My Trip To Norway

Hi Folks, as some will be aware, I am off to Denmark then Norway for a holiday this Friday 21 June 2013 until 4 July 20913, it will hopefully be a trip of a lifetime, because I have promised myself that I would get see the Norwegian Fjords, for many years.

It all started with meeting my friend Mykle in London last year and him showing me photos of where he now lives in Norway, also my reading his story of how he moved there and the trip he does each year to come back over to England. This was the inspiration I needed to start planning the trip. I decided that a blog was the easiest way for me to give updates of the adventure rather than endless e mails.

Because I was waiting for an operation until that was carried out and I had the all clear nothing definite could be planned, then next task was to obtain travel insurance, which I eventually resolved, so the idea could start to develop into reality. I had also discussed a holiday with my friend Brian who has featured in previous Blogs and our other friend Alan, we talked about different destinations and in the end settled on Copenhagen, we were going for a week, so we then started working out how to get there and where to stay,

I contacted Which Travel for advice on things to do and see, then contacted my friendly travel agents Sue to ask for her help. It seems that Scandinavia, other than by ship is not listed in most holiday brochures. Unfortunately, Alan decided in the end that he was not going with us so we ended up booking for 4 nights, the first being the summer solstice(longest day) we booked the flight and accommodation and I bought a new lens for my camera to capture all the things I am hoping to see on the trip.

We are also hoping for a trip to Malmo in Sweden to see the bridge between the two countries. Brian will return home after 4 nights and my real adventure will really start I said I was considering visiting Norway and may call to see Mykle and his wife Jean, Mykle kindly offered that I could stay with them when visiting the area that they live in as a result we spent a lot of time through e mail and phone calls trying to work out an itinerary for me, up to this time I did not really know where he was in Norway apart from the fact it was away from the towns and cities, plus that it gets very cold in the winter, eventually we sorted out a trip that would enable me to see some of the best parts and beautiful scenery there, my friend Brian said I may see elk and wolves and possibly beavers, seems he had not done his research that well as Mykle stated this was unlikely, they lived further north.

The trip from Copenhagen, will take me by plane to Bergen where I will be met by Mykle, then boat to Sogndal, from there by car to his home in Myklebust for a few days, then we travel back to Bergen by coach, and I will stay for 3 nights, I then travel from Bergen to Oslo by train which Mykle tells me is quite spectacular, then later that day fly back to London, where as it will be in the evening I will stay before returning home the following day.

Due to uncertainty about the weather I will take a mixture of clothes, I have bought a tablet computer so I can continue to record the trip for the blog, the tablet has been a learning curve for me, but my son spent some time showing me what the various functions are for. I had forgotten how many pieces of paper are needed when travelling independently, as well as medication, transformers for charging devices, and guides, unfortunately over the weekend my back has gone into spasm, so yesterday I saw an osteopath, the pain has not yet abated, if it does not improve before Thursday I will have to go and see GP for strong painkillers, as I am not going to cancel the holiday

An Incident at Manchester Airport

Embarrassing Incident At Manchester Airport Last weekend I travelled over to Ireland for my granddaughters 21st birthday, when I got to Manchester airport I could not believe how quiet it was and I sailed through security apart from having to take my shoes off and put them through the machine, not sure what that proved at all.
Not having had lunch I went and bought a meal Deal then found a convenient seat where I could see the departure board and my flight boarding gate, I put my MP3 player on, got my paper out and started to eat the sandwich,
I’m not quite sure why but I suddenly felt I was being watched, so looked up, the young man sat opposite, who looked very intense had a pad on his knee seemed to be staring at me, then doing something on his pad, being conceited I thought maybe he’s trying to sketch me, so continued with my food and reading. I’m not sure why but I started to think about what he was doing, so now started watching him,
he looked very very intent, and I suddenly noticed he was not drawing but writing notes. I couldn’t decide what to do, should I confronted him, should I try to absorb myself in my magazine music, should I move seats, the information desk was nearby, maybe I should mention it to them, in the end I decided to move across the way so I was not in his line of sight and see what happened,
what I noticed was that he continued with the same behaviour, I now started to wonder was it something to do with the till at Boots behind me, it all seemed rather odd.
A member of staff came and started working at the information desk, so I decided to have a word with her, I politely explained and said it was a gut feeling that something was not quite right, she asked me what she wanted me to do, explaining that she could not approach him.
It was decided in the end that she would contact security and be advised by them, so I felt that was the end of it all. A few minutes later she came over to my seat, to inform me that she had spoken to security and that they had informed the police who would call down and chat to me about the problem.
Oh dear this was not what I was hoping for, I prefer to be anonymous but now was going to be the centre of attention and the man was going to know it was me that reported him. A little time later two young policemen arrived, I explained to them what had happened and how the man of made me feel quite uncomfortable and that may be there could be problems with other passengers because of his odd behaviour, we gave a description of him because by now he had disappeared, which in itself seemed a little odd,
one of the policemen took my details and said he would let me know what had happened. A few minutes later they came back, it appears that the man was a French person, an accountant in fact he was busy working on a project and had been totally absorbed in this, oblivious of all around him, he was flying back to France and everything checked out,
of course I was totally embarrassed, but the policemen reassured me that I had done the correct thing and it was better to have made sure all was well, I spoke to lady at the desk, she said similar, and also said there was something about his appearance and manner that could be a little off putting, but that all had worked out well in the end.
I am still unsure what it was that set me off, was it some basic instinct, was it the stress of being at the airport, was it something to do with getting old and less sure of myself, what would I do if a similar incident happened in the future, let’s just hope it just doesn’t happen.

