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Hi, it's all about the adventure... ((*_*)) 
May 23, 2019 08:00 PM Another Bank Holiday
The last bank holiday for a couple of month. In London they say this has no name, but as a child I always remember it as the whitsun bank holiday. Oh how times have changed.
I had an incredible early start, up at 3am at the train station by 4am and at Gatwick by 5am. The only consolation was that I was able to go into the lounge and have breakfast. Somehow free tastes better lol.
My flight was at 7am and was very lucky to get a window seat. I was sat next to a photography so it was nice talking shop to pass away the two hours and 40 minutes flying time.
The only thing was, when we got to Gibraltar there plane couldn’t land. On the first approach as we went to touch down, the pilot took the plane back up into the air. He said as we were about to land the wind coming off the rock had intensified so we went around a second time. As we came into land we pulled up again and the pilot said that the BA flight ahead of us was able to land but the wind wasn’t in our limits to be able to land. He also said that we have had 30 minutes of holding fuel so we shouldn’t worry, well try it one more time and if it doesn’t work we will have to go to Malaga.
Well on the 3rd attempt we landed and a riotous roar erupted in the cabin. I think we were all very happy to land safely. I haven’t had to sit through that in 20 years, it was very scary.
Someone told me that Gibraltar is only 3 miles long and 0.75 miles wide and I haven’t confirmed it was true but it surely appeared this way. As it was only 11am, I crossed the border and walked around in Spain for a bit. I had some lunch in a cafe and then headed back across to Gibraltar and checked into my hotel. Luckily my hotel was only a 15 minute walk away and was the easiest place to get to. This location was really perfect for me.
After taking a shower to cool down and doing some work I headed for the local beach. I was told that there were three sandy beaches and one was only a 10 minute walk from the hotel. It was late in the afternoon by this time so there wasn’t many people around, but this was definitely a local beach. I stayed there as the sun was going down before i started my walk back.
At the base of my hotel was a restaurant so I popped in there for dinner. I ordered a baby pizza for £5.00 which actually surprised me as it wasn’t small at all. But it was delicious. The waiter was encouraging me to only have two toppings, but I chose something off the menu with artichoke and ham etc it was very nice and the base was done to perfection, I definitely have to eat here again. I was very happy that Nunos at the express was just underneath my hotel as the evening was very cold and I was in beachwear.
I went up to my room and watch a movie while listening to some music, it was just such a perfect day. And even though I didn’t end up in a bar or nightclub on a Friday. I was a lovely evening.
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May 06, 2019 08:00 PM It’s time to go home....
I had to do some work this morning, so my friend headed out to buy some breakfast and I had peace and quiet to check my emails and get some work down.
I count myself as being very lucky that I’m allowed to work from home or from another location. Not all jobs even in 2019 allow their staff to do that even if nowadays we can work from anywhere.
So after working for a few hours we headed up to castle hill to enjoy the views but in search of the man made waterfall. I had seen most people walking up so had made up my mind that this is what I was going to do, but as I was crossing the road from Promenade des Anglais I noticed the sign for the lift so I went and queued. And what do you know we ended up in the right place without the heavy breathing. We spent hours up there and when we finally came down I just headed to the airport.
I’m thinking I would love to comeback to nice, I’m not sure it will happen but it is a great city to hangout in. I’ve loving the French Riviera.
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May 05, 2019 08:00 PM Cannes Film Festival
Day 3 and we headed to Cannes. I had the option to take a bus for 1.50 euros but the journey is long as the bus will keep on stopping so its is best to take the train for 4 euros, and from the train station its a short walk down to the coast or to the shopping street.
My friends recommendation was to go and visit the old town and the castle on top the hill. So that where I headed via the harbour. The old town is very picturesque and the views are stunning.
I wish I was into the film festival and being here a few days before it started would have been exciting but as it happened I wasn’t too into it. They were laying fresh sand, and building bars. A complete hive of activity. I did however enjoy walking down La Coisette, I have never seen so many designer shops in one place before. It really was a beautiful setting. The yachting life is amazing if I could go back I would definitely want to be on a yacht.
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May 04, 2019 08:00 PM F1 Monaco Grand Prix
After an exhausting day yesterday, I chose to have a quiet morning so ended up leaving the apartment late. As this weekend there was the Nice Marathon there weren’t any buses into Monaco so we took the train. It was a quick trip and only cost 4 euros. One of the benefits for traveling to Monaco in May is that the town is making plans for the Grand Prix. I’m not really into that, but I felt the excitement. We were sightseeing and then came all the keep landmarks that you hear the commenters announce like the hair pin ben, the swimming pool, the tunnel etc. It just felt great to see it all and then hear some of the high performance cars rev their engines as the past while driving the track.
