Tag: hotels

Day 5 – Friday 31st May 2024-Cefalonia -Greek Island Cruise and other places.

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Last nights show, in the theatre, was a musical tribute to some of the biggest icons for the last 70 years…. It wasn’t the best we’ve seen… only two sang and the rest was recorded backing vocals and dancing… nothing really to write home about so I’ll leave it there and move on to Day 5 ….

This morning we woke without the alarm and got up… hard decisions to make… does one put ones one peice swimming costume before breakfast and hope you don’t need the toilet or does one change on the beach…. Ummm … I risked it and struggled into rent a tent!! Pulling a large T-shirt and my standard white baggy linen trousers …. Right! ready for breakfast… we couldn’t decide which restaurant served breakfast so once again we braved the buffet. This time we tried the other side and although it may have been my imagination it seemed less manic. I spied a free table and endeavoured to reach it, politely asking a gentleman, who was sat in the aisle with his adoring 15 strong family around him, to “excuse be” whilst gesturing Incase he didn’t understand me…. No response!!!
Well!!! There’s some truth in the saying “if you can’t beat them join them” !!! So mustering all my strength I barged passed his chair almost catapulting him under the table .. all done with a lovely smile and an “oops so sorry”… I think he got the idea and shuffled his chair in to let John pass. Yeah! We have a table … from there on breakfast was quite simple…. Noisy but at least we could get to the food. …….. oh no !!! I did need the toilet … so I raced back to the cabin whilst John finished his coffee… dilemma overcome and we still make it to the theatre for our excursion in good time even though John is shaking his head at me in dispair…. Obviously not convinced that my tactics were brilliantly executed !!!!
Bus Numero 12 was called luckily our French is better than our non existent Italian so when the caller forgets the English we still have some idea of what’s going on…

Today is our beach day…. I just love swimming in the sea so I am like “tigger” bouncing and bounding around. The coach took about 20 minutes to get to an area above a Sandy beach resort. It was Makris Gialos Beach and the beach facility was called Costa Costa beach. The track was quite steep and wound down onto a lovely yellow Sandy beach. Two loungers and a parasol were €30 , which we willingly paid…

We quickly stripped down to our swim suits and went straight into the sea… a few of our fellow beach goers squealed as they paddled in the cool ripples. But we are British we are made of stronger stuff than that !!! Out we waded and 1..2…3… we were in…. It was lovely , only taking seconds for our bodies to acclimatise to the temperature of the soothing sea… we swam, bobbed about and enjoyed the submergance.

Some considerable time later we took up residency on our loungers.

We did a repeat of this 3 times. Our lounger time was spent people watching and laughing in amazement at the adaptation of a paddle boat.

A lovely time spent on the beach. John played in the sand for a while !!!

We changed out of our wet costumes and meandered up to the bar for a Coke Zero.

We returned up the steep track and fortunately the bus was already there. He had just prevented a couple from embarking but I blew him a kiss and he opened the door…. I was probably the only person who had thanked him when he had dropped us off… he also turned the aircon up and gave me the thumbs up I blew him another kiss…

On returning to the ship we had a quick salad lunch and a Magic Island Mock-tail in our nearest bar before retiring for a siesta…. I went out like a light and only woke in time to shower and change for supper.

Now let me tell you about the shower … it is a sort of triangle with the longest straight side being about 2 foot and the other straight side being about 18 inches. To wash one’s hair you need to stick your head in the corner under the water meaning your derrière pushes itself out and becomes shrouded in the shower curtain. The opposite happens when you wash your derrière with your head pushed against the shower curtain… it really would pay to be a contortionist… if anyone has found an easier way to use this tiny shower I am open to ideas!!!!

Having completed the task, dried hair, ‘booted and suited’ we headed for the dining room…. Once again we had a wake view in Salem’s area. A nice menu allowed for a pleasant meal.

A quick night cap and we’re off for an early night as we have a busy day tomorrow….. So after applying copious amount of moisturiser to my lobster pink front, back and nose!!!!… we will say good night until we reach Bari.

