January 9 - 17,2017- Maldives and 65th Birthday Celebration

Greetings All,

We are off to a much anticipated trip and one place that has been on my bucket list. Our journey starts in Liverpool with a number of modes of transport. Taxi,train,taxi, train, 2 planes and a speed boat.
Our trip for the most part is uneventful with the exception of the strike in London on the tube line and a passenger who could not read what seat she should be in. Our first flight  from Heathrow to Doha had a rather large women sat beside Fred . She pulled out a phone and stated talking on it hitting Fred a number of times so much that Fred swore at her. As this was happening a young girl came along and declared that she was sitting in her seat. The steward come along and the young lady tells him not to worry she will take another seat to which I jump up and say no , you want your seat ! I turn to the steward and tell him have the lady move to her proper seat, I am sure the poor young girl at this point wonders what kind of crazy women she is looking at.  Once everyone is properly seated I thank the young lady and tell her she has no idea what a life saver she is. It is a long flight 6 hours to Doha and I could not imagine Fred's discomfort had not the girl taken her proper seat. We have a short stay in Doha before boarding our second plane to Male a 4 hour flight. The time difference from Liverpool to Male is 8 hours so we arrive in the Maldives about 36 hours later. The picture on the upper right is of the various atolls taken from the plane as we approach Male. Our flights are on Quatar and is a airline I would recommend. The seats and leg room are good , the food is better then we have had in a while plus we have proper cutlery .

We take a speed boat from Male airport to our resort  and get checked in and unpacked. We have a quick drink before showering and changing for supper. The picture on the left is the view from our  over the water bungalow, it is low tide so the water is calm and you can see the fish. It is now after 5:00PM  Maldivian time and it is still very hot . We enjoy a drink at the bar before heading into dinner.

Our table is decorated to wish me a Happy Birthday. The staff is very friendly and the food is buffet style but a good variety and quality given our previous experience with buffet style while on vacation.  I am presented with a birthday cake by the staff and it is delicious though rather large for two people. I share it with two other couples before we head off to bed as it has been a very long day.

We are up at sunrise as our Bungalow gets the sunrise and sun for the greater part of the day. After a good breakfast I get my float and head off our deck to float in the ocean. It turns out the water is way too rough and I have to get rescued by Fred . A major disappointment for me  but I would rather be safe. We head off to the beach but because of the lateness of the morning there are no lounges left. We do manage to get Fred a seat under the trees and I decide to stay in the water on my float for the day. We finish our day at the beach rather early around 3:30 PM as I have managed to get a good burn staying out so long. Back at the bungalow it is still very hot on the deck though we now have some shade.  We shower and get ready to head down to the bar and the sunset.

The sunsets are gorgeous and over rather quickly. We spend every evening enjoying a drink and the sunset. We have opted to totally relax and not take part in any of the excursions as we are only here for 7 days plus they are very expensive and we consider overpriced given what is being offered.  The picture on the right was taken by a staff member with my iPad . He really got into taking pictures and left us with many to choose from. We think the tree we are sitting under is a Banyon tree given how the roots are .

As I stated earlier the dinner buffet is varied and they have a different theme night . We really enjoyed the Indonesian Night and Japanese Night that came complete with sushi,both fish and vegetable and tempura . We have met a nice couple from Worcester  UK Simon and Karen and enjoy a couple of evenings over drinks with them.

Time has passed nicely and we have enjoyed our time here. We were asked by Karen and Simon would we return. I must honestly answer no. I have ticked off a place on our bucket list and have been a bit disappointed with the over the water bungalow but my reasons are there are so many more places to explore n the world and we are not getting any younger.

The picture on the left is of the sunrise on the day we left. We are off early to Male at 7:30 AM. We are not sure why we had to be at the airport so very early. The flight to Doha is uneventful and not full so I move up a seat and Fred and I have plenty of room for this portion of the flight. We have about a 3 hours stay in Doha and explore the airport which is huge and full of rather exotic and expensive shops. Some amazing restaurants as well as places for those with a much smaller budget.