A new start

I had not realized how long it had been since I last posted so I think now is a good time to start again soon as some will know I am off on a trip to Norway and intend to try to do posts on the trip I hope you will enjoy all of this in the meantime I will try to find something to chat about

Gentle C hit Chat Thread on Sagazone

I have started this Blog to help people who come across the Gentle Thread to learn a little about its history and the people who post on it

Gentle Chit Chat - Any time of day and Linking not allowed!

I am sorry all you linking fans but I am blinking fed up with it.

Bring back chatting without linking, please - good topics and lighthearted banter are all that's needed in my humble opinion (like wireless radio before tv came along!).

Susie Q

09/03/2008 01:34:37 Its hard to think so much time has already passed and so many people have joined in our chat since this date.



Well that’s how Susie Q started it all, in an effort to get away from some of the stranger threads on the site & to make it easy for anyone to join in normal conversation through Sagazone,, despite the distance some of us are from each other, without any nastiness, rudeness where people can support each other joining in general conversation, where people could talk about the ups & downs in their lives without feeling threatened.

When I checked a little earlier today we had had over 56000 posts on this thread, so I think it’s a sign that people are enjoying it up to now.


Susie mentions Linking and many have asked what this is and are worried about inadvertently doing so on the thread
This refers to when people show a link in a post , you can see these on many threads on the site when they show a short piece of text usually blue underlined that has a web link to another area or site, it was felt on this thread that it was distracting and did not help with the flow of conversation.


The other issue that Susie raised was that of quoting, which is when people use the quote button to refer back to a previous post. This on the odd occasion can help people to see what a previous poster was talking about, but as you may of seen on other threads, to many quotes can totally lose the point of the conversation then make it hard to follow for the rest of us.

Early contributors included, Goingupcountry, Whitehall, Wait and see pudding, Cinderella Sue, Jeffreybbb, Veronika, Pennywt, sadly some have found other parts of the site more interesting and moved on but maybe one day they will call back in for a chat.

Common interests and topics for discussion seem to include
FOOD, our own or others pets, travel, family, MEN & their failings, drink, meetings, the weather,
this is not a comprehensive list & other topics can be added later by any of you

Below is a list of members, I am sorry if I have missed anyone out and if you join after this is posted please send me a PM with brief details and I will add you to the list.
Should you not want to be included I will happily remove you and your details from the list.

I have put words that come to mind when I see your names, and occasionally things that appear to be topics you discuss or points I have attributed to you, no offence is intended, its all in fun, this is only to encourage you to give me a couple of lines to replace mine and to help people know a little about you in terms of the thread, obviously if people want to know more they can look at your individual profiles




Veronika early riser dogs, meetings

Nobaggage France holidays OH, village

Samsnan Grandchildren

Bollie Budgie breeding, ironing, baths

Greendragon cats

Idanyelle Red rose

Maggie C Morgan cars

Jeffreybbb Grandchildren, giving unwanted advice, fantasy forums

Brendaja webcams, meetings Caravan, food

Minijune Cats, planes, cars,EX OH

Andtiggertoo Cats, London, meetings OH

Merlotjess Able to stand up at an angle, Scotland

Dolly j

Lindy lou Moving house

Coomara

Murriell Daughters, holidays, meetings

Myklebust Norway, snow, fish

Dee3

Skipton recently joined

Aggie Maggie Meetings, London

Wellie recently joined

Tigger too recently joined

Nippynana

Angie 027

Boudica recently joined

Yeaovileman

Ribrae

Maryrose


I have not written about all of you because so far it has taken three hours to get to this point, please PM me some info to be included about yourselves

My Trip to Kefelania

My trip to Kefelonia

I was feeling fed up, I was recovering from a virus, and I felt I needed some sort of a break in guaranteed sunshine, I checked various websites but everything seemed so dear, then I remembered Sue my helpful travel agent, so contacted her and explained what I was looking for.

Within a short time she seemed to find something that fitted the bill, was inexpensive in a beautiful location Kefelonia, it was travelling the following Tuesday so I needed to book it straight away which I did.

All went well on the trip, then on the coach transfer I first met Elizabeth the representative from Olympic, she seemed so kind and caring toward the people as they reached their destinations, in fact at one place, there was no one to meet the elderly guest so she finally found someone who would take care of them until the owners arrived.

Finally I got my apartment, it was very strange because was no reception desk and the apartment was down a side street, it appeared that the owner lived on the top floor showed me to the room which was a bit basic but not to bad, if I wanted air that was on an additional charge, so I decided to see how the weather went but it was already hot and humid, so un packed and had a look out of the window, in one direction I could see the sea in the distance but very prominently was a bright yellow tractor, so I looked to the left and appeared to be looking out onto somebody's back garden and rubbish tip, but in the background there was a view of the mountains and sky plus I had my own balcony.

