Egypt May 2015

Hotel - Makadi Palace, Makadi, Hurghada

The sun was calling us, it had been far too long.  We had been on city breaks, cold breaks and busy family breaks, but we hadn't done a proper sunny holiday since our honeymoon in the Dominican Republic, and after the last few years, we deserved a little sunshine.

Clare was once a rep in Sharm El Sheikh for Thomson Holidays so had been to Egypt, and had done the Nile Cruise before but that had been 15 years earlier.  My Ma n Pa had also become Egypt fanatics going there for two Christmas' in a row, so with our bags packed and Chewie staying with Nanna & Grandad for a couple of weeks we flew towards the sun.

Our first 3 nights were to be spent at the Makadi Palace, part of the Red Sea Holidays Makardi-Mega complex. Beach front all-inclusive hotels with al-a-carte restaurants from every cuisine imaginable, huge pools, fantastic rooms and a sea so calm and tranquil yet full of colour.

With what seemed like a long flight (5 and a half hours) and quick transfer, we were ready to call it a night ready for the full day ahead of doing nothing much at all. 

In the morning, Clare treated me to a buy one get one free massage to make sure I was relaxed as possible, having a full Egyptian Massage at the start of the holiday and another one booked in for the last couple of days.  The Egyptian Massage is basically a beating for 1 hour, having your arms and legs twisted into positions that would make a contortionist wince, muscles pummeled and bones cracked, yet when you leave you thank the masseur for a great experience and look forward to the next session of abuse.  After our first (and only) meal in the Buffet Hall, as I am not a fan, we sat for a few drinks at the Piano Bar
where we were entertained by an Egyptian Lounge Singer who seemed to have learnt his trade from watching Japanese Karaoke.  It was dreadful, but the more mojito's I had, I became more appreciative of his finesse.

We awoke on our 2nd morning to more blue skies and Clare's birthday.  Once Clare had opened her cards and we had breakfast, we headed down to the beach.  I have never seen so many colours and variety of fish in such a close proximity.  You could walk a good 200-300 meters out into the sea and the water would only come up to your knees.  Yet, fluttering around your ankles and nibbling at your knees it seemed the whole cast of "Finding Nemo" had come to visit us and wish Clare Happy Birthday.  That evening we utilised the first of our many Al-a-Carte choices and treated ourselves to the Thai Garden.  With Fishcakes, Noodles Salads and Thai Red Curry we were full, and ready to call it a night

Hotel - M/S Grand Rose

For the next week, we had opted for a Nile Cruise aboard the Grand Rose, visiting a host of temples, monuments and tombs along the Nile from Luxor to Aswan and back.

We had an early morning set off from Hurghada to arrive at our Cruise Ship before 12 noon in Luxor. A few couples from the Makardi Hotels were also on the cruise, as well as a few others from hotels closer to Hurghada. The boat was a mix of English and German tourists, but we were segregated for most of the holiday.

When we arrived, we decided to nip up to the top deck for a little drink before our welcome meeting. Sat next to the bar, already with drink in hand were Paul & Sue.  They asked us to join them for a drink and we knew straight away that they were our type of people.  Fun loving, straight to the point and a great laugh.  We were joined minutes later by Jonny and Clare, a couple who had previously met Paul and Sue on the coach journey over from the hotel.  The six of us hit it off straight away, and our group was formed.  Mamma Sue, Pappa Paul, Jack 'n' Danny and the two Clare's.  Thankfully we formed our group early on as there were select individuals from other groups who really started to annoy.  Tipsy Annie, a 70 plus year old woman who was drunk for the entire tour, vile and rude, we had a few run-ins with her. Camera Dave, the man with the biggest camera and a chauvinistic outlook, we utilised him for his lens knowledge.  Moaning Minnie, a lady from our hotel who had complained about everything, and continued to do so throughout the next week, too hot, rubbish/tasteless food, too much learning, not enough shopping.

During the welcome meeting we met Gilan, our tour guide for the week.  I think initially we were typecast as the naughty, mischievous group, but Gilan would come to love us and sometimes rely on us for support with the other, naughtier, groups.  Down for our first meal, and I was convinced that Red Sea Holidays had hired celebrities to wait on us hand and foot, as Morgan Freeman introduced himself as our waiter.  I am sure he had another, real name, but he was called Morgan for the next week and relished every second of it.

