Holiday Report 1 ~ Home/Portsmouth/Bordeaux

Friday 18th July

We left home at 3:15 pm - just as soon as we collected Robert from school and the trip to the port to catch the ferry should have taken just over two hours. The ferry departed at 8:30 pm. So we should have had at least 3 hours in hand. That's without the horrendous Friday night traffic on the M25 and M3. We actually arrived at the port as the boarding commenced. Was a bit nail biting, but we made it which is what's important. In fact by the time the boat departed, we were not only on board, we were sitting in the restaurant enjoying dinner. :))

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Holiday Update 2 ~ Bordeaux/Catalonia

( Sunday 20th July 2008 )

Holiday Update 3 - the local town

The local internet at the villa is pathetic. The free internet in the beach café is much better but is a couple of miles away. I uploaded the first week's photographs to photobucket from the café although as I type this, I actually have no way of posting it as the connection has gone completely at the villa. As it's Saturday I don't have much hope of it improving. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

Anyway, I promised photos, so here you are. This post is all around the local town and the ruined castle on the hill top.

( Photographs of the town )

Holiday Update 4 - Barcelona

On Friday we took the train to Barcelona. Hugh and I were last here in '79 or '80. Some things have changed and some are very much the same as 30 years ago.

The biggest change was the Sagrada Familia. Work on this cathedral started well over a 100 years ago and it's not finished.

In the early 90s the work here - which is funded entirely by donations - was almost at a standstill. The current level of activity didn't start until the year 2000. Most of the interior of the building is full of scaffolding at present which is disappointing as it makes photographing the beautiful stonework very hard. Still, I did the best I could.

Other parts of Barcelona, the bird and flower market are unchanged although the replica of the "Santa Maria" has gone.

( Photographs of the Barcelona )

Holiday Update 5 - Proof that we're nuts!

We arrived at PortAventura (a Universal Studios Theme Park in north-east Spain) on Monday evening, checked in, and booked dinner in one of their rather nice restaurants, but more about the hotel later. After a very nice meal, with champagne and red wine, we went into the theme park, and I will confess to not being entirely sober. That was probably just as well because this is where we went next.

( Meet the Dragon Khan. )

Holiday Update 6 - Various random photographs.

( Let's start with me and Orlando lying in the sun ;)  )