I went out and wandered round the town, that seemed to consist of a main street with lots of cafes mini markets and souvenir shops, but there was a beautiful Long Beach all along the bay, so I went and bought some provisions, I was quite surprised that the cost was so much bearing in mind that Greece is in the middle of a recession, that night I struggled with the heat, so decided that next morning I would pay for the cost of the air con.

Went to the welcome meeting for Olympic, which went well, originally I had decided that I would like to rent a car so I could see all of the island was having seen the way people drove and the hairpin bends decided because I was on my own it was best not to, so chatted to Elizabeth about the various other options and decided in the end to go on two trips, I said I would pay her then, she said to leave till later in the evening, so I ended up having a wander around the town.

In the evening went to book the trip, Elizabeth said she was surprised that I had come back to do the booking, so I said I was quite surprised that she hadn't taken money off me that morning, because she was not busy we had a chat for a while, also spoke to the young lady waitress who I later learnt was called Lynda, so I now had an island tour booked and a trip to one of the other islands called Ithica.


Over the course of the week I had walked along the bay in both directions wandered round the countryside taking photos and relaxing on the balcony reading my book and sunbathing, unfortunately though I managed to burn my left shoulder which caused the discomfort for the rest of the trip so I was much more careful after that exposing myself to the sun.

I went on a coach trip to Ithica which was very beautiful and we stopped in some lovely bays for a look round, at lunchtime I joined up with another man on his own and shared lunch and had a chat which made a nice change, I decided I would love to come back again at another time.

The day before my return I went on an island tour, I have to say this wasn't quite as good as Ithica, but was still pleasurable, the only problem on both trips was the picking people up at the various places before the trip started, which was an hour long, but then another hour dropping off at the end which made it a very long day, the courier on the trip was very knowledgeable and made it pleasant, the only other difficulty was that on the first trip the air-conditioning did not seem very good on the coach.

In the course of the week I had dined at the restaurant where the welcoming meeting was, on the first occasion the place seem deserted, but I later learned that most of the people sat at the back in the shade, I asked could I sit at the front because being on my own at least I could watch the people going by, I got chatting to the young lady waitress, part of her task was to say hello to people in the hope they would be attracted to come in.

Whilst watching the people I realised that very few were happy or smiling as they walked down the street, it was interesting that some people acknowledged the young lady with a slight smile, many looked embarrassed and some actually turned away, which seems such a shame because after all they were all on holiday I presume, but many looked stressed, I talked to the young waitress about this and she said this was typical of the people who visited.

I realised quite quickly on holiday that I am not a person who copes very well with their own company 24 hours a day and at times felt quite isolated, it would have been lovely to have shared a holiday in this beautiful setting with someone special but unfortunately my special person couldn't come, neither could my friend Brian who I could have shared photographic opportunities with.

On the last night I called in at what has now become my favourite restaurant and had a brief chat with Elizabeth who I learnt was on Facebook as was the young lady waitress who I now learnt was called Lynda, I explained that I was going to put the brief story on my blog and gave details of how to find, so Elizabeth and Lynda if you are now reading this thanks for making my holiday special and best of luck in the future.

I would love to go back to Kefalonia but even more so to Ithica to spend more time exploring this beautiful island.

One of the interesting things on the holiday was that if I saw couples together taking each other's photograph I would volunteer to take one of both of them, it was surprising how many people initially seemed to mistrust my motives, what a shame I was only trying to make their trip a little more memorable but hopefully it gave them pleasure later.

A Catchup on 2009

It seems such a long time since I did the last blog, unfortunately this has been the combination of poor health lack of motivation and not very much interesting that I feel would appeal to the readers going on in my life.

Despite this I thought as we are now in a New Year of 2010 the least I could do was give you an update on my life, so here goes.

You may remember earlier this year I was having investigations of my spine and subsequently there were issues of whether I had angina, the good or bad news is that at present the sciatic pain has diminished and therefore the surgeon feels he will put off a back operation, this unfortunately will not stop the pain from the prolapsed disc so I will just have to put up with it, after an angiogram they have now decided to have a blocked main left artery which needs a stent in the not too distant future so we'll wait until I see a heart specialist about this.

As a result I am now on various sorts of medication, which seemed to have slowed me down greatly and I feel I have little energy at present to carry out a normal life, this is quite ironic because I retired in April to try to give me a better quality of life so that I could do some of the tasks I had been putting off but also because it it was considered my health would improve, so I applied for the new sickness benefit ESA unfortunately their doctor was of the opinion that I was fit for work despite various evidence I presented from my GP and other professionals,

I did appeal and even went to my MP, but there adjudication officer still felt despite the fact I had been considered not fit for full-time work since 1996 that miraculously I could suddenly carry out a full time job, in February I am due to go to tribunal in the hope that I can convince the panel that at the age of 62 with a range of conditions that affect my ability to get out of the house never mind work that common sense will prevail.

