Blogs from England, United Kingdom, Europe

Today was a travel day. We were leaving The Balmoral House Hotel and London. We would return to Heathrow and fly to Split, Croatia. This was going to be a whole new adventure as I have not been to any of the areas we visit for the next two and a half weeks, except Rome. We started the day with our full English breakfast. We went down to the breakfast room earlier so there was no waiting today. We bought the kitchen staff a big box of biscuits (cookies) from Harrods. They were so appreciative!! We hugged and said our goodbyes and headed back to our rooms to pack and repack for our flight. I stopped in the office after breakfast just to visit with Flavio. Another couple came in and I apologized and said I ... read more

So we arrived, without any problems, at Heathrow Airport. We went through Passport Control without any problem. We bought tickets for the Heathrow Express…a nonstop train that goes directly to Paddington. We’ve been to London together three times and I’ve been here another two times, so we are quite familiar with the area. It’s almost like our home away from home! We made our way through the streets to our Favorite hotel, The Balmoral Houde! We couldn’t wait to see our favorite friend, Flavio Martinez! We met Flavio back in 2019 on our first trip here and we just love him!! He’s one of the reason we always stay at this hotel. True to form, Flavio was waiting for us and had everything ready for us. While it was early, our rooms were ready! My favorite ... read more

Happy Birthday to Patterson and Melody! Fourteen years ago, was a pretty busy day. And many of the days since have been packed with interesting things. Thanks for keeping us all entertained. I just noticed the dates have been in error for the last couple of posts. I don’t know if I can correct that, but I will try. We had another night of smooth sailing and we both got a pretty good night sleep. We aren’t completely over our colds, but they are considerably better – the symptoms seem to be clearing almost as quickly as they came. We are in Portland, England. Never heard of it before - that’s understandable because there isn’t much here. This is a sheltered harbor which was a jumping off point for the invasion on D-Day. Otherwise, it is ... read more

Travel for some is an escape, for others it is just a temporary getaway. Whatever, it evokes memories. We have been watching the latest series of the BBC programme, Race Across The World. The gameplan is to reach various checkpoints with no air travel allowed, on a limited budget and with no access to a mobile phone or internet. The remaining contestants are making their way down the Malay peninsula and it brought back our own adventures in the same part of the world. We had the limited budget, were reliant on local transport and at that time, there wasn't the unlimited internet access of today. The mobile was just for emergencies. A detour to Georgetown in Penang - tick, a bus to Melaka - tick and the must see of those Petronas Towers - tick. ... read more

I haven't yet shown you our last super day in Devon. Monday was wet so we had a lazy day in the caravan. just popping out to the Ship Aground in Mortehoe for a drink and meal when it eventually stopped its persistent drizzle. I should say though that we didn;t get the storms of the rest of the country, just a bit of wetness. Tuesday was really pretty nice again. We did get a couple of isolated raindrops but most of the day was lovely. First to the swimming pool tunnels in Ilfracombe. Historical Victorian dating from the days when men and women were not allowed to bathe together and ladies used bathing huts. Really enjoyed the visit and the light on the sea on the ladies beach was magic. We didn't visit the Men's ... read more