By this Author: kmmk17

With a midday flight from Luton, we arrived in Larnaca in the evening and took the transfer to the hotel. After checking in, we went to grab some food from the Rock & Roll diner. As it was late, this was the only one of the 6 restaurants in the hotel that was still open, and we grabbed some nachos. We then had one drink at the lobby bar before calling it a night.

The next morning we grabbed breakfast before having our first chilled day in the hotel. We then headed to the pool. The hotel had an interesting sun lounger policy, whereby they allocated them for your stay. It did save us having to run down in the morning to grab a spot, but it did tie us to a certain location all week.

Sadly, despite being warm it was quite cloudy today, and we ended up spending it still in our t-shirts around the pool. After getting lunch at the restaurant we then headed back to the pool. By mid-afternoon it had started to rain - so much for the hot sunshine! As dinner time approached, the weather started to clear and the prospects for tomorrow looked better.

The hotel was very good at evening entertainment, and most nights had a full on theatrical show. Tonight was Grease, which we sat and enjoyed over some cocktails.

The next day was much nicer, with plenty of sunshine, perfect for lounging in all day. The hotel also had a lazy river, which we spent lots of time going round on rubber rings.

That night was a very good performance of Mamma Mia.

The next morning we got up early to join our excursion to the northern side of the island. We were one of the earliest to be picked up, and after an hour or so of picking people up from Ayia Napa town and Protaras, we arrived at the crossing point.

Since 1974, the island has been divided between the Greek south and Turkish north, and even almost 50 years later, the division remains with a buffer zone patrolled by the UN.

We crossed this buffer and after getting our passports back headed to the ruins of the ancient city of Salamis - the largest such site on the island.

We had a look around the site - the amphitheatre, the forum and the baths, before heading around the corner for a drink of traditional "lemonade" made with lemon syrup.

We then made our way over to the monastery of St. Barnabas, the patron saint of Cyprus.

We then were taken back to the south to the ghost town of Varosha. I had been here before, back in 2015. However at that time it was still closed off to the public - but now, parts of it were open to the public to walk around.

The former holiday resort was abandoned during the conflict, and whilst falling apart after years of disrepair, still stays in a bit of a time warp.

After going through a security barrier, we entered the ghost town to find that bicycles and scooters were available to rent! Even in an unrecognised country, commercialisation has arrived!

We took a short walk around, past hotels and shops before arriving at a section of the beach.

After this, we went to a café by the beach for lunch, before making our way into the town.

The centre of Famagusta is inside huge citadel walls, and was one of the largest and most important harbours in the Middle Ages.

The town contains the beautiful gothic cathedral of St. Nicholas, which was partially destroyed in earthquakes, and was converted into a mosque after the Ottomans took control in 1571.

I took a look inside the mosque, before we went for a walk around the centre of the old town. We then wandered around to the Othello Tower, before waiting to reboard our bus and head home.

After crossing back into the southern side and going back through Protaras and Ayia Napa, we got back to the hotel and went for dinner before watching a performance of The Greatest Showman.

The next day was a well earned chilled one after the busy day to Famagusta. That evening however, we had booked a table at the Cypriot restaurant, where we enjoyed a four course meze of traditional foods.

That evening was a Cher show, and the next day was another chilled one around the pool with cocktails and food. Before dinner however, we went for a short walk to the archaeological site of Makronissos, where 19 tombs were found in 1989.

En route we were approached by a little cat, and when we said hello, suddenly all his friends came to join, and we were surrounded by 7 of them!

The wind had picked up tonight, and the sea here was pretty rough. After having dinner, we sat and watched a local Cypriot dance performance, which included balancing glasses on the guy's head...

The next day was our last full day, and we spent the day once again lounging in the sun. It was Greek Easter whilst we were here, and today was Good Friday, so the hotel had put up lots of Easter related items around the complex, despite the heat making it feel nothing like Easter at all!

The final full day was unfortunately very windy, which meant it was a bit too chilly to spend time around the pool. Instead we enjoyed a few final cocktails before heading back to the airport and eventually home.

Although a bit early in the season for some proper summer vibes, it had been a nice opportunity for a bit of sunshine! If the summer is a washout again, at least we've had a week of summer!

