March 13-16,2017- London Visit for Passport renewal

Greetings All,

I have been very tardy in doing this post as it in now May  2 months since we headed down to London ,one of my favourite places to visit as there are always new things to discover.  We take the train down and have a very relaxing trip. Once checked in at the hotel we head off to get my pictures done for my passport down to Pimlico a old stomping from when my brother and sister in law lived in the area. . Once we have my photo's we head off to the Cask Pub that has one of my favourite ciders Pheasant Plucker. Sadly they are out so I try a Hills Cider that is from Adelaide , Australia.  We had back to the hotel  and dinner for a early night as I want to be at the Canadian Embassy to get my passport renewed first thing.

We are up and off early to the embassy which is now by Trafalgar Square. The picture on the upper left is a new sculpture thumbs up  called "Oh Really" We discover a lovely little park Victoria Embankment Gardens while on our walk about the city . A quiet oasis in the middle of the
busy city. The garden is in full bloom with sculptures commemorating different battle and artists about the park. The one on the right is to Arthur Sullivan 1842-1900 a composer part of the Gilbert & Sullivan fame.

We stop for lunch at the Clarence  Pub on Whitehall and a break before continuing our walkabout.  We head off to Leicester Square to check out what is on at the theatre.  There have been a few changes to the area . There is now a large lego store and the figures  are amazing. The kids in the store are having a great time and the staff seem to love  working there. There is a little guy dressed up like spiderman and the staff make a big fuss over him.

Our last stop is back to the Cask for my Pheasant Plucker and Fred enjoys a Marianna Trench a pale ale. We have walked 5 ¾ miles today and I am going to have a much needed rest for my back before we head out to supper.

Our last full day in London sees us out early to try and get tickets for Les Miserable but the seats are not so great so we decide to give it a pass on this trip. Still doing the tourist thing we head down to Westminster Abbey to tour since the last time we visited was in the 1970's.

A church was first built on this site in 1080 . The present day churches construction began in 1245 by Henry III who selected it for his burial site. The abbey became the site for the coronation of Norman Kings though no one was buried there till Henry III. Since that time all coronations now take place in the abbey. The picture on the right is of the tomb of Elizabeth I. We spend a good couple of hours exploring the Abbey, photo's are not allowed so I downloaded from westminster-abbey.org/visit-us/picture-gallery. Though I did take some in areas that where not part of the main church. Check out my Facebook wall for pictures.

Tour completed we head down along Southbank another favourite walking area of ours. Strangely there are no buskers along the banks which is very unusual ,we are not sure if it is because we are outside the main tourist season or new rules are in place. We stop at The Doggetts Pub on Southbank for a late  lunch before heading off to Victoria and Albert Museum.

Once again it has been 7 years or so  since we last visited this Museum . The picture on the left is of a beautiful Murano glass sculpture that hangs in the main entrance of the museum. We wonder around for about a hour before heading back to the hotel. We have walked 4.1 miles today and my sciatica is absolutely killing me. Time to lie flat for a while before heading down to the hospitality room  courtesy of the Marriott for snacks and a few drinks before packing for the trip home.

 It has been a lovely break in one of my favourite cities but we have to now seriously looks for a new place to live as our landlord has given us notice. The trip home is very noisy as Fred had not booked us the quiet and there is a large group of kids that are heading up to Liverpool to party and have started on the train.

Ta ra for now,

Sandy & Fred

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

September 30,2016 - A day outing in Wales at Erddig

Shwmae all,  


The weather is supposed to be good so we head off to explore Erddig a stately home just over the border of Wales just a hour away. The weather threatens off and on as we travel but the sun is out by the time we arrive. Built in 1684-1687 for Josiah Edisbury the High Sheriff of Denbighshire and designed by Thomas Webb a freemason of Cheshire. A grade 1 listed building and voted the UK's most favourite historic house in 2007 . Sadly it fell into deep disrepair so for us we have seen more elaborate homes on our travels.

We have lunch in the cafe before setting off to explore the house itself.We enter the house thru the stables and workshop which has been home to the Yorke family for 200 years. Sold to the master of Chancery, John Meller in 1714 he enlarged the house adding two wings in the 1720's. He died unmarried with no heirs in 1733 and the home passed down to his nephew  Simon Yorke and remained in  the family till  March 1973 when  it was given to the National Trust.  Collapse of a mine shaft under the home made the structure unstable and 120,000 pounds of NT funding  shored up the structure. Lands surrounding the home were sold to The National Coal board for 995,000 pounds which helps with the total restoration of the house  which over time had fell into disrepair.