Sorry I have been rumbling on a lot about my health so on to happier things, most recently I went over to Ireland to see my son and his family and spent Christmas with them, the rest of the time I spent with my friend Debbie and her family and totally overindulged myself before coming back home to the present six to 12 inches of snow we seem to have

It's odd really because I had all sorts of ideas of things I wanted to achieve in this last year, such as doing a course at night school on digital imaging but because of the issues around my benefits felt it best to leave until this was resolved, I had thought of doing some travelling but again because of the issues to do with the angina thought best wait until that has been resolved,

I still go on to saga but find unfortunately that my back starts to ache quite quickly so it does not give me the pleasure in the way it used to having said that only yesterday I spent two hours doing my first Sainsbury's online shopping to relieve the effort of going round the supermarket then having to carry my groceries home, this is quite handy at the moment if it works because my car is snowed in.

Well I'm hoping to get back into the habit of doing blogs again so please look out for my next one in the not too distant future.

a Trip To Llandudno & A Search for Emmerdale Viaduct

Hi Folks, sorry its been so long since I last posted a blog, but how odd the more time we have the more we fill it with other things we cant remember about later, plus I seem to of really slowed down in the last few months, with various health problems.

Maybe that’s a good start, I have now been diagnosed with angina & am off for an angiogram in a couple of weeks time to find out what is causing the problem, hopefully it will be nothing invasive, they have already told me that I will be on tablets for the rest of my life, hope they have got it wrong

My other problem with my back seems to be changing to, its funny because I have been the one who origionally wanted the operation, but the thought of the restriction on my life for some time after does not appeal, having said that if the long term will be better it will all be worth it, they are going to review me after heart is sorted out so it seems soon will sorted out & maybe better again

Well back to the adventures first I must tell you of my trip to Llandudno at August bank holiday with Brian & our new mascot Pierre, you may remember him from our earlier trip to Blackpool, but, on with the story, the weather was okay so we spent time taking photos of Pierre in a variety of settings, one being on the beach, I had an idea of getting one of him exploring peoples sandcastles, found a really good one, but was a very large young man with a child, for some reason, did not feel he would take well to me asking for photos.

Instead found a less menacing person & on the understanding that we only wanted his sandcastle & not his daughter on the photo, plus that it would feature on my blog, as well as being used to fundraise for a charity I think made his day, I suppose we could of made our own but then we would have had to buy our own buckets & spades & we had photos to take.

Well that evening we decided we would aim to take some stunning photos of sunset from the Great Orme, (not sure think would be classed as large hill rather than mountain) so sought suitable locations, eventually decide higher was better so set off just before dusk in the car, unfortunately I had misjudged the time so by the time we had driven up , guess what the sun was gone for the evening, despite that we then took photos of the clouns & horizon just in case, but the got really windy & cold so eventually even us intrepid photographers gave it up

The next day off inland to Betsy Cowyd an area of narural beauty, well it would be but for us and all the other people who had come here to escape the crowds, we had a pleasant walk along the bank of the river looking for some sort of different photo to take as a souvenir of our trip, well that’s the right word because that’s exactly what Brian did, well what a fool I was here was a unique opportunity to get a photo, but being the kind caring person I am I got my priorities right & instead went to rescue his umbrella that had blown onto the bank of the river, whilst he managed to get up only losing a little dignity & no real harm, but in my efforts I nearly fell in the river instead.

For the rest of the trip we were more careful & sadly there were no real photographic opportunities for either of us, having said that it was a pleasant break from normal life if only for a brief time

Our Trip Seeking Emmerdale Viaduct

My next adventure was much more exciting when I went searching for the Emmerdale viaduct with another friend to take photos of it, we knew the location so was this not going to be the easiest experience ever, well no because we could not find the path marked on the map & when we established where we were realised we should have had the map of the next section.

Therefore we first wandered through fields then through someones private drive in our quest only to be told we were on the wrong side of the river & the best way was to take shoes & socks off & roll up trousers & wade across the river, now this is to someone who struggles to balance on a nice flat surface, plus I had my camera to consider, so after directions we set off again,

Now we found a sort of map, but it seemed very odd the route, but it couldent be that far could it, oh yes it could, it was through woods & kindly someone had but boards & handrails for people like me, but quickly the pain set in, & the only thing keeping me going was the sensational photo I was going to get soon, but I got more & more tired the further we walked & my feet were aching in the boots.

Well we eventually got to a point where there was a wire fence & the rain started, seeking shelter there was some sort of brick structure that we could shelter under, hey hang on a minute, it was it was a viaduct, it must be the viaduct, well what was the problem, well it was sounded by trees & there was nowhere to get a good photo of it, just then a nice family came a along & we asked about a quicker easier way back to the car, they gave instructions which included climbing some stairs up to the fields which we did, all I wanted to do now was get back to the car & collapse as soon as possible, cutting a long story short we ended up lost & met up with the family again who suggested we should return to the woods as It was the quickest way back.

Well we did this & the aches & pains as well as breathlessness all got worse the further we went but at least we were on our way back, many of the wood areas had chicken wire on for some reason, it seemed rather odd to me until, when distracted my right foot slipped forward on one that had no wire on (now I know why it was there to stop people slipping) I fell backwards banging my head & spine on the boards, my companion who had been leading turned round at the noise & wondered where I had disappeared to, I eventually I managed to get up but ached all over, at that time I even hoped I had done something to myself which would of meant the emergency helicopter would of come & just lifted me away, unfortunately I was able to stand & walk, but in great pain.

