24 December Christmas Eve Exploring Malaga

For some reason had a very good sleep last night, so did not get up to early, others still fast asleep, so decided to have a relaxing bath did this rinsed some clothes through, by then Zorro awake so had breakfast, no sign of Brian for some time. Later discussed plans for day, decided we would go buy some more food and Brian would do Christmas lunch tomorrow.

So off to the shops, was much longer walk than thought, after lots of confusion I think we finally found all the ingredients we needed, not sure quite why but Brian seemed worried that we needed more water, we had agreed that we would buy from local supermarket rather than carry from across town, seemed an even longer walk back, got 2 lots of water so should be ok

After unpacking we had something light to eat, discussed plans for evening meal and decided we would return to cafe from last night.
Oh I forgot to say lock on door behaved itself but son of owner came with spare key which seemed better, I told others was tired so went to bed for a couple of hours, when got up the others were practising their computer skills, we chatted until went out.

It was quite dark so could see the Christmas lights which were pleasant so we spent time taking photos as we walked, all was well until Brian informed us we were lost, retraced our steps, only to find cafe as so many others was closed, owners son had mentioned that they owned a bar so we walked along to there hoping to find somewhere to eat, but without success. Reached bar but was packed out so decided we would try for Burger King on the main street.

Just before this we came across a statue of Hans Christian Anderson so posed for photos, then Zorro noticed, a McDonald's so we went to go in, sob, sob, they had just closed as had Burger King so we decided to return and make a meal back at the apartment.

I volunteered to do us an omelette so back we went.
Well theres nothing worse than when in a strange kitchen having a helpful person such as Brian, so banned him, eventually I worked out how to get everything working and found pans etc, outcome seemed to be suitable for the others but could just of them not wanting to upset me.

After we chatted until gone midnight, then off to bed for me to catch up with blog and e mails and wish friends a happy Christmas, bearing in mind they are an hour behind us here, listened to some music whilst typing
Well readers I suppose this is a good time to wish you all a happy Christmas and that you receive all you are hoping for when you wake in the morning

23 December We Start Our Adventure and Fly To Spain

Well last night I finally sorted out my case, its so hard when you are unsure of where you are staying or what the weather will be like, medication and adaptors packed as well as the scales, got some sleep then was time to get up have breakfast a shower and do all those last tasks.

Taxi arrived on time Brian was also ready so off to the airport, at 3.45 the roads were clear so we made good progress at airport no problems with check in or security, went to get our meal deals but they were sold out, eventually they arrived so bought one Brian had found something already. Soon was time to board the plane, we were on separate sides of the plane in window seats, had a read then nodded off for a while. Had sandwich etc then further sleep, eventually woke and looked at the mountains and valleys, they seemed so small from where we were.

Eventually landed, noticed man on aisle seat had rings made of sovereigns plus a couple of very thick gold chains on his wrist, most probably worth more than our holiday cost.No trouble getting through airport, not sure why but only a few with hold baggage, so off to meet Zorro who was waiting for us, on to the train to the centre and our apartment, it was lucky he knew his way through the back streets. First problem was when we got to the front door the key would not work whatever we did, luckily someone else was going out so let us in.

The apartment was spacious but cold, also it was as if nobody had been in for some time, we managed to find how to work most things, we were going to go shopping, but Zorro said we had to meet owners son to sort out payment and him have sight of our passports, we passed the time making a shopping list and getting the heating working.
Son duly arrived sorted out money etc, mentioned key to front door he was unable to do any better than us, we decided after discussion to do some food shopping then maybe go for a meal after, so emptied our small cases so we could use to transport food. Went on market first for vegetables, then found small local supermarket and bought most things we needed, returned to apartment to have more issues with door, in the end pressed other residents buzzer, unpacked shopping then off to find a meal.