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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Cornwall Staycation…..Day 1 – The Journey!!

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We are off for a weeks holiday in Cornwall, the southwesterly tip of England. It is one of our favourite holiday destinations when we are staying in our home country. Before the pandemic we just called it a holiday now we call it by the rather grandiose name of a ‘Staycation’ !

We set off from home this morning and drove across to my 93 year old Dads house to pick him up. We had an extra companion today as dad has purchased ‘Little Betty’ ( a fold up, pull along one piece mobility scooter), and she sat proudly next to him on the back seat. How we fitted the usual amount of luggage in as well as Little Betty is beyond me…but with a fair amount of pushing and shoving and a few choice words we finally shut all the doors and set off at 10.00 am.

We made good progress with very few hold-ups, on a road much travelled by us. Heading straight through Bicester and on to the A34 then turning to Swindon on the A420. There is a delightful restaurant and Motel called Mollies, on this road. A room would cost you about £75.00 per night….but I am ashamed to say we only usually stop to use their very plush facilities!!!
On reaching Swindon we joined the M4 west towards Bristol exiting at junction 17. From here we took the A350 signposted to Poole, bi-passing Chippenham and through Melksham towards Westbury. Dad likes going this way as he had 6 weeks training in Melksham when he was drafted to the RAF for his National Service in 1955 until 1957. We are always interested when Dad talks about his past….his actual main posting was at RAF Upwood, near Ramsey. We’ve taken him to visit this now derelict shell, which has been vandalised and graffitied all over….Anyway I digress……..When we got close to Westbury we wound our way down a farm track and parked up near the railway line….this is a spot we know well and have spent many a relaxing day with John photographing trains and Dad and myself enjoying the beauty of the unspoiled countryside around us…….we were actually here when I read on my iPad, the up to date news, that Boris Johnson was putting the country in lockdown……we had to race back to our hotel and pack up and drive the 3.5 hours journey home….again I digress… today we sat and had coffee and our sandwiches, enjoying watching my dearest husbands jubilation at photographing a few trains he hasn’t already seen this year.

I also decided to book us into a rather quirky hotel on our return journey. John and I had stayed at The School House and Restaurant at Wootton Bassett a few years ago and decided Dad really ought to share the experience…..I won’t tell you all about it now but I will say it really is a good stop over, lovely rooms, great food and superb hosts and I include the dog in that!!!! I tried phoning to make the reservation but had to leave a message……more on this in a minute or two……

We continued our trip on to Westbury Station, John likes it there as there are usually freight locos stabled up. Today was no exception. We dropped him off and he said he’d phone when he was ready to be picked up.

Dad and I drove around to a small Youth Sailing lake and watched the boats and enjoyed seeing the very young goslings. On returning to the drop off area of the station the phone rang and thinking it was John I answered in my best Policeman Plod voice “Hello! Hello! Hello!”. I was absolutely flabbergasted when a female voice laughingly replied “Hello! Hello! Hello!”, ….oh dear … I felt obliged to explain that I thought she was my husband calling to be picked up…..Dad was laughing his socks off…..needless to say it was the owner of the School House Hotel. Yes! I think she thought I was totally mad….but she took our booking £76.60 per night for a double room bed and breakfast, she also booked us a table in the restaurant. We will look forward to this as the last night of our holiday.

I had just finished my conversation with her and John walked out of the station saw us and once again we were on our way. This time only a few miles to Frome where we are staying overnight in The Premier Inn. Again we’ve stayed here several times before, it’s comfortable and a convenient stopover as Cornwall is really too far for us to drive in one go, it also has a “Beefeater” next to it and at £75.00 a night per room -room only, you can’t really go far wrong. A bit of a tip about Premier Inns if you have a request like us :- two ground floor rooms next to each other, you need to phone them directly and request it with your booking number, because if you fill it in on the special request form when you book it goes no further than Central reservations….. the actual hotel can’t see your online special requests….anyway, there was a lift and the receptionist did manage to get the rooms just one room apart so we were grateful…we were also grateful that she told us why our request hadn’t been honoured…this isn’t the first time Premier Inn hasn’t honoured our requests so at least now we know why….Nice rooms but be warned..no air conditioning and the windows only opens a couple of inches…..