The Yorke family were either very thrifty or hoarders as they rarely threw anything away so there are over 30,000 objects in the property. From carriages to old cars , tools to new inventions of the time are on display and tell a story of each  generation of the family.
The picture on the left is of a early vacuum cleaner that is operated by stepping on the plates to generate suction so you can suck up the dirt and dust. Called a Witch Dust Extractor not only would the maid clean up the dust but also get a major workout. The lower level of the house is quite plain and  somewhat dull but also had pictures of the servants and poems the master of the house had written about them. The servants here were treated more as family then workers and were allowed to mix among themselves outside their stations which apparently was a big no no. Something I was not aware of as I assumed a servant was a servant however even they had a class structure.

Pictured on the right is one of the few rooms that was spared damage . The green Chinese wall paper and ornate Chinese writing cabinet along with a bed that has been restored. The room is now hermetically sealed with a special glass casing the controls the air and humidity so no further damage can occur.


We now explore the gardens while still have a amazing amount of flowers in bloom. The gardens are one of the most important surviving 18th century formal gardens in Britain . I stop and speak to a gardener who is trimming Yews in a specific shapes with garden shears. I ask him how long it takes him and he replies too long. A full day he gets about six yews done and these are all hand trimmed not using any modern electric trimmers. What a painstaking job but the trees look beautiful and are all shaped to such a exactness.
There are over 180 varieties of apples on the estate as well as  other rare fruit trees , pond,  a channel, a Victorian parterre, and a Ivy collection. While walking through the gardens a mallard starts to

 follow Fred, he sits down on the bench to enjoy the sun and view and the duck walks right up to him looking for food. Very tame but sadly we have nothing to feed the hungry guy.

It has been a lovely day and has been much better then sitting around at home doing nothing . The last shot is of the view that the Yorkes had from the front of their house looking over the welsh countryside.


Check out my Facebook wall to see more pictures of Erddig.
We hope you have enjoyed this little tale of Erddig,

Hwyl fawr,

Sandy & Fred

August 19, 2016- Heading Home and A Party

Greetings All,

We were up early and had a wonderful breakfast. I had baked duck egg and chorizo which was absolutely delicious and Fred had smoked salmon with scrambled eggs. Once again there was fresh fruit, juice, pastries and a choice of bread for toast.

We have enjoyed our visit to Norfolk and celebration and headed back  home to continue celebrating as we were attending a 100 years young party for Fred's Aunty Eileen. The traffic home was horrendous and the 4 hour drive took us 6 hours. The picture to the left is of a beautiful dahlia garden we passed on our way home.

Eileen's birthday celebration was quite the party and we met a number of relatives for the first time. The picture on the right is of Eileen in the purple top, her sister in red and from the left to right, Fred and his cousins, Bryan, John and Cecilia.
I must be getting old because I found the music quite loud especially when the food was being served. The DJ had kept it cranked up rather then lowering it a bit so people could talk. It was a lively night though enjoyed by a wide range of ages from babies to of course the lady of the day.

The last picture is of when we all sang Happy Birthday to Eileen. Pictured is her sister, daughter Angela and son Allen. Eileen even did a dance after the song an amazing women who has lived through some terrifying and exciting times. A fabulous way to end our own little celebration.

The following day we headed off to The Southport Flower show with Bryan and Alison. Check out my Facebook wall for pictures.

We hope you have enjoyed this segment of our travels.

Ta ra till our next adventure,

Sandy & Fred

August 18, 2016- Celebrating 43 Years of Married Life

Greetings All,

What can I say my soul mate has once again picked a perfect location for our celebration of marriage. We had a fabulous breakfast, I had waffles with fried bananas and maple syrup and Fred had a full English breakfast minus the blood pudding. We had a nice chat with our host, who was from Australia, about the culinary delights of blood pudding and sausage. Breakfast also included fresh fruits, pastries, juices and cereals.

With a good start to the day we headed off to explore. The area we were in is called the Fens. A fen is an area of marshland or former marshland. Most fens lie with in a few metres of sea level. Where we were was obviously former marsh land.

Our first stop of the day was the Priory Church of St Mary and the Holy Cross in the village of Binham. Within the church grounds there is also the ruins of the Benedictine Priory which was founded in the late 11th century. The church continues to be a place of worship today. The priory is among the most complete and impressive monastic ruin in Norfolk. We wandered around taking pictures of the site. The church itself has had the larger windows cemented in as they were starting to collapse with age. My camera started to act up and I had to keep removing and replacing the lens. I was hoping it would last for our next stop.

Our last stop of the day was Holkham Hall, one of England's Treasure Houses.  It is an 18th century country home built in the Palladian style for Thomas Coke the 1st Earl of Leicester. Thomas was a cultivated and wealthy man who in his youth made a Grand Tour away from England for 6 years. He collected a great deal of books, art and sculptures which he planned to use in his new home. Upon his return his loose way of life and gambling lead to the building of the home being put on hold for 10 years. When building was finally started Thomas oversaw the project but delegated the on site architectural duties to a local Norfolk architect, Mathew Brettingham. Sadly, the Earl never saw the completion of his home as he died 5 years before it completion and his wife saw to the finishing and furnishing of the house.