The last picture is me and I joking say my long lost brother. Our last flight is uneventful  until we arrive. Despite everyone being told to remain seated people get up while we are still taxing in. Once we arrive people are told to again take their seats as the police are coming on board. . We never see the police as the steward comes and takes away a rather surprised passenger . Once off the plane I have the best experience yet through customs. The agents are friendly and chatty and we are through in no time.

We are staying in the Marriott overnight as it is now 10:00 PM and our room has been upgraded to a executive class room. Newly refurbished the shower is a walk in with large square shower . The TV screen is well over 60 inches and very thin.  We finish our travels with a quick drink in the bar  while there we hear a bunch of Americans discussing Trump and wondering what would happen if he was bumped off before he becomes  president . We head to bed as it has been a long day for travel.

We are up before the alarm as we are still on Maldavian time and enjoy a nice breakfast. The last part of our travels we head back to the airport to catch the Heathrow Express into the tube station the the tube to Euston and our train back to Liverpool. The weather is the same as when we left wet and cool.
We are glad to be home and have enjoyed my birthday celebration .

Till our next adventure,

Sandy & Fred

Dec 21-26,2016 - Christmas in Cheltenham

Seasons Greetings All,

I have been very tardy in posting our blog but am finally getting around to it. We have again been invited to spend Christmas with John and Adrienne so we head off on the 21st to spend the next 5 days with them. The drive down is nice  as we do the back roads not very busy, We stop for lunch at a pub we have passed many times that looks very impressive from the outside. Sadly on the inside it is rather run down and the meals are nothing special as it is run by a chain that offers two for one meals. It is very busy with a lot of seniors I imagine taking advantage of the cheap prices. Well one and done as they say as you never know unless you check it out.

On December 22 John takes us out to explore the Cotswold's and we head off to the little village of Hampnett and visit St Georges Church.  A Norman church where the Nave and Chancel date back to 1125 AD. What is most interesting about this church it that the medieval paintings were undertaken by Rev William Wiggin in the mid 19th century. He began the work in 1868 and it was completed in1892. He claimed in the church newsletter that he did all the paintings himself. Whether this is true or not the work is beautiful to see. The people of the village however felt
otherwise and tried to raise money to have it all removed. Thankfully they were unsuccessful . To see more photo's of the amazing work check out my Facebook page.

I must tell you about John's new car  a Hyundai Tucson ,it is amazing with heated seats in the back as well as the front and we are spoiled as they are perfect for warming you up on a damp chilly day, all that is missing is a massage element.

Our next stop is the village of Painswick where we stop at the church there. The grounds of the church are a garden of shaped yews among the gravestones. Very calming and well maintained. Pictured on the left.

We explore the village and stop for hot chocolate and tea at the hotel and spa located on a hill in the village overlooking the Cotswolds.

Our next couple of days we spend relaxing with another drive about exploring the countryside with John and Adrienne and relaxing at the house.

On December 24th we all head into Kineton for the hunt. We arrive early and see the hounds arrive into the village and the riders arrive waiting for the hunt to begin. There is also a Golden Eagle which is used in the hunt to take down the fox once the dogs flush it out. It is considered a more humane way too kill the fox though I personally cannot see how that can be. The age range of riders is from toddlers to seniors though I am not sure that the younger ones participate in the hunt other then ride their ponies. We enjoy a nice lunch in the pub once the hunt is off before heading back . We relax in the afternoon before heading off to Gloucester Cathedral for the Christmas Eve service. This year we aren plenty of time and get great seats in the middle of the cathedral  were we can see the procession as it makes it way around the church. We have a lovely shrimp pasta dinner  before settling down to open our gifts on Christmas eve a tradition at John and Adrienne's.

Christmas day is relaxing and we head out of the Christmas walkabout early in the afternoon with the boys . We head off to a park which is a short drive away and the weather while cool is dry .
Christmas dinner is prime rib and is a huge looking piece of meat for 4 people. Once again John and Adrienne have outdone themselves with the meal and Christmas celebration.

We head home on the 26th taking back roads and a bit of a different route. On the way we pass another hunt but this one is with dogs and hunters with rifles. It has been a lovely Christmas with family and now we prepare for our next trip. The Maldives for my 65th birthday .

Ta ra for now,
Sandy & Fred