We woke up this morning and it was tipping down, first rain since leaving U.K. but the dogs still had to go out, well done Christine. Of course this rain changed everything as it was forecasted to continue all day so sadly we changed our minds on our “touristy” things, we will have to come back some time in the future. Also, and against our better judgment, we decided to have the hotel breakfast; Christine was fuming at the charge for breakfast but with everything closed we had little alternative. The exorbitant charge would have been acceptable if the breakfast choice was comprehensive, we’ve enjoyed better selections in far lesser hotels at more realistic prices. Naturally we paid for the surroundings, chandeliers from the ceilings and a spacious area but it would have been perfect, “no moaning” had the quality of what was available also been 5*. The “only” choice for “hot food”, and I use the term “hot” sarcastically were congealed mushrooms, hard scrambled eggs and what purported to be sausages, sitting on a hot plate that was either not working properly or switched off. When Christine’s pointed out the fact the the food was cold, all the lady in charges did was go to the three pans, stir the contents and walk off; total disregard towards their guest. This was a shame as we had, up till then, enjoyed our stay at the 5* “Belfry and Spa Hotel” here in Lourdes.
Lovely comfortable bedroom
Scooter back in the car followed by everything else and still raining, we decided to just get on our way and come back another time.
We cleared the hotel around 1100hrs and headed straight into the foothills of the Pyrenees, a bold decision being winter using a lesser main road but with all this rain we decided to go.
Upside down sign!
Driving along we noticed that nearly every village sign we passed was upside down. I had noticed this a couple of times on previous days but hadn’t thought anything about it, but today it was consistent, every village we passed through had their entry and exit sign upside down. What a strange thing we thought so Christine googled this and low and behold these actions are deliberate, they have been taken by the French Farmers, part of their protests against the Brussels bureaucracy and the new regulations that are coming to all farmers across the eu.
Lovely views, bit scary in places though!
After the leaving the foothills we started the climb, still raining. The tortuous route was very scenic and quite exhilarating, though Christine being on the outside wasn’t too happy, there was a regular call to “slow down”!!!!! This road, not only being very twisty, it was quite narrow, the sort of road common back in the 50’s before increased traffic called for big roads and duel carriageways, still it was one of the “lesser” routes across the Pyrenees; I was enjoying myself though!!!! As we climbed with the rain still coming we were parallel with the clouds and at some points above them until everything eventually settled, we were above the snow-line. No rain, yeah🤣🤣🤣 oh no, it’s been replace by snow😡😡😡 but fortunately the roads had previously been salted so as it snowed the road became slushy.
At least the roads were clear
We eventually reached the top and it had stoped snowing, the sun was out with a brilliant blue sky and we stopped in the enormous “empty” car park close to several ski-lifts and gave the dogs a run-round. Rosie was fascinated by the snow but all Tom-Tom wanted was to run after the ball and do his “doings”. We knew Andorra was a big ski resort but were surprised haw many ski lifts rather were, no doubt a lesser known ski centre but a ski centre all the same and used mainly by the locals.
Snow everywhere, roads slippery!
Once we started our descent three important things happened; the roads on the Spanish side were far better, the snow and rain had stopped and most importantly, it was clear blue skies and very, very sunny; yeah!!!!
We had pre-booked a hotel in a small village called Burbaguena, a few miles south of Zaragoza, nothing special as it was a quick stop, but reading the reports on trip advisor the consensus was “good value for money” and “excellent” food. We eventually pulled into this-out-of-the-way place around 1530 and whilst checking in asked if we could have some food, only to be informed the kitchen stops at 1500hrs. OK, we will eat tonight only to be told, “as we hadn’t booked a meal there was no available table”!! Right; is there a restaurant around here? No, but we may find somewhere in one of two adjacent small towns, about 10kms away in opposite directions; no help here as he concluded the booking-in process. To be fair to the chap, he was running around like a headless chicken; the restaurant was very “full, (good sign) and he was the barman, the waiter, the receptionist and clearer-upper. Disgruntled, we headed back to the car and drove to one of the towns, a small, old walled town, very pretty but couldn’t find a restaurant, either open or closed, but we did find a Carrefour Express open so swallowed hard and bought some cold meats, cheese and bread to eat in the room later. We also filled up with fuel, “Spanish prices”, 👍.
