Our First Trip - Venice, October 1997

-

The first time we did a trip as a group five of us went to Venice for the day. Yes! that's right, for the day! We flew from Exeter airport at some ungodly hour of the morning, arriving in Venice about 9.00 a.m. The company organising it was called "Just For A Day" and they did an excellent job of organising a brilliant day. We packed a weeks worth of sightseeing into about 12 hours and were still standing at the end.
We all fell in love with Venice, we thought we knew what to expect because Venice is so well known and photographed, but the reality was something else! St Mark's Square for coffee at Quadri's, wandering the streets, standing on the Rialto admiring the view, a visit to a glass factory, a trip down the Grand Canal on a gondola, Bellini's at Harry's Bar, you name it, we did it. The weather was cold, but bright with a wonderful light. The only problem we had was coming back, one of the passengers never turned up, we waited over a hour, the rep. was phoning hospitals, police etc., but in the end we had to go without her. Apparently she told the two friends she was with that she was just going to look at the next shop along and was never seen again. It was most upsetting arriving at Exeter and having to tell her elderly husband, who was waiting for her, that she was missing. I have often wondered what the outcome was, did they ever find her?
These day trips look expensive on paper but they are worth it because they are so well organised and you fit such a lot in. A real treat! You will want to come back for a longer visit.

Popular posts from this blog

British Holiday Websites

-
You can have excellent holidays at home too. We don't always go abroad, we love Britain, especially the South West. Come to our part of the world, check out: www.beautiful-devon.co.uk it's full of Devon tourist and travel information and has lots of lovely pictures. How could you resist us? www.classic.co.uk this is a West Country cottage specialist website representing over 450 self-catering properties in Cornwall, Somerset etc. It will even tell you how far the property is from the sea. www.corncott.com this site offers self-catering holiday accommodation throughout Cornwall at very affordable prices. Your Journey: Coming in the car? Plan your route using either the AA - www.theaa.com or the RAC - http://rp.rac.co.uk/routeplanner for free detailed plans. On the motorway and need a break? Check out www.5minutesaway.co.uk a directory of services and facilities available to motorists within 5 minutes of each motorway junction. Taking the train? Plan your journey and find
Read more

Dublin's Fair City!

-
Image
Well, another wonderful trip to Dublin . We had the luck of the Irish, good weather, not a drop of rain. The Gresham hotel is still a grand old lady, friendly staff,a good breakfast, comfy beds. http://www.gresham-hotels.com/ . (A horrible view of the inner courtyard, pretty dire, but, as it turned out, a blessing in disguise. It meant that the room was very quiet, thank goodness, if we had been at the front of the hotel the traffic in O'Connell street would have kept us awake for sure.) We had a very busy four days. Apart from the usual trips to the shops, lunch on the green at Trinity , coffee at Bewleys etc. we went to the Gaiety theatre to see a performance of The Rat Pack. http://www.gaietytheatre.ie/ . They were all brilliant, especially "Frank Sinatra", he looked like him, had the mannerisms, and sang like him, great! Some of the women in the audience, who were old enough to know better, were in ecstasy, practically throwing their knickers, (personally, we
Read more

Algeciras, the real Spain

-
Image
If you want to visit the real Spain as opposed to the plastic one for tourists then Algeciras is a good bet. It isn't tarted up or full of English Pubs etc. It's a real, untouched, slightly scruffy town full of ordinary people, the way Spain used to be. However, there are lots of interesting places nearby to visit if the wanderer in you takes over. The most obvious one is just across the water - Gibraltar. Catch the local bus to the boarder and then walk across, cars can wait for hours to get in. Gibraltar is a British Colony (by choice!) and looks just like Britain used to in the 1950s, a real time warp. But it's a shoppers paradise because everything is so cheap (tax free). We took the cable car up to the top of the rock, fantastic view, but watch out for those evil monkeys! It's unnerving the way they stare at you, one even tried to get into the cafe while we were having a coffee, he came up the steps and was rattling the door handle! Another good trip is a visit to
Read more