China, August 2013
We had a wonderful family holiday travelling through China. We walked on the Great Wall, looked at Pandas and paddled in the Li River. It was a perfect mix of interesting culture and wonderful landscapes.
Speyside – Spring 2013
I have always wanted to visit the Cairngorms so when my local RSPB group arranged a holiday with Speyside I was eager to join them. Normally Speyside has their own place, the Steadings, but there were too many of us to fit so we were staying at the Grant Arms Hotel in Grantown on Spey instead. John, Carol and I made our own way there and met with the leaders and the other people in our group in the evening….
Cruise: Day 13 – Venice
It was the end of the cruise but we still had a day to explore Venice. I have been there several times before but a long time ago so it was a trip down memory lane. We took a water taxi to our hotel, got settled in and then walked up to St Mark’s Square. The queue to enter the cathedral was extremely long so we went off to find somewhere for lunch. The others went back to the hotel…
Cruise: Day 12 – Koper
By this stage we were all rather suffering from sight-seeing fatigue but Torolf and I decided to do some exploring anyway. We found the usual selection of narrow streets, squares and old buildings. Torolf struck up a conversation with one of a group of school children who were painting.
Cruise: Day 11 – Ravenna
A heavy mist shrouded the landscape as we approached the port, giving it a mysterious atmosphere. I had seen a small flock of birds land on the grass deck and went to investigate. I became very excited when I realised they were black redstarts. I tried to get a close-up photo of them but they didn’t sit still for long enough. After breakfast, Tore and Heidi decided to hire bikes and set of for the day. The rest of us…