Taking the train, we got off at Leicester Square station and walked down towards Trafalgar Square. It had been a while since I'd last been here and there were a lot fewer pigeons around than last time.

We then crossed to the Charing Cross roundabout where there was a plaque signifying this as the point of the final location of an Eleanor's Cross - the stone monuments placed on the overnight stops on the return route of Queen Eleanor's funeral procession.

The original monument was demolished in 1647, and a replica was constructed outside Charing Cross train station in 1865. Nevertheless this roundabout is still the location where all mileages in London are measured from - and therefore can be said to be the centre of the city.

We then walked down Whitehall, past horses at the entrance of Horse Guards Parade which the tourists were obsessed by.

We then continued, past the Cabinet Office and Downing Street eventually arriving at Parliament Square, before entering the Palace of Westminster for a tour around Parliament.

The entrance to the complex is through Westminster Hall - dating from 1097, it is one of the few parts from the original building that managed to be saved from the fire in 1834.

This hall is where many speeches by world leaders have been held, as well as where the state and ceremonial lying in states are held - including that of Queen Elizabeth in September 2022.

This hall leads on to St. Stephen's Hall and then the Central Lobby, which separates the two houses of parliament - the House of Lord and House of Commons.

We wandered around both of these, which are remarkably small and not big enough for all Lords and MPs to actually be there at the same time.

After finishing this tour, we grabbed some food at the station before taking the Underground south towards Wimbledon. After a brief walk from the nearby tube station, we arrived at the home of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

As we were early, after passing through the security at the gate, we went for a look around the Museum. Here there was some history on the club, as well as the trophies on display - engraved with the latest winners' names.

We then joined our tour - the previous one 15 minutes earlier than ours was full with 32 people. Ours was us two, and a family of four from Paris.
"Are you all fans of tennis?" asked the tour guide... "Errrr... not really" we responded.

We then went on a tour around the Wimbledon site - starting with No. 1 Court - the second biggest on the site, seating 12,345 people.

Outside of here was Henman Hill, where fans without tickets to the main courts will watch the matches on a big screen put up on the side of the court during championships.

We then walked past Court #18, where the longest ever match of tennis was played in 2010.

Just around the corner from here is the broadcast centre, where the old, and now replica interview area has been constructed where we posed for photos.

By now it was coming the end of the tour and our final place to visit was Centre Court - where the final matches are played.

Unfortunately it was undergoing some renovation, but the main parts of the court could still be seen despite the scaffolding.

After a long day wandering around these places it was now time to get some food. We headed to the bus stop where a German lady started talking to us about her entire life story. Meanwhile Andrea McLean went for a run past.

Once it finally arrived we jumped on the bus which took us into the centre of Wimbledon town - which was a complete dump compared to the Tennis area with it's big houses.

After dinner and having been out all day we then took the train back home - somewhat delayed due to inevitable train cancellations, but thankfully before it got dark!

With this being a longer drive than our recent log cabin holidays, we booked off a long weekend from work and started making our way over at lunchtime.

To break up the journey, we made a few detours en route - the first of which wasn't far away - the Stoke Mandeville Stadium. This is the birthplace of the Paralympics, and there is a small museum dedicated to the history - including mementos from previous games.

We parked up and went inside the centre, took a look around at the medals, sweatshirts and torches along with videos and particular attention to the 2012 ones in London, which I was lucky to attend. We grabbed some food at the café, and then headed off on our cross country route through the Cotswolds.

As we arrived in the heart of the Costwolds, on the edges of the village of Burford, we drove down the main road for views of this quaint place.
We didn't stop as the traffic was bad and we were short on time - but we didn't need to, as we could see the place from the car.

We turned around and headed back to the A40 to head further towards the Welsh border. Not long after crossing the River Severn at Gloucester we turned off the main road and started winding our way through the hills around the Forest of Dean. Before long we had arrived at our log cabin for the weekend.

After grabbing supplies in Coleford, we headed back to the cabin for dinner and a nice evening soak in the hot tub.