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May 04, 2019 08:00 PM The French Riviera
Not sure why I wasn’t aware how cheap it was to fly between London and Nice. But one of my friends told me how they love going to Nice for the weekend and it made me think finding European places to views before the weather really warms up is harder to find. So Nice sounded just right. While I was checking the temperature the weather was scheduled to be around 20 degrees, but as the time got closer it dropped down to 16. No for me 16 is cold and I packed some warm light clothes. I left my fleece at home but really wish I’d brought.
I was met at the airport with a sign by my travel buddy for a joke. Then took a local bus down town. There were two tourist buses that I could have taken 99 and 98, for 6 euros. I wanted to take the 98 as it drives along the coast so you get lovely views before terminating at the station - Nice-Ville Gare SNCF. But as it happens if we exited the airport via Terminal 1, crossed the car park and onto the main road to the bus stop. I got the 23 for 1.50 euros which dropped me to the exact place we needed to be and still drove along the coastal road. To be fair the airport is only about 20 minutes from the centre of town. We headed back to the apartment for lunch and then for a wander along the promenade des Anglais.
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Apr 19, 2019 08:00 PM What to do on a spring day.
I have officially completed my 100 country. No wild celebrations, no exotic locations, just a wonderful trip. I took a trip out of Ljubljana for about 13 euros by bus. The trip took about 40 minutes or so, even though I anticipated it would have been 1.20. Seeing the open countryside as we drove though the country was really pretty and sitting on the right side of the bus ensured good pictures to the towering mountains.
The circuit is 6.5km around the lake and quite a few people chose to cycle around it. But for the first time it felt nicer to to take a little stroll and enjoy the views. There are quite a few places where you can rent a boat and go across to the island.
The return journey was longer as I missed the first bus, which I expect was the express with everyone going direct to Ljubljana but bus I took was the local one, which stopped in all the little towns on route and did take over an hour. But I was happy to do that as the next bus was at 7.30 so to have a 2-hour wait was good.
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Apr 18, 2019 08:00 PM Evening exploration
I had such an incredible day just living. My flight from London wasn’t really early so I was able just take my time. I got up to the airport with enough time to spare so headed for a lounge to get some lunch.
However on of the scariest things happened to me and that was to drop my passport, I have five minutes of frantic searching and had all the different ramifications running through my brain. I unpacked my case, went and spoke to everyone who I had encountered while shopping and came to the conclusion that I wouldn’t make my 100th country. I could just see myself being escorted out of the airport, miss my flight and spend the rest of the afternoon miserable and rueing mistake. But then as I retraced my steps, sticking out from under a counter there it was, I swear I have never been happier. I don’t even remember when it dropped. But how lucky am I that I could board my flight and achieve on of my goals and visit 100 countries. Very pleased
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Nov 16, 2018 10:00 PM My pre-cruise
I was so excited as I've never done a side by side cruise before. We found an incredible check cruise that made it worth while to do two.
We got up early and drove the 30 or so minutes drive to Fort Lauderdale. I wanted to get on board really early so I could maximise my time there. We were on board by around 10.30 but couldn't get to our cabins. So we dropped our stuff in the spa lockers and then went to explore, have some lunch and relax by the pool.
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Nov 15, 2018 10:00 PM Let's go shopping... Miami style
The thing about going to this side of the world is that you wake up so early. From about 3am we were chatting and then just decided to get up and go and get breakfast.
It turned out to be a huge breakfast to last to day, as the idea was to shop until we dropped.
I swear I bought so much stuff in the malls, you would have believed that I hadn't packed a suitcase. But I got some nice stuff to compliment what I already have.
Then during the evening we went to Red Lobster. For me a great way to end the day. I love Miami, and in a few days I will be back to do it all over again.
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Nov 14, 2018 10:00 PM The sun is smiling on Miami
I had a house guest to make it easier to get to the airport without having an additional night in a hotel, so we had an really start to Heathrow.
Funnily enough we all turned up at the airport at the same time without even really planning. I was on a bit of a budget so took the Piccadilly line to T4. Actually early in the morning it isn't too bad.
The flight was lovely, and I didn't even feel the time,as we landed so quickly. We got into Miami airport and they had the new self service immigration machines. It worked so well, it was so different from the first time when I got a chip passport trying to use these machines.
I picked up the car and this time I wasn't afraid of driving at night. Last year, I took the shuttle from the airport an picked up the car in the morning, I think it is one thing to drive at night but a whole another issue of driving on the left. Anyway this time it was normal.
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