Blogs from Hampshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 15

Looking out of the hotel window this morning we were greeted with our first rain since arriving in England. This surprised us, as although we have generally had cool cloudy weather with some promising days, there has been no rain. In the hotel dining room we enjoyed breakfast as “morning after” wedding guests appeared, feeling quite good but with the occasional ache in the foot and leg department. It was now time for farewells. This is always the hard part and we suppose this is the sign of having experienced a wonderful occasion the day before. Before we drove back to London we had to say farewell to our daughter at Romsey railway station because she was off to Wales to take part in opera master classes. On the road it seemed everyone was heading back ... read more

After a quiet morning preparing our wedding clothes we headed on a mid-afternoon drive to the wedding venue, Romsey, near the south coast city of Southampton. When we were planning our trip we decided it would be a very good idea to be in the UK for our daughter’s birthday. This year it coincided with our daughter’s brother-in-law’s wedding and we were invited. So with all our wedding clothes carefully packed in the car we headed out of town. It seemed as though everyone else had decided to head out of town at the same time. We were assured the traffic is often even busier. The rest of the drive south went relatively quickly although there seemed to be occasional slow periods as we passed off and on ramps that lead to other motorways or large ... read more

Thought I would get a planning blog together to document the entire journey, starting in the grey skied oasis that is Eastleigh! So between working 6 days a week and utilising the other day to attempt to combat the 60+ things on my to do list, I am feeling a little frazzled! Currently doing everything I can to save/make/stretch money, including selling over 50 things on ebay, living off the remnants in my cupboards and freezer, and sadly having a very non extravagant social life! Costs of things I haven't yet considered keep creeping up, and so far I still need to make a plan to cover travel insurance, a final hair appointment and a netbook. Luckily my injections are free, and will be crossed off the mammoth list tomorrow. (Not sure whether to be relieved ... read more

My last week in La Paz is somewhat of a blur if Im being honest. After Le Gran Poder, and few friends and me headed up to lake titicaca so that they could move on to Peru and that I could tick the last of my bolivia boxes. Eliot and I ignored lonely planets advice about not taking the minivans and the rest of the group took one of the tourist buses. Im not entirely sure why lonely planet discourages these, as they were significantly faster and just as comfy, also your less likely to be robbed as theres only 10 people on them. We finally got to Copacabana about 3 hours later and whilst waiting for the others found a pretty decent hostel for £2.5 a night. That evening we headed up to the view ... read more

After a wonderfully smooth and quiet sail through the night, we docked in Southampton at 6.30 this morning. We were lucky to be in the last group to leave the ship so had lots of time for another light breakfast. Of course, we didn't actually have a light breakfast. We chose to have a whacking great feast on the excuse that it was the last breakfast anyone is likely to cook for us until our next cruise in September. We wandered off the ship at about half ten and then the nightmare of our outward journey returned. What is it about half term and traffic in Southampton? It took us an hour to get out the other side of the city. But out of it we got and then trundled up the M3 to Reading. We ... read more