The following day we headed out to see some of the local sights. We began by trying to visit Symonds Yat - a quaint village in the valley of the River Wye. We had planned to view from the top of the hill at the Forestry England car park, however en route we found the road was closed so we ended up doing a huge diversion that took twice as long. Then once we got here found we had to drive down into the village, where the roads and parking were tight and limited.

We pulled up, took a quick look around and then headed back en route to our main sight for the day - Hereford.

Upon driving into the city centre, we stopped at the supermarket to get a few more refreshments for the weekend, before parking up and walking across the River Wye. Just around the corner was the almost 1000 year old Hereford Cathedral.

We walked inside this huge building and made our way to the Mappa Mundi, the largest mediaeval map known to still exist, dating from 1300. In keeping with the traditional style of the time, it is orientated facing East, and shows the known world with Jerusalem in the centre, and is definitely not to scale.

This museum area, which was built as an annex to the original cathedral, leads on to the Chained Library of books, somewhat reminiscent of that in the Harry Potter films.

We took a look around before leaving the cathedral and heading towards the High Street where there was a market on, and a protest for Gaza, outside the beautiful (but sadly under refurbishment) Jacobean building right in the city centre.

As it had started to spit with rain, we headed back to the car via the cathedral and made our way towards Ledbury. However as we were at a set of traffic lights on the edge of the city centre, we felt a smash from behind - a lady with other things on her mind had crashed right into the back of us.

Inspecting the damage, it was thankfully rather superficial - the bumper was cracked, but that was about all. It had shaken us up, but we were fine.

We continued on to Ledbury as planned, and upon our arrival we wandered over to the High Street where we could see the beautiful 400 year old Market Hall.

We then wandered around the corner and up a quaint cobbled street leading to the church.

By now it had been quite a long day out and about, so we headed back to the lodge to enjoy some more time in the hot tub and play some games.

That night we went for a wander around the forest, where illuminated animals had been placed around the site.

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This was all part of a Winter Lights event, which made for a nice evening at this time of year.

The next day was more chilled - we went for a short walk around the woods, close to the Welsh border.

We lit the log fire again that night, and enjoyed our last evening away.

In the morning we packed up our stuff, and enjoyed our last views of the forest, before loading the car and heading towards home.

We drove through the heart of the Forest of Dean, before we ended up on the road that runs alongside the River Severn. After a stop at Oxford Services, we eventually made it home after a nice weekend.

We looked around at the options - Crete, Malta, Portugal, Spain - but found it difficult to get somewhere to meet all our requirements. Who knew getting somewhere with a parasol was so difficult...!

After much deliberation, we kept coming back to the same hotel in Madeira - somewhere I had on my list anyway, and eventually decided to book it. We also realised that if we went out on a weekday rather than a Saturday we could get an extra day out of the trip for the same price.

We did however need to fly from Gatwick, which involved getting the train through London - but the flight times were still decent and better than the alternatives.

It was our first time flying from Gatwick since our honeymoon early last year, during the Covid era. That was now a distant memory, and instead of a half empty airport and the need to do Lateral Flow tests in the airport car park - it was busy and after checking in our bag, we could whizz straight through to security and into the departure lounge.

Around 4 hours after our plane took off, we landed in a lovely and warm Madeira. The airport wasn't too busy and we headed out to see our first sight of the trip - the bust of Cristiano Ronaldo. Portugal's top football player is from the island, and has even had the airport renamed in his honour.

This bust is actually the second version, after the original hit the press after looking terrible.

We then met our transfer and headed to our hotel. Not long later and we had arrived and checked in. We had a nice room overlooking the pool and with a sea view.

It had been a long day, so after grabbing dinner and some drinks we headed to sleep excited about the coming days.

The first full day wasn't the best weatherwise - Madeira is in the middle of the sea, and so unsurprisingly suffers from temperamental weather - and although it started off sunny, by late morning it was spitting and we could no longer stay trying to sunbathe. Nevertheless we enjoyed the cocktails and went for a stroll outside the hotel complex when we could.

That evening after watching the Germans struggle to pull a pint from the beer tap, we headed to the evening entertainment, which tonight was Fado - traditional Portuguese singing.

The following day was glorious, and just what we needed - bright sunshine and warmth all day long. We chilled out by the pool popping back and forward from the pool bar.

