Holidays 2025.

[Gramaisc]

Looks lovely @Trumpet

Are you in The Maldives?

You need to keep notes.

Holidays 2024.

I agree about the scenery and the fares but the town/city hop on/hop off buses are a good way to familiarise yourself and plan where you want to go in a new environment. I've never been on a town/city hop on/hop off bus but will bear it in mind.

www.staffordforum.com

 

[Carole]

I must have missed that post somehow.

I thought that it looked like the Caribbean but the time change wasn’t right.
So 5 hours, ahead I guessed The Maldives.

 

[Mudgie]

Unfortunately Thameslink don't go to Brands Hatch and getting there by train is a pain.

I went by train a few years ago after I broke my shoulder and it took ages and involved a £20 taxi fare each way to get from the station to the circuit, never again.

Yes, I understand that rail travel has its limitations.
I've always tended to go to places accessible by rail and so must have missed out on some nice towns, Southwold for example.

 

[Trumpet]

Looks lovely @Trumpet

Are you in The Maldives?

Yup,

Beachfront villa type thang.

 

[Gramaisc]

A sprinkling of snow there, too?

A discount because they've had to bodge up the roofs with grass?

 

[Thehooperman]

Yes, I understand that rail travel has its limitations.
I've always tended to go to places accessible by rail and so must have missed out on some nice towns, Southwold for example.

Wasn't the Southwold Railway still open when you were a lad then?

You would like the pubs in Southwold albeit they're all the same brewery.

 

[Mudgie]

Wasn't the Southwold Railway still open when you were a lad then?

You would like the pubs in Southwold albeit they're all the same brewery.

Having closed when my father was two years old and my mother was four, no, it closed forty five years before I started travelling much.
I first drank Adnams just over fifty years ago and was pleased to get to their Cambridge and Norwich pubs this autumn.

 

[Trumpet]

A sprinkling of snow there, too?

A discount because they've had to bodge up the roofs with grass?

They've done a pretty reasonable job of it though.

 

[Noah]

So they wouldn't have known the Sorrows of Southwold then. Sixty years ago you pretty much had to go to Southwold to get Adnams beers. Didn't have pubs in Cambridge or Norwich. There was one pub in a village near Cambridge which had it, think they must have gone to the brewery to collect it, but it usually wasn't in very good condition. Got recognised more widely as a result of Cambridge & Norwich beer festivals. Only really got into the Cambridge area as a result of one of the strikes at Whitbread Luton

 

[Mudgie]

So they wouldn't have known the Sorrows of Southwold then. Sixty years ago you pretty much had to go to Southwold to get Adnams beers. Didn't have pubs in Cambridge or Norwich. There was one pub in a village near Cambridge which had it, think they must have gone to the brewery to collect it, but it usually wasn't in very good condition. Got recognised more widely as a result of Cambridge & Norwich beer festivals. Only really got into the Cambridge area as a result of one of the strikes at Whitbread Luton

It was in their Castle at Colchester that I first drank Adnams, during July 1974. I think Ipswich and Felixstowe were other outposts of their tied estate but there was also "a flourishing free trade extending well into Norfolk, also Essex and Cambridgeshire".
I was disappointed several years ago with their pub, now disposed of, just south of Tower Bridge. Much better is the Anchor, former Courage brewery tap and now a Sam Smiths pub.

 

[Carole]

For various reasons we decided to go away for Christmas and New Year.

A few photos to share.

 

[Trumpet]

Where were you?

 

[Carole]

Where were you?

We did a Caribbean Cruise.
It was wonderful.

 

[Carole]

I have to say that the whole thing was very slick. From dropping our cases off at Manchester airport, we didn’t see them again until they arrived in our cabin.
When we exited the plane at Barbados airport there were buses waiting on the tarmac to take us directly to the ship, bypassing the airport terminal completely, immigration all sorted before we left home.
From leaving the plane to entering our ships cabin was about an hour.
The cruise itself was fabulous, they especially made Christmas Eve and New Years Eve very special.
I would love to do it with the family when our Granddaughter is old enough to understand what Christmas is.

