Holidays 2013

My sister and I are going on a cruise

• Ship: Norwegian Spirit
• from/to: Barcelona, Spain / Barcelona, Spain
• Departure: 4th Feb 2013 for 9 nights
• Ports of Call: Barcelona, Spain; Funchal, Madeira; Santa Cruz (Tenerife), Spain; Arrecife (Lanzarote), Spain; Málaga (Granada), Spain; Barcelona, Spain
• Cruise-Only

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We'll be having 3 weeks June-July in the village of Alykes on the greek island of Zakynthos. We booked way back in May as it's the only way we can get into the beach- front studio we want. We've been returning to Zakynthos now for about 20 years and now feel almost like locals and have many good friends there now.
With a bit of luck we'll spend a week or so on Cooper Island in the British Virgin Islands as our son may well end up with a job there and it would be essential that mum and dad went to visit!!
And between "hols" and looking after granddaughter we'll hopefully manage a few short escapes in the motor home to the highlands of Scotland.

 

Oh, for some sun! We didn't get a holiday this year and it's unlikely next year. My other half has recently been made redundant for the second time in a year.

 

Sorry Sheal xxxx

 

Crikey, that must be very demoralising!! Hope OH finds some employment - and a bit more permanent - very soon!

Many moons ago, when I was a single parent with 3 little 'uns, I remember feeling quite miffed that I couldn't afford to even take them for a day out at a theme park, let alone abroad. So, I decided we'd have a holiday at home. I checked out the local papers, went to the local tourist office and then planned outings of discovery around our home town: sights of interest, bit of history, free as much as possible etc. Took lots of pictures and we stuck them in an old fashioned sugar paper scrapbook. Items of interest included a little tuft of sheeps wool which had caught on the fence

Back in August this year, I desperately needed to get away; so I did! Not far, mind! Stayed in the same County, just visited a part of it I hadn't explored before. Two nights away and 3 days of exploring was really just the tonic. The change was most definately as good as a rest.

 

In order;
1] Queenstown (Sth Island). Winter sport capital of NZ and an all round fun place. I was sea sick on that lake.
2] Moeraki boulders (Sth Island). Great if you like big stones, but they're on the way to Dunedin which is an area that's worth a look.
3] Milford Sound (I think) (Sth Island too). The Milford Trek is a great walk if you have a few days.

 

We didn't have a holiday as such this year. We have a touring caravan stored on a site in Newton Abbot, and it's just a case of picking up the phone and asking them to put it onto one of their pitches. I guess we've used it maybe 6 times this year, and it's great for an extended weekend away. I DID miss getting away 'proper' this year, considering the :cough: summer we had this year. Plans are afoot for a cruise later on in the year, next year, when my B-I-Law celebrates his 60th. Trouble is, it's now been confirmed that my wife is to lose her job, in March. So all depends on whether she is able to find another job I could of course (funds permitting) take a less expensive holiday to a sun drenched destination, like one of the Greek isles (as I've done in the past), but I tend to get bored after a few days and am ready to come home after a week. Definitely NOT the case with a cruise My wife nagged me for several years about going on a cruise, before I finally relented. I'd always thought that a cruise was not my 'thing'. How wrong I was! Just goes to show, wives can be smarter than they seem

 

Freddy, sorry to hear Mrs Freddy will be losing here job in March and do hope something positive comes up.

Why do you have to go to somewhere 'sun-drenched' and get bored? I am by no means suggesting you come to Portugal but there are many Mediterranean countries where holidays 'away from the coast and beach' are an absolute delight and pleasure.

As we bought a fixed caravan/cabin a few months ago means we are giving up our 'expensive, exquisite holidays' albeit that they were here in Portugal. The cost of ours was down to where t'other half preferred to stay (5*) not my thing especially since he is a late riser and I don't like 5* food so spending €1,200 for 4 nights/5 days for me was not a holiday .... what was, was the scenery we saw and experienced ...

http://www.portugalvirtual.pt/_tourism/costadelisboa/costazul/naturezu.html

... on the plus side, it is only 2 1/2 hours drive from us so we could do a long day trip or an overnight stay in a B&B.

 

Hiya Vicky


Dunno if I've said before, but I went to Portugal for my 50th, 7 years ago. We stayed in the Algarve, (Albufeira). Of course, I realise that this is a typical touristy area, so I wouldn't make any judgements based on this. I think what did it for me, was the first cruise called 'Crimean Discovery' in which we visited places connected with the Crimean campaign (and the first world war). I really got a feel for history, especially past conflicts. One of the things that REALLY impressed me was the Panoramic Museum in Sevastopol.... http://isearch.avg.com/images?s=sid...3+19:05:15&sap=dsp&q=panoramic+museum+ukraine
Those pictures really don't do it justice, but being there, one really got a feel what it must have been like to be surrounded by the British and French forces.

I wouldn't call myself a culture vulture, and am certainly NOT an academic (), but my yearning in relation to holidays is to try to understand why things are the way they are, in historical terms. On our last cruise, we visited (amongst other places) Dubrovnik, where we could still see the bullet holes in the walls, created during the siege of 1991, quite recent.

A few years ago we went to Kefalonia, again very interesting in historical terms. Have you seen 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin'? A fictional account based on actual events.

Anyway, cruising works for me, as I get to see plenty in terms of variation and history. Oh yes, and the 'grub' ain't bad either!

 

Hi again Freddy

No, I did not know you were here 7 years ago. Albufeira is not a place we would choose to visit although it is only 20 minutes from us ... we live in the hinterlands northwest of it with very few neighbours and thousands of orange trees. However, we do frequent it as our doctors/dentist are there, and my favourite Chinese restaurant is on the beach at Praia da Oura, plus we frequent an English restaurant on The Strip (naughty I know, but nice) ....

We are not 'culture vultures' either, but Sis and B-in-L are and they probably know more about Algarve than we will ever know! We are also not into historical events as t'other half isn't interested in his American history and History was the one O-level I failed as I was so disinterested in the past, but still gained 8 others of more interest to me, including Geography and Art. We prefer the quieter life of nature ... wildlife, flora and fauna and its surroundings ... hence us buying the caravan/cabin on the river by the wetlands where the storks and flamingos gather.

Thank goodness we are all different and have our preferences or what a boring world this would be!

In saying the above, we have talked about taking cruises as it is so easy from here ... we don't fly any more!

 

Patagonia region of Argentina. That hotel is very expensive though!

 

We just got back from a week at the Gold Coast in southern eastern Queensland. We played golf everyday (except one day at the wet and wild theme park). They have beautiful golf courses down there, we had a wonderful time.

 

Some interesting places mentioned! Sorry you weren't impressed with Lanzerote Clueless. We went there some years ago and really enjoyed it but that resort is very commercialised. We stayed in the south of the island. The volcanic landscape down there is amazing, and there are some really nice 'off the beaten track' villages around the west coast.
Gran Canaria and Teneriffe are fabulous too but you need a car to see them better. There are lots of unspoilt places to visit.

 

So have you decided where you are going yet Rob?