It was Canada Day so many of the Canadians were in red. July 1 is also a big day for Bulgarians, many of whom travel to the Black Sea to be there for sunrise. Our boat was heading away from the Black Sea! The Danube is the border between Romania and Bulgaria so we essentially […]
Day 21 Bucharest Romania. 30 June
After breakfast we all boarded buses for a guided tour of the northern part of Bucharest. It’s the leafy, wealthy part that includes the central administrative part as well as the older pre-Soviet buildings. Our guide was good but a bit hazy on some of the detail. What came through was the recency of the […]
Day 20 – to Bucharest, Romani. 29 June
We had a taxi booked for 8.15 and the driver was in reception when we went down. That’s the only good thing I can say about him. He was sullen, totally incapable of working out how to Jenga our bags into his enormous Tesla boot and refused any suggestions we had to offer. In the […]
Day 19: Nice 28 June
We set off reasonably early to walk up to this fortress park place where the views are great. It was hot. We stopped at a cafe near the port and had a coffee and croissant and went to the restaurant that was recommended which is on the other side of the port. It’s not that […]
Day 18: Saturday 27 June. To Nice
We didn’t sleep well as it was very hot. Mike eventually opened our bedroom door just to let the cool air in more easily. We had offered take Jen to Calvi airport for her flight to Istanbul via Marseille. She wanted to be there by 5.30am as that was just over 2 hours before her […]
Day 17 L’lle Rousse: Friday 26 June
Hamish and Sarah drove into Calvi so the rest of us enjoyed looking after Finn. He is a genius baby and so entertaining. He is a real happy chappie and ultra busy all the time, although he is happy to have an hour or 2 nap each afternoon. We took him to the beach early […]
Days 15 – 16 L’lle Rousse and Calvi
On Wednesday we had a pretty chill day. Pauline, Sarah and Hamish took Finn to the beach early, before it got too hot and we joined them later. There are some lovely little beaches nearby and they seem to be free. The one we went to had lots of shade (during the morning anyway) and […]
Day 14 Corsica- Tuesday 23 June
We had a leisurely start and then a swim in the excellent pool. It was bliss. In the afternoon we took a trip to the supermarket. The others had warned us that there is no obvious order to the supermarket but it had to be experienced in order to fully appreciate the randomness of layout. […]
Day 13: to Corsica – Monday 22 June
We checked out and finished breakfast by 10.30. Another beautiful day with a high of 34C. I successfully negotiated the motorway back to Livorno with Jen’s navigational assistance. We got to the ferry terminal in plenty of time but there was nowhere apparent to park the car. The ferry queue man told us to park […]
Day 12: the pool party – Sunday 21 June
Our only duty was to blow up the balls and pool toy. We were successful. There was a disco and barbecue lunch beside the pool. That started at 2 and the disco with sets from a friend of Craig and Jen and from Mark, (who has done a couple of professional gigs) went until about […]
Day 11: The wedding- 20 June
Another stunning day. Hot but with a breeze. The high was 37C and that continued for the next day also. After breakfast it was all on for preparation. Pauline and I joined the bridesmaids for the pre ceremony beautification. There were 2 hairdressers and one of them also did Pauline’s and my makeup. The bridesmaids […]
Day 10: Tuscany 19 June
We had a leisurely start in preparation for the arrival of most guests and then the pizza party. The pool is great and the food at Guadelupe is great. We had a good breakfast and a salad for lunch plus lots of water. One of the guests from Singapore (maybe Hong Kong though originally from […]