- Highgate Cemetery - hadn't been for years. Both Philippa and Maya were keen to go after reading Her Fearful Symmetry and it was great. It was a slightly damp day, so the group was small, and it was quite atmospheric. Definitely worth revisiting!
- Westminster Abbey - can't remember the last time I went, but again it was good to go back (if somewhat expensive...). You forget how many famous dead people there are!
- Seville - we spent five nights in Seville which I absolutely loved. Would be very keen to go back again. The Alcazar just blew us away - it was incredible. We also went up to Grenada for a day to go to the Alhambra, but it wasn't as magical to us as the Alcazar. Although I would like to go back and do it again by myself (we were on a guided tour so didn't get any time to ourselves to explore it properly...)
- The Cathedral in Seville - purely just for its size and grandeur. And not that I was aiming to, but I have now been to the three biggies - St Pauls in London, St Peters in Rome and Seville...
- Lots of eating and drinking and just hanging out with Philippa, Maya and Chris. Very good times :-)
Showing posts with label Holidays - 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays - 2010. Show all posts
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Playing the hostess with the mostess...
September 11th Philippa arrived for a whirlwind 2.5 week holiday over here. I won't blog in detail about everything we did, but some of the highlights below - and lots of photos on Flickr :-).
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Cycling the New Forest
Sunday was another leisurely brekkie, then time to pack up our homes and head off to get our cycles. Luckily we had booked, as when we turned up to collect them they were turning people away again...
We did a circuit of about 16 miles over a mixture of roads and forest roads. It was great fun - couldn't remember the last time I'd been on a bike! One pretty horrible long slow hill tho which we didn't enjoy much, but aside from that it was pretty flat and easy. Had a lovely late lunch at The Oak Inn - really good food, great service and lovely setting. Would definitely go back to it I think.
Then after the cycling it was time to head back to the metropolis - hoping to get at least one more camping trip in though before the summer ends!
We did a circuit of about 16 miles over a mixture of roads and forest roads. It was great fun - couldn't remember the last time I'd been on a bike! One pretty horrible long slow hill tho which we didn't enjoy much, but aside from that it was pretty flat and easy. Had a lovely late lunch at The Oak Inn - really good food, great service and lovely setting. Would definitely go back to it I think.
Then after the cycling it was time to head back to the metropolis - hoping to get at least one more camping trip in though before the summer ends!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
How hard can it be to do a walk backwards...
Saturday morning I was up bright and early. Much earlier than my campmates! So by the time they'd emerged I was up, showered and dressed! We enjoyed our very civilised brekkie of croissants and coffee and took it very leisurely.
We wandered off into the village of Brockenhurst to have lunch and check out the cycle hire. Interestingly Brockenhurst has a NZ connection as wounded soldiers from WWI were hospitalised there. We couldn't get cycles as they were all booked out, so after booking some for Sunday we decided to go for a walk.
The route we had made more sense for us to do it backwards - how hard could it be we thought? As it turned out - quite hard! We got lost, I got stressed (I HATE getting lost when walking...), but Simon and Jackie fortunately remained very sanguine about it all, and Simon navigated us back to the path again! But it did turn a 7.5 mile walk into about 8 - so we had a wee collapse back at the tents.
After reviving cups of tea and some cake we wandered into Brockenhurst for a pub dinner at the Rose & Crown - which had a crazy food ordering system. I didn't love having to stand for about 1/4 of an hour while waiting to order my food... Two pints later and we were done - all feeling very weary after our walking and not much sleeping!
We wandered off into the village of Brockenhurst to have lunch and check out the cycle hire. Interestingly Brockenhurst has a NZ connection as wounded soldiers from WWI were hospitalised there. We couldn't get cycles as they were all booked out, so after booking some for Sunday we decided to go for a walk.
The route we had made more sense for us to do it backwards - how hard could it be we thought? As it turned out - quite hard! We got lost, I got stressed (I HATE getting lost when walking...), but Simon and Jackie fortunately remained very sanguine about it all, and Simon navigated us back to the path again! But it did turn a 7.5 mile walk into about 8 - so we had a wee collapse back at the tents.
After reviving cups of tea and some cake we wandered into Brockenhurst for a pub dinner at the Rose & Crown - which had a crazy food ordering system. I didn't love having to stand for about 1/4 of an hour while waiting to order my food... Two pints later and we were done - all feeling very weary after our walking and not much sleeping!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Hi ho, hi ho, a camping we will go...
Friday after work, Simon, me and Jackie headed off down to the New Forest to go camping for the weekend.
Very exciting! I'd bought a new tent specially- Ness , and as Jackie had never been camping before it was a weekend of firsts :-).
We were camping at Hollands Wood which was really good. We were a bit late arriving and as it was very busy (first day of the school holidays) we didn't have a great choice of sites. We ended up being quite close to the road which made it a bit noisy, but aside from that it was fine. Simon had friends staying there on Friday night, so after we had put our tents up we took our dinner over to their motor home and enjoyed a very nice bottle of wine :-).
As the site is literally set amongst the trees, the ponies just wander through it as they want. Instructions tell you to not leave any food in your tents as they will either walk into them to get it, or trample the tents to get to it!
Very exciting! I'd bought a new tent specially- Ness , and as Jackie had never been camping before it was a weekend of firsts :-).
We were camping at Hollands Wood which was really good. We were a bit late arriving and as it was very busy (first day of the school holidays) we didn't have a great choice of sites. We ended up being quite close to the road which made it a bit noisy, but aside from that it was fine. Simon had friends staying there on Friday night, so after we had put our tents up we took our dinner over to their motor home and enjoyed a very nice bottle of wine :-).