Walking round the Scarab

We were warned that there would be early morning rises for each of the excursions to avoid the mid afternoon heat (which was ranging between 40 - 46 degrees each day).  So at 6:30am we were having breakfast ready for our first outing, Karnak Temple first, the Luxor Temple on the East Bank of Luxor.  When we arrived at Karnak Temple it was already 40 degrees and our pre-prepared bottles of water were diminishing fairly quickly.  I had tried to stay away from pictures and any information before our trip to Egypt so I could experience everything first hand.  The designs and structures at these sights are breathtaking, the craftsmanship and detail on every stone block is mesmerising. In Karnak Temple there is a Scarab Beetle on a short pillar that it is said if you walk around this 7 times it will bring you good luck, so hand in hand Clare and I walked around it, counting to ensure we gained the fullest amount of luck from that little bug.  Annoyingly I heard the Italian group that followed us only needed to go around it five times, it must be a country based thing!

When we arrived at Luxor Temple, Clare seemed to be struggling and opted to stay on the coach as she was completely drained of energy.  Inside the temples the heat is immense and I think that my little English White Rose had done too much with too little water.  I was told to go and take some pictures whilst she slept on the air conditioned coach.  I did exactly as I was told.  Again, Luxor Temple is huge obelisks, columns and details that you could not imagine.  Huge monolithic pillars, colours that had stood for thousands of years and statues of gods (especially Horus, my favourite), carvings in granite and two lines of lions in symmetry.

Returning to the boat for dinner, followed by pancakes we set sail for Ko Mumbo Temple.

The next morning we sailed down the Nile towards Ko Mumbo, catching glimpses of little Riverside villages, children waving, singing and swimming in the Nile (without fear of crocodile).  As we approached a low bridge, the staff and a few guests collapsed canopies and umbrellas and told everyone to remain seated.  I am sure there have been some serious injuries at this point in the past, but fortunately (although, our friend Tipsy Annie would have welcomed a bridge in the face) we all passed through unscathed and the canopies were re-erected. 

Ko Mumbo Temple was a little walk from our mooring station and as we arrived there the sun was setting.  A smaller temple to the ones we had seen the day earlier, but still as impressive. Again, I spent a good amount of time searching out my mate Horus who appears on most carvings and trying to take in as much as possible, although as good as Gilan is, there is so much to comprehend, and with Tipsy Annie chatting and laughing drunkenly it was even harder.  That was until we all told Tipsy to politely "Shut Up".  Returning back to the boat for our candlelit dinner, a 6 course meal that ran into the night, we were in bed early again after a few G 'n' T's for another early rise.

Our next morning was a triumvirate of visits, The Unfinished Obelisk, Phiala Temple and the High Aswan Dam.  The day earlier we had tried to confuse Gilan with her head count by shouting out numbers randomly, she counteracted this by counting in Arabic.  So, the evening before, I consulted my lessons from Pierre in Tunisia and allocated various Arabic numbers to the group.  As Gilan proceeded down the coach she was hit with Arabar's, Khamsa's, Setta's and a whole host of other numbers, thankfully she saw the funny side of it and seemed proud of our learning abilities....

The Unfinished Obelisk is exactly what it says on the itinerary, a huge stone obelisk lying at an acute angle almost ready for completion.  This is were we learned how the ancients would slowly dig and build to raise the mammoth stone to it's standing position, however, for some reason this was never completed and the huge paperweight remained hidden until recently.

Phiala temple can only be accessed via a little boat trip (which of course involves sales of goods and tat on board) as it is located on a small island, however, this was not the initial location of the temple.
The original island had become unstable, so Unesco moved the temple brick by brick to it's new resting place.  Thankfully, they had done an excellent job and there were many intact depictions of my mate Horus.