The home is still lived in today by the Coke family, the 8th Earl of Leicester. The recently deceased 7th Earl, Edward Coke (1936-2015) was responsible for much of the restoration and modernisation of the Holkham Estate. We had lunch in the cafe before starting our exploring and our first stop was the farming exhibition. The exhibition was very informative and reveals a great deal about modern day farming and how far things have advanced. There was interactive things for kids to take part in and Fred and I took advantage of wearing the Coke Hats and asked one of the attendants to take a picture of us as seen above on the left. Fooling around done, we now headed to the main home.

The outside of the home looks rather plain with no fancy stone work or ornate carving, however, the interior of the house was quite spectacular and has been described as the finest Palladian interior in England. The picture on the right is the initial view when we walked through the door into the house. The Marble Hall is based on the Pantheon in Rome. The hall is not marble but Derbyshire alabaster.

We spent a good couple of hours exploring the home with its rooms, art work and tapestries all from the 1st Earl's travels as a youth.

To see more pictures of the interior check out my Facebook wall.  We took the golf cart to the walled garden. It was under renovation and most of the plants were well past their best. On our way back I asked our driver about the deer as they seemed to have moved away. They stay closer to the house in the morning (we could see them when we arrived) but as the estate gets busier they move away into the wooded area to get away from the people. Smart, but no pictures as they were so far away that even Fred's camera couldn't get me a photo.

Sadly during our visit my camera totally gives up the ghost. We now headed back to Titchwell for our anniversary dinner. We have opted for the more casual dining area and enjoyed cocktails before the main event. I had a mojito and Fred had a pint of a local brew. Our appetisers were lobster bisque (Fred) and crab cake. For the main course Fred had a sirloin steak and I had a filet steak. We also enjoyed a bottle of wine with our dinner. The food was cooked to perfection and it was a leisurely meal. The sunset that night was spectacular but sadly the picture I took with Fred's phone did not do it justice.  We had an interesting chat with the couple sitting beside us and the waiter about the colour of the wall. The gentleman thought the wall was green, his wife thought it blue, but I thought it was what I would call sea-green. The waiter did not have a opinion either way, the coward that he was. We all had a good laugh as the lighting really affected how the colour looked; either more blue or green. We purchased a bottle of wine and headed back to our room to pack and get ready for our journey home.

Ta ra,
Sandy & Fred

August 17, 2016 - Exploring more of Norfolk with some disappointments

Greetings All,

We were up early and after breakfast headed off to Cromer another seaside resort town. As we neared the town I saw the Red Arrows fly by. We decided to head into town and park so we could watch the air show. We didn't know that it was the weekend for Cromer's summer festival, and consequently we couldn't find a parking space anywhere. So we decided to head off to Blakeney National Nature Reserve. This is a National Trust property and was a must go to on my wish list. It was written that it is an area of beautiful views of the Norfolk coast line and home to grey seals. We arrived at the reserve only to see what appears to be miles of scrub grass as far as the eye can see. The tide was out so the boats were all grounded in muck. We walked out for about 40 minutes but we were no nearer to the beach and seals so we packed it in. I was very disappointed but the drive to the area had taken us through some very pretty villages so it was not a total loss.

Our next stop was Felbrigg Hall, a 17th century country house. It was firstly a home to the Felbrigg family, then later home to the Wyndham family. Thomas Wyndham was a councillor to Henry VIII. The house is noted for it's Jacobean architecture and Georgian interior. The house did remain in the Wyndham family until 1969 when the last squire, Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer died with no heirs and left it to the National Trust. We spent a good 3 hours exploring the Hall with a break for lunch in the tearoom. To see more pictures of Felbrigg check out my Facebook wall.

After touring Felbrigg Hall, we headed off to our final destination and what was our home away from home for the next two nights, Titchwell Manor. Fred has booked for us a room with its own patio, a walk in shower and oversized king bed. Our drive took us on a road less travelled as well as some very pretty coastal roads and lovely little villages.

Our room was very lovely and spacious and we were given a nice little welcoming gift; a half bottle of champagne. A great way to start off our anniversary celebrations. We relaxed for a while downloading pictures and cleaning up e-mail before heading out for a fish and chip dinner at a chippy nearby that is run by the manor owners son who is also the chef. The chippy cooks in beef fat which brings back memories for us as I used to use beef fat to fry our chips when our kids were very young. The meal was tasty nothing really special as I have had better. However, Fred really enjoyed his meal. Tummies full we headed back to the manor for the evening.

The manor restaurant and bar was very busy when we returned and finding a spot to park was difficult. Titchwell is a very small village that does not even have a corner type store so the manor seems to be the main meeting place for the local residents.

Tomorrow we will be exploring the fens and some more historic sites.

Bye for now,

Sandy & Fred