We did not do very well with search for food and it was obvious Brian was getting very tired, fortunately in the end we found a small cafe and had a very enjoyable pizza each, afterwards we returned to the apartment, guess what stuck outside again, someone opened the door just as a young woman was coming in, she summoned someone to sort out the lock, he spent some time explaining to Zorro how to do it, we will see tomorrow, if it helps.
Brian went to bed whilst Zorro and I chatted till late about life, eventually we decided to call it a day, so here I am catching up at the end of a very busy day with the blog and listening to Mantovani, I wonder what new adventure tomorrow will bring.

Our Christmas trip to Malaga 2013

Our Christmas trip to Malaga 2013
Early on this year the three of us met that is to say myself Brian and Zorro not long after the Christmas and new year celebrations and all agreed that in 2013 we wanted to do something different this year over the Christmas and New Year period. We talked about options and decided we wanted to go to somewhere warm but not to far away or expensive over the whole 10 day period.

After some discussion and research we finally settled on Malaga in Spain, the next task was to find accommodation, hotels were very expensive for the time of year, so we looked at hostels their equivalent to our guest houses. Eventually I found one that seemed to tick all the boxes, because we all wanted single rooms in a pleasant setting.
Just before booking I noticed the company also had a range of apartments, including one in the city centre, it had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and from the photos looked like it would suit our needs and the price seemed quite reasonable compared to anything else.

So I e mailed to the others who were happy with it. I e mailed the owner who confirmed it was free, so we booked it, there seemed to be some confusion with communication so I passed to Zorro as he is competent in written and spoken Spanish and all was solved, all they wanted was a small deposit which was sent to them
Next was to find a flight for myself and Brian as Zorro was making his own arrangements, I looked at a range of airlines and then came the shock, the prices were way more than some of the holidays we had been on, also I could not find a single company that would do the return trip for our dates, so have therefore had to book with two low cost(but not in this instance) airlines, the times of flights are not the best either, but it should be a pleasant break in reasonable weather.

Zorro kindly made contact with the owners the other day and all is well for our booking, the hotel was outside Malaga and up a hill so as well we are placed in the centre, the only problems at present are that we still do not have information on how to gain access to the apartment and, wet weather may occur so unsure what sort of clothes to take for the trip, I now have my money for share of accomodation and some spending money, next task is how to get to the airport, whether due to time of flight and need to be there at 5am, to use a taxi or pay for car parking near to the airport, I have obtained our boarding cards for flight out, must remember to do the ones for return journey tomorrow
Well all boarding cards sorted, we have decided to book a taxi and that is all done despite fact initially I gave the wrong date, now waiting to hear from Zorro, discussed luggage allowance, hopefully will only need light clothing, but from weather outside here at present is a good time to get away, we have high winds and heavy rain. I need to sort out my porridge for the trip LOL.

20 December 2013
heard again from Zorro, he has sorted out access to the apartment, weather fine, only issue is that lift at station not working so he will come and meet us at airport. Bad news at present is that back is playing up, wonder why it always seems to be just before a holiday, am charging up batteries for devices, what change these days with all this technology, that need chargers as a priority, together with various medication, just in case.

A Funny Old Year 10 December 2013

As we are approaching the end of the year and its early morning and I cannot sleep, it seemed a good time to give you readers an update on my thoughts and experiances over this last 12 months.

Where to start, maybe a reminder of a couple of good things such as my trip to Scandinavia where I went to Copenhagen with Brian,  then on to my holiday of a lifetime with Mykle and Jean in Norway,  not only did i have a holiday with them but found them to be two lovely kind people who had created a beautiful home out of nothing in such a beautiful setting. It was also a reminder of what i could achieve despite my bad back and other health issues.

The next good thing was that at last I had my TURP operation to help with my waterworks which will help in a number of ways for the future, the other good thong was that the doctors told me there was no underlying cancer which was a relief. Another bonus hopefully out of this was that, due to my complaint to the hospital the quality of the toilet paper will improve on the ward.

For some years I have been looking for different ways to spend my time that are more pleasurable,  I had been aware of the U3A organisation for some time and finally made an effort,  joining earlier in the year, I think I will write briefly now and maybe do a longer blog of my experiances with them another time.