Well you can imagine what the trip back was like from then, my feet were already aching, as was my head & lower back & every step hurt me, why is it always a longer distance when you are exhausted than when feeling happy, I hated every step I took, I suppose I could of asked my companion to put me out of my misery but don’t think he had a gun to do it, sob sob, its all right for you reading this in a nice warm room, for me I just kept thinking what am I doing here, how stupid to of even attempted it given my health & had it made my spine any worse.

Well eventually we got back to the car park & the map, it was no consolation to be told that maybe we should of carried on to the other end of the track by car & walked along the disused railway line, I just wished I had the energy to have a tantrum, oh forgot to say we had not eaten from early morning so was starving as well

We cleaned me up & went to a pub for a meal & the young waitress was lovely when I told her the story even offering me an ice pack to ease the pain, being a martyr I refused, must say was best steak & ale pie have ever had, on the way home slept most of the way, & when got back straight in the bath, well not quite true had to wait for it 20 minutes whilst it filled sob sob

Well the next day went & Googled the viaduct, guess what readers I think it was the wrong one, (stamps feet very hard on the ground in tantrum) so it was all in vain

The pain got worse in lower back so went to see GP, mine not available so saw young locum, who looked young enough to be my grand daughter, she had that sort of disbelieving expression until she saw how badly I was bruised, but said nothing broken just bruising & to take pain killers, it was three weeks before I seemed to get over worst, spent much of my time in bed in the meantime feeling sorry for self

Well will close now until the next great adventure, hopefully will not be so painful

An Update On Jeffrey & Debbies Friendship 2009

Jeffrey & Debbies Latest Adventures

I am hoping that if you are reading this that you read the original story all that time ago,(can you believe its 12 months) about how we first got together, if not go & have a read on my blog either on Sagazone or Blogger.

Well one of the things that brought Debbie & I together was the idea of a lovely trip to Paris where we would travel to the top of the Eiffel Tower & hold hands & maybe kiss (just like in the films) whilst looking out across the city (hopefully this time unlike in our fantasy Brenny would not be there to break the atmosphere & spoil the occasion) so when the chance of a trip there came up on Eurostar how could we not go & on top of that it was going to be Bastille Day with parades & fireworks, oops hang on a minute Debbie DOES NOT DO FIREWORKS umm well maybe we can go anyway & just have a lovely trip instead.

So we searched the internet & found trains to take us to London, a stay in a nice hotel there & managed to book the trip to Paris in a nice little hotel travelling in the posh part of the train.

We arranged to meet in London at St Pancras which in itself was quite romantic, then off to the hotel, where we were offered an upgrade to a better hotel that Tony Blair had stayed in only the last week, but it was to far for a train the next morning, so we stayed at our hotel.

Off on an open top tour of London seeing the sights (photos to follow) together, we could not believe all of the traffic there was on the roads but saw famous places like Trafalgar Square, The London Eye, but for some reason, not Tower Bridge or Buckingham Palace (maybe we will call back another time for them), holding hands & chatting to each other.

The next morning we were up early & off to the station, onto Eurostar which was the true start of our big adventure, with breakfast served at our seats, then swiftly on to Paris & our hotel after another adventure trying to find our way to the hotel on the Metro, it was a nice little place with pleasant staff.

We went on another open top tour but now of Paris, it was so beautiful & clean & so, so romantic, seeing places such as the Arche De Triumphe & The Opera, then guess what we actually saw the EIFFEL TOWER, it looked so big, then off for some food & a rest before venturing out again to go up the tower.

Well when we got there lots of parts of the area had been cordoned off for the parade the following day & fireworks, but we decided we would queue & go to the top on the thirds level as we had agreed, well what a long wait & so many people with the same idea, eventually we got to the front of the queue but the 3^rd level was closed, so we went to the 2^nd instead, the views were beautiful (sorry had forgotten to say how lovely & warm with the sun shining it had been during our stay) we looked out (checked no Brenny) held hands & kissed it was MAGIC, we looked on all the sides of the tower, then later finally got to the third level, it was so high up there we could see for miles, guess what we kissed again & held each other so close much better than a fantasy, whilst there we had an ice cream to celebrate (isn’t it funny how normal things are so special at these times), then back down.

Being greedy we went back that evening to see it all lit up, the wait was really worth it all, in particular when the flash lights came on & it seemed to shimmer in the dark (good excuse for more holding hands & kissing)

The next day it was Bastille Day so we went to see the parade, unfortunately we got there very early at the wrong end of the avenue, but it was a lovely day & we enjoyed watching the parade together, afterwards we went for a wander then a rest before the evenings fireworks.

As usual we got there early & found a seat about 8pm, then waited & chatted watching the other people as they gathered, we noticed a young man who seemed anxious waiting for someone to arrive, he was on his mobile pacing up & down for over 2 hours, we hope she eventually turned up & was worth all his distress & patience, it got darker & the crowds were getting thicker now, (what a lovely loving person Debbie must be that she was prepared to put up with this & the fireworks to make me happy) finally they started I held here close so she would not be frightened, they really were spectacular against the tower itself, & went on for some time, unfortunately for Debbie accompanied by loud bangs.