Tomorrow we go to the house, in Par, Cornwall, which we have hired for the week …

Bangkok, Thailand – BEEN THERE GOT THE T-SHIRT

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Thailands official name is the Kingdom of Thailand. It was historically known as Siam (until 1939 ). It is a Southeast Asian country situated on the Indochina Peninsula. It is bordered by Myanmar to the northeast, Loas to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, Malaysia and the Golf of Thailand to the south and the Andaman Sea to the southwest. It shares maritime borders with Vietnam to the southeast and Indonesia and India to the southwest.
Thailand is a large country with a population of almost 70 million, it spans 513,120 square kilometres (198,120 sq miles). It’s known for tropical beaches, opulent royal palaces, ancient ruins and ornate temples displaying figures of Buddha. Bangkok is the state capital and largest city. It is an ultramodern city mixed with quiet canalside communities and the famous temples of Wat Arun, Wat Pho and the Emerald Buddha Temple (Wat Phra Kaew). 

Bangkok is within easy reach of beach resorts such as  bustling Pattaya and fashionable Hua Hin. Both are wonderful places to visit. Pattaya has some superb hotels and a very beautiful cultural centre which not only has cultural shows but also beautiful gardens and orchids. Hua Hin is also on the Golf of Thailand heading down towards Malaysia it is also close to the island of Koh Samui. The train goes regularly from Bangkok. I can thoroughly recommend the delightful Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas. It used to be a Sofitel Hotel and prior to that it was known as The Railway Hotel. The Railway Hotel started back in the early 1920’s when the railway line from Hua Hin to Padang Besar in Malaysia was built. The Railway Hotel  opened its doors and transformed the sleepy fishing village of Hua Hin into a stylish seaside escape. Full of colonial historical architecture this beautifully preserved hotel is one of the most famous heritage hotels in Asia. Situated amid lawns, topography creations including elephant shaped bushes  and a wonderful stretch of sand makes it an idyllic place to stay….It is also famous for being in the Killing Fields film.

But I digress back to Bangkok….Our ship docked at Laem Chabang Port, in the Golf of Thailand, it is located around 80 miles ( 130 km) from Bangkok. The nearest town to the dock is 

Pattaya which is 25 miles (40 km) to the south. Travel time between Laem Chabang port and Bangkok is between 1 h 30 min and 2 hours. Pattaya is no more than 40 minutes away. Many of the cruise ships excursions are to Pattaya, a beautiful area with much to offer. However, having lived and worked just 30 minutes away in Ban Chan Village I knew the area very well, so we decided to take an excursion into Bangkok. It was Johns first experience of the capital city. ……..a funny little tale but something to remember if you’re thinking of staying in Bangkok…many years ago….the first time I visited I booked into what sounded in the write up a nice central and relatively cheap hotel, not far from the famous Mandarin Oriental ….after the first day the lovely reception and breakfast staff were calling me by my first name, sitting down and chatting with me I asked if they were always as friendly to their guest and I was told they’d never had any one stay  3 full days, most their customers paid by the hour!!!!!! ……yes I had booked into a brothel!! Albeit a very friendly one !!!!

Back to our excursion to Bangkok…..our trip into the capital was a scenic one.

Our first stop was Wat Traimit Temple, which houses the Golden Buddha, one of the world’s largest statues of the Buddha, carved from solid gold and weighing 5.5 tonnes. 

This was followed by a leisurely cruise on the Chao Phraya River and the canals we saw the floating market and the back of temples. We were also given bread to feed some huge fish.

