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Wonderful Lake Maggiore in June! What a fantastic trip! Four of us travelled to Lake Maggiore in June this year and found it all we hoped for and more! We flew into Milan Malpensa airport & stayed the night at an hotel near the airport. Next day we caught the Alibus to Verbania( http://www.safduemila.com/alibus_malpensa_lago_maggiore.html ) and then onwards via a local bus to Cannero, a fantastic little town right on the lake front. We nearly started with a disaster when one of our party left her bag on the bus. It only contained her passport, all her money, credit cards and jewellery! Panic, panic!! However, she waited for the bus to turn around further down the lake and return. Much joy!! Sitting proudly in the front of the bus window, as it came round the corner, was her bag! Someone had found it and handed it to the driver, how honest is that and what a relief! We stayed at the Hotel Cannero, http://www.hotelcannero.com the most beautiful hotel on the lake. I would say it i

Well here is our latest girlie trip. A visit to Cheltenham to sample the shops & get a little bit of culture too! We had a really good deal at the Queen's Hotel in Cheltenham, http://www.mercure.com/ a lovely hotel and very central, only a short walk into town. We enjoyed the breakfasts and had a lovely meal at the restaurant next door - Raymond Blanc's! Pushed the boat out that night, but there are good places, much cheaper, in town too. The shops are excellent, but that is what you would expect of Cheltenham. We visited the home of Gustav Holst, ( I think the curator was delighted to have a group of women to talk to) and strolled out to the Pitville Pump Room. Great looking place, but disappointing inside, rather bleak. In the evening we went to the Everyman Theatre for a performance of Wilde's The Importance Of Being Ernest. We enjoyed it, the actors were well cast, with the exception of the female ingenue who had a weird, shrieky voice that was difficult to listen

Well, hardly time to unpack and wash the smalls and its off again, with friends from work, to Stratford-upon-Avon for three days. I have been to Stratford before, but the memory was quite hazy, so everything came as a nice surprise. I knew to expect the old half-timbered houses and lots of Shakespeare, but it exceeded expectations. It really is a beautiful, well preserved, picturesque town. Lots of our American cousins there of course, thats OK, but why are they so loud? They seem to have no idea of how they come across, the image that they convey. Don't get me wrong, the Americans I have met have been lovely individuals, but abroad they often seem like demanding children. Anyway, enough. If you plan to visit several of the Shakepeare houses its best to buy a ticket that give you entry to them all, it works out much cheaper. If you don't manage to visit them all, save the ticket for your next visit (or give it to a friend) because it lasts for ever. We loved Shakespeare's

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

Where are we off to next? I think you can guess! DUBLIN!!! Yes, at the beginning of September Sue and I are off on what is becoming an annual trip to sample the delights of Dublin again. I've lost count now of the number of times I've been to Eire's capital, but it doesn't matter, you can never tire of Dublin. This was an unexpected trip courtesy of Ryanair's latest special offer. http://www.ryanair.com/ . We grabbed it quick! Because the airfare was so cheap we are forsaking Trinity College this time, and treating ourselves to The Gresham Hotel in O'Connell Street. www.gresham-hotels.com/ . The Gresham Hotel is a Dublin institution and is known throughout the world. It claims to be the oldest hotel in Ireland and was built in 1817. Beyond our budget normally, but my friend got us a good deal, so off we go to see if it lives up to it's reputation. One of the nicest ways of getting around in on the Dart railway, which snakes around Dublin Bay. http://www.i

Slovenia seems to go in for "Wellness" breaks a lot. These are thermal spas where you can take the healing waters, bathe in them, and there also seems to be lots of medical treatments at the centres. Other services usually offered are beauty treatments galore. We sampled two on our last trip. The first was to Ptuj Thermal Spa - http://www.terme-putj.si/ , you will need to click on the UK flag to get the English version of both sites. This was our favourite of the two. The waters were really warm, there were lots of jacuzzi type pools to sit in, scented saunas, and beefy masseurs to iron out every kink. Ours was just a day visit, but you can book accommodation in the hotel as well. The other spa was the one at Zrece, difficult to find, turn left from the main road, up the hill, keep going until you see it on your right. http://www.terme-zrece.si/ . This was smaller, the waters weren't as warm, and things didn't seem as organised. Having said that, there were many mor