Eventually they finished & the crowds started to disperse, I have never seen so many people in one place at a time, it was almost frightening as sadly they pushed & shoved each other, eventually we managed to move on happily talking about the event, but we held each other close and should I mention held hands & kissed each other. Then off to an exotic place for a drink(well it was where the locals seemed to go, McDonalds) after back to the hotel

This morning we were tired & also knew the adventure was ending, but we still had the trip back, home, I think after how lovely a time we had had it was more than a little sad for us both, even more when we had to part back in London, but hang on we have already spoken to each other & are meeting with a Saga group this weekend, so maybe we can hold hands, kiss maybe plan our next adventure together

We hope you have enjoyed the read & as said by Disney “Wishes Really Can Come True” if we want & make the effort together enough

Our Families Trip to Disney Orlando

The plans for this holiday started over 12 months ago when I decided I wanted to have a special holiday with my family that we would always remember, so I went over to Ireland to chat to them about this, initially they wanted to go to Australia and do the sites, after a lot of discussion it was agreed that it would be too much with the time that we had available, in the end Disney in Orlando was where we chose.

The next thing to sort out was when did we go, well, what with the girls exams, my son's exams in relation to his apprenticeship as well as his training, the time to make all the necessary arrangements, finally it was agreed early June would be a good time for us all. The family then felt it would be a good idea to invite my friend Anne, who the girls treated as their big sister, so I contacted her and she was quite agreeable, in fact she was quite looking forward to it.

Well, it should now have been all plain sailing, particularly because Debbie and her family had been there many times, has had other friends, so with that wealth of knowledge all we had to do was book it, not quite, we looked at packages, we explored doing independently, we talked about staying at Disney, then what about staying in a house, where did we want to visit, were there other things we should be doing when we went on the trip.

What I decided to do, was to have a read of various books, so when on holiday last year I went through the unofficial guide to Disney from cover to cover, then started to realise the enormity of the task, so at Christmas when I went to visit the family I spent some time trying to sort out which was the best way to do it so we got the most pleasure, that didn't work out quite as I hoped, because how can five people with different agendas agree without a lot of debate.

The next obstacle was that Anne started to have health problems, that needed investigating, which slowed down the whole process, at the time I thought we would have a swift resolution and then get on with the task, so started to look out different types of packages and in the end it seemed the best thing to do, was to rent a house, hire a car, make at Ace Travel flying there, and the purchase of the Disney tickets and any others we required over the Internet, sadly despite all the time we spent, the whole thing became more and more complicated.

Sadly after a period of time we realised that Anne would be unable to come with us, but this did not leave us that much time to sort out all the arrangements, in the end I went to Sue at Ace Travel 2 who I had used in the past to book holidays, she spent a lot of time and effort and finally came up with a package that met all of our needs, that is flights, car hire, accommodation, with a suggestion that we book the Disney tickets and buy any others as and when we required them, at a price that was within my budget.




I forgot to say because my family were not seasoned travellers, I felt it better that we all travel from the same starting point and Dublin seemed to be the best place, so I arranged for a flight from home to Dublin on the way out and the reverse coming back, also because we had left it so late we had a flight change at Gatwick going out and returning, which would obviously make it a much longer journey.

There was all sorts of discussion was all sorts of discussion over the telephone about the arrangements and eventually we had the Visas, passports, vouchers for the accommodation, car and Disney tickets so we were now ready for our trip.

Well I set off to the airport, and the first problem was my baggage was overweight with Ryanair, so that cost £30 before even started, the flight to Dublin was okay and I met with family staying with them overnight, then the next morning at 3.30am we set off to the airport, on arrival we checked in, sadly most places were closed so we just sat round until it was time to board the plane, the trip to Gatwick was uneventful, I had asked for help because of my walking problems when I reached Gatwick, which was provided, the only problem was that it split the group, we should have met at the monorail but unfortunately this did not occur.

It then took approximately an hour to find out where the family had got to and meet up again, this was because they had gone a different route and travelled through security with my boarding card so I was stuck on the wrong side of the barrier, fortunately due to a kind member of staff eventually we met up again and boarded the plane, sadly due to an unpleasant man sat in front of me who reclined his seat with no consideration of me, causing me acute pain in my spine, when I tried to explain all he wanted to do was to have a fight, I decided the best thing to do was to move seat with the help of one of the stewards which solved the matter.

8/6/2009 The flight otherwise was uneventful and eventually we reached Orlando, I forgot to say previously that at the last minute the tour company had changed car hire companies from Alamo to Hertz, unfortunately Hertz did not have an office at the airport so we had to catch a bus to their depot then wait some considerable time before finally being sorted out, well nearly, because when the documentation was finished, I expected some kind person to show us the various controls on the vehicle, this only happened because I found a nice kind person who understood all the electrical controls, my son volunteered to drive, we managed to work out how to use the satellite navigation so off we went to the house.

