Sunday 12th September 2021 After seeing people floating seemingly effortlessly around Coniston Water and Lake Bala, Robert had been keen to try stand up paddle-boarding [SUP]. We had also seen people inflating them in a car park in Llanberis and so he felt it would be possible to fit them in Al, the camper van. Since a minimum water level is required for a SUP, this was also affected by the tides but we found we could catch the boat to Bryher and hire them from the very helpful people at Hut 62 then catch the boat back. On arrival we were given a life jacket, a SUP and a paddle each and then a brief lesson. It is important not to drag or beach a SUP in case the fin snaps off. Paddle-boarding is all about balance and core strength, neither of which are Matilda’s strong points. She did not manage to stand up from kneeling on the board but her swimming costume did stay dry. She felt she should have practised this on dry land in advance. Robert, however, after a slightly shaky start, managed to stand up and move smoothly round the bay. Although Matilda stayed kneeling, […]
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Wednesday 25th August 2021 Allow us to preface this post with an apology. Those of you who are keen followers may notice that the videos here feature the sister site, Robert on the Rails’ logo. Robert tells Matilda this was a genuine administrative error and not a blatant attempt to promote across the two sites. At LLanberis, Robert was pleased to see that, before the first train of the day leaves, you can watch the fire being stoked and the engines taking on water, in order to get up steam, outside the National Slate Museum. . . . . . which is situated right by the station in the Dinorwig Quarry workshops. Getting our priorities in the right order, we planned to visit the museum after our train ride. We were to be pulled by the engine Dolbadarn, which like all the engines on the line, was rescued from the Dinorwig slate quarries and restored to work the Llanberis Lake Railway. The Llanberis Lake Railway runs alongside Padarn Lake to Penllyn and back. Back at Llanberis station we were able to admire Thomas Bach at work. Thomas was the other steam engine operating that day. But not that Thomas Rising […]
Tuesday 15th September 2020 On our last morning in Tresco we awoke to low-lying mist and poor visibility and the knowledge that our helicopter flight was likely to be delayed. The mist cleared on the Isles of Scilly by about eleven. However the mist lingered considerably longer on the mainland so four of us spent the majority of the waiting time in glorious sunshine in the cafe at the Abbey Gardens where we saw some beautiful, but camera-shy, red squirrels. The other two members of our bubble had caught a high speed boat to St Mary’s, stopping to view basking grey seals on their way to catch a plane to Land’s End. They too had to fill in time which they did playing cards. We kept in touch as announcements were made and rumours spread and in the end the plane flight from St Mary’s was cancelled and two caught the Scillonian while four of us, after a six hour delay, travelled to Penzance by helicopter and . . . . . . enjoyed the views then . . . . . . passed over the Scillonian and waved. The helicopter also provides a good aerial view of St Michael’s […]
Tuesday 7th January 2020 The rain and warmer temperatures had cleared the pavements of snow and ice so that it was much easier to walk about, but unfortunately the warm air had also brought with it a low mist. We were therefore pleased that we had been able to take a photo of the outside of the Uspenski Eastern Orthodox Cathedral in better light the day before [below left]. Built between 1862 and 1868, it has an imposing position on a hillside on the Katajanokka peninsula close to the water. It is apparently usually closed on Mondays so this may not have been attributable to the public holiday yesterday. Looking back from Helsinki Cathedral many of the older buildings are in warm shades of yellow and ochre with just a hint of pink. The Cathedral itself was built between 1830 and 1852 as a tribute to the Grand Duke of Finland, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia and prior to Finnish Independence in 1917 it was also known as St Nicholas’ Church. The green domes with golden stars are particularly striking. The Lutheran interior seems rather minimalist compared to the decorations in the Uspenski Cathedral, but it is still beautiful. Apparently […]
Sunday, 17th November 2019 The priority in Casablanca is to visit the Hassan II Mosque, the only mosque in Morocco which non-Muslims are allowed to visit. The hotel concierge said it would be a pleasant walk in the sunshine, but the route he directed us to, took us through an area where there was much heavy building work going on and the pavement was often out of bounds so we were walking with the traffic. We felt we could find a more picturesque route back but the works seem to be designed in part to create a more picturesque approach to the mosque. On the way we spotted Rick’s Café which Matilda, who studied film, was adamant had to be on the itinerary and was already scheduled for later that evening. We carried on towards the Hassan II Mosque which was built between 1987 to 1993 by [unsurprisingly] King Hassan II, the father of the current monarch, Mohammad VI. The mosque was originally scheduled for completion in 1989 to coincide with King Hassan II’s sixtieth birthday but [also unsurprisingly] this was delayed. It combines traditional Moorish architecture with modern technology and is simply beautiful: the exterior is predominantly polished granite with […]