I have been to a number of the main meetings and talks at U3A, which have been enjoyable, meeting new people in a social setting, plus I have joined a recently formed photography group within the branch, which is a pleasant mixture of people and skill levels. I also briefly joined a beginners group with them for Spanish,  but found I did not enjoy the style of tuition, I wanted to order a drink or meal not to know the waiters name, so gave it up.

Updated 12 December

As part of this I have become involved in creating a new database of members to more easily track the membership and their interests using a product called Cardbox, again more of this maybe in a future blog, si seems it was a positive move and has widened the circle social contacts I have.

Out of the blue earlier this year I started with nose bleeds in my right nostril which I have not had for many years. They seemed to get worse over about 10 days ending up in a trip to A & E when it would not stop eventually 3 hours later it stopped at the time we were in the middle of a heat wave. I got outside waited for my lift as it arrived, off it set again, this time they admittef me, put a plug up my nose and kept me overnight, the next day cauterised it and sent me home. Within an hour it was off again so back in for a further four days, I was amazed how many people came in during this time but unlike me were quiclky discharged. Finally they took the bung out and cauterised again, so far no more problems.

I forgot to say earlier in the year I finally bought this tablet which was a great buy, as I can read e mail when have access to Wi Fi, search the internet and do many other things when away from home including listening to my music and doing tasks such as my blog, which am doing in bed again as cannot sleep, oh I forgot I can also read,  I have plenty of reading material on it in fact I would imagine sufficient to last me the rest of my life

I went away with Andy and Brian to Newquay as recorded earlier, think I will look carefully at the length of trips in the future if on a coach or other forms of transport.

One of the things I wanted to do was to see Chorus Line the musical in London, again as I recorded on here I managed that plus to meet up with ex saga friends for a trip down the thames and then across it on the new cable car.

I asked my son what he wanted for his 40th birthday, he said a trip to the Grand Canyon it looks like finally next year we will manage this, together with a brief visit to New York and Las Vegas, I am advised that this will be best carried out in November, since then I have devifef to extend the trip for me after he returns from Vegas,  and then depending on whether my friend in Hawaii is available to visit there, otherwise to go to Australia and finally see Sydney and other places, before travelling on to Penang to meet with my friend from childhood, then possibly to visit Singapore and see the lights before returning home.

The trip may be the last long distance one other than possibly if I finally get to my safari which I have talked about for years, the sad thing for me is that at present I will be on my own, which will be enjoyable but I dont think quite so good as having someone to share the experiences but who knows whats round the corner

Over this year our ME group has created more social activities which I have enjoyed plus I now am assisting on the committee and am an active member of the Facebook group we have,  which has helped people cope with the isolation which is so often part of this condition.

The flat has finally had a coat of paint on all ceilings and woodwork and hopefully in the new year the living room will be decorated, it would of been done much sooner but for the problem of finding someone to fo the work, its odd that when so many are looking for work my trying to find someone to carry out the task has been so hard

Earlier this year I changed my computer and decided to use voice recognition more, its bern a mixed thing due to a number of reasons, I do know it is helpfil and encourages me to sit bettet on my seat improving posture and lessening back pain,  what I should of done was to have further training so I could do even more with it  and lessening the the effects of typing on my hands and arms, one of my resolutioms is to do this in the new year.

One of the other issues, has been the fact that I have been transferring my LPS,  (for those to young to know these are the large vinyl records we all used to listen to our music on in the past, ) onto my computer, part of the problem is that I cannot use both the microphone and input from the record deck at the same time, so have to disconnect the leads and alter the settings on the computer. The task is still not complete, but I am getting there, so far nearly 300 done.  The hope is that I will be more likely to switch off the tv and listen to the music and maybe do more reading instead
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A couple of months ago I joined a course to help people who have long term health or disability issues to cope with the symptoms and pain not as a cure more in becoming better at dealing with it, its run by an organisation called Breathworks and is based on Buddhist teachings but without thr religious aspect, I found it helpful and feel that it will help me to move on in how I deal not only with health issues but also generally in life

So a busy year of such contrasts, some of the things I hoped to achieve have fallen by the wayside but also other doors have opened that I did not expect.