An amazing coincidence… while we were at Manchester airport looking at the screen to see where to drop the bags, another couple appeared beside us. They live around the corner from us in the village and were on the same cruise.
We had organised different restaurants and different days out but we did spend some time with them on board, drinks, shows etc.

Then on another day we ended up sun bathing on deck next to someone that my husband knew from when he worked in Birmingham.

Small world.

 

[PeterD]

It's a big anniversary for me and my wife in February, close to Valentine's day so we are putting off a weekend away till March, we have chosen Porto as it was a city we both have wanted to go to for many years.

 

[staffordjas]

We did a Caribbean Cruise.
It was wonderful.

I have to say that the whole thing was very slick. From dropping our cases off at Manchester airport, we didn’t see them again until they arrived in our cabin.
When we exited the plane at Barbados airport there were buses waiting on the tarmac to take us directly to the ship, bypassing the airport terminal completely, immigration all sorted before we left home.
From leaving the plane to entering our ships cabin was about an hour.
The cruise itself was fabulous, they especially made Christmas Eve and New Years Eve very special.
I would love to do it with the family when our Granddaughter is old enough to understand what Christmas is.

An amazing coincidence… while we were at Manchester airport looking at the screen to see where to drop the bags, another couple appeared beside us. They live around the corner from us in the village and were on the same cruise.
We had organised different restaurants and different days out but we did spend some time with them on board, drinks, shows etc.

Then on another day we ended up sun bathing on deck next to someone that my husband knew from when he worked in Birmingham.

Small world.

How lovely . Sounds fantastic @Carole !

My mate has booked a Caribbean Cruise sometime around next New Years eve .

She's in a cold and snowy Chicago at the moment , but goes all over the world on cruises and been trying to convince me to give cruising a try.

(Hubby now been told by Cardiologist cruising and island holidays are out, only mainland hols with good health facilities nearby, so we'll never get to experience a cruise after all . )



We're planning a short break to Manchester sometime early summer. Son bought me a Coronation Street tour voucher for my birthday that's valid all year, so going to have a few days exploring Manchester as well as the Coronation street cobbles.
(I've never actually been to Manchester before , apart from the airport. Hubby has been many times with his work events and met Corrie cast in the pubs.)

Any recommendations for really nice Manchester hotels with good parking and handy for getting around gratefully received.

 

[Trumpet]

Caribbean is great this time of year.

 

[Carole]

(Hubby now been told by Cardiologist cruising and island holidays are out, only mainland hols with good health facilities nearby, so we'll never get to experience a cruise after all . )

If you fancied cruising you could try a mini cruise as a taster. They go from Southampton and you can do cruises for 2, 3, 4 or 5 nights. You could choose one that doesn’t go very far, just around the British Isles for example.
All cruise lines have medical facilities and doctors on board.

Cruising is great, but it’s important to pick the right cruise line for you.
It‘s a bit like going out for a meal, you can choose McDonalds or you can go to The Savoy (or anything in between.)

Cruises lines are similar, there’s cheap and cheerful or super posh (and everything in between.)

 

[arthur]

If you fancied cruising you could try a mini cruise as a taster. They go from Southampton and you can do cruises for 2, 3, 4 or 5 nights. You could choose one that doesn’t go very far, just around the British Isles for example.
All cruise lines have medical facilities and doctors on board.

Cruising is great, but it’s important to pick the right cruise line for you.
It‘s a bit like going out for a meal, you can choose McDonalds or you can go to The Savoy (or anything in between.)

Cruises lines are similar, there’s cheap and cheerful or super posh (and everything in between.)

We cruised on harmony of the seas a few years ago. western caribbean - was fantastic,, but i wouldn't want to do another cruise. not sure why just the feeling that i wouldn't do it again.

 

[Mudgie]

We cruised on harmony of the seas a few years ago. western caribbean - was fantastic,, but i wouldn't want to do another cruise. not sure why just the feeling that i wouldn't do it again.

All the dressing up for meals would put me off.