Brilliant - But Not the Bloody Bunkbeds! A Grecian Holiday

Summer 2010. We wanted a cheap summer break and the small resort of Tingaki, Kos fitted the bill. A simple studio apartment, set across the road from a quiet sandy beach and just a 5 minute stroll up the road to a good selection of restaurants and small shops. Livelyish, yet still far enough away from the partying 18-30 troglodytes in Kardamena.

It wasn't four star luxury and it was compact, but it was perfectly pleasant. Morning breakfasts of crusty bread, fruit and eggs were enjoyed on our balcony terrace and in the evening we'd enjoy a Mythos before we headed out to eat.

There was one small issue though - well not so small perhaps. Bunkbeds. Not for us to sleep in thankfully but postioned in the room in such a way that part of them jutted across the balcony door. Not a great deal, just slightly.

Not the end of the world I know but for my husband, well it drove him crazy. I quite appreciated the extra storage space in all honesty!

I blamed the Belagio. The year before we'd spent part of our honeymoon in Las Vegas and were spoilt by the Belagio's luxury. Opening the curtains from bed with the touch of a switch, to see the twinkling strip and Bellagio's fountains out the floor length window was a nice touch. As was the luxurious marble bathoom and a bed, the size of a bedroom itself that enveloped you in a cloud of comfiness.

Of course, the bunk beds weren't really a major issue at all, especially as that was the only gripe the whole week. It just highlighted though that common saying, once you've tasted the good stuff....

The holiday had numerous highlights. It was the first time i'd got back on a bicycle in about 10 years, it was when my husband finally had the epiphany that olives really are amazing and there was a rather amusing moment when he got suncream in his eyes and spent 10 minutes stubmling around the beach like a blind zombie.

During 2011 we didn't go aborad so when we decided to head off to another European destination in 2012 those bunk bed comments rang loudly in my ears!! Tuscany was the chose destination and I am pleased to report, post holiday, that the holiday and hotel was so good that we struggled to think of anything to complain about.

Well actually we did think of something, it's far, far more trivial than bunk beds! But I'll tell you about that another time.

If in the meantime you want to read my Trip Advisor review about our more successful Tuscan hotel you can find it here

What holiday memories do you have - good and bad?

A Contented Weekend...

  I’m rather aware that most of the weekend’s loveliness evolved around food, but hey I went for a run on Thursday night!

Trying on my bridesmaid dress  ★ Snoozing on the sofa with Smudge whilst the hubby sank a few “Old Hookys” at the local country pub★ Porridge and tea in bed on Saturday morning with a large spoonful of golden syrup ★ wondering around a second hand furniture shop and swooning over a well-loved massive side board (one day, when we have our forever home) ★ Stopping off for coffee and a BIG slice of Victoria sponge in my favourite Witney pub ★ Discussing the costs of cigarettes as we bought a cheesecake in Waitrose (Mr TallyV gave up 3 years ago) ★ Getting slightly addicted to the memory game Memrise ★ Cooking a very tasty dinner of Sea bass and potato gratin – stripy potato gratin thanks to the 5 counties cheese (-:★ Eating farrrr too much cheesecake ★ Enjoying a sunny Sunday morning walk with Smudge ★ Eating a bacon sandwich and reading the Sunday papers ★ Enjoying having the neighbour’s dog over to play with Smudge ★ Cooking roast chicken ★ Writing my next blog (not THIS one, the next one!) ★ Changing the bedding and loving the fresh cottony smell that now lingers in the bedroom ★

Loveliness....

… but The Sound of Music is definitely not one of them!

In no particular order…

• Tea, especially out of a tea pot
• Dinner out with my husband
• Bed sheet change day – nothing beats fresh, white, crisp cotton
• Smudge, our border terrier and the 3^rd member of our family
• Home
• UK history
• A run with my Ipod
• Neat, tidy and organised
• Dressing up in pretty things
• Big Bang Theory, a dose of Sheldon Cooper can always make me chuckle
• Stripy socks, no alternative will do. In fact I like most stripy things
• Nice stationery
• Seeing the world
• Elephants
• My bobble hat (knitted by my 97 year old nan)
• Terry’s chocolate orange
• A good book, if it makes you laugh out loud, cry, or not want to put it down you’re on to a winner
• My Tiffany locket and wedding day gift from my husband
• Airports (read blog 1)
• High heels
• Brown paper and string
• Dancing
• Photographs and taking them
• Scones, jam and cream
• Gin, champagne and cocktails (not together!)
• Converse trainers
• Hydrangeas
• My whistling kettle
• Aeroplanes
• Weddings (organising stuff, pretty dresses, happy lovely people...)

