Tag: food

Reflection of 2025

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Firstly and foremost John and I wish you happy festivities wherever you are in the world .

2025 started slowly for us. John had two eye operations which slowed our travelling down. We also had a February deadline for another of our books – “50 Gems of Bedfordshire” it will be published February 2026 by Amberley Books. …I think this will be about Johns 30th book with Amberley Publishers…and my 2nd!

In April we headed to Norfolk with my Dad. We hired a lovely bungalow near Sheringham for a week. What a lovely week it was, meandering around our beautiful countryside.

May saw John and I heading to Portugal and Southern Spain….we fell in love with Praia de Luz ….wonderful apartment for a week, super beach, restaurants and “Jackson Mystery Tours” around the countryside….(that’s Johns name for exploring and getting lost).

A wonderfully relaxing and “chill out” time.

We travelled up to Spain and spent time in an intriguing village called El Rocio….a real throw back place on the edge of a national park which is home to the highest number of Iberian Lynx in Spain…needless to say we didn’t see one…but we did very much enjoy our time there.

We travelled on up to Seville for a week…hiring a strange apartment in a residential block. We enjoyed the Cathedral, horses and carriage sight seeing, a river cruise and a flamenco show.

Driving back into Portugal we stayed a week in a holiday complex apartment near Albuferia….ummm not one of our best accommodation choices…. But we made the most of it with beach days and exploring the area.

Back in the UK we had a variety of days out with Dad, such as a coffee on a longboat on the Grand Union Canal

The end of July we headed for Devon. A fantastic occasion which saw my sister as a truly radiant bride as she married Mark….a day which was such a happy occasion.

September came and yippee! we were off to South Africa…..

Much joy as we met up with good friend Gill and our dearest Cora

Then off to Kruger for 3 weeks of heaven…..this year we started at the most southern point and went right up to the northern tip……Mother Nature blessed us and we saw some truly magnificent sights…

Our cameras didn’t stop clicking…but we did take a few shots of people..

And of course there were some fantastic sunsets…

Back to the UK we went with Dad to the New Forest in mid November…although it was cold it was still fabulous to see the ponies and we sat watching them on several occasions from what was my mums favourite spot….a joyful occasion we repeat every year…

As we reach the end of 2025 there is nothing left to say except to wish all our followers a Very Happy 2026…we hope your year is filled with adventures, laughter and love.

Jenny & John

Portugal & Southern Spain trip – Day 8- Saturday 17th May 2025 – Leaving Portugal and travelling back in time to “The Wild West”.

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We were packed up and ready to go by 9.56 precisely!! We bid a fond farewell to our lovely apartment and headed out of town to the N125 then took the A20 to the A22. It was strange watching all the place names on the signs with the last name in capitals- Espanha…Spain…that was where we were heading. We didn’t actually realise that we were in Spain until my phone bleeped and we had gained an hour. We also went over a fairly spectacular bridge so we thought this was probably the two countries land boarders……The road also changed names from the A22 to the A49…..So Spain here we are !!!!

We were fascinated by the storks nests at the top of virtually every pylon. We continued on until junction 50 when we turned onto the A483. The roads were all good, dual carriage ways. We suddenly dropped to a two way road and taking the sign to El Rocio we immediately started driving on quite deep sand. ……wow, wow, wow all the white buildings had wooden rails outside for tethering your horse. We found what we thought was the main Square and stopped to ask the way….we were sent in completely the wrong direction… and had to stop and ask again ….we were sent back to where we had come from…..we found a parking one of the much queued for limited spaces ….but we still couldn’t see our hotel. I went in a saddlery shop and the lady took me outside and said 3 doors down….it was a horse only road….so we left the car where it was and walked the short distance. Sure enough there was our hotel….Hospederia El Cazadero Real.
Checking in was a drawn out process, because, although we later found out most the guests were English speaking, the receptionist didn’t speak any English…..anyway after paying the €260 for 3 nights we were shown to our room. I had requested ground floor and had been told it was an inside room, I had asked if it had a window and was told the window had a buildings view…….ummmm If the window had opened, which it didn’t, it was boarded up, it would have looked at the breakfast serving area. There was a small double bed with about a foot of room each side so you had to walk sideways to get into bed. There was a chair at the bottom of the bed then the very bijou bathroom and shower. To be quite honest the shower was bigger than the rest of the bathroom and almost big enough to sleep in….to say we were disappointed was an understatement….weve not had a room this small before and I can assure you we won’t be having one again !!! But C’est la vive……there was a nice communal outside terrace overlooking the lake/ marshlands and the square where horse rides, and horse and cart trips take place.