Back to the hotel I took our overnight stuff and food bag upstairs, whilst Christine headed out with the dogs. Ver pay conveniently there is a cycle track that looks like a deserted railway line running through the hotel grounds, win, win in that department!!!
Around 1900hrs I popped downstairs to get a bottle when the guy we had had dealings earlier suddenly offered us a table. We think the back story to this is: as we were heading out earlier and disgruntled, we bumped into a lady coming in the door who was friendly and welcomed us to her establishment. Now we “think” she is part owner with the guy who previously said “no tables available”, and seeing us unhappy probably asked the question after we had left. We put two and two together, we accepted his offer for a table tonight!!!
Though this establishment, the sort of place you would drive straight past when looking from the outside, was heaving and apart from us and another English couple, was full of Spanish; good recommendation.
Christine had a very tasty and cooked to perfection Solomillo, and I enjoyed a whole Pulpo, excellent and their wine list seemed to cover everything. We are so glad we got to eat there, the reports were right, the food was excellent and as one would expect in an out of the way place, affordable. Our bedroom was a different story. Yes we had a nice balcony and it was a good sized room with two singles, but the drains in the bathroom honked, we decided we would give the shower a miss!!!
This place, it is what it is, a convenient night stop for transiting Spain with good reputation for excellent food, would we use it again??, the jury is out but possibly🤔🤔, it is certainly an ideal place with dogs and a bargain at £43 per night
No rush this morning as we are only heading to Lourdes; 3.5 hrs away with Peage, 4.5 without, so Peage it was. Christine took the dogs to the park, at 7am, to give them a good walk before we travelled.
They look worn out!
Today the sun was shining, skies were blue and the temperature had risen, all on cue 😁😁😁. We shared the driving but I was at the wheel as we entered Lourdes. Neither of us had any idea about the place other than it was a place of pilgrimage for many; not to sure if it will help my knee though!!! We entered the narrow streets and found our hotel, again a dog friendly one in the centre of town, there was just one fundamental difference. This was no ordinary hotel, oh no, Christine had booked a 5* Spa Hotel and when we arrived she seemed surprised it was a 5* one; yeah!!!!! We knew it was up-market the moment we walked into the grand lobby area, no desk just one enormous, highly polished table with comfortable chairs for us to sit in whilst the formal proceedings were taken care of. We were then shown the facilities; the restaurant, the Gym, the indoor pool, sauna and steam room and not least, the “bank” of jacuzzis before being escorted to our room, with a balcony but no view. Our view was the street below☹️☹️.
River Gave de Pau
We hadn’t eaten since breakfast and fancied a snack to put us on. We made the decision not to eat in the hotel so headed out, down the hill towards the fast flowing river, “Gave de Pau”. It soon became obvious I would struggle so headed back to the car to get the scooter (named Solo) out, and off we went again. Looking for somewhere to get a snack was a challenge, everywhere was closed for the winter, but eventually we found two places, an ice cream parlour and a cafe, this was our choice and though it wasn’t raining, it was cold so the cafe was the place we entered. To be fair the ham and cheese panini we had were nice and fresh, so not all bad, though we did wonder if we would find a restaurant to have a meal later this evening, “open” 🤔🤔.
Most hotels on river were closed
Now we were on our way to search for the mythical woodland the receptionist thought would be suitable for the dogs. Where the mythical woodland was located turned out to be a rather large carpark for a hotel closed for the winter!!! Anyway it sufficed, the dogs had a good run. On the way back Christine decided we had taken the wrong turning on our way to the mythical woods and headed up another hill to search for them; she returned rather crestfallen, as I had said, they were a myth!!!
Completely mirrored room, it was stunning!
Back at the hotel we headed to the spa area, giving the gym a wide berth, found the pool and in we went. The pool was in a rather unusual surrounding, down in the basement of the hotel and to enhance its size, the surrounding walls and ceiling were all mirrors; interesting. Next the Jacuzzi, they were just outside on an adjacent patio, two were free so in we hopped, turned the heat up more, and enjoyed a nice long relaxing soak. Eventually, and after we were wrinkled back inside we went and tried the steam room. We were not impressed; too big and never got very steamy so headed for the sauna. Again disappointed, electric and no coals to pour water over so didn’t get enough heat, oh well one can’t have everything, or can we?? Trip advisor will be interesting!!!!
