Tag: food

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…..

Day 9 & 10 – Saturday & Sunday 18th & 19th May 2024 – Going home from our Cornish Staycation.

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We set off from Par at 9.00 am Saturday morning. We headed to Liskard and then through some wonderfully scenic villages and countryside onto the A38 passing over the Tamar Bridge at a cost of £2.60, towards Exeter and the M5.

We stopped in Kingsteignton, at my sisters, for coffee and cake. A very welcomed break. We were expecting the next section of our trip to be very busy, because the annual Devon County Show was on…..however we had a good run through, stopping at Westbury Station for our picnic lunch. John took a couple of train related photos.
We continued our trip to our overnight accommodation. We had decided to stay at The Schoolhouse Restaurant and Hotel. This quaint hotel is set in a Victorian building which is 2.8 miles from junction 16 of the M4, and 3 miles from Lydiard Park. It is an ideal stop off for dinner and accommodation enroute from Cornwall back to Bedford. The hotel is situated in Hook, a quiet hamlet surrounded by peaceful countryside between Swindon and Royal Wootton Bassett.

The former schoolhouse was built in 1859 and was the village school up-until 1965. In 1989 the School House Restaurant was expanded to include hotel accommodation. The restaurant seves it’s meals in the old school dining hall. A lot of the historical features were retained and these make it the quaint and quirky place it is today.

The Schoolhouse Hotel and restaurant are a small family run establishment . The first time we visited was in 2017, we were greeted by Fred, the dog, and Karen , while Tonny was in the kitchen preparing his delicious food. This time we visited and we were greeted warmly by Karen. Unfortunately Fred had passed away the week before, he will definitely be missed not just by Karen and Tonny, but also by returning visitors. Karen showed us to our rooms. Dad was in The Bedfordshire, whilst John and I were once again in The Eton. The rooms are a throw back to olden times in terms of furniture and decoration with all modern comforts such as tv, iron & board, kettle, USB ports etc.
Our evening meal was served in the old school dinning room.

The food which has a European influence, is cooked to perfection with your plate looking non fussy but very artistic. We each had a a main course and a desert.
My main course was Breast of duck served in a bacon and strawberry jus.

John had a beef bourguignon with rice.

Dad had Fillet of Pork with backed apple in an apple jus.

All were each served with a delightful side plate of perfectly cooked vegetables.

For dessert John and I both choose a sort of large spring roll stuffed with apple at each end and goats cheese in the middle….it was so yummy. Dad had a very tasty Bread and Butter pudding with custard……

Wow!!! it was a really lovely meal…if we lived nearer we would use this restaurant more regularly …a great place to enjoy really good food. We have eaten in Mitchelin Star restaurants on lots of occasions and the food at The Schoolhouse restaurant ranks as some of the best we’ve ever had……..if you’ve not been you need to go.

We retired to our rooms with the warm glow which comes when you know you’ve had a great meal. We all had a good nights sleep. Breakfast is served in the hotel entrance hall….the choice is varied to meet all tastes. We all went for The School House full breakfast…..bacon, sausages, 2 beautifully poached eggs, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, potatoes, black pudding and fried bread……I swapped my beans, black pudding and tomato for toast….wow ….we also had a 10/10 cup of coffee ( the first of the holiday !!) and some orange juice….

Shortly before 10am we waddled out to the car and headed for home. We had been going to stop for lunch but we were so stuffed from breakfast that we didn’t want to eat again.

What a great last night to our week in Cornwall……a lovely holiday …opps sorry I meant …staycation. Thank you John and Dad for yet another lovely week exploring our own country.

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Day 7 – Thursday 16th May 2024 – Par to Looe – Cornwall Staycation.

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We left the house, in a blaze of sunshine (Yeah!!!), at 10.15am in the car, I dropped John, Dad and Little Betty (dads little mobility scooter) at Par station, and went and parked up the side of The Royal pub. John got the tickets to Looe, he got a group ticket which worked out at £5.70 each…this was the cheapest way for us to travel in Cornwall….this was different than earlier in the week because then we were going across county bounties into Devon as well as Cornwall, so individual tickets were cheaper. John carried Little Betty over the bridge and we were soon on the train to Plymouth….3 stops later we were at Liskeard. We’d never really realised how many Rhododendrons there are lining the railway line as well as the little lanes in Cornwall. So the short trip was very colourful. We disembarked at Liskeard and walked across the road to platform 3 to catch the branch line to Looe. John managed to pull Little Betty very easily….it was her first time on a train so it was all a bit trail and error. We waited only a few minutes for the little two carriage train to arrive….

……it’s important to remember that if you prefer a forward facing seat start with your back facing down the line because after just 5 minutes it’s stops and the Train Manager puts a key in a junction box which instructs the signal department in Exeter to change the points. The driver walks from one end to the other and the train starts again going in the opposite direction so you are then facing forward. It is an entertaining trip, we saw a deer. A grass clearing, sheep, cows and calves. The train runs along the east side of the River Looe, which is tidal with lots of water bird life on the mudflats when the tides out.

Looe is a coastal town in south-east Cornwall, England, with a population of around 5,280. It is 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth and seven miles (11 km) south of Liskeard divided in two by the River Looe – East Looe and West Looe are connected by a bridge and the two town centre are separated by the harbour and quaysides of the river.

It is renown for its lovely Sandy beaches.
The train station is a short distance from the East Town Centre. Dad hoped on Little Betty and we were soon on our way.

We prefer the East Looe side and we weaved our way down the predominantly pedestrianised main high street. I stooped off at one of my favourite shops ‘Whistlefish’ to pick up a little something extra for my sisters birthday. It’s a lovely shop and I always call in to buy something, basically because it’s nice seeing shops like this survive in these hard times.
Looe remains a fishing town, and has retained a fish dealer operating from the East Looe quayside. It has a fleet of small fishing boats returning their catches to port daily, Looe has a reputation for procuring excellent fresh fish. The town is also a centre for shark fishing. When you walk along the quayside there are lots of adverts for fishing trips and boat trips, also lots of shops selling ‘crab lines’ and pople stood hanging their lines over the harbour edge. We crossed the road from Whistlefish to the dock side where the fish shop is. I purchased 3 dressed crabs for tomorrow nights supper…..I naively thought they would be cheaper than in our fish shop at home ….after all the ship offloads it’s catch here so there is no middle man or transport costs…but my husband says I don’t understand the basic rules of economic business so I was flabbergasted hat 3 crabs were £29.96…. Nearly £10 a crab…I hope they’ll be tasty !!!!!

We continued along the quay to the end where the Life boat house and shop is. Behind it is a lovely area with the Pier Cafe both an indoor and outdoor eatery. We chose to eat inside and all 3 of us had Fish Goujons chips, we had 2 Pepsi Max and an apple juice which cost is £52.00 …it was really fresh and had a lovely taste…a very nice meal.

After lunch we used the public toilets which were a very good standard and we sat enjoying 5he sun watching people swimming in the sea and playing on the sand.

We retraced our steps back to the station, stopping at one of the many cake shops to pick up a tasty morsel to go with our sandwich for supper.
We were quite impressed that Dad managed to get all around Looe on this little scooter, although the pavements are quite narrow he is a skilful driver and the pavements have drop down kerb’s in all the strategic crossing places. We were very pleased we had taken the scooter with us because by the time we got back to Par I had done nearly 7000 steps….far too many for these little legs!!!

A lovely day out in such a pretty, typically English seaside town.