The holiday started slightly ominously with one of those annoying arguments where you're told off by your wife for something they think you haven't done, you feel innocent of the charge but for whatever reason you can't be bothered arguing about it but go into a 24 hour huff as a precaution. Considering we only had a couple of hours sleep as we had to be up at 2.30am to catch the flight, that, added to the above non-argument, meant we were both knackered and slept most of the first day, the rest of the day was spent largely in a huffy silence. Fortunately the sun, beauty, and charm of the glorious island of Kefalonia melted us into a more average way of relating and soon we were doing all sorts of holiday related activities. One ... read more

Our annual winter trip (Joe Hellawell, Andrew Whyte and Gerry last year and Joe, Andrew, Gerry and Mike Maybury this year) headed for the Sherry Triangle of Southern Spain. A cheap Ryanair flight to Jerez (last year we went to Lamezia in Southern Italy) and 4 days in nearby El Puerto de Santa Maria on the coast. We stayed in a restored 1700's aparthotel called Casa de Los Leones. A good choice as it was very clean, well kitted out, beautifully restored, and central to everything we needed. The trip started at Joe's house in London and we made the mistake of taking up Mike's generous offer of taking his car to the airport! It was a tiny, clapped out Peugeot which hadn't had any workable suspension in the last 10 years! We got approximately 30 ... read more

The second half of our 2 week holiday in North America was spent in Canada. The weather improved drammatically from what had been rainy and overcast in the US. Our first destination was the Niagra Falls (meaning 'The Thunder of Waters' in Iroquois). We drove from Boston, across the top of New York State, and around the corner of Lake Ontario into the sprawling town of Niagra Falls, where we met up with our old friends, Jean, Michelle and Abigail who had booked us into a hotel near the Falls. I tell you the old Iroquois would have been shocked at the developments there now, with fast food joints, high rise hotels, and fair rides! While in Toronto we went on a Hippo Tour on one of those amphibious vehicles which drives you round the streets ... read more

Loved New York, even though the weather was rotten. Manhattan with its awesome art deco skyscrapers is out of this world. We only had 3 days in New York, arriving at JFK airport on the 18th August, we hopped on one of those classic yellow cabs to our hotel (Deauville), which was small, quaint and reasonably priced. Things we did in 3 days: Visited the UN building and took a guided tour round it; shopped in Macy's (the world's largest store) but didn't buy anything (I love doing that!); went inside the Chrsyler building (beautiful art deco building) and the Empire State Building; watched a street procession celebrating the Independence of India; I (Gerry) bought a new camera which is fantastic and cheap; took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (which used ... read more

Denise had a 3 week break between leaving her old job and starting her new one, so we took the opportunity to head for the sun for a week. We found a cheap holiday in a self catering apartment in Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands, just off the coast of Morocco in Africa. The Canary Islands are actually Spanish, and made from volcanoes. The volcanoes came first and then, in the 1400's, the Spanish. As is the custom, the natives, called 'Guanches' were wiped out. Very little evidence is left of their existence. It is thought they came from North Africa and were polygamous with a difference, in that each woman had on average three husbands! Our apartment was in a British council estate with the addition of a swimming pool to give it that ... read more