A Book for Brides...

Whilst rummaging through one of the Lechlade antique stores last year I happened across a rather interesting book: “A Book for Brides”. Published in 1948 this little treasure seemed the perfect gift for my close friend and bride to be.

I love a vintage inspired wedding, (I’ve a particular fondness for 50s and 60s style dresses/fashion) but marriage today is rather different than it was back then.

Unfortunately I don’t have any quotes to hand. From recollection there was plenty of advice for impending matrimony. Ensuring that you always looked presentable for your husband, how to run a good household, how to present yourself on honeymoon… it also gave some words of wisdom on the emotional front.  

When I next see my friend I’ll get some quotes from the book but for now here are some genuine adverts à la 1948…..

Sorry about the cropped edge, the page seem made the scanning tricky

My Dad Was a Polish Magician…

Well no, he wasn’t really; he was JG, a rather witty journalist, a sub-editor on a broadsheet. The slightly unusual title was coined during one of many family holidays, Gran Canaria on this occasion (definitely not Poland) and has absolutely no connection to conjury….

 How the label came about is irrelevant but it’s a label that will stay with me forever. It was the Polish Magician that led me to have a love for language, for learning about and discovering the world, and why I’ve decided to dedicate my first ever blog post to him……

 So back to the holiday, well travel in general really. You see I love going away – it doesn’t have to be every year, it doesn’t have to be exotic or even abroad, but it’s something I very much enjoy – and in fact what Mr W and I were discussing last night.

 Whilst he very much enjoys our trips, it’s safe to say my husband is just as happy in the comfort of his own home with his wife and dog. This is quite possibly a pre-occupation of his job.

 Travelling has always filled me with excitement and let me tell you for why…

 I suppose I had best firstly tell you about one strange fascination: the joy of the airport during air travel. Yes I really did just say joy. I love them, especially first thing in the morning, the way its City like state stirs to life as the sun slowly rises. The clattering families with Trunkis and teddies in tow. The honeymooners with arms entwined at check-in, their shiny rings and new matching luggage...

 I even remember as a kid recalling in precise, excited detail to my granddad the process of the transition through the airport, the “flat escalators”, “the tunnel type thing” that took you to the plane and your suitcase delivered to you on “the rampy” conveyor belt.

 At this point I expect you’re all wondering why I don’t do as Tom Hanks and set up camp at Gate G for a fortnight…..

 Well it’s not all about flying. Trains, cars… even the service stations – they’re all a part of the holiday to me. As a teenager when my Mum and Dad were separated all our foreign holidays were conducted by coach. Normally 24 hours’ worth of coach travel across the continent to the likes of Italy, Spain or the South of France where we’d spend 10 days with a tin hut as our home. I loved those long journeys; staring out the window watching as one country merged into another, bleary eyed early morning breakfast stops,  drinking Capri Suns (Mum’s travelling drink of choice – lighter weigh apparently!), sifting through my CD wallet choosing the next album for my Walkman.

 Oh and of course there’s train travel. Now completely ruined by sardine style commuting required for work purposes, once upon a time it wasn’t quite so miserable. For this was how all trips to Grannie Vicky’s for the summer holidays were taken. She always made a train picnic – even bringing a tea towel for the table.  Foil wrapped “cobs” (ham and tomato usually) accompanied by a piece of M&S cake, some fruit and a packet of McCoy cheese and onion crisps purchased from the buffet cart.

 Finally though and forgetting about the getting from A to B bit, even the holiday itself – it’s what you bring home that matters. As clichéd as it might sound I’m talking about the memories you forge, because a trip away makes for a perfect deposit to the memory bank. (Thomas Cook you can sign me up now, I’ll happily give those Redknapps a run for their money!)…

 So in a way that’s how I see this blog you see. Not for telling you about my odd transport interests, but as a bank; for storing my thoughts, capturing memories, for blabbering out what my brain is thinking, for sharing my stories.

I look forward to sharing them with you; hopefully you might enjoy reading some of them along the way…..