spidermiss

Continued from Part 1 October 2011 The reason why I was in London that month was to see the 25th Anniversary Celebration of The Phantom of the Opera at The Royal Albert Hall. It was certainly one of my theatrical highlights of my life and was very glad to see it in person! It was great meeting up with friends again and meeting legendary performers who played in the successful musical. I tour the Royal Albert Hall during July soon as I had just booked the tickets for event. On the tour were were taken to the Grand Tier Boxes where we could see out to the stage, the Royal Retiring Room, the Elgar Room (former Central School of Speech and Drama). It was a very interesting tour with an interesting stars filled history and not ... read more

A summary of my debut cruise. Sorry this is short and sweet but on this occasion I do not have as much time as I would like to have for blogging. We meant to have done the cruise last year but thanks to Iceland's volcanic ash it never happened! See . The refund we got back from the travel company enabled us to book another cruise with another company. We chose the 'Adriatic Explorer' and we began the maiden voyage one Friday evening from Corfu Town. There is so much to see and do on deck and also on the shore. My highlight was going on shore and exploring the places we had stopped at. My family and I enjoyed dining at the Ship's Compass Restaurant on most evenings. I thoroughly enjoyed using the ship's facilities ... read more

Following a pretty comfortable 22 hours bus journey from Bariloche, I arrived at Buenos Aires's Retiro Bus Terminal for the final night of my trip. I was very impressed with the cama facilities on the bus and how well Via Bariloche fed us! I even slept for six hours during the night, which is very unusual for me whenever I travelled overnight on any mode of transport! However, I still prefer to fly as I get to places a lot quicker. On this occasion, I had to travel by bus because I was not prepared to pay the Aerolineas Argentinas's extortionate one way air fare from Bariloche! They know how to overcharge foreigners on their flights even if the price I was quoted was considered a 'cheaper deal' from my travel agents! I took an expensive ... read more

I had a very early start for my 7.00 am bus to Esquel. I am not so much of an early morning person especially on my travels! After a four and half hour bus journey from Bariloche, I arrived in Esquel and then half an hour later, I got a local bus to Trevelin. The scenery around Trevelin is beautiful and Parque Nacional Los Alcerces is nearby. On a future trip to Argentina, I would like to check out the National Park but, on this occasion, time did not permit and the purpose of visiting Trevelin was to experience the Welsh culture! I spent two nights in a wonderful hostel, Casa Verde, which is perched yet on another hill! It is not far from the main square. My room was lovely with its ensuite bathroom, a ... read more

Continuing on from the previous blog Leaving Perito Moreno, our first stop was at Rio Mayo, in the Chubut Province, where we had a comfort stop. It is just a sleepy and dusty Patagonian town. I got chatting to Sarah, from Ireland, and we were commenting on how expensive Argentina has become. Still cheaper than the UK, especially with accommodation and transportation, but Argentina is now a lot more expensive compared to when I first started travelling there in 2007. Sarah is traveling around South America for five months and plans to travel to cheaper climbs after her stint in Argentina. I was able to practice my French with a French traveller who was travelling around South America for six months. We then moved on towards Gobernador Costa and we spotted some guancoes in the distance ... read more