Portugal’s “Venice of the North” is a charming city in the north of Portugal, famous for its canals, bridges, Art Nouveau buildings, Santa Joana and Ovos Moles. We visited in August, staying for two nights, and thoroughly enjoyed the time spent there. Aveiro is on the same train line as Coimbra and Porto. A visit … More 2 DAYS IN // Aveiro, Portugal
A “Staycation” in the time of Covid. As the UK cautiously moves out of Lockdown, the Staycation has become popular especially given the fantastic weather we have had through most of the lockdown. We decided to visit Shanklin on the Isle of Wight. Shanklin is a pretty village with thatched-roofed cottages, gift shops, tea shops, … More 3 DAYS IN // Shanklin, Isle of Wight
On Monday 23rd March we went into an initial three-week lockdown. Our youngest, Alice, had come to visit us, so decided to stay during the lockdown rather than return to her flat in London. Sue was due to fly out to Germany as part of the Amersham A Cappella choir to represent the UK as … More Lockdown (first 6 weeks) // Prestwood, UK
Lisbon is one of our favourite cities to visit. We like it so much we bought a small apartment in Estoril many years ago, which has easy access in to the heart of Lisbon. This post is aimed at the return visitor or those who are spending more than a long weekend in Lisbon. First … More Revisited // Lisbon, Portugal
Sandals Ocho Rios is one of the older Sandals resorts. It is also one of the cheaper Sandals resorts in the Caribbean. We booked for seven days (four people, two rooms) and we were very much looking forward to visiting after our great experience with Sandals at St Lucia the year before. Our first impressions … More 7 DAYS IN // Ocho Rios
Levico Terme is in Northern Italy. It is one of those wonderful lakes and mountains destinations that few people have heard about and is quite simply charming. More German than Italian, it is relaxed, has things to do and a beautiful lake sitting like a jewel at the bottom of the hill from the town … More 5 DAYS IN // Levico Terme, Italy
Porto is Portugal’s second city. More down to earth than Lisbon. Not as affluent or as spread out, but vibrant, colourful and just as interesting. The Portuguese love of building cities on steep hills is in evidence here as in Lisbon. A big difference from Lisbon is that the River Douro is integral to the … More 3 DAYS IN // Porto, Portugal (2 and a half really)
KL has branded itself as ‘A City of Contrasts & Diversity’ Our first impressions were not good:37 degrees Celsius, 94% humidity, a strong smell of exhaust fumes even in the taxi heading into the city and traffic jams everywhere. However, once we had found our hotel, showered, changed, and then ventured out, we loved what … More 4 DAYS IN // Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
I overheard another guest at the resort we stayed at saying “another day in Paradise” whilst gazing out over the azure Caribbean Sea with the sound of birds singing overhead. It was hard to disagree with him. We stayed at the Sandals Resort La Toc on the north-western side of the island on a 10-day … More 10 DAYS IN // St. Lucia
Global Gary 