Finally, onto the High Aswan Dam which is under military control.. This is were Lake Nassa was formed when the Aswan Dam was built to control the Nile's flooding tendencies.  We had five minutes here to take a picture on either side of the Dam, looking at the Nile then Lake Nassa, then back on the bus.  The temperature whilst at the Dam was just short of 50 degrees and the pool was calling us, as well as dinner, pancakes and G 'n' T's

Our next morning still felt like the night before.  The sun wasn't even up and that is a rarity in Egypt. We were off with military convoy through the Western Desert towards Abu Simbel.  A recently (more recent than other sites) found temple that is well worth a visit.  As the coach trotted down desert roads, it became evident how desolate the terrain was.  When I say nothing for miles, i really mean it, there was nothing.  At 4am (ish) we were all blessed with seeing a glorious sunrise over the Western Desert, a sight I will remember, and part of my touring passion, to see a new day start in a foreign country.

When we arrived at Abu Simbel, Gilan took us an opposite route to the other tour groups informing us that there was shade this way and we could sneak into the second temple before the other groups knew it was there.  As we turned the final corner, we could see the temple in all it's glory.  The monuments I had seen only a couple of days earlier looked tiny in comparison, the four huge gargantuan statues that stood outside the entrance were jaw dropping.  We were allowed to take pictures outside the temple, but unfortunately, to preserve the colours internally, camera's were not allowed, and they were being checked.  The blues, yellows, reds and greens of the "paintings" inside
these two temples were as if Nick Knowles had gone in with his DIY SOS team the day before, although without the MDF. Bright and vibrant yet thousands of years old.  On our return to the boat through the desert again, we saw a mirage.  A huge sea of fresh water appeared on the horizon, yet we all knew it was a figment of our imagination. It is hard to describe what was visible and even harder to take a picture of it.

Back on the boat, we were all dressed in our Galibea's ready for party night.  With a 2:45am get up that morning and a none air conditioned room, you can imagine how much fun we had at the party. Unfortunately, it seemed very unorganised with the German tour guide giving all the instructions of the party games and increasing temperatures due to the DJ lights we were soon back on the top deck having a little night cap.

Luckily, the next day had no wake up call as we were sailing all day back towards Luxor.  Back under the low bridge,  through the Lock, and back up the Nile.  We got to meet the Captain of the Cruise and heard about his many wives (or wanting of).  We all chilled out by the pool with it's slippy surfaces, eating great food, pinching too many biscuits which upset the German's, more pancakes and an evening with Morgan Freeman.  As much as the temples are worth a visit, it is also great to enjoy the cruise for what it is too.

Our last day of excursions found us on the West Bank of Luxor with a full morning ahead.  Our first stop was the Valley of the Kings, multiple underground tunnels leading to tombs of Egyptian Rulers. We visited 3 of these tombs, the first being the deepest and steepest descent with walls full of depictions of Merenptah's life and afterlife, colour on the walls again that was astounding, my mate Horus all over the place and we were told to keep an eye out for Scarab beetles, Ships and Snakes (on the walls of course).  After the monstorous climb back to daylight we ventured to Rameses III's and Remeses VI's shorter tunneled tombs both displaying more of the same designs.  The Valley of the Kings is a white sand valley, and so reflects the heat from the morning sun directly into a basin to which you are standing and there is very little shelter.  There are no cameras allowed on the site to try and preserve as much colour as possible. Our two litres of water was diminishing fairly rapidly and it was still on 7:30am and we had much more to see.

Next was Clare's favourite monument, Hatshepsut (pronounced "Hot Chip Soup") Temple, a humongous, gigantic, colossal temple that looks like something straight out of Indiana Jones.  Multi-layered and multi-stepped we only had a 30 minute window to take in the sight as time had been wasted by Tispy Annie and her team due to shopping for tat.  I wish we could have spent more time here as there was too much to see in the short space of time, but we did the best we could and at least I got to see Horus in full technicolour glory.

Whilst in the Valley of the Kings we had visited the tomb of Remeses III, so it was only fitting that we visit his temple as well.  Again, we just had a whistlestop tour here, a quick snoop around the mass amounts of columns, pillars and carvings on the walls.  Our water had now ran out, and the heat was rising rapidly, the pool on the boat was calling our names and there was a Gin and Tonic ready for us.