Geoff enjoying the jacuzzi
Back in the room where we had left the dogs we sorted ourselves out and headed off to find a restaurant. We had looked at the hotel menus but were not impressed with the choices or the 5* pricing that went with it for that matter.
Breakfast room
Having been down the hill earlier when we also scouted for restaurants, but apart from an “African Food” street place, nothing was open so this time we headed up the hill into the town area. The choice of places was very limited, everything was closed so after walking or in my case, riding up and down all likely streets we found a Chinese open. Note to self, keep out of Lourdes in the winter, still we did laugh about it all later. The Chinese, certainly not on our list of places to go was actually very nice and his wine selection was great so not all bad, and they let us take the dogs in.
Sanctuary of our lady of Lourdes
Tomorrow we head “over” the Pyrenees, fingers crossed no snow🤞🤞but first we have to do some of the touristy things and visit the “Sanctuary of our Lady of Lourdes” made famous by the “Apparitions” that occurred in 1858. Naturally I was also hoping for a miracle cure!!!!! See the caves and if time allows, get up to the Chateau Fort, high up on the rocky hill overlooking the town
Today we are heading to Cognac. 10-years ago Christine took me to a restaurant in Cognac that was so good, we keep talking about it and as today is our anniversary and we are around the area, why not. The decision was made a few weeks ago but first we had to look back on “Oldies on Tour” to get the name and address; thats what “Oldies” is about, a memory jog!!! So whilst sorting out our itinerary I had pre-booked a table, just as well as it is Valentine’s Day.
Leaving Orleans mid morning we head south, this time via the Peage as it saved an hours driving and arrived in Cognac about 4-hours later and booked into our hotel. Again we had pre-booked this hotel as it was very close to the centre, had car parking facilities and more importantly, was dog friendly, they allowed dogs in the room.
Another great park for the dogs
Once settled and after some local research, discovered a large park near the centre of town behind the museum and tourist office, 8-minutes walk away so headed off.
The entrance to these gardens was through a grand arch, part of the aforementioned imposing building, originally a private mansion built by the Dupuy Family, local merchants in the 1838. The gardens behind were also designed in the late 1800’s and the two were brought together circa 50-years ago.
Park for doggiesEntrants to the park
Walking through the arch, the first thing that comes into view is a very ornate duck pond full of all kinds of wild foul. Our first question was obvious, “can we let the dogs off the lead here”? We walked on past an open air theatre and following one of several paths came onto a very large grass area; perfect!!! The dog “ball-thrower” went into overdrive; we were still waiting to know if we could take the dogs into the restaurant tonight, but either way they needed to crash out. When we headed back to the hotel they were exhausted, good job done.
Heading back, we stopped for a drink in the centre, in the “Place Francois 1er”, it was very quiet, hardly anywhere open and what a contrast to last time, back then It was heaving, the centre of everything, very vibrant, oh well it is winter.
Drink in the square, had to be done!
Back in our room we prepared for our anniversary dinner, hoping we are not disappointed, after all a lot can change in 10-years, different owner, gone down market due to economic circumstances etc., so fingers crossed. As agreed during an earlier ‘phone call, we rang back to see if we were allowed to take the dogs and to our delight the answer was yes, win win.
Our memory of this restaurant, “Bistro de Claude” was that it was situated in a narrow, high stone walled cobbled street in the old part of Cognac, on a hill heading down to the river Charente, and according to Google maps, was a 9-minute walk away. Our booking was for 1930hrs so set off at the appropriate time. This evening we got out of our holiday clothes and made “the effort” but poor Christine, deciding heels were appropriate hadn’t considered the cobbled streets. Our 9-minute walk took a little longer as she navigated the uneven street surface, and it was all the way!!!
Special restaurant for our anniversary, where did those 19 years go!
Like our last visit we were the first to arrive, very eerie but no sooner had we sat down and settled the dogs under the table, people arrived. Being Valentine’s night, it was a set, 5-course gourmet meal starting with a pink champagne. As per our last visit the place was heaving with a good atmosphere, and though we were disappointed we couldn’t go off their “a La carte” menu, we enjoyed the food provided and naturally this was accompanied by a first class Burgundy.
Excellent food!
A couple of hours is so later we paid and sorted ourselves, interestingly none of the other diners had any idea we had two dogs under the table judging by their comments and finger pointing as we left. A testimony to good discipline and wearing them out beforehand!!! Outside the temperature had dropped and poor Christine had to walk back on those cobblestones with Tom-Tom and Rosie pulling after two hours plus of in-activity!!!