As the site is literally set amongst the trees, the ponies just wander through it as they want. Instructions tell you to not leave any food in your tents as they will either walk into them to get it, or trample the tents to get to it!
Monday, February 08, 2010
Last morning
We had planned to explore the Jewish Quarter this morning, but time got away from us... So we had a lovely leisurely lunch instead (eating was a theme of the weekend!) and I decided I have to go back when the weather is warmer, and I'll do it then :-).
Really enjoyed Prague - great city, and am definitely keen to go back. I fancy sitting in a beer garden in the sun and enjoying some of that lovely beer...
Pics posted soon!
Really enjoyed Prague - great city, and am definitely keen to go back. I fancy sitting in a beer garden in the sun and enjoying some of that lovely beer...
Pics posted soon!
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Now that is what I call COLD
Sunday was freezing!! Fortunately it warmed up a bit later in the day, but it was absolutely bitter in the morning. We both agreed it was well in the minuses early on...
Sunday we wandered over the Charles Bridge - bit disappointing to be honest. It is undergoing renovations, but you could see hawkers where-ever there wasn't scaffolding etc, and I could imagine it is just unpleasant in the really busy season. Then it was up the Prague Castle - actually a collection of buildings rather than a castle per se. St Vitus Cathedral was very impressive - especially the stained glass windows which were fantastic. And the incredibly over-the-top silver tomb - over two tons of silver used!! But we were soooo cold we had to go for lunch and thaw out :-). So a restorative hot wine and beef goulash in a bread bowl (yum!) and we were ready to venture out again...
We walked down through Mala Strana, which in summer I imagine is a lovely green park. For us it was lovely and snowy, and just as lovely. Lots of Prague children out sledging down the hills! We checked out the Lennon wall as well. Apparently it was saved by the French ambassador a few years ago - although the Wikipedia entry doesn't mention this! We also found a fence covered in padlocks - apparently they are love padlocks. Newly married couples scratch their names/initials on a padlock, attach it to a fence and throw away the key as a sign of their commitment to each other... How sweet...
Sunday we wandered over the Charles Bridge - bit disappointing to be honest. It is undergoing renovations, but you could see hawkers where-ever there wasn't scaffolding etc, and I could imagine it is just unpleasant in the really busy season. Then it was up the Prague Castle - actually a collection of buildings rather than a castle per se. St Vitus Cathedral was very impressive - especially the stained glass windows which were fantastic. And the incredibly over-the-top silver tomb - over two tons of silver used!! But we were soooo cold we had to go for lunch and thaw out :-). So a restorative hot wine and beef goulash in a bread bowl (yum!) and we were ready to venture out again...
We walked down through Mala Strana, which in summer I imagine is a lovely green park. For us it was lovely and snowy, and just as lovely. Lots of Prague children out sledging down the hills! We checked out the Lennon wall as well. Apparently it was saved by the French ambassador a few years ago - although the Wikipedia entry doesn't mention this! We also found a fence covered in padlocks - apparently they are love padlocks. Newly married couples scratch their names/initials on a padlock, attach it to a fence and throw away the key as a sign of their commitment to each other... How sweet...
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Waitangi Day in Prague...
Saturday we spent just wandering around Prague. Started off at Wenceslas Square - which isn't a square at all, but is a big long street in the shopping district. Weather was cold and a bit snowy, but on the whole it was manageable.
We took a very laid back approach to our sightseeing - both agreeing that we were quite happy just walking around. I loved it - once we'd hit the Old Town it was just lovely. We climbed the Powder Gate for the view - which was ok. We thought we'd see the river and the Charles Bridge from it, but no such luck.
We had a late-ish lunch and lovely beer at Kolkovna, and then dinner at Stoleti, which had been recommended to us by Nicola. After also having a lovely latte during the day, we decided we were very impressed with both the town, the food and the beer!
We took a very laid back approach to our sightseeing - both agreeing that we were quite happy just walking around. I loved it - once we'd hit the Old Town it was just lovely. We climbed the Powder Gate for the view - which was ok. We thought we'd see the river and the Charles Bridge from it, but no such luck.
We had a late-ish lunch and lovely beer at Kolkovna, and then dinner at Stoleti, which had been recommended to us by Nicola. After also having a lovely latte during the day, we decided we were very impressed with both the town, the food and the beer!
Friday, February 05, 2010
Off to Prague
Friday evening I headed off to Prague with Divya for a long weekend - we'd booked it before Xmas and had got a very good deal on flights and accommodation.
I hadn't really thought too much about the weather when we booked it, but was quite nervous during the week as we kept checking the weather - and seeing forecast temperatures of -10... I wasn't sure I had the right clothes for that sort of cold!
Flight was painless (Easyjet, so its always good when there are no delays...) - and very short. Only 1.5 hours! Our hotel recommended a bar which we went out to find, but couldn't. Realised the next day we'd been on completely the wrong street. But we ended up in one over the road from our hotel for a quick drink before going to bed. My first experience in a bar where it is still ok to smoke for a very long time... I'd forgotten what it was like...
I hadn't really thought too much about the weather when we booked it, but was quite nervous during the week as we kept checking the weather - and seeing forecast temperatures of -10... I wasn't sure I had the right clothes for that sort of cold!
Flight was painless (Easyjet, so its always good when there are no delays...) - and very short. Only 1.5 hours! Our hotel recommended a bar which we went out to find, but couldn't. Realised the next day we'd been on completely the wrong street. But we ended up in one over the road from our hotel for a quick drink before going to bed. My first experience in a bar where it is still ok to smoke for a very long time... I'd forgotten what it was like...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)