Our last stop before returning to the boat was the Collossi of Memnon, two huge statues in the middle of a field, in the middle of a dual carriageway.  This stop consisted of, get off the bus, take three pictures and then get back on the bus, so I can't really say much about them apart from they were big, and I took some pictures (more than three!)

Back on the boat, we all realised that this was it, the end of our cruise.  We would spend one more day slipping into the pool, one more afternoon of pancakes, biscuits and G 'n' T's, our last supper with Morgan Freeman, and then a nightcap on the sun deck.  In the morning, we were off back to Makadi for a well deserved rest.

We thanked Gilan for her excellent knowledge, great humour and for putting up with Tispy Annie, Moaning Minnie, Camera Dave's comments and of course our new found counting abilities.  The staff of the Grand Rose were all fantastic and made our week unforgettable.  We cannot thank you enough.

This also ticks off a challenge from my 40 before 40 "Live on a boat for a week"

We bade our farewells to our new friends who had made our week cruise just that even more awesome.

Pappa Paul, Mamma Sue, Clare 1, Jack & Danny and Clare 2

Hotel: Makadi Palace, Makadi, Hurghada

After a long coach journey back to the hotel with Hady the "comedic" tour guide, we quickly settled back into our routine of sitting by the pool, wandering the beach front promenade, slipping back into the pool, abusive Egyptian massages, eating at the various restaurants for lunch, including Savoury Crepes at Discovery, Kebabs at Rendezvous and Tasty Kahuna Burgers at the Sunset Bar.

One of the first tasks as we arrived back was to book as many Al-a-Carte meals as possible, and luckily we reserved tables for all four nights.

The Discovery Restaurant for our first night, a buffet restaurant were the food was cooked to order. Fresh chicken, beef, pasta, fish done to your tastes and served with vegetables, rice, or potatoes.  It was so relaxed and tasty that this restaurant became our choice for breakfast every morning as well.

Our second night was spent at the Botanical Gardens, an international restaurant, multi-cultural menu.  I opted for an Italian style rosti steak, cooked to perfection and Clare had Swedish meatballs (nothing like the ones from Ikea).

When we arrived at the Makadi Palace on our first week, one restaurant stood out to me.  Always up for trying new foods, the Lebanese menu looked perfect.  It was.  A starter selection to which we had 8 taster pots, followed by soup, and then a Lebanese mixed grill, Clare opted for the Chicken Grill, we were looking for Lebanese Restaurants near home for future bookings.  Absolutely divine!


Finally, to end the holiday in style, we chose the Egyptian Restaurant and the neighbouring Makadi Mall. Again, we received a starter selection of taster pots with a beautifully fluffy pitta style bread for dipping in.  I opted for another mixed grill based on last nights success and Clare had an aubergine tagine.  The food is something we could definitely not fault in Egypt.

Our final morning called and we were packed and ready to take on the depressing journey home.  We had been told that Manchester was hosting a current high temperature of 8 degrees, a minimum of 30 degrees cooler than what we had become accustomed to.  Hurghada Airport has been undergoing some renovations recently and they are far from completion, so checking in and waiting for our plane was far from an enjoyable experience, but we did have the pleasure of seeing Mamma Sue and Pappa Paul before their departure.  Clare and Jonny were on our flight home, so thankfully, the dismal airport was brightened with their great sense of humour and company.

Due to the chaos of the check in procedure, as we boarded the flight home, we noticed that one of the seats behind us was occupied by a young girl crying.  She had been separated from her mother and sister because of issues with seating allocations.  Clare & I notified the cabin crew and told them we would be happy to move so the family could be reunited, and didn't mind if we were separated.  After a little jiggling about, Clare and I were re-united in the extra leg room section of the plane due to our kind offerings.  With our little legs there was ample room to stretch out and make the long flight home more bearable.

Whilst in Egypt, we were told that since the revolution in 2011, tourism has dropped from 14 million visitors per year to a measly 3 million.  This is having a major effect on the whole country as they rely on the tourist trade.  80% of the work is related to the tourist industry, and therefore with less people going to visit there are unfinished hotels, 1 out of 9 cruise boats in use, and staff depending on good reviews to retain their jobs.  I was a little unsure of Egypt before I went, but can honestly say, if you want sunshine, great food, fantastic hotels, and an interesting place to visit, then Egypt is an ideal place to go.  