The Myths of Musicals

Musicals the Myths

I remember from being quite young enjoying musicals, in the early days, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer, then the big screen ones Oklahoma, Sound of Music, South Pacific, not forgetting Singing In The Rain. I used to love these all singing dancing romantic love stories that always ended up with a happy ending. More recently I enjoyed Oliver, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, although these seemed to have a more serious theme, there are many more musicals and the one that first made me think about writing this was Cabaret, again some years ago but which is being revived at present.

My recollection of musicals was that they were happy, full of fun, romance, nice people with a feel good story line and lots of great songs, and everybody lived happily ever after, what I have now realized, even more so after discussion with friends, is that this is not true, that there is death, physical and emotional abuse, rape, even worse some of the main characters and situations are not as nice as we first think. Now most readers will be wondering what on earth I’m talking about, but have you ever really looked at the plots of many of these musicals and really looked at how people in them, despite all the singing and dancing are actually not very nice people.

Let’s see where shall I start, what about my favourite, Singing in the Rain, that’s a good one, well let’s look at it from a slightly different view, the main plot line is the change from the silent movies over to the talkies, the big problem in the film is that the leading actress cannot sing, so the studio goes to great lengths to cover this up, part of this being that they use a young naive woman to do a voice-over for her, her to so-called friends go along with this story, for whatever reason accepting the rude unpleasant manner of the main actress. What’s nice about that plot, because really everyone but the young actress are in it for their own ends, with little thought at first of how distressed it makes her. Admittedly in the end all comes out good, hang on a minute, it’s not really nice to show someone up in front of an audience even if they’re not the nicest person in the world, which is what happened in the end to the original leading lady, some food for thought about a fantastic film.

Which film shall we have a look at now, what about Oliver, we all know the plot, orphan, starts off in the workhouse where he and the other children are abused and starved whilst the staff are enjoying themselves. Our hero then works for an undertaker again he is abused. At long last he ends up in a jolly gang led by a nasty thief who trains the young lads how to steal, we have our heroine Nancy who is a lovely caring person and in a relationship with a nasty thug Bill Sykes, who is quite happy to beat up anybody and everybody who gets in his way. Despite all of this we have all the usual singing and dancing. Just by good luck Oliver is rescued by a kindly old man, I don’t want to give too much detail just in case you’ve never seen the film. Unfortunately Bill Sykes manages to capture him again, what then happens to Nancy as a result is not very nice at all. Nor is what then happens to Bill Sykes and the youngsters, well the good thing is that Oliver lives happily ever after, but hang on a minute what happens to the artful dodger and Fagin, obviously crime must pay because they danced their way off into the sunset. So much for a happy story

Now we can’t do better than Sound of Music, beautiful scenery lovely songs lots of children, romance. Now let’s rewind, Maria is a trainee nun, because she has a mind of her own the nuns decide to send her out into the big wide world to be a nanny. How nice, maybe not, she goes to this home where a naval captain controls his young children with a rod of iron they are taught to respond to commands by whistle, he shows no love to the children. Maria tries her best to befriend the children and they reward her by playing practical jokes on her. This does not put off so she tries to improve their situation, instead of the uniforms they wear she wants to obtain play clothes, but is turned down by the captain, it can’t be because he hasn’t got enough money, he lives in a beautiful big house, so she resorts to cutting the curtains to pieces to make colourful clothes for them, so now the children are happy, now I don’t know any children that would feel happy dressed in flowered curtains. Whilst all of this is going on there is a subplot to do with the changes going on in Germany and Austria. We see some of the not very pleasant threats made to the captain by the Nazis and the transformation of one of the children’s boyfriends into a member of the Hitler youth. Yes a really happy cheerful story, well at least is lots of singing and dancing in it. Again for those that have not seen the film I will not go into too much detail, but will mention the fact that the nuns behave quite inappropriately in various parts of the film. So yes again a much more complex story than the music and songs can truly describe.
What about Carousel, beautiful music and songs, great plot what more could we ask for. Girl falls in love with fairground worker, he gets her pregnant, despite the fact they are not married, together with his accomplice he then attempted robbery, in the process ends up being stabbed then dies, leaving the poor young woman to have to go through having a child as a single person and coping with the situation of bringing the child up in state of poverty. Eventually, about 10 years on it’s brought to his attention, that the young woman is struggling as is his daughter. Now hang on a minute, the film portrays him being in heaven, with his history what’s he doing there, well never mind he’s sent back to try to put things right again, which I suppose he does, the only thing is Mum and daughter are still struggling, maybe not a happy ending then.

