Stockholm: Wednesday, 28th – Friday, 30th November 2018 Stockholm has a certain special place in our hearts. Before we were married Robert worked as the European Training Manager for the software division of a British company called Letraset. Letraset [famous for rub-down dry-transfers] almost went bust after they purchased another historic British company – Stanley Gibbons [famous for postage stamp collections and catalogues]. A Swedish company called Esselte [stationery] bailed Letraset out. As a result of this Robert often travelled to Stockholm during the late eighties. Matilda had also previously visited a good friend from university who worked in Stockholm for a period and Stockholm was one of our honeymoon destinations in August 1990. When Robert was researching cheap flights and suggested places to Matilda, she approved some, rejected others and put some on the maybe list. When it came to Stockholm she flippantly suggested she wanted to replace the cheese slice bought on our honeymoon [over 28 years ago]. So, factoring in the transportation costs – travel and accommodation for a short city break for two – this must be the most expensive cheese slice ever. In 2006 when we returned to Stockholm on a short city break, we discovered […]
Monthly Archives: November 2018
Valletta: Saturday, 24th November 2018 The location of the Lascaris War Rooms, understandably, is not as easy to find as some of the other Maltese tourist sites: after all the War Rooms were the secret underground headquarters for the Allies’ defence of the Mediterranean. Signs led us on a rather convoluted route down steps and through tunnels: it all seemed to be part of the experience but we did find a more direct route when we exited. There was a personable young guide greeting visitors who was dressed in an WWII RAF uniform but as we had a plane to catch, we could not wait for the next tour and had to opt for the audio guide. The War Rooms proved to be one of the highlights of the trip: like stepping back in time you can see . . . . . . the telephone exchange rooms and all the charts, plans and tote boards used to plot the movements of ships and aircraft. Notice the big island on the map is Sicily, this is where the Axis planes were based and mounted their attacks from and was subsequently the focus of the Allied attack, co-ordinated by Eisenhower and Montgomery in […]
Valletta, Mdina and Rabat: Thursday, 22nd – Friday, 23rd November 2018 Another trip on the three cities ferry across the harbour and we discovered that our Valletta passes only covered one return trip on the ferry [this is clearly stated on the ticket but we overlooked it]. We were told we would have to pay on the return trip but as all fares on the Maltese buses and ferries seem to be €1.50 per person, this will not have too serious an impact on our holiday budget. Our destination for a very filling, slap-up full English breakfast to sustain us for a day’s sightseeing was Il Bacino with harbour views. Replete, we headed to the bus station to board the 53 to Rabat and Mdina. For much of the journey, the bus ran parallel to the 26.5 km Wignacourt Aqueduct, which was built in the 17th century by the Grand Master of the Order of Saint John to carry water from springs in Dingli and Rabat to the newly-built capital city Valletta. Mdina, [above – see more later] – a stunning fortified citadel – is the old capital of Malta and has just 300 inhabitants. Rabat – which means suburb in Semitic […]
Valletta: Tuesday, 20th – Wednesday, 21st November 2018 Arriving quite late on Tuesday, we checked in to our hotel and were pleased to have been given another free upgrade to a room with a balcony and a stunning view across the harbour. We are assuming this is an unexpected perk of travelling out of season when there are vacant rooms. The hotel was chosen for its history as it is said to be the longest established hotel in Valletta. When booking Robert read that various famous people had stayed here but at the time of writing we cannot find any confirmed celebrity guests to support this. The situation and the views are however excellent. We were advised by a very helpful receptionist where we could go to find a bar and enjoyed an al fresco beer, whilst hearing that it was snowing at home. This meteorological news encouraged Matilda to appreciate the winter sun break even more. After breakfast on the restaurant balcony in the sunshine… … we walked towards the main square and on to the bus garage to buy a day pass which is valid for 24 hours from the time you first use it. Not only has Valletta been […]
Maspalomas: Thursday, 15th – Friday, 16th November 2018 Robert has not previously wanted to commit to staying in one place for too long as he has always wanted to maximise the number of places we visit in a limited period of time. Now that we have more time at our disposal Matilda has been encouraging him to embrace the “two nights” concept so that she does less packing and has fewer travelling days. So on this trip it is two days per location and this seems to be going well. Thursday was the transfer day between the two locations on the island and we caught a local bus, for one hour, to travel the length of the island, north to south, to Maspalomas and our new hotel which boasts a pool, pool bar and spa complex . . . . . . .and the receptionist said we would have good views from our balcony. . . . . . across the golf course. The evening view of the hotel bar and pool was also impressive. Playa des Maspalomas and Playa des Ingles (Englishman’s beach) together offer visitors over six kilometres of sand. One version has it that Playa des Ingles was named […]
Las Palmas: Tuesday, 13th – Wednesday, 14th November 2018 We were not sure quite what to expect from Gran Canaria out of season and, over the first two days, Las Palmas turned out to be a city of two halves. Having been given a free upgrade by the hotel we very happily settled in to our suite on arrival. We then took our customary walk somewhere new for Robert to get his bearings. This took us along the sea front at Playa de Las Canteras, the longest beach on the island at almost four kilometres. The beach is protected by La Barra – a rocky strip running parallel with the shore -and the end where the breakers are more lively seems to be given over to surf schools. The sand lends itself to the creation of detailed and complex sculptures . . . . . . and Matilda judged the sea to be warmer than the hotel pool she had dabbled her fingers into earlier. We realise that we have had our expectations raised by the extraordinary beauty and style of some of the city squares we have visited in mainland Europe recently: Nancy, Krakov and Brugges spring to mind, but the […]