Amsterdam (The Netherlands) - January 2015

Hotel - American Hotel Hampshire Eden

Whilst in Budapest, Clare was suggesting places we should visit for our 3 year Wedding Anniversary, Amsterdam was one of the places mentioned.  Little did she know that I had already bought the flights and arranged the hotel and wrapped it as a Christmas/5 year together/Weekend away to remember Spud present.

Amsterdam has a real stigma associated with it, and it is a place that has never been high on my visit list due to this.  When I told work colleagues and friends that I was going to Amsterdam with Clare they immediately asked, "Will you be trying any of the "cakes" out there?", or "will you be "window shopping" much?"  This stigma was not helped with the fact that on Friday evening we arrived at Liverpool John Lennon Airport and boarded our flight with the absolute scum of the universe.  The "Gentlemen" sat next to me on the plane had headphones on throughout the entire flight, refused to wear his seat belt and left rubbish all over the seat and underneath, he was rude and ignorant to the cabin crew and generally a disgusting person, may be this was me just being picky, but most of the other souls on board were not much better.

We had seen on the website that the easiest way to get from the airport to the hotel was on the 197 bus, it could not have been easier as 30 minutes later the bus stopped right outside our hotel.  This is the first holiday that I have fully booked myself as Clare is our resident holiday guru, and she was a little apprehensive as she had no input.  When we arrived at the hotel I think a lot of that apprehension disappeared, although it was mentioned later that Clare was expecting them to say, "Oh sir, you have come to the wrong hotel, you are actually staying at our sister hotel which is actually a youth hostel and currently being knocked down".




The American Hotel was divine, absolutely fantastic, and the breakfast was superb.  Clare was slightly impressed by my hotel booking skills.

We ventured out on the Friday night for a quick drink before retiring for our day of adventure, as we left the glorious surrounds of the hotel we arrived in what I can only describe as Magaluf, drunks falling over and being sick on the floor, the rife smell of hash in the air and within 5 minutes I had been offered Ecstasy from a peddler stood under a huge sign saying, "do not accept drugs from street peddlers".  Maybe the stigma of the city was well and truly deserved.

We woke fairly early on the Saturday ready for a full day exploring the sights (and smells) that Amsterdam had to offer.  After a filling breakfast we walked towards Dam Square.  It was national Tulip Day in Amsterdam and the Red Cross were setting up a tulip gathering event, the colours around the square really brightened up the morning. From here we ventured up to Centraal, through the Red light district onto the Chinese district.  Getting closer towards lunch and having our eyes opened slightly by the "offerings" on display in the red light district we headed over to the Jordaan district passed the Ann Frank Haus (and it's massive queue).  Here we found a couple of streets hosting a food market with cheese, salami, and stroopwaffels.  The smells and atmosphere here really made my day, and the Stroopwaffel with it's extra syrup was just what I needed.

We then headed down towards Museumplien with the Van Gogh museum and "I Amsterdam" sign.  It is amazing how many people flocked around this sign and the amount of pictures being taken when the city has so much else to offer.  So we joined the trend and took as many different pictures and selfies as possible.




A trek back through Vondelpark towards our hotel ticked off most of what we wanted to see within the city and clocked 14 miles on the walk.  Our legs were a little tired so we headed back for a shower and freshen up before heading out for our evening meal

Clare had found a little Dutch Restaurant near the Centraal earlier in the day so we headed back out for a bite to eat.   Amsterdam seems to have a vast array of restaurants available with a multitude of nationalities, but a lot of them seem like chain restaurants, Indonesian, Indian, Chinese, Argentinian, Mexican, American (Burger King and McD's on every street) but very little Dutch choices  The crowd that had been hiding their aching heads for most of the day had started to come out again, but we knew which areas now to avoid.  After a lovely meal, we decided to head back towards the hotel, but enroute we would take in the sights of the Red Light District again, with the added advantage of there being more people around this time of evening and it wouldn't feel as weird.  Again, Clare was a little shocked at what was on display and wondered what the window dancers would put on their CV's for future employers.