The Music Man, well at least this starts off differently to lots of other musicals, in that the male lead is quickly shown to be a conman, fleecing naive people in the towns that he visits and telling absolute lies about his knowledge and skill and how he can help people. As usual lots of singing and dancing, a naive young woman and even more naive township who are totally gullible. They give him the money to create a band, silly young woman falls for his charms and then supports him despite the fact he has lied and cheated and stolen from people who can’t afford the money. As usual I don’t want to spoil the story, but all the lovely songs don’t justify this inappropriate behaviour.

If I now move to a more modern musical, appropriately called Les Miserables as a friend of mine once said “The Glums” again great songs, beautiful settings, what could be better than France, heroes and heroines. Let’s try again, it starts by telling us that one of the lead characters is an ex-prisoner, another character, is a young single mother who has to resort to prostitution to feed her child, but very early on in the story gets killed off, leaving her poor child behind. I know what about the jolly innkeeper and his wife, well I dare not tell you about all the goings-on that occur in their in, what is worse is that they sing about it and are proud of their lifestyle, of cheating and abusing people. Well there are some good bits, in the fight the barricades one of the heroes is killed as is the little boy, plus lots of other people. From start to finish most of the film when you look at it objectively is about doom and despondency, what’s happened to the feelgood factor.

I know let’s go to an even newer film that’s a musical, Mama Mia, the songs of ABBA, beautiful scenery, a pretty young woman looking forward to a forthcoming wedding, what could be better than that. Firstly her mother is a single parent, nothing wrong in that, until she finds her mum’s diary, which explains that she had slept with three different men in a brief time period and therefore doesn’t know who the father is. Again without trying to spoil too much of the plot the young woman invites the three potential dad’s to the wedding. Mother has also invited her two best friends, who turn out to be predatory, embarrassing and causing general chaos in the town. Mums house is falling apart through neglect and the young woman seems to be more interested in the wedding than how she really feels for her fiance. At least on this occasion the end is much happier with lots of singing and dancing, but at no time does it really tell us about good old morality and values, at least nobody gets killed in this one.

I think this is a good time to finish this blog, at least for now, if you start thinking about the real plots of the musicals you may never see them again in the same way, I am sorry if I have destroyed your illusions in the same way I’ve done for me, I will still continue to watch them and admire the scenery, the plots and all the fantastic songs and try to forget about the negativity, I do hope you have enjoyed reading the blog.

An Update on My Blog and Life September 2013

I have just been looking back at some of the statistics to do with my blog, I had forgotten that I first started it back in 2006, it was a way to share some of my life with family and friends and also to talk about subjects that I felt may be of interest to others, such as my holidays. From reading the statistics I was quite surprised to see I had posted 109 posts and that the post had been viewed over 5000 times by people in different parts of the world. So I would like to thank all you readers for the time you have taken reading the blog and your comments, by the way I have now opened comments up to anybody on the blog, but I am also pleased when people email me to say they have just enjoyed it also.

This year I seem to have had a fair bit of time in hospital, first to do with my prostate, then my nosebleeds, let’s hope that’s the end of these, in a couple of weeks I am trying a course called breath works that is supposed to help me make the most of my health it will be interesting to see what happens with this. My physio also tells me that if I really wanted to, more could be achieved with my neck and spine to stop the deterioration, the only problem would be that I would have to have intensive work for at least three months and spend much more time in maintaining my health. At present I am unsure whether or not I am that committed and with all that is going on in my life, unable to decide whether I would go without the lifestyle I have now in the chance that my posture would improve.

