’t really tell what that difference was, never the less it was delicious. I can’t remember what it was exactly, something with pork and potatoes, and it was served with the usual bread, olives and salad too. When it came time for us to leave we tried to ask the manager for directions to a shopping centre that we wanted to visit. Our two or three words of Portuguese not being great, it was just as well that he spoke excellent English having lived in Wales for many years apparently?! He was so helpful and decided that instead of directions he would escort us out of the restaurant (we had paid our bill in full honest)! He walked us along several streets until it was impossible for us to not find the shopping centre, where we had a good look at all of the shops. What a nice man, we found that everyone we spoke to in Portugal was very friendly and helpful. Maybe we noticed it more after so many years in London where most people don’t even know who their neighbours are even after living next door to them for many years. There are some good museums in Porto, the most interesting for us was the Fundacao de Serralves (Tues-Sun 10am-7pm, www.serralves.pt) which exhibits contemporary art from the 1960’s right up to the present, in a very modern building which was designed by Alvaro Siza, a local architect. Nearby in the 1930’s Art Deco Casa de Serralves, temporary exhibitions are displayed. The grounds are very pleasant to look round too, there are formal gardens and some farmland which has some sculptures worth viewing. Apparently some of the local school children make scarecrows from household rubbish, and these are displayed in the farm at the end of the summer. Then the scarecrows are burnt after the harvest in October, saves taking the rubbish out I guess!

COIMBRA
Coimbra used to be the capital of Portugal from 1143-1255, and it’s not hard to see why. It has the feel of a superior city with it’s shops, galleries and cafes and it’s strong academic history. Coimbra’s famous university was founded in 1290 and permanently established in 1537 after several moves to and from Lisbon. It used to be the only university in Portugal until the start of the last century and remains very prestigious providing Coimbra with one of it’s greatest monuments, the Baroque library. There is lots of other interesting architecture to see there, cathedrals, churches and old mansions, one of which is home to the wonderful Museu Machado de Castro, Rua de Sao Joao. Named after an eighteenth century sculptor, and a former archbishops palace. The museum is full of interesting goodies including ceramics, furniture, sculptures and paintings. This all sits on top of the Roman Crypoportico which were a series of underground galleries possibly used to store grain before being used for the foundations of the palace. We stayed at the Quinta das Lagrimas off Rua Antonio Augusta Goncalves, Tel: 239 802 380, www.supernet.pt/hotelgrimas. This is said to be Coimbra’s grandest hotel and is across the Rio Mondego over the ponte de St.Clara. We found the hotel after a little drive round, entering through large iron gates which led up to the stately house. The hotel boasts the Duke of Wellington as a former guest so we were in good company! Once we had been relieved of our car by the valet we were shown a couple of rooms, and decided on one overlooking the garden. The gardens are famous and absolutely gorgeous with a wide variety of plants, shrubs etc. Our room was huge as was the bathroom and it was all furnished very tastefully. We decided that the car deserved a good rest so we took a taxi back over the river to the centre of the town for a look round. I seem to remember feeling incredibly tired whilst we were in Coimbra, therefore can’t remember too much about it, it could have been all the driving but who am I kidding I usually leave that to Richard! It’s not unusual for both of us to feel tired pretty much all the time, my mum says that Richard is so laid back he is practically horizontal! I do remember that I liked the feel of Coimbra much more than Porto, it felt sunnier and more relaxed and affluent. There were numerous cafes, restaurants, bars and shops everywhere we walked. The sun was out and so were lots of people all relaxing and enjoying themselves. I don’t think we went to any restaurants whilst we were in Coimbra in fact I don’t remember eating anything at all, not for want of anywhere to go though. There are lots of restaurants serving practically every type of food, fish, chicken, steaks, grills, stews, salads you name it they have it. I do remember that every time we stopped for petrol, (which was very often as our car was very thirsty – or was it our very fast driving)! the petrol stations had small cafes attached to them. These seemed very popular, the food was good especially the delicious little bread rolls with different fillings, fish, meat and egg, they seemed to be a good option for breakfast, and we enjoyed them on more than one occasion.