Thursday 4th July 2019 Matilda had read in the guide book about Filitosa: the most famous prehistoric site on Corsica with Neolithic anthropomorphic menhirs situated about 50 km/30miles from Ajaccio. She felt that this would make a change from citadels and it would be worth a visit to see these megalithic stones carved with ancient faces and weapons. However, after making several enquiries it became apparent that the site is best accessed by road so she has promised herself a return visit to this beautiful island in Alan the motorhome to see some of the places not readily served by public transport. Our walk through Ajaccio took us through the market in Piazza Foch, which smelt strongly of cheese and was selling all manner of Corsican produce and foodstuffs. We walked on past the harbour and the citadel, which is not open to the public as it remains under military command and where there were donkeys grazing in the old moat. Place d’Austerlitz, formerly and locally known as the Place du Casone, features a statue of Napoléon at the top of a stone pyramid flanked by two flights of steps and triumphant eagles to left and right. The statue is […]
Sunday 10th & Monday 11th March 2019 Another leisurely breakfast followed by our first real excursion into Darjeeling. St Andrew’s Church, built in 1843 is very close to our hotel but being a Sunday, we did not want to intrude on the service which was in progress. We will have other chances to visit. Robert wanted to ride the steam train on the DHR down the line for one stop to Ghum and visit the DHR Museum there so we walked back towards the railway station via the Chowrasta and The Mall to book tickets. You cannot opt to split your journey to allow more time in Ghum and the 10:00 train was fully booked so we secured our seats for the 12:20 train. This also provided some photo opportunities as the steam engines were shunting into position for the next journey. We set off back up the road, making a second attempt to look round St Andrews Church on our way past, but this time the doors were closed. Fortunately there are some pavements in Darjeeling and this makes it easier to walk around. We headed for the Happy Valley Tea Plantation, which is the only one within the city […]
Sunday, 14th October 2018 On arrival at Maastricht Marina a sign told us to phone a number to gain entry. The gates swung open and we were told to pick our spot in this very peaceful and civilised aire. Having visited the harbour office to pay and get instructions for using the facilities we decided to walk into Maastricht. This proved to be slightly further away than expected at 2.63 miles and Ralf – having already had a lovely stroll along the banks of the Maas in Steyl in the morning – became slightly reluctant in the heat. Ralf is definitely a country dog. Maastricht itself is lovely – an historic city with lots of pedestrianised streets and old buildings as well as interesting, independent shops rather than being dominated by large international chains. Robert and Matilda both agree that Maastricht is on the list of places to return to on a train trip without Ralf so they can see the sights, browse the shops and, of course, the bars. This is the start of a week’s holiday in Holland and the streets were busy with people enjoying the prospect of an extended break. There was also a jazz festival under way […]
Saturday, 11th August 2018 When booking today’s train Robert had several choices. Bear in mind that it is 45 miles between Debrecen [Hungary] and Oradea [Romania]. There is only one direct train between the two cities each day, all the other routes take one to two hours longer and involve one change. So he decided to get the 07:11 from Debrecen arriving in Oradea at 11:05. That is three hours 54 minutes which is an average speed of 11.5mph. We had to get up at 05:45 this morning to give us enough time to do our ablutions, dress, pack and walk the 20 mins to the station. We were leaving the hotel before they started serving breakfast, so we had collected our packed breakfasts from reception last night. Just 30 minutes into our train journey the compartment door opened and we were asked for our passports by the Hungarian authorities. Romania, like the UK is not in the Schengen zone of the EU. The train was stationary for 30 mins while all the formalities took place. Then we were off. Ten minutes later we stopped again for the Romanian passport checks. This time the border officer took our passports and […]
We had planned our destination for today, but on arrival it really was in the middle of nowhere and there was no chance of meeting Matilda’s culture quotient. We are beginning to be more adept at accurately deciphering the BritStops entries. We had already discounted several pubs which mention their children’s play areas as, with daughters in their twenties this is not a current requirement of ours. If it says “popular with walkers and cyclists” it is likely to be without anything except beautiful scenery and consequently far too remote for Matilda. We looked at the map and found another place slightly closer to home, about an hour’s drive further on and set off. Bodiam boasts a steam railway, a castle and a pleasant country pub. We came here many years ago to celebrate Ruth’s third birthday and had a lovely day with the extended family so we have fond memories of the place too. As we had had a very substantial meal the night before, we travelled before having breakfast so it was more like brunch in Alan on arrival. This could be the way forward as we are both quite early risers but not necessarily hungry first thing. […]