More by coincidence than anything else, this year seems to of been filled with holidays and short breaks, plus a range of other activities that have included joining U3A which is opening up a whole range of other interests and activities. The latest of these is joining a photography group and attending the general meeting once a month, with talks by a female racing driver, about how the ability to laugh can help us to maintain our health, I look forward to the future meetings with great interest. The local branch is doing work to keep better records of the membership, so I have become involved in creating a database for this very task, it is a reminder that we can always change our direction and develop new skills.

Unfortunately the case I have been involved in for over two years, was lost but some useful things have come out of it and hopefully other people in the future or benefit from the lessons learnt. I am still acting as advocate in the same case regarding the funding by the NHS for continuing care, I am hopeful of a positive outcome eventually, but so far I do worry about the obstacles placed by the NHS in the way of people who seek continuing care funding from the NHS, even more worrying is the shortage of agencies who can advise and support people on this path, when they other people who are being cared are coping with serious illness or disability and find they have this huge amount of stress to obtain resources that should be made much simpler to obtain at the time when people are in the greatest need, rather than a process which appears designed to protect the budget rather than the individual and their nursing needs.

On a brighter note this year I am planning to go to Malaga with two friends over the Christmas new year period as a change from the usual routine, am hoping that the weather is kind to us and there is no rain, I will be taking my tablet and hopefully recording our adventures, at present there is discussion about a trip to Madrid and/or North Africa within the time we have.

Debbie and Jeffs Story Final episode 2013

Hi folks looking back through my posts I realised I had never given an update on Jeff and Debbie’s story for a long time, in fact it was 2009 when I last wrote about us. Unfortunately the dream has come to an end, over 12 months ago we finally split, it was very sad for both of us and the reasons are quite complex, I feel to be fair to both of us it is better not to discuss them on here.

What I can say is that we had a fantastic four years of fun, caring and sharing our lives and I would never have missed it, we have agreed we would like to remain friends if that is possible but that we have both now moved on in our lives, who knows what the future holds

Our Trip To Fistral Beach 21st August 2013

Today was a free day, so we discussed what we should do, I thought a visit to Fistral beach could be a good idea because of the fact it was more popular with the surfers, so we could take plenty of action photos of the surfers and the waves, Andy wanted to go into town for some souveniers also, we debated on the best way to travel and decided we would try with Andy walking for a while but take the wheelchair also. We set off on our travels, it was a pleasant walk in initially, its surprising what you see when you have the time, such as this young lady, she must of been very hungry and I am sure all that salt was not good for her

we continued through the town, stopped for a drink at a lovely little cafe and a rest, then on with the trip, we made steady progress, eventually we reached the beach, err well not quite because there was a steep slope down through the carpark, the cars did not seem to be bothered that we had a wheelchair, there was obviously plenty of surfing they may miss if they slowed down for us. Finally we got to a seating area, Andy and Brian felt they did not want to walk out to the sea(the tide was out) so they stayed whilst I went off to take some incredible photos, there were many surfers but going by how many kept falling off their boards they were still learning, not sure if the lack of large waves made a difference

there were a couple of more skilled people who managed, but nothing like we had seen on films, well it was a long trek back to join the others

they were both pleased to9 see me as you can see by the photo, we then had the trek back up the hill, well no there was a small motorised vehicle we could use, well no as it was to high for Andy to climb on, you would of thought there would be some way to help people withy mobility issues to get back up the hill, instead we slowly climbed to the top and then had a walk into town, where we tried a real Cornish pastie, it seems it was Andys first ever, we had a rest then back to our walk, it was very busy in town, maybe because was the bank holiday weekend, also the sun was shining. We walked back to the hotel, well Brian pushed Andy and I walked along supervising and taking photos

then back for a shower and rest before our evening meal and a further trip after to take more photos

this was a jellyfish some young girls found it was quite large, we also took more photos of the sunset, there seemed to be more people about this evening

there were also a number of surfers out as well, tonight was the first night of Celebrity Big Brother so I said to Brian that I wanted to have a look who was in it this time so we agreed I would go back earlier, I have to say I was disappointed with the people I saw go into the house that night