This was then followed by a walking tour of Bangkok’s Grand Palace, where we viewed the famous Wat Phra Kaeo, which is often known as the Royal Chapel of the Emerald Buddha. This is one of Buddhism’s most magnificent monasteries and one of Thailand’s most celebrated sites. At the heart of the monastery is a Buddha carved from a single piece of emerald-green jasper, perched atop a gilded pedestal. I have to admit it was a lot smaller than I had expected, and perhaps all the gold and glitz around it overshadows it and I was left feeling a little underwhelmed. I don’t know why because I’d seen it before  and remembered feeling disappointed then, so I should have been prepared second time around ….the opulence of all the gold around you is quite overwhelming in its splendour. We were rushed around the palace  because our guide said it was too hot to be out in the heat and some of our group were suffering ….it was a real shame as we had come prepared for the heat….So all too quickly we were whisked away..

Our final stop was at a shop, back towards the dock, which sold jewellery, silk, fabric, wood carvings, souvenirs of all types to suit all pockets….we of course bought a t-shirt for John !!! 

A great day out …..Bangkok is definitely a place to visit…but several days would be better than trying to cram it all into a one day excursion. We can really recommend it as part of a visit to Thailand.

Hotels We Enjoyed Staying in During Our Trip to Sri Lanka

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We stayed in quite a few hotels and guest houses on what is the usual tourist route around Sri Lanka.
1) On arriving in Sri Lanka we spent the first 3 nights At Ayubowan Guest House in Negombo.

This is within walking distance of the town centre, the beach and some good restaurants- we can recommend The White House and Sea View restaurants…great sea food and curries.

The Ayubowan Guest is owned by Brenda and Ron, who originate from Kent in the UK. The guest house is very well run. We originally had an upstairs room, which was big and airy it’s private bathroom was not en-suite just a couple of metres down the private corridor. However I wasn’t very comfortable with this arrangement and we had wanted a downstairs en-suit room. So the next day Brenda had her very obliging staff move us to a lovely downstairs room. This wasn’t as big but it had a nice en-suite, opened on to the veranda and more importantly, for comfort, the air conditioning didn’t blow directly on to the bed…so the room was cool without freezing you in bed.
Breakfast was either a Sri Lankan breakfast which Brenda told us was very spicy hot, or a British Breakfast…. We opted for the British. It was fresh fruit followed by bacon, sausage and egg and toast and jams. It was all very pleasant, we met some nice guests and enjoyed the swimming pool. You need to be aware that you can’t use a credit card here. Brenda was happy to call Patrick, her regular tuk-tuk driver, to take us to restaurants and return us…each trip was about 500 SLK rupees….which we later decided was far to much but we paid what he asked and at about £2.60 a round trip it wasn’t really worth the hassle of bartering.

2). Our second recommended hotel is Hotel 4U Salina Gardens in Anuradhapura, ( You will note that it’s not the 2nd hotel we stayed in as we really couldn’t recommend that one). We liked this from the moment we arrived. It wasn’t a very salubrious area and the entrance looked vaguely like a building site…but don’t be put off…the reception was lovely, we were greeted by two lovely ladies who really tried hard to meet our every need. We had requested ground floor on all accommodation but once again we were booked upstairs, but the ladies soon sorted it out and changed our booking to a large en-suite room which opened on to a veranda overlooking the pool.

They even offered to set a table down stairs as the restaurant was upstairs…we did however go up stairs and had a table overlooking the pool. The friendly German Shepherd dog escorted us around, usually with one of his toys to throw for him.

The menu was the most extensive we had anywhere we stayed…it wasn’t cordon bleu, it was however well cooked and very tasty at a very reasonable price.