Although there was a hairy moment when after sipping on my Coca-Cola, I realised there were ants all in the drink. And as there were none in Chris's, they must have been inside the drinks fountain when poured it, which was confirmed when I went to check later 🤢. Straight to cocktails it was.

Seven cocktails later I was having a great time, living my best life. Once again we went for dinner and then as it was a nice evening we went for a wander to the nearby headland.

The following day was more of the same, after weeks of being busy it was lovely just to chill out. That night we went to the magician show.

Was it the best thing ever - no. But it was worth watching.

The following morning we headed out on our island excursion. A coach arrived with just a few tourists on board already. Tonnes of guests from our hotel boarded, and the we headed off with no more hotels to stop at.

We made our way up the winding streets towards the centre of the island, when we turned off the main road and were driven along the mountain road with views of both sides of the island. We then arrived at the Pico do Areeiro visitor centre.

Pico do Areeiro is the third highest peak on the island and there were some fantastic views over the nearby area. We had around half an hour to wander around before we continued on back down the other side of the mountain to the village of Ribeiro Frio where we had the opportunity to wander alongside part of a levada

Levadas are irrigation channels with adjacent footpaths that used to supply tons and villages along the coast with water from the mountains. The footpaths are popular hiking trails, but we just wanted to see one, which we did.

The next place on the tour was the town of Santana - with its thatched triangle houses.

Although no longer being actually used by families for living in, some examples of the houses have been placed in the centre of the town and contain shops full of tourist tat.

By now it was time for some lunch, and we stopped at a nearby hotel, with a large outdoor seating area. There were three large tables and we sat down with some of the others on the tour and got chatting.

After lunch, we had a little wander around enjoying the nice views over the nearby cliffs before boarding the bus and heading to a nearby rum distillery. Here we would find out about local production and get to try some rum or poncha - the local speciality.

Our final stop of the day was on the north east tip, at Ponta de São Lourenço. These are huge cliffs which we flew over on our flight into Madeira a few days ago and had stunning views.

The route back to the hotel was via the coastal road that runs past the airport. The airport is quite famous for being a difficult one to land at, due to the cross winds and the fact the runway is on stilts jutting over the sea.

We passed beneath it before heading out the other side, and eventually back to the hotel in time for dinner.

After having had a busy day out and about, the following day we took it easy, spending the time chilling by the pool, and seeing our tour friends around the hotel.

The following day we headed out to Funchal, the island's capital. We took the free shuttle bus run by the hotel, and once we had arrived wandered around the corner to the cable car.

The cable car was very busy, and we waited for ages in the queue. Eventually however, we boarded and took the long ride up the hillside to the suburb of Monte. At the top was a botanical garden that we wandered around.

At the bottom of the garden was a wall, from which I could see the road. It was long this road that the famous toboggan travels, with tourists in wicker baskets being slid down the hillside.

After watching some of the toboggans, we then headed right past where they set off from at the top of the hill. I then had a quick look at the church overlooking the area, before we headed back towards the cable car station.

We then had a short walk around the town centre - starting at the town hall, in a beautiful square with a traditional Portuguese pavement of wavy mosaics, before wandering around the corner to the cathedral.

We then wandered down the main pedestrianised avenue, where we watched a performance of the local folklore dancing.

With a bus back to the hotel due imminently, we wandered past the fort, and back to the bus stop opposite the cable car entrance. This was a local bus that made a winding route through the coastal villages eventually arriving back at the hotel.

Back at the hotel we had a few hours in the afternoon relaxing before going to dinner and tonight's performance.

It was a magic show, where we joined some of our friends from the island tour a few days earlier, and chatted until we were thrown out of the bar at closing.

The next day was our last full day, which we spent by the pool relaxing and enjoying the cocktails. Although the mood around the pool had changed drastically, at times seeming like a rowdy Magaluf (at at least how I imagine Magaluf - as I've never actually been there).

A large family from Surrey had just turned up, and they were very loud and boisterous. They also clashed with another family from Essex, and before we knew it, they were arguing with each other across the pool. We tried to stay out of it but had unknowingly been chatting to some of the family members and now seemed to be involved...