All along the street there were Spanish dress shops and traditional riding dress shop, lots of leather wear…the flamenco style dresses were magnificent in all vibrant colours.

We decide to take a wander, to lift our spirits after the shock of our room…my dad would call it a Kyle room- very petite but with everything in the right place!!!!…… only trouble was it didn’t have anything in the right place!!! So we took off on foot, walked around to where the horses were and paid €20 each for a 20 minute horse and cart ride. The driver didn’t speak any English and insisted on smacking and playing loud music on his phone…. But we did see the town of El Rocio in a traditional way.

Our driver seemed to know how to ask for a tip, which we refused. We ate a plate of ham, which was a bit like biltong in the square for lunch. We then walked up to the church. Inside it was extremely ornate, very beautiful.

We decided not to siesta but took a rest on our hotels roof terrace. As supper approached we googled the restaurant the receptionist had given us and off we went…..it may have said 6 minutes walk but in that deep sand it seemed far further. We got there at 7.00 pm to be told it didn’t open until 8.00 pm…..so we walked all the way back and settled for a restaurant near our hotel adjacent to the church. It also didn’t open until 8.00 pm so we sat having a Coke Zero whilst watching the beautifully dressed ladies, in traditional Spanish Flamenco dresses, and their husbands in their boater type hats, coming and going to church. The restaurant owner was very kind and although he spoke no English he happily typed into my Google translator and hey presto we had lightly grilled tuna steaks with chips, followed by cake…..

What an amazing place this is…a real living throw back in time, it has refused to be modernised and their traditional way of life strongly lives on….we feel privileged to be here.

Portugal & Southern Spain Adventure – Day 5 – Wednesday 14th May – A Day on the Beach- Luz.

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We didn’t rush this morning as the sky was very blue and the sun was hot. We made some nice brioche rolls up with ham, cheese and salami and took some crisps for our lunch…I wonder are you “A crisps in, or a crisps out” person…..John is definitely a crisps out where as I am very much a crisps in……We drove down to the beach, found a parking place straight away and hey presto we had quickly taken up residency….the wind was fairly brisk but the sun was very hot.
We both decided to take a dip so we strode out with determination and confidence to the edge of the sea…”ouch” cold or what…..but we persisted John up to his calves and me up to my bottom…after a mere few seconds we looked at each other and both said “nah”. It was a very hasty retreat back to the ever faithful warm comfort of the chairs. We sat for an hour or so watching a few extremely brave soles stride in dip their shoulders under and run out.
Just before lunch I decided to give it another go . This time I got as deep as my chest before once again beating a hasty retreat…..time for lunch …..

Whilst eating lunch a hopeful beggar arrived but we refrained from giving him anything.

By 2.00 pm John decided I was getting too lobster pink and we left the beach and returned to the apartments pool, where there was plenty of shade. I finally got a much yearned for swim…in the pool!,

Then time for a siesta back at the apartment. For those of you who know John, you will know he always denies having 40 winks……..the proof is in the picture ……

We decided to have a drive around Luz before supper. We had hoped to find another nice restaurant. Every eatery seemed to be pizza or tapas or 2 Indian restaurants. So we saw the church and returned to A Concha for a nice meal. We were peckish so we both had shrimp pate followed by grilled sea bass and then I had apple tart and John had chocolate cake and ice cream, washed down with a Coke Zero each…..all for the sum of €64.40. This really is a great place with superb friendly service and very reasonably priced for the quality of the food……our seafood diet continues.

Another wonderful day in the Algrave.

Portugal & Southern Spain – Sunday 11th May – Exploring Luz

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We were awoken by the sound of the bird chorus…….there is a nest full of Swallows right outside our front door, on top of the security camera…hopefully we’ll be able to share a picture with you over the forthcoming days. On opening the electric shutters the bright blue sunny sky showed a promise of a wonderfully warm day. Feeling ready for breakfast we googled the nearest supermarket and off we went in our spacious chariot. It wasn’t difficult to find and now we understand the basic oneway system we are getting around easily.
We found the Baptista Supermarket with its spacious carpark. For the then and now we bought a couple of croissants and a couple of sausage rolls. We also got yogurts, fruit, bread, butter and marmite for future breakfasts and Portuguese rolls, cheese, ham and salami for lunches, water, Coke Zero and a few yum, yums to snack on…all of which came to €52 …. Our much cheaper. preference to eating out for breakfast and lunch and also the reason we get an apartment rather than always having a hotel room…it’s nice to mix and match a bit…

We took our breakfast down to the beach front and sat eating it overlooking a beach volleyball game and a great sea view backdrop.

