5. A Caribbean cruise -2001

From London Gatwick airport ( UK) we flew on Britannia Airways to Bridgetown Barbados where we boarded the Thomson cruise ship " The Emerald".

Our first port of call was St Marteen, where we spent the day wandering the small town and relaxing on a local beach Returning to the ship we went to watch the Mac and mable show in the show lounge.

We then sailed onto Road Town, Tortola in the British Virgin Isles, we strolled around the town admiring some of the wonderful houses on the hillside.

On the Thursday we docked in Antigua, we walked into town and visited the cathedral, in the afternoon we boarded the Jolly Roger party boat and siled to a local beach and drank rum. 

The following day we docked in Portsmouth, Dominica, we took a stroll to town that was surrounded by lush vegetation. We chatted with one of the local who told us about how a recent hurricane had caused so much damage. 

The final island we visited was St Lucia, we hopped in a taxi that took us to Rodney bay we swam and sunbathed on the beach before having lunch at Spinnakers. We then reboarded The Emerald for our return to Barbados

4. Stockholm (Sweden) and Helsinki (Finland)- - 2000

From Stockholm's Arlanda airport we took the bus to the Port and joined the M/S Sea Symphony (Silja Lines.) for the overnight trip to Helsinki.  We set sail in the late afternoon and passed through the beautiful archipelago. 

We docked in Helsnki and took a cab to the Grand Marina Hotel.  In the evening we took a tram into town and watched a "Dragon boat" racing competition and then popped into a Cider garden for a quick drink.
In the evening we wandered down to the quayside to watch an impressive firework display.

On our second day we took a bus tour of Helsinki, the bus was and old London double decker. We stopped at an impressive church that had been blown out of sold rock. We passed the local Dry dock where a huge Cruse ship was being built and then visited a local flea market.

In the evening we took a dinner cruise around the local area and had a superb dinner of lamb and salmon. After dinner we visited a couple of local bars, Hemmingways and the Copacobana.

The following day we took a walk up to the local park and watched the Helsinki marathon that was taking place, all too soon it was time to board our ship for the trip back to Stockholm.












In Stockholm we booked into the Aldon Hotel and on a beautiful Summer's evening we wandered around the City, a local park  and even took in a sightseeing boat tour.

3. Weymouth - Poole (UK) and St Malo (France) -2000

We drove from Cardiff (UK)  to Weymouth on the South coast of England. Our base for this short visit was the Channel Hotel. On our first evening we took a stroll down to the harbour and then had dinner at The Old Ship Inn.














The next day we took the short drive to Lulworth Cove, we took a long walk along the surrounding coastal path that overlooks the famous Rock formation.

On our third day we drove over to Portland, we stopped off for coffee and scones and visited Portland Bill lighthouse, a stone quarry and an old abandoned Church. 

We then made a visit to Portland Castle with its interesting Maritime history.

On our fourth day we made our way back down to the harbour and hopped on the Ferry over to St Malo in France. Once in St Malo we spent our time wandering the streets of this old walled town before having lunch in a street side cafe. In the evening we set sail on our return journey and ran into some rough seas that threw the boat around.

On our fifth day we drove over the coastal town of Poole, we decided to take a boat trip around the impressive harbour and learnt that it has one of the largest harbours in the World, but not very deep, hence it never developed into a commercial port.

2. The Cotswolds- UK -2000

We drove from Cardiff (UK) to the Cotswold area of Southern England, Our base for our stay in the Cotswolds was The Frogmill Hotel.

Our first stop was the village of Lower Slaughter followed by Stow on the Wold and Braughton on the Water.

Next on our list we the beautifully kept gardens of Sudley Castle.

We visited Cheltenham racecourse and had a flutter on the Horses and managed to pick a few winners including "Upgrade", "Spanish Main" and "Holborn Hill".

On our way back to Cardiff we stopped of at Ross on Wye and had lunch at a pub overlooking the river.