We said goodbye to some of our new friends who were heading home today, and then got chatting to a guy who'd also been at the hotel for a week already. Before we knew it, we'd invited him to dine with us for our last meal tonight!

That evening I went down to the bar for a drink where I bumped into the young lad from the new feisty family. He saw me and started chatting - firstly checking my husband wouldn't be jealous (ermm..no) and then telling me that he was out flirting with the local 'hotties' and that he hopes they've brought their wellies because he'll be "squelching all night".

He was then interrupted by a call from his girlfriend (erm..wut?) and told me he'd be back in a minute - which was my opportunity to make a quick exit. I went for a wander around the hotel complex and surrounding area, before heading back to the room.

The next morning we enjoyed our last moment in the nice hotel, saying goodbye to our holiday friends before catching our transfer to the airport, and eventually our way home.

Madeira was a nice place to visit - warm, and mostly sunny with some beautiful scenery. It is renowned for being a place for old people to visit, but there are plenty of things for all ages! Would recommend.

Given the mountains, it's unsurprising the Alps don't have a decent airport. And with the nearest being in Milan, that's where we headed for the last leg of our trip through the Alps.

Having spent 5 days in Switzerland, we were now heading for a final 2 days in Italy, a much much cheaper country.

We took the train out of Lugano, once again crossing the Melide causeway that splits Lake Lugano into two, passing the road to Campione d'Italia and heading further south to the southernmost points of Switzerland.

Before long we arrived in the border town of Chiasso. Here the train stopped and border guards came to to check the passengers. Annoyingly they also wanted to go through our bags - which were by now full of dirty clothes. The smell was probably enough to believe us, and not long later the train began moving again as we arrived in the town of Como.

From the train we got glimpses of the eponymous lake, and then beyond here we had entered the remarkably flat Po Valley - a real change from the last 4 days of our trip.

Around an hour later we arrived in the second biggest city of Italy - Milan The central station was huge and very grand. We then left into the huge and very hot square fronting the station, before walking the 10 minutes around the corner to our hotel.

As it was still early afternoon we then headed back out to visit some of the sights in the city, starting with Sforza's Castle - a huge castle complex fronting Sempione Park.

We had a short look around the castle, before making our way on to somewhere much newer - San Siro, the largest stadium in Italy and home to both AC and Inter Milan.

Our final stop for today was Piazza Gae Aulenti, a modern complex next to Porta Garibaldi station.

After heading back to the hotel we then went for dinner in the restaurant right across the road. It was here that the differences in costs between Italy and Switzerland were the most stark - even in Lugano (which is far from being an Alpine village) meals were at least twice as expensive as they were here.

The following morning we headed back to the station to catch a train headed to Verona. After some confusion with local grannies unable to read their tickets properly, we arrived in the historic city.

Jumping on a bus we arrived in the centre of the city, outside the grand and well preserved Arena that built almost 2,000 years ago, and is still used to this day.

We then wandered through the fancy city streets, before arriving at the exceptionally busy courtyard outside the Juliet Balcony.

Despite Romeo & Juliet being fiction, and debate as to whether Shakespeare had ever even visited Verona, the balcony on this old house has been designated as the balcony from the story.

It took ages to get into the courtyard, but we did eventually manage to get inside and a have quick moment before the next Insta model had her photoshoot on the balcony and ruin everyone's photos.

We then headed to the Market Square before a walk past some beautiful buildings on the way to the river.

On the walk back we grabbed some Gelato, viewed some of the pretty bridges over the river, before jumping on a bus to take us back to the station.

At the station, we grabbed tickets for the next train back to Milan. The route took us close to Lake Garda, and we had lovely views of the fort at Peschiera del Garda.

The following day was our last on the trip. With our flight not until early evening, we had time for a few last sights - so after check out we headed right into the city centre, arriving outside the city's most famous sight, the Duomo.

We then headed right around the corner to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a beautiful old fashioned shopping centre, before heading back to the cathedral and grabbing one last Gelato.

We had now seen everything on our trip, and so headed back to our hotel to grab our bags and make our way to the airport.

It had been a nice trip, just a real shame the weather had not been on our side and not allowed us to fully enjoy the north side of the Alps!