Rose made out of Apple, and the leaves were made of chocolate, delicious
Back at the hotel we went to the car park, a gated and safe area to give the dogs some more ball throwing just to ensure we had a peaceful night.
Our conclusions about the restaurant:- Very pleased we went, we weren’t disappointed with the quality of the food just that being Valentine’s night it was a set menu at an grossly inflated price. We will go again, but not on a recognised special day so we can choose what we eat.
Our next adventure, “finding the sun” starts today, but though our ferry is not until tomorrow, we have taken the opportunity to visit family and friends around Portsmouth.
Packing a quart into a pint pot always takes more time than anticipated but eventually we were away an hour or so later than planned. The car was stacked so high with everything compressed down so that we could get the dog basket in, in fact Tom-Tom and a Rosie probably had more space than we did!!! They were isolated by a wall of cases, duvet and pillows but they didn’t care, they were in the car.
Firstly we stopped at Pat’s (Christine’s sister) for a lovely hearty lunch then headed to Kathleen (another sister) and Tom”s for afternoon tea with homemade cake 😁😁. We then headed to Bill and Jenny’s for dinner and a bed for the night. Up ‘till this point we had in our minds a leisurely drive to Newhaven arriving around an hour or less before sailing but to our horror, after checking they wanted us to arrive two hours before sailing. Never having travelled on the Newhaven – Dieppe route, we wondered if there were was something different in the Newhaven dockyard. The bottom line meant we had to set our alarm for 0600hrs and leave soon after to compensate for the Monday morning rush hour!!!
We had a very jolly evening and enjoyed an Indian takeaway, “more food”, still we did it justice!!!!!!
Monday 12th February 2024
Awoken at 0600hrs by an unwelcome alarm, (we’re not used to this!!!!!) we gathered everything up, sorted the dogs and out and away by 0630hrs.
A straightforward drive with less traffic than we expected, even the Chichester bypass was reasonable; too many people working from home we expect!!! Whatever is the country becoming??
On the Newhaven ferry port web site it stated there was a cafe so we looked forward to having some breakfast on arrival, hence no stops. Arriving at the ferry port around 0800hrs we were first!!!! Still we had sufficient space to let the dogs have a run-a-round chasing the ball hoping the cafe would soon open. Eventually a person from the ferry port walked our way and after enquiring, we were informed the cafe closed during Covid and hasn’t re-opened since; great!!!! The nearest and only place for breakfast was the local McDonald’s just down the road, nothing else until we board around 1030hrs; why did we leave so early??? McDonalds it is then.
We couldn’t miss the place, a big sign on the local trading estate, so parked up and in we went, along with many others!!! To be fair the service was good, the breakfast menu was acceptable and we filled up a hole; strangely no complaints😂🤣😁
Back at the port to join a queue allowing us enough time to walk the dogs, along with several others round and round before boarding. At the point of boarding we were a little concerned because last time we were in Spain with them, we got. them Spanish Passports. Our concern was simple, when we returned last time we had to return on the short term U.K. passports so there was no record of these dogs arriving on Spanish Passports; no need to worry, we got through!!!
Once boarded we headed up to the seating area by the cafe, got some drinks and settled down playing crib etc., for this four hour crossing whilst Tom-Tom and Rosie slept 🤞🤞 in the back of the car.
After a smooth crossing and a lunch to while away the time, we arrived. Once called, we got to the car expecting great things being in the front row and ready for the “off”, but we were held back, we were the fourth car off, couldn’t understand the logic there but never mind, we were straight through French border control and hit the road heading for Orleans, about 4-hours away.
Dieppe to Orleans is not a straight forward route unless you use the Peage route and that takes you via Paris, we elected the cross country route. Most roads were fine but there was one section where there was a diversion and poor Waze couldn’t cope, we seemed to wind our way around several very small villages on narrow roads eventually arriving at the Seine, no road, only a local ferry!!! We couldn’t go back so took the ferry knowing we “did” have to cross the river Seine sometime!!! This busy ferry, two cars boarded only, didn’t mess about, no sooner were we on, the ferry went on it’s way, and after a “smooth” crossing taking all of 4-minutes, and “free” to-boot, we were driving off the other side. After winding our way up some steep hills with numerous hairpin bends, we found a “proper” road where we could “put the foot down”. By now it was getting dark, just as well we were on a decent road. Today we watched the dawn break, and now we were watching the sun go down; can’t remember when we last did both of these things in the same day!!!