EVORA
We both enjoyed our time in Evora more than anywhere else in Portugal, we had only intended to stay for one night but stayed for two as it was so nice. Our hotel was the Albergaria Solar Monfalim; Largo da Misericordia 1 Tel: 266 702 031. The hotel is situated within the old city walls and was once a summer palace belonging to the Dukes of Monfalim, now it is fully restored with spacious rooms and a cosy bar and a verandah which offers great views. All of the staff here were very friendly and the service was excellent, there was some limited parking right outside the front of the hotel too. Evora has some interesting monuments all in excellent restorative condition under the protection of UNESCO. The most striking is the Templo Romano which is right in the heart of the old city, dating from the second century AD. It was used for executions during the Inquisition, and then as a slaughterhouse until 1870. Opposite the temple is the fifteenth century Convento dos Loios which has been converted into a luxury state run hotel. During the summer the cloisters are a dining area, we had wanted to eat there but unfortunately there was a private function going on, but we still went in for a little look round. Apparently the intricate carvings, in the ‘Luso Moorish’ style, on the doorway to the chapter house are by the architect Francisci de Arruda who was also responsible for the aqueduct in Evora and the Belem tower in Lisbon. Left of the Hotel is the former conventual church dedicated to Sao Joao Evangelista (Tues-Sun 9:30am-2:30pm & 2:30pm-5:30pm; €2.50). Still private property of the Ducal Cadaval family who occupy a couple of wings of their ancestral palace next door. If you wish to enter, a guide will show you where you can view the floor to ceiling azulejos inside; masterpiece created by Antonio Oliveira Bernardes in the early eighteenth century. Evora’s cathedral situated right in the centre of town is the Se (9am-12:30pm & 2pm-5pm Daily) work commenced in 1186 roughly two decades after the re-conquest of Evora from the Moors. For a small fee it is possible to climb onto a terrace over the west entrance where you can get a real close up look at the towers and the ‘Zimborio’ (lantern above the crossing of the transepts). The cathedrals Museum (Tues-Sun 9am-11:30am & 2pm-4:30pm €2), is worth a visit too as it is full of great finds. The most impressive is a carved statue of the Madonna, her midriff opens to show layered scenes from the bible. There is also a reliquary which is studded with 1,426 stones. Another museum worth some time is the Museu Municipal (Tues 2:30pm-5:30pm, Weds-Sun 9:30am-12:30pm & 2:30pm-5pm; €2). Inside are Flemish and Portuguese paintings from the fifteenth and sixteenth century. One Flemish artist who is known to have worked in Evora is Frei Carlos whose work is on display. The main pull though has to be the thirteen panels which once formed the altarpiece in the cathedral, they portray scenes of the life of the Virgin and are apparently by an anonymous fifteenth century Flemish artist. There are many other interesting sites to see such as the medieval Aqueduto do Aqua Prata (Silver Water Aquaduct), where in the arches a row of houses has been built, also the Neoclassical Theatre of Garcia de Redende and the Igreja Nossa Senhora da Graca with it’s mid sixteenth century facade and grotesque Atlas giants supporting two globes, the emblem of Dom Manuel and his empire, which is behind the bus station. There are a number of students in Evora as the university was re-opened in the 1970’s, so the town does have a young lively feel to it and there are quite a few clothes shops around the main square. Although it was lovely and sunny and warm during the day the evenings were a touch chilly. We had seen some of the men wearing these huge long coats with thick fur collars. Richard really wanted one, and during our second day in Evora we looked everywhere and almost gave up hope of finding the shop that sold them. But we decided to walk down one more back street and not only did we find the shop that sold the coats but also a wonderful Italian restaurant. The shop was a large place selling mainly equestrian accessories and right at the back the lovely coats. Apparently they were originally worn by shepherds way out in the wilds. These coats came in many different colours, browns, greens, blues and there were several different fur collars to choose from. Richard bought a grey coat with a fox fur collar, actually it’s more like a cape it has no sleeves. We had eaten in another restaurant the previous evening and the food was mediocre to say the least (it was a bit touristy but the first place to open and we were very hungry for a change) so for our last day we thought we would go ‘foreign’ and Italian seemed just the thing! The restaurant was called the Pane & Vino, Patio do Salema, entrance is on Rua Diogo Focardo. It was originally the stable block of a mansion house but now serves lots of hungry locals the usual Italian dishes. We noticed that the pizza’s were extremely popular and it wasn’t hard to see why, they were massive, they had to be served on their own separate table. We didn’t order pizza, I remember the bread that arrived as soon as we were seated was particularly delicious, as was the olive oil. We stuck to a pasta and a meat dish all washed down with a few bottles of wine, well it was lunch time and we didn’t have to drive until the next morning! After a long lunch we retired to our hotel for a siesta, and spent the evening in the bar there before leaving early the next morning to begin our onward journey. I would say that for us Portugal felt like lots of different countries in one. Some places felt very depressed and others more modern, lively and edgy, the people everywhere we went in Portugal were very friendly and helpful. We both had a great time there and it kind of felt like we were back in the U.K. because where we used to live in London there was a very large Portuguese community, in fact the area is known as ‘Little Lisbon’ because of the number of Portuguese residents there. Funnily enough most of the delicious Portuguese food we have ever tasted was in our local bar/restaurants along the road from our London home. Who say’s travel broadens the mind?

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