Our trip home 23rd August 2013

We had an early start,but when I looked out of the window there was a beautiful sunrise so I took a photo, then went out trying to get better ones but the houses obscured it

up at 6am packed then an early breakfast before setting off, finally we were all loaded,  10 minutes into the trip John the driver announced we were turning back because he had forgotten some paperwork,  did this then back off again, the traffic was much worse because it was a bank holiday weekend,  when we stopped it was crowded at the service area, but also the drinks were dearer than on the way down, which seems very odd. I nodded off for a while, the traffic was travelling very slowly,  there was a serious accident on the other side with miles and miles off traffic backed up. We had a further 3 stops before we got to our first drop off and another couple of accidents seen along the way, all the service areas were busy, Andy and I chatted part of the time and I also tried to catch up with my blog as well as reading a little more of the William novel until the battery ran down. The traffic was still busy, eventually we got to Oldham, Andy rang to check about the taxi, finally we reached the centre of Manchester and the street we should of gone down, the only problem was the bottom had been closed off for some reason so I told John to carry on a little longer on main road, we quickly unloaded,  but where was the taxi, finally we spotted him down a side street, we loaded up then off home, first Brian,  then me and finally Andy.  When I got in, back to reality sortede out my case and loaded the washer, looked at the clock it was 8.30pm it had taken over 12 hours for the trip, dont think I will be doing that sort of trip by coach for the foreseeable future, now just need to have a rest and relax over the weekend.

Our trip to Truro and Falmouth 22 August 2013

Our trip to Truro and Falmouth 22 August 2013

We set off on the coach bright and early it was already getting warm, we had a pleasant drive to Truro, today it was a different driver, seems John has to have 2 days rest so so we had Steve who is a local relief driver instead, he had good local knowledge with humorous stories about local characters, before we got to Truro he explained that we had 2 options either to continue to Falmouth on the coach or to go on small excursion boat down the river Andy said he preferred to go by coach so Brian and I discussed what we should do, we agreed we could not leave Andy on his own,  Brian kindly agreed tl stay with him. I went off with others to bus, down to boat, lots more people joined before we reached the boat, fortunately I got a seat with a good view so I could record anything for Brian later, as far as I remembered it was to be half hour long,

the boat gently went on its way and the captain described land marks and places, it was so peaceful relaxing and quiet I felt quite guily that the others could not of joined me, there were a range of boats and ships that we passed along the way including one that was used in the film Mama Mia, (I must have look when get home)

we stopped every so often to drop off and pick up passengers,  there was a chain driven ferry at one point that took cars wanting to cross the estuary,  I had not realized that Falmouth was such an important shipping port or that it built ships.

we finally reached Truro,  so went looking for coach and travelling companions,  all of a sudden I heard someone shouting it was Brian,  they had been down to the harbour looking for me and the boat we walked up to coach I checked out toilets at Weatherspoons as usual they were clean, read other blog for more detail of this and others.  we then travelled back to Truro,  had a look at the cathedral plus took a few photos

,  then off to BHS for a drink, unfortunately it was my turn to buy so although I knew we had agreed to a Cornish cream tea later I spotted a carrot cake so being greedy had to try a slice, it was delicious,  we wandered back to the coach then another drive to the cider farm for our cream tea, well we had 2 scones each with lashings of cream and cherry jam unfortunately they only provided one cup of tea rather than the pot I hoped for to help wash it down I am beginning to think I need to explore my dietry needs when I return home and reduce my cake input considerably LOL, we had a pleasant ride back to the hotel.

After a shower and rest e had another enjoyable evening meal, I was very impressed with the quality of the food as well as the service, after Andy went to bed and Brian and I went out taking photos of yet another beautiful sunset

there was a young couple oblivious to everyone who made a romantic picture, sorry quali

ty is not that good though, we carried on and came across a beach that was lit up with lots of people enjoying themselves