The unusual ferry!
We arrived at Mike and Catriona’s around 2030hrs and were greeted as long lost relatives, wonderful, swiftly followed by some alcohol🤣🤣🤣 and a well thought out light meal, as we caught up with events.
Tuesday 13th February
After a not-too-early breakfast and bearing in mind today is a work and school day, Christine and I had to make ourselves scarce so headed to a local park set in several acres where the dogs could have their freedom, unlike yesterday, cooped up in the car with moments of freedom. Adjacent to the park was a Portuguese restaurant where we arranged to meet Catriona for lunch. This park being a little too far for my knee to cope, I took to my scooter.
Lovely park
The dogs had a “field day” running, sniffing and chasing the ball for over an hour in this park; at least they will be worn out during lunch.
As planned we met up with Catriona and enjoyed the “Plat de Jour” accompanied of course with proper French Wine, the sort the local drink, all very nice and compared to England, very reasonable!
We didn’t manage the complete park
After lunch, whilst Catriona headed back to work, we headed back to the park for a final session. Those poor dogs had two days exercise in one day!!!
Doggies just kept running and running!
In the evening the six of us settled down for a nice meal with much chatter before heading to bed.
Not having the facilities to throw a party I had to come up with something different, and that was a city break to Budapest. Christine had mentioned Budapest as one of several European cities she wanted to visit, so why not??
Decision made but now to book it all on-line; I have a history of “cocking -up” any bookings I do on-line but fortunately Marian was here back in May when I first found the city break advertised with “British Airways Holidays”. Starting so early was a great deal, it included Business-class seats both ways, so with Marian’s help I started the booking; thank you Marian for your help and guidance to make the “correct” booking.
The only other things to be done at a later date, was booking a hotel and a carpark slot at Heathrow. Oh yes, this break was being organised surreptitiously; a surprise break, hopefully!!!!!
As we drew nearer to the time things got rather complicated regarding Dog sitters and various Christmas performances etc., that involved Mia etc., so I was forced to “let-the-cat-out-of-the-bag” to avoid clashes and disappointments,
Saturday 2nd December2023.
Today we head to Heathrow, we are staying the night to avoid any unnecessary rush in the morning, unfortunately we will miss Mia’s Performance in her Pantomime tonight, ugh!!!
Arriving at the hotel and the booking was “correct “, I was beginning to think I may have got everything right; time will tell!!!
Arriving at the airport, at least Christine had one surprise as we headed down the “Business-Class channel”, this was a complete surprise I’m pleased to say. After security etc., we head to Business-Class lounge where the pressure was off and we enjoyed our breakfast, accompanied by a few drinks!!
Food and drinks all the way, very posh!
It’s been a long time since we’ve flown around Europe in anything other than a budget airline and I must say it was good. Super service, bucket loads of alcohol and a very nice roast lamb lunch; the 2½ hr flight just “flew by” andwe arrived on time without a loud “fanfare”.
We cleared immigration, collected our luggage and headed to the taxi rank, fortunately there weren’t too many fpeople waiting. Since my last visit, about 30+ years ago, things had changed, especially the airport; last time it was more of a big shed with few planes arriving rather than a modern complex!!
Lamb was lovely
The drive into town was uneventful and took it about 45 minutes to reach our hotel. Booking in was a doddle and our room was comfortable. Having overindulged in the BA lounge, then again on the aeroplane, neither of us felt like any more food and drink, and it had been a long day so we decided to relax in the hotel tonight and be fresh for the ‘morrow.
After a good night’s sleep, we headed to the breakfast room where we found a comprehensive range of everything to cater for everyone, and we enjoyed it.
Our first stop today is the “Hop-on, Hop-off” bus; I’d pre-ordered 2 x 3-day tickets online; “another success” and their No 1 stop was by the St Stephen’s Basilica, a 4-minute walk from our hotel. To our pleasant surprise, surrounding the Basilica was a Christmas market, we didn’t have time to look around now, as there was a bus just about ready to leave.