On the Sunday morning, our whistle stop tour of Amsterdam was coming to a close.  With our legs aching from the 19 miles we had walked the day before, we only went as far up as Dam Square and the floating flower market and then back for some chips and mayonnaise (as the Dutch recommend).

It is a shame that the city is potentially ruined for travellers such as Clare and I as Amsterdam is a beautiful city.  It's canals, amazing buildings and fantastic markets are tainted by the smell of hash you get on every street you walk.  I think we are glad to have experienced what the city had to offer, but it is not somewhere I would return to in a hurry.

Budapest (Hungary) - November 2014

Hotel: Central Basilica, Pest

After we had seen "Grand Budapest Hotel" at the cinema, and loved it, Clare had decided that our secret anniversary destination this year would be Hungary.  Last year I had taken Clare to Edinburgh as our first anniversary treat, Clare had definitely up the ante with Budapest for our 2nd.

We arrived late in the evening on the Sunday night so quickly unpacked and set off to a local restaurant for something to eat.  Clare and I love to eat with locals and not big flash places, as we tried to find our way around, we stumbled across a quaint little place that look ideal.  The place was full of locals (I say full, there were 6 tables), and the service was fantastic.  The food was superb for a little place and was full of flavour, I knew I was going to enjoy the food in Budapest, and this just confirmed it.

We woke in the morning and it seemed as though the weather we had in Scotland had followed us across seas.  Despite this we set off the to furthest destination from our hotel, "Hero's Square".  When we arrived the thought of walking back down to our hotel despite being wet and cold was something we both didn't fancy, so we jumped on the next hop-on hop-off tour bus and toured the city in the warmth of a lovely cold double decker bus.  It was difficult to see most of the sites as the windows had steamed up that much, but it helped us get our bearings ready for the next non rainy day.

When we arrived back at the hotel, our feet were that cold we had to jump straight into a red hot bath and stand until the feeling returned.

I had downloaded the trip advisor app before arriving in Budapest and it was great for finding the kind of restaurants we like on holiday, local, cheap and authentic.  Our second night took us to another Ettorem, the food was divine and so tasty, i got a recommendation from the waitress and with starters, mains and drinks the bill came to a little under £20.00, you cannot beat that!

On our second day the sun had come out for a little so we decided to venture towards the palace and castle hill on the Buda side to see the vistas.  After finding the hilliest route with the most steps, we finally arrived at the palace and it was definitely worth the hike.  The views into Pest were breathtaking and the Parliament building just looked immense.  The palace was so beautiful and well worth our walk.  Our next destination was the castle hill, I had originally assumed that we would have covered half of the climb and could cut across, but no, we had to go back down, across a main round and the double the distance on the next climb.  Suffice to say, Clare was none too happy with me as I kept saying, "we are nearly there" for another set of stairs to appear.  Again, when we reached the top all sense of aches and pains from the climb deteriorated and the view just blew us away.  When we arrived at ground level we started to head back towards the hotel and we found a main street with shops galore, one being the most expensive Christmas shop on the planet, I was a little terrified walking around, but I knew it made Clare happy
.

Using our trip advisor app again, we found another local restaurant that changed everything.  I was considering either the Pork Knuckle (an Eastern European favourite of mine) or something different like a Deer Stew.  When I presented my options to the waiter, he simply took the menus and walked away.  Fearful that I had ordered both mains due to language issues I waited pensively.  The waiter brought me the deer stew and told me that there was no other decision for me to make, he was fully correct.  It was possibly the best meal I have ever had abroad, and believe me, I eat well abroad. The flavours were so rich and moreish, I actually struggled to engage Clare in conversation for fear of missing some part of this experience.  Believe me, it was that good!  When we returned to the hotel that night I checked my pedometer and we had covered 18 miles in a day, the feet needed some rest!