Helpfully the owners had given the code we needed to get into the estate and then the house, I forgot to say that the MPV was a marvellous vehicle with air conditioning throughout maintaining 75 degrees when it was 95 outside, plus we later discovered even the seats were air conditioned (what bliss) so we were worried how warm the house would be, we opened the door and inside it was beautiful plus air-conditioned throughout, we went round the house exploring and deciding which rooms each of us would have, we discovered the outside pool and whirlpool, before we settled we decided to go to the local supermarket Wal-Mart for some shopping guided by the satellite navigation. What a surprise there were lots of food that we used over here, I was very brave & bought some Grits thinking they were a form of porridge. Again the heat was tremendous outside, at the supermarket we stocked up on food and returned exhausted and had a relaxing evening at the house,

When had recovered later went to Animal Kingdom to get the tickets, went to motor tax office & obtained disabled badge for car, which was best buy of the holiday at $15, then off to Subway & had a 12 inch one, (what a lot of decisions to make council a sandwich), then back to the pool, what bliss after all the travelling

9/6/2009 It was Vickis birthday today, so after breakfast and opening her birthday cards we went to Magic Kingdom to celebrate, first thing we found was it was a 20 mile trip, then at the toll booth we had no change and it was unmanned (still waiting to see if get charged) then on to Disney, first we had to pay for the car park, luckily because of the disabled badge we were able to go to the front, then a short walk to either the monorail or ferry, we decided the most exciting was the ferry so quickly boarded, whilst on the boat fireworks went off in the distance and we finally saw Cinderellas Castle.

At long last we were there, sadly not quite so, first we had to go through a baggage check, then we went to get a special badge for Vickis birthday and found out that she was entitled to a special card giving her $65 to spend on Disney products, we went through the barrier and into main square, then finally we hit Main Street where we could see the Palace in the distance, but where are all these people come from LOL, so now the adventure began.


Hang on a minute, what about my scooter, I had to sort that out at $45 per day, but so comfortable & no walking at all

The girls wanted to go on certain rides that were far too hair raising for the rest of us, more sedately we went to the nice air-conditioned shows that were very enjoyable, the next ride the girls wanted to go on broke down for over an hour, so we stood about in the sun waiting for them, it must have been over 90°, eventually the ride worked, the party split up for some time and we had various adventures in the course of the day, oh sorry I forgot to say about the parades, these occurred at regular intervals and were truly amazing with the dancing and singing as well as the marvellous floats, it really was magic & staff often would wish Vicki a happy birthday.

Later we went to Crystal Palace for a meal & met Winnie The Poo, Tigger Eyehoe & Piglet who were happy to have photos taken with the girls, then somehow we got split up again, but saw the illuminated procession, followed by the fireworks over the castle, truly a magic experience, then off home but hang on I have never seen so many people in one place at the same time, I could not believe how Disney managed to deal with us all, even on the monorail that we used to get back to the car, what a relief to have air conditioning

Forgot to say in the parks food & drink was dear, but there were plenty of drinking fountains & we had water bottles that we replenished to avoid dehydration.

10/6/2009 A more relaxing day at the house, spent time in the pool, playing pool & air hockey, later went to Lawlers, tool warehouse, Paul was the happiest I had seen him so far, with all these amazing tools (each to their own)

11/6/2009 Today went to Animal Kingdom, went on safari, saw all sorts of shows, sadly I had by now found they were a good place for me to fall asleep for a while in the scooter seat however good the show was, staff were very good with people with disabilities, later saw more parades, then in the evening another parade & the fireworks (not quite as good as others) then exhausted back to house to relax.

12/6/2009 Had easy morning then off to find shopping outlets,( never found that day), but found Downtown Disney & all the famous shops there so spent time exploring them

13/6/2009 Went to Epcot today, much more spacious & my favourite was Expedition Earth, which if you go you must visit at least once, saw variety of shows, but was to big to visit all, by now we had learnt to pace ourselves & went back to house for a break for a few hours, in the evening there were more fireworks (I thought the most beautiful of those I saw) went for meal at real diner, could not believe the size of the portions & drinks.

14/6/2009 We were all tired out today, so spent easy day at the house watching TV or in the pool, tried to master Li Lo with no success played in the pool & did some sun bathing, felt we all needed this break to restore energy from all the heat & activity

15/6/2009 Today went to MGM Studios, on reflection think for me was most interesting, with the movie backlots, with copies of famous streets, such as that in San Francisco, the back lot tour with exploding sets & hair raising car chases as well as the shows.

16/6/2009 Today party split some wanted to rest & the others to go to Space Kennedy, hang on someone had forgotten to mention it was 75 mile trip each way, umm, I enjoyed the trip but was totally exhausted due to no scooter, again fell asleep in show, others felt would of liked to spend much more time there, on the way back saw real alligator at side of the road, luckily was only small young one LOL

17/6/2009 Today was a totally different experience, at long last we went to the shopping malls, the one we visited had 160 shops, we visited most, sadly I could not see anything I wanted, LOL, also had a look at tool/ DIY places, , but no photography shops at all, nor book or electronic ones for me to enjoy myself in, the air con in them was great but so hot outside, I had my first real beef burger in one of the food places. Later we returned to the house & spent the rest of the day playing in the pool.