With breakfast out of the way we took a leisurely stroll along the promenade. We are surprised how quiet it is. There are a few, mostly British holidaymakers around but pleasantly quiet and uncrowded. We stopped at a bar and had a couple of Coke zeros whilst watching the world go by…..there are no chairs for hire on the beach and quite a few people had their own deck chairs…a short term investment we may need to make. Some brave soles were venturing into what was obviously a very chilly sea. A british cycling club embarrassingly came past ringing their bells and telling walkers to “stand aside”……. How rude…..a few dog walkers met up and a few kids were rock pooling…altogether a wonderful way to spend a morning – people watching…

We returned to the apartment and dropped the food off before driving down the hill to the apartments pool area and taking up residency on sunloungers for an hour or two. A late lunch of ham and cheese rolls was had on our balcony overlooking the village and the sea. WhatsApp calls home brought us up to date with family news before a much needed siesta…… we must have been tired as we woke in-time to go for supper!!! I had researched another restaurant on the sea front. But when we got there it was shut…may be because it was a Sunday or because the season is only just beginning. So we wandered back to A Concha. We were greeted like long lost friends and sat, on our request, inside as the evenings we find a little chilly. The kind owner suggested a fish Cataplana – stew, which was absolutely delicious and huge….we followed it with a mousse and gateau.

We are now quite used to the short drive back up the steep winding, narrow road and retired back to our apartment. We watched some Prime TV and had a few camels of “ Five Crowns” before retiring to bed. A great first full day In Luz, Portugal.

Caribbean 2024 Day 1 & 2

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Yesterday we set off from home for a 3 week holiday. It is to celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary. Those of you who know us will remember John proposed to me in the Caribbean.

We flew directly to Miami..good flight…spoilt by the huge queue to get through immigration….just under 2 hrs we made it through…for the first time ever we used Uber for a lift to our hotel in Fort Lauderdale…it was $68 a good price…..how were we to know that there are several Marriott Courtyards of Federation Highway !! Another Uber for $21 got us to the right one. We were exhausted and went straight to bed…..Unfortunately our old red 10 year old cases had expired and we had brand new John Lewis yellow ones….one is already smiling at us!!

We woke up very early 3.00am ….Uk time was 7.00 am body clock all adrift!
After the necessary trip to the bathroom we both managed another long sleep and finally made it down for breakfast at 9.30am…USA time. We used our new skill to call another Uber and for $45 he took us to the port…dropping us at pier 21 to embark on the Enchanted Princess. Wow!!!… to say we were amazed is an understatement…the queue for the terminal went right the way to the end of the pier and back around again. It took us an hour to join the end of the queue and another hour and three quarters to embark on the ship…nearly 3 hours most of it queueing in the hot sun….come on Princess that is not good enough…..they should have allocated embarkation time slots like they used to, so that customs scanning doesn’t get overwhelmed … the actual embarking with Princess staff and getting our medallions was only a matter of minutes.
After dropping our carry-on bags off in our cabin…..an obstructed view balcony especially selected as it looks over the middle of the roof of the lifeboat…so I can’t look down and feel seasick…..there is always method in my madness!!! ….we hotfooted it up on to the sun deck for a Key West Cooler mocktail…”Cheers everyone!” And a light lunch – hummus, pitta bread, olives salad. Followed by fresh melon and pineapple…….lovely….two glasses of water and we are ready to fight the crowds for a slot on top deck to watch the sail away……..The usual array of singing, dancing, shouting, cheering, the “love boat tune” played on the ships horn and the pilot boats guided us out of the port 50 minutes late but yeah!!!! We are on our way.

Deciding we needed a rest we descended to our cabin….and our suitcases were already inside awaiting the unpacking….John kindly helped me and we soon had it all in the draws and wardrobes and the cases stashed neatly under the bed. Our cabin Steward for the next 20 nights came and introduced himself…”Lucky” from the Philippines. I think we are lucky because he instantly said he’d change the bar fridge for Diet Coke and he went and got us a kettle for our early morning coffee….which incidentally I bring with us….he also made certain that our shower has a flexible removal pipe, as I don’t like the fixed ones which don’t allow you to deep clean individual areas!!!!! I was very impressed with him so he will be lucky as I can already feel a big tip going his way..

So far so good….we have booked a table for supper at 6.20 every evening, so hopefully we won’t have to queue…but if we do we do…..

Two sea days now, then an island which is new to me..Tortola….but in the mean time let’s eat, drink and be merry…..