Basilica and market
This morning was nice and dry though cold, but we had expected that and had the appropriate clothing on. The bus wasn’t full but of course the best “front” seats were taken. The other difference from all the previous “hop-on’ hop-off” buses was they had put a soft-top on and as it had plastic windows things were a little blurry. I know it’s cold but when we did these bus tours in Chicago and New York over Xmas, where it was also very cold, they left the tops off!!!!
As per norm we stayed on the bus for the whole route to decide where we wanted to go, as we went round. The bus took us through some extremely smart and beautiful parts of Budapest where the aristocracy lived during the Hungarian Empire. We passed by the Synagogue and museum, through Heroes Square, identified which stop for the New Your Café, over the Danube into Buda passing the chain bridge and Buda Castle and noting where the funicular to take you to the top was, seeing the stunning Parliament buildings and returning to the Basilica an hour or so later.
Iron bridge
We stayed on the bus and decided to get off at stop No 13. Where we can have a wander eventually leading us into the main shopping street and on into “Szecheny Istvan Plaza”, one end of the chain link bridge. It was here I stayed on my previous visit, but that was a different era!!! Wandering along a street with wall-to-wall cafes and bars, one of which had several large gas heaters outside, so we stopped and, looking at the menu, fancied a couple of pancakes accompanied by rather large glasses of mulled wine with a shot of rum for good measure to warm us up, we were happy.
We wandered along through a pedestrianised shopping street with many well-known brands then headed down to the promenade along the Danube where there were many bronze sculptures. By now the day was dull, cloudy and with darkness drawing in, we started the walk back to St Stephen’s Basilica,
By now locals were heading home from work as we plodded along the back streets until we turned the last corner and there it was, the Basilica surrounded by the Christmas market with all its colourful lights and lots of people milling around. We decided we would embrace what was in front of us and enjoy “street food”, Goulash in particular, washed down with more Mulled wine.
We perused all the stall before deciding on Hungarian Goulash, I went for the beef version whilst Christine settled for the Chicken one. Both meals were served in a cottage loaf with the middle scooped out, with the top of the loaf as a “top hat” to keep the food warm; a tall order tonight as it is cold!!!!
There were tables and benches everywhere, so eating wasn’t a problem and we sat watching the light show on the front facia of the Basilica, well at this stage it was just snowflakes falling, not too inspiring. Anyway, after enjoying this tasty food we found a Mulled Wine counter and enjoyed one, well I did, Christine didn’t as it was too much like “hot wine”, no spices!!! We continued our walk-about and then came across a sausage stall and the “smells“ enticed us to buy one, yes “one” as they were so big and juicy though the juice was in fact fat, never-the-less it was scrumptious. This time we watched the “enhanced” light show as we munched our jumbo sausage; again, nothing spectacular! Though it was a cold night, it was dry and aftereating our way through the sausage we found another mulled wine counter and this time it was the “real deal”, very warming and enjoyable followed by the 5-minute walk back to our hotel; a very enjoyable first day.
Tuesday 5th December
Birthday Girl today so a little late heading down to breakfast, cards etc., had to take priority, but after a hearty breakfast we headed to the hop-on, hop-off bus stop, our destination, “Szecheny Istvan Plaza”, stop no 2 and from here it is a pleasant 4-minute walk along the embankment to where the boats leave. Unfortunately, we were early and had to wait about a bit, but at least we will be first on!!
Parliament building
Being winter the boat wasn’t full so we had space to spread out with the bar directly behind us. This trip was all part of our bus ticket and lasted about an hour and gave us the opportunity to view both Buda and Pest from the River Danube and though it was a dull day, it was worth the trouble.
One of the many beautiful buildings on the waterfront
Off the boat and back onto the bus as we headed to the New York Café. Tonight, I have booked a table at the iconic “Gundel Café Patisserie Restaurant” a recommended restaurant that has been around for about 127 years, and the comments on the website appear to confirm I’ve made a good decision.
Geoff enjoying the ambience
Again, there was a long queue outside the New York Café but today we are determined to “stick-it-out” and stand in-line, in the cold!!! The good news though, people were leaving the café regularly so our wait was only about 20ish minutes. Again we were recommended the New York Café as a “must go to place”, well as soon as we stepped in through the door we were “gob-struck”, what a magnificent building, the ceiling, the elegance, the space, the calmness, a million miles away from this modern world.
Definitely a Wow building!