18/6/2009 Today it was Seaworld we visited, the highlight was seeing the Shamu show, with him & the others, showing off with their trainers, it was one of the highlights of the whole holiday for me, but why did so many off the audience want to get soaked by the waves created, girls found ride they really liked but then the rain started, so they were unable to go on, we waited for a while but no luck so, off to another shopping mall & more shopping, Son found pair of steel toe capped boots which he bought ( hope they fit) then later returned & saw more & grand daughters went on one of the scariest rides I have ever seen in my life. Finally we stayed to watch the fireworks, which were totally spectacular.

19/6/2009 Today was my birthday, previously we had agreed that we would have a relaxing day followed by a meal out followed by a visit to Magic Kingdom for the evening lights & fireworks, well that what happened and truly was lovely to be with the family in a relaxed setting, went for nice meal out finished with carrot cake but unfortunately nobody else likes it so was forced to eat it all on my own LOL.

20/6/2009 Today it was sad we decided to sort the house out ready for leaving the following day, then spent some time in the pool again, later back to Epcot yet again for the evening celebrations.

21/6/2009 Today left for home, had to leave car, think son would of taken it home if he could, went through security & all those other things at the airport, flight was overnight, sadly D.I.L had similar problem to me with person reclining the seat causing her problems, at London, no problems this time, but all exhausted. Final leg of trip for family to Dublin, everyone went off to sleep for hours, sadly I couldent until night time.

22/6/2009 Last little section for me to travel back home, was uneventful, then had to sort out washing & shopping, catch up on correspondence, it seems almost a dream had happened for the last two weeks.

Well what are the things I remember

The intense heat, the parades, the crowds, the fireworks, to much fast food, Shamu, the fun with the family, the pool, the size of the parks, the expressions on grandchildren’s faces when they met the characters at Crystal Palace, so, so many more things it would take pages to write in detail, but above all a fantastic holiday with my family, hopefully that none of us will ever forget.

I hope you have enjoyed the read & that maybe if you have not been will consider going & becoming a child if only for a short time, with experiances you will never forget

Another interesting trip to Blackpool

As it was approaching the May bank holiday it seemed a good idea to have another photography trip, after a lot of debate with Brian, it was finally decided that we would be very adventurous and have a trip to Blackpool for a change, which we would use as a base to travel to other more interesting points to indulge our hobby of photography.

We managed to find hotel that did not cost too much, that was on the seafront, in anticipation of all the exciting opportunities to take photographs, I bought a new lens to my camera, but then just before leaving, the car I recently bought decided to develop a fault which involved the engine management light coming on, £49 later I discovered it was an oxygen sensor would be a further £214 to correct but was safe to use the car whilst on holiday and have fixed when I returned.

We set off using and used the new sat nav to find our way to the Hotel, it must have been very clever because it took us to the back door of the hotel where there was plenty of parking, it seems the hotel was full for the weekend, the Hotel was enormous with great big long corridors that must have been very stylish at some time in the past but now quite dated, we booked in okay, and went our separate rooms, Brian had a front room overlooking the beach whilst mine had a marvelous view of the corrugated roof at the back of the hotel, but at least it was clean and it had an it had an enormous bath with a really good flow of water.

One of the important things we had decided we wanted to do, was to visit the Bispham Chippy, which serves the best fish and chips I have ever tasted and Carrot cake that must be the best and largest portion in the world, so that was the next stop, which lived up to our usual expectations.

Now been very adventurous we decided we would venture out to Stanley Park that we had visited previously, armed with our cameras, when we got there, there were a number of the birds with their young ones, unfortunately despite having my new lens it still was not long enough to take a reasonable photograph of the herons and their young ones in the trees in the middle of the lake.

It has not been mentioned to me that actually there were three of us on this holiday, because Brian suddenly produced his friend the Gnome on a scooter out of his backpack, he went on to explain that this was to be the subject of a competition to fund raise for Shopmobility, so he was taking photographs of it to encourage interest in the competition.

This was the start of some interesting photographs to be taken by us both in some interesting places in Blackpool, what was quite interesting was the attitude of other people whilst we were taking photos, some people were highly amused, but others obviously have lost their sense of humour.

Because it had been a long day when we returned to the hotel, we went off to our respective bedrooms for the evening agreeing to meet the next morning for breakfast.

The next morning we went down to breakfast which was buffet style, with lots and lots of people dining, there was plenty of food and it was well cooked, so gave a good start to the day, for our latest adventure to exotic Blackpool front, where we spent most of the day taking more photos of the friendly gnome in a variety of settings, which really tested photography skills.

Now that you cannot guess where we ended up going to dinner, yes that's right off to Bispham Chippy again for a portion of fish and chips and carrot cake for me, I forgot to say that this bank holiday weekend, had been cold and windy and that it got worse and worse as the day went on, so why on earth did we decide to go out again in the evening to take it more photos, I think it must of been the cold had got to us, because down to the front we went again, but could not cope with the extreme wind and cold that evening so gave it up for the night and retired to the hotel in the hope that tomorrow would be a better day.

While sadly on our last day the wind howled and the rain came down so we realised this was a fitting time to return home before the weather got any worse, the photos of the gnome have come out well so obviously it was all worth the effort, but I'm still trying to work out, what happened to our adventures in the beautiful countryside in that area, maybe we'll try again another time without the gnome.