Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Mon Jun 11, 2012 4:44 pm  

Northumberland.
Yorkshire Coast.
Portugal.

All in the space of few posts on this thread.
Wonderful, all of 'em.

To the Northumberland bit, I'd add that Berwick on Tweed, although it's what you might call "quiet" and maybe even slightly depressed in the economic sense and not blessed with ultra-fine dining, is nonetheless a good-looking place and a great base for exploring.
(Tip : People-watching in the bar at the Maltings Theatre is worth the price of a pint any time)
More castles and big beaches within reach than you can shake a stick at.
And Berwick itself is great if you like history and "picturesque" ... if you take a camera, it would be churlish not to follow the Lowry trail and take photos of the views and scenes in his pictures for comparison, they even have a Lowry Trail to help you do it. It made me look at Lowry in a different light (I wasn't keen before but now I see that he was getting it pretty much right).
Craster for smoked fish and a fab pub opposite.
Dunstanburgh for ruined castle atmosphere.
Seahouses for crab sandwiches at the Ship.
Farne islands for puffins and seals (looking at them, not eating them).
Alnwick for the best second-hand bookshop I have ever, ever, been in (it used to be the entire railway station and has armchairs and open fires, plus a fab cafe serving very decent food in the old waiting rooms !).
Great easy-walking country.

Drawbacks?
None ... well, none except for not being able to get bloody Fog on the Tyne out of your brain every time you see the signs for Lindisfarne.

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Mon Jun 11, 2012 5:43 pm  

El Barbudo wrote:

Northumberland.
Yorkshire Coast.
Portugal.

All in the space of few posts on this thread.
Wonderful, all of 'em.

To the Northumberland bit, I'd add that Berwick on Tweed, although it's what you might call "quiet" and maybe even slightly depressed in the economic sense and not blessed with ultra-fine dining, is nonetheless a good-looking place and a great base for exploring.
(Tip : People-watching in the bar at the Maltings Theatre is worth the price of a pint any time)
More castles and big beaches within reach than you can shake a stick at.
And Berwick itself is great if you like history and "picturesque" ... if you take a camera, it would be churlish not to follow the Lowry trail and take photos of the views and scenes in his pictures for comparison, they even have a Lowry Trail to help you do it. It made me look at Lowry in a different light (I wasn't keen before but now I see that he was getting it pretty much right).
Craster for smoked fish and a fab pub opposite.
Dunstanburgh for ruined castle atmosphere.
Seahouses for crab sandwiches at the Ship.
Farne islands for puffins and seals (looking at them, not eating them).
Alnwick for the best second-hand bookshop I have ever, ever, been in (it used to be the entire railway station and has armchairs and open fires, plus a fab cafe serving very decent food in the old waiting rooms !).
Great easy-walking country.

Drawbacks?
None ... well, none except for not being able to get bloody Fog on the Tyne out of your brain every time you see the signs for Lindisfarne.

Covered all of that in the blog last week

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Mon Jun 11, 2012 6:56 pm  

I'll be back down to South Devon for early September again. Staying in the same cottage (cos they allow dogs and give us new-laid eggs), catching and eating some fine fish & prawns, digging queen cockles and razor clams and buying crabs and scallops straight off the boat. I reckon the only meat I eat down there is the bacon for my breakfast.

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Mon Jun 11, 2012 7:28 pm  

As a kid i used to holiday in Anglesey, it was great, we'd go down to Red Wharf Bay when the tide was out and try and catch Sand Eels for bait, loved it, sometimes find a nice big crab and put it in a bucket. Then we'd go to Penmon point near the Puffin Island and go fishing all day, boil up the crab on a camp fire to keep us going, even though i am the age i am i'll miss the old fella for that.

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:18 pm  

cod'ead wrote:

I reckon the only meat I eat down there is the bacon for my breakfast.

That's a relief.

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:43 pm  

[quote="Dally"]Taxi drivers.

quote]
The first time I went to the Algarve, we were collected from the airport in a people mover. There were five passengers plus the driver. Three sat in the rear, my wife sat immediately behind the driver, I sat next to her and consequently had a good view of what he was up to.
As we sped along the motorway at 70 mph, with a sheer drop on our right hand side, his mobile rang, he answered it and was driving with one hand, he then began to write on a clip board with the other, steering with his knees. I nearly shat myself.

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:47 pm  

[quote="major hound"]

Yes, going from the airport into Lisbon was like being in the whacky races. It was multi-lane racing with no apparent rules!

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:30 am  

McLaren_Field wrote:

Covered all of that in the blog last week

Most of it, aye.

Didn't know you had a blog.
You kept that quiet.

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:35 am  

El Barbudo wrote:

Didn't know you had a blog.
You kept that quiet.

You been in a cave this last five years or so?

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:40 am  

cod'ead wrote:

You been in a cave this last five years or so?