The Strand. Bond St. Old Kent Rd. We could recite every property in the order they were on the board. Until my recent 55th birthday however, these were just that – names on a gameboard. I’d never been to the UK, and decided it was time to experience these famous places for real.
As the leaves in our neighbourhood began to display their autumnal splendour, my wife and I decided to treat our daughter and granddaughters [ 10 and 8] to a winter holiday.
Due to Air New Zealand’s pernicious pricing during school holidays, the thoughts of Fiji/Samoa/Rarotonga were quickly dispelled. We happened upon a 9-day Pacific cruise visiting 4 islands. Noumea, Lifou, Vanuatu and Mystery Island. Along with 4 days at sea.
Arriving in Edinburgh, and after checking into our fabulous central accommodation., the Princes Street Suites - , we took an easy walk to Royal Mile.
Royal Mile, a World Heritage site, is a succession of streets in the heart of the Old Town Edinburgh, with Edinburgh Castle at its head and the Palace of Holyroodhouse at its foot. Its name comes from its tradition as a processional route for kings and queens for the last 500 years.
Departing Auckland to Dubai on Emirates was a fantastic start to our dream golf tour. Flying through the night in the comfort of Premium Economy made it easy to snooze with the luxury of extra space and the excellent service provided.The come down was the economy flight to Dublin from Dubai. No Premium Economy option was available for this leg of our journey, and we wondered why. Never mind, that’s travel, and three lads arriving in Dublin for a 6-week golf sojourn around Ireland and Scotland provided the “wow” moment we needed.
It is a city we regretted not visiting six years ago when we visited Portugal. Instead, we chose Lisbon which we very much enjoyed. But now finally, we had time for a five-day visit to Porto.
Apart from escaping a Wellington NZ winter, the main aim was to try the port wines and visit the Douro River, the port wine-growing area inland from Porto.
“Do you want to come to Eurovision?” was the invitation I received from friends.
Although I had heard about it, having been around since 1956 I didn’t know much about it. Of course, I knew about Abba winning in 1974 with “Waterloo”