From this hotel you can go to the main gate of Wilpattu ( wish we’d known this) and also explore Anuradhapura. It’s a great base…set around beautiful gardens. On the morning we checked out we met the owner….we’d actually met him the day before without realising as he was tending the garden and checking the pool…which was spotless. The owner was a delightful, elderly gentleman who had built the whole hotel himself, from the design to the construction. We loved this place…it was very reasonably priced and although not posh, it was very comfortable with everything you needed. You can use a credit card her.
3). Lavendish Wild Safari Hotel, was one place we hadn’t expected to stay…but due to a slight mix up with our travel arrangements our tour company booked us in here. It was like most chain hotels, very pleasant, nice big en-suite rooms, lovely views, nice restaurant….a word of warning if it’s a buffet evening meal get there early or most the food will be gone and you are left with little choice…..the hotel is a bit impersonal and you fit in around them rather than them meeting your needs…we wanted to be out for Safari at 6.00am so needed a packed breakfast but the kitchen didn’t start until 6.00am in fact a few staff dawdled in at 6.15am and even though our guide and the jeep driver did their best to chivvy them on we didn’t get off until 6.30am. The good thing about this hotel is that it’s only about 10/15 minutes from the Wasgamuwa National Park gate. They do take credit card here.

4). Our absolutely favourite hotel came next on our trip..The Elegant Hotel Kandy. It is fact about 15 minutes outside Kandy. Absolutely superb hotel. Immaculately trained staff, lovely welcome, beautiful room with amazing views. Great menu, wonderful food which was serenaded by two singers with a guitar.

The pool was very welcomed and beautiful views. The gardens were nice to wander around..it was a deluxe hotel which certainly lived up to its excellent reputation. It was the perfect place to relax.

They took credit card. It was well situated for the tooth temple, a Kandy Evening street food walk with guide, a cultural show, the botanical gardens and of course the train station.

5). Our 5th recommended hotel is Beach & Bliss in Mirissa…yes we have missed Ella and Yala out- my mother used to say if you can’t say end thing good about something don’t say anything at all …although the hotel in Ella did have a fabulous view…I really can’t think of anything good to say about the hotel in Yala, where we stopped 4 nights and had to put up with unpleasant food, a room which wasn’t cleaned or made up even though we asked for it to be and we even had to provide our own loo roll because we asked for some more and it was not forthcoming…..so we jump ahead to Mirissa….we were supposed to be booked into the same hotel for 4 nights but once again the Sri Lankan booking agent had made a mistake and we were only booked in for 3 nights. Our guide and driver sorted it out and we spent a night at Beah & Bliss. The beach is actually a short walk along as it was pretty rocky in front of the hotel… The manager was really kind and switched all his bookings around so that I could be on a first floor room…we laid around the pool looking out to sea… we had a fabulous evening meal and a good breakfast the next morning.

6). Sea World Botique hotel …finally we book in for our 3 nights…rather disappointed that we didn’t have a sea view room …if you book here you must book a sea view room ..the other rooms are on a noisy road and very, very small. The sea View room we were moved into after our first night was divine …the crashing waves, fantastic view, lovely balcony, huge room, big bed…loads of power points, massive bathroom and a spa shower…

We enjoyed the sun deck and the breakfast and the one evening meal we had there. They take credit card but prefer cash. The staff are very helpful and kind. It is ideally situated for using the restaurants on the beach in Mirissa and for a whale watching trip.

7). Sapphire Seas Hotel in Hikkaduwa is our final recommended hotel. It is right on a superb stretch of golden sand. We had a wonderful room on the second floor….there is a lift ( it didn’t always work when the electricity was of low wattage in the evening !!!) we had a wrap-around balcony so we could see the beach and sea from two different aspects. It was a massive room with a nice big bed and a fairly small en-suite bathroom with a shower. The electricity was strange in this hotel…sometimes the sockets and lights worked sometimes they didn’t…but if you tried them all you usually found a few to work…..but that aside ..nothing dull the awe and wonder of the beautiful seascapes from this room.

During the day there are loungers on a deck overlooking the sea and the pool. The food and beverage manager is really nice and friendly and organises his team to move the shades as the sun moves.

The restaurant is excellent ..the chief a talented man with a good sense of humour and a talented cook, he’ll even ask what fish you want to eat before he heads off to buy it.

This hotel is great for relaxing and a good base to visit Galle, a turtle sanctuary and a tsunami remembrance museum.