The next day brought a little more rain, but things were brightening up, we ventured towards the grand market hall and tried to see as many of the Christmas Markets as possible.  They had only just started opening as it was early in December, but it still felt very Christmassy.  We returned to the restaurant from the night before to try the soup for our dinner, Transylvania Meatball Soup, it was as good as it sounds!  As I am trying to complete a marathon soon, I had taken my runners with me to Budapest, so decided to go out into the city for a 7-8 mile run.  What a fantastic adventure, from the Basilica, passed parliament, over to Buda, up to Fisherman's wharf and then along the banks of the river Danube, cross back into Pest and then a busy run back to the basillica, the sights were a lot more interesting than my home town and that what kept me going.


In the evening we boarded our Danube River cruise accompanied with a vodka and schnapps (which were very strong) and the beautiful city around us.  Parliament building had only been seen by us during the day, so the night time version really impressed us.  As well as castle hill, the palace and fisherman's wharf, such a beautiful city.

After our cruise we found another local restaurant and Clare had Chicken in a Honey and mustard sauce, returning the lack of converation I had given clare the night before with my deer stew, Clare did the same with this dish, no talking whilst eating, the food is just superb.


Our last day and we decided to walk to Parliament, impressed by it last night on the cruise we wanted to see the
impressive building up close, it was still as impressive, and the sun had come out to play as well.

All in all, Clare's surprise anniversary trip to Budapest is something I will remember forever, a fantastic, vibrant city with so much to see and do, we didn't even scrape the surface.

Gadgrith (Scotland) October 2014

Hotel: Gadgrith Lodges, Annbank, Ayr

Having loved our last trip to Annbank as it was just what we needed at the time, we thought we would return on a happier occasion, my 35th Birthday.

This time we had opted for the larger lodge with us having Chewie and regular holiday hijackers Clare's Dad and Debbie joining us a couple of days in.  This lodge was significantly larger, the living area was huge, the kitchen massive and the bedrooms more than adequate.

We settled in straight away and got Chewie used to his new surroundings.  Then off we tottered to the Lang Scot Mile in Ayr, a mile long walk along the promenade looking out to sea and the Isle of Aaran.  Chewie absolutely loved this freedom and was chasing leaves continuously.  We also treated our little monkey to a play on the beach.  Chewie had not really seen sand before and was just overwhelmed by how much fun he could have.  Digging, sniffing, scuttling and generally running around, he was one happy puppy.  We then returned to a lovely log fire and settled in for the night.

The week we had chosen, mainly because it was birthday week, must have been the wettest week in Scotland for years.  We had rain pretty much everyday, but this did not dampen our spirits.
We covered familiar haunts of the previous year, such as Ayr, Alloway (Robbie Burns Birthplace) and Troon even before our guests had arrived.

Chewie was loving the whole Scottish life and would bounce every time we got out of the car, ready for his new adventure.

When Clare's Dad and Step-mum joined us, the cards came out and the holiday ritual began, Nomination Whist.

A little trip back to Alloway, Ayr and Troon were on the cards on the first day, just to take in the sights nearer to home, hoping that the rain would clear for our longer treks

We ventured as a group to the idyllic Loch Lomand for a boat trip around the deepest loch.  The rain had stopped for a few hours so the trip was really picturesque and relaxing.  Chewie loved his first boat trip and was also a little star on deck.  Some tourists were happier to take pictures of our little puppy rather than the sights around.



I awoke on my 35th birthday and lit the log fire ready for the day ahead.  Chewie was already giddy and I can't thank Clare, Terry and Debbie for making me feel so special on this day.  A trip to Dean Castle was my treat, (one I had decided on a few weeks before) as I knew it would be a great place for Chewie to run around, but also a great place for a walk.  Little did we know that the rain would not stop all day.  Still, we had fun as we always do, and I even treated myself to a scone.

We found a little sanctuary restaurant that was happy to take dogs into the restaurant and serve lovely hot soup.  This park is one I would like to return to when it wasn't so wet and cold as it was a real delight and the fact that we could nip in for a warming drink and soup with our little mutt is a pure bonus.

Ayr is a lovely place to visit and there is so much to see an do within a close proximity, the lodges just add that extra cosy feel, and with Chewie settling in and enjoying himself so much, I am sure we can look to do something similar in the future...as long as it has a log fire!