Holly cooling off
February saw Karen our youngest daughter; take up a new job at St James Hospital in Dublin where she now lives with her young man.
In March we went to Benidorm to celebrate my 60th birthday for the 3rd time. Since we went there last November, we only went over for 4 days. The weather was just fine with temperatures in the low 70s. It was funny to see how the comedians in the night clubs changed their routine to cater for a slightly younger audience – but apart from that many of the jokes were still the same, but still funny after a couple of beers!
Poniente beach Benidorm
In April we went up to Aviemore for a week and once again we were blessed with the weather. It is such a great place to take pictures and Jean was able to add to her portfolio – we now have over 400 pictures around the Cairngorm national park! So if you nee a pic of the Scottish highlands just let me know!
The end of May and early June saw the start of our main holiday touring Northern Spain and Southern France.
Ryanair fly daily from Prestwick to Girona making it easy to choose when you want to go. We booked early in the year to take advantage of the cheaper prices and spent the next few months, at the start of the year, planning our holiday.
We hired a car for the two weeks since we would be touring most of the time. This meant I could drive straight from the airport and get lost, before eventually arriving at our Hotel, the Caprici, in Santa Susana. It was only three years since we were there but we noticed how much Santa Susana had changed. The main prom was now finished and it was filled with small shops selling all sort of nick knacks or Tat! We had stayed at the Caprici before and we were lucky to have a balcony overlooking the pool area and the sea. The food at the Caprici is ideal for weight watchers and there was evening entertainment to boot. To call it entertainment was probably a violation of the trades descriptions act so we spent most of our evenings either in Malgrat or Calella.
The first day was a bit overcast and cloudy with a slight touch of sea mist so we took the opportunity to visit the botanical gardens in Blanes. A place we’d never been before but well worth the visit. Tuesday was leave the car at home day and take the train to Barcelona, one of our favourite European cities. Barca is a little more compact than Paris but it has many lots of good shops, a great market, harbour area, gothic quarter, and La Rambla – the pick pockets delight.
Barcelona Market
Wednesday it was off to Girona, we promised ourselves we wouldn’t walk round the city wall but after taking a wrong turning guess where we ended up – on the city wall! Thursday’s excursion was to Banyoles, an idyllic setting where they held the boating events for the Barcelona Olympics. Friday saw us make a return to the fishing port of Palamos and we finished off our first week by taking the train into Barca on the Saturday.
To start off our second week we went to San Feliu and stayed at Casa Anna. The weekend weather was superb and it was really great to see old friends again. After San Feliu we headed north to the resort of Roses – Spain’s most northern holiday resort- where we stayed for three days. The hotel was superb and the food excellent - you had to be really careful not to over indulge. Although the hotel was great and it was a superb place to chill out there was limited a fairly limited choice of what to do in the evenings.
A little north of Roses is Spain’s most north easterly point Cadaques – a wonderful picturesque fishing port where Salvador Dali spent a lot of his time. The mountain road from Roses to Cadaques provides a great view of the coastal area and a bit of excitement as well. Inland from Cadaques lies La Puerto de la Selva which although slightly larger is equally as picturesque. Both Cadaques and Puerto de la Selva were on an all day siesta when we were there!
Chilled out and fully refreshed we set off for France on the Wednesday, taking in Ceret, Agde, and Sete all in the one day. Ceret is the main town for French cherry growers and although we arrived in the town before mid day all the market stalls were sold out of cherries! We stayed in Agde for a couple of nights, in a quaint B&B beside the Canal du Midi. The riverside restaurants in Agde were superb in terms of setting and food – the only downside of Agde was our accommodation – it was a bit spartan reminiscent of cell block H. This however didn’t trouble us too much and we managed to see lots of wonderful villages along the Canal du Midi as well as a visit to Carcasonne.
Agde
We rounded off our holiday staying at a place called Prades in the foothills of the Pyrenees. This was the flip of Agde, the accommodation was great but there was a limited supply of good restaurants in the town itself. Once again we were blessed with the weather and managed to see all the tourist spots – including Villefranche.
Canigou Prades
It was hard to believe two weeks could go by so quickly and we tried to make the most of our last day by visiting Besalu just a little to the north of Banyoles. Besalu is a delightful little village by a river, with an old village square thronging with tourists. We arrived just as midday mass was coming out so the numbers seemed even greater!
Bridge at Besalou
As I said, the summer was one of our best – good old global warming! My old college pal was over from Canada and we managed to relive the past and consume an excess of alcohol!
The next big hallmark of the year was Jean’s early retirement at the end of August. I should emphasize that it was Early retirement – she still has some way to go before she is eligible for a bus pass.
To start off her retirement we went down south on our autumn holiday. I always think of this holiday as one for the dog as well! We stayed at a dog friendly B&B in Whitby where we were once again blessed with the weather. Whitby is a quaint old English fishing town as well as a holiday resort, which meant an over indulgence in fish suppers. Two nights were just perfect – any more and I would have gained a few pounds.
Moving on from Whitby we spent the next four nights in the vale of York, in self catering accommodation, in a log cabin, overlooking a fishing lake. I say lake but this is probably a gross exageration - pond is a better description! The place where we stayed, Cawood, was close to Selby which apart from the cathedral was a bit of a let down. Although Selby was a disappointment we were only about 50 minutes drive from York – and with underground parking in York we were able to leave the dog in the car and do the tourist bit strolling around York. We ended off our autumn holiday staying at an old school mate's place in the peak district. We had two days of fine wine, fine food, fine company, and fine walks, a perfect end to the holiday.
Since Jean retired, the back end of the year seemed to pass at break neck speed. Suz our eldest moved into a new mansion in Corstorphine, one of Edinburgh’s posher areas. After her autumn holiday in Canada she returned engaged to be married. So that will be the event of 2007!
Instead of our pilgrimage to Benidorm in November we went for a 3 night break at the Hilton Resort in Aviemore, a treat donated by Suz. This was followed a week later by a week-end break in Dublin staying with our youngest Karen. A great way to finish off the year.
Cairngorm Aviemore
Next thing I knew it was December, Christmas – and next, New Year! Just where did the go ?!!!!
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