We were ushered up a beautiful stairway passing the string quartet along the way and up to a table on the mezzanine. Once settled and had mouths had closed, Christine headed to the ladies, and I sat patiently waiting. The first thing that struck me was the lack of “pestering”, apart from a waiter delivering the menus, nothing, and looking around me it was the same, no one was pestered Knowing there was a queue outside I thought it would have all been about getting you in, serving you and getting you out as quickly as possible, but no, once in your time was your own!!! Anyway, whilst waiting I ordered a couple of alcoholic drinks to kick-start things off and when Christine eventually returned, we studied what was on offer. Her delay was the queue, but had she looked around where our table was, she would have seen there were the toilets on this floor, and no queues!!!!!
Amazing building
We enjoyed our time here, not rushing whilst taking in the ambience and enjoying our leisurely lunch and drinks and best of all, no waiters hassling us, but around when needed.
We even had a string quartet
Time to leave and after a last look back, headed into the street where the queue to get in was still there. We headed to the bus stop; we must have just missed one as there was quite a wait, then back to our hotel for a wash and brush-up before heading out to the restaurant later tonight.
Another fine restaurant
Tonight we had booked a taxi as It’s a fair way away across town. On arrival we were welcomed in, our coats were taken before being shown to our table. Walking through the restaurant and looking up at the decorated ceilings that looked so exquisite on the website, didn’t really float our boat. Our mistake was to go to the New York before coming here, the New York has no equal as far as we can see, still, we also came for the food experience.
More lovely food!
Don’t get us wrong the surroundings were very nice, the service excellent and there was another string quartet playing in the background. Our starters were as expected, delicious and Christine’s main, Duck, was excellent but I on the other hand wasn’t quite so lucky as I had miss-read the menu; I ordered Veiner Schnitzel with vegetables and boiled potatoes, now boiled potatoes don’t do a lot for me but that didn’t matter as I had vegetables. Unfortunately they were pickled vegetables, not my scene!!!! Being my fault, I just enjoyed the Veiner Schnitzel and with what we had eaten this day, was sufficient. The main thing is, “Birthday Girl“ had a nice, memorable meal and we did enjoy m excellent bottle of fine Hungarian wine with it. We didn’t have desert as Christine was getting cold, tired and shivery so paid and got a taxi back to the hotel; it was getting late anyway.
Wednesday 6th December
Christine had a dreadful night, coughing and spluttering and feeling like sh1t but decided to get up for breakfast. It was a good job we did what we did yesterday before she was struck down with this rubbish.
After picking at her breakfast, she insisted we went out so wrapping up warmly we headed out, but today there was snow about, although the local council had must have been out all night as there wasn’t too much left around, though the sky looked full of it.
As usual we headed out to the bus stop, but due to the weather there was a queue and they filled two buses!!! Our destination was “Hero’s Square”. Heroes Square, is one of the major squares in Budapest, noted for its iconic Millennium Monument with statutes featuring the “Seven Chieftains of the Magyars* and other important Hungarian national leaders, as well as the memorial stone of Heroes, often referred to as the tomb of the unknown soldier, though not.
After a brief wander around in the wet, damp and sleety rain we headed back to the bus stop, and we weren’t alone, most other people had the same idea and the queue filled another two buses!!!
The next stop was at the bottom of the hill, gateway to the Castle and old town on Buda; here we will catch the funicular, unfortunately Christine was decidedly unwell but insisted we went up to the castle etc.
Going up
At the bottom of the funicular was an outside bar where we indulged in a couple of nice hot mulled wines to warm us up before heading up to the top. It was only a short trip but much better than following the winding path to the top. Perched on top of the Danube’s left bank is “Buda old town”, a UNESCO heritage site with classical buildings, churches and royal palace etc. We had a wander about and headed towards the old palace where we went in for a “comfort break” and at the same time enjoyed a cuppa and a nice cake, but by now Christine was proper poorly so headed back down the funicular. It was a great shame we couldn’t really enjoy the view from the top looking across the Danube to Pest’s skyline, never mind we’ll have to come back.
Part of the grounds to the castle
At the bottom of the hill, and much to Christine’s disgust, l insisted we get a taxi to get back to the hotel quickly. Once we were in our room Christine hit the sac; she was really not well, and I was quite worried having had a history of phenomena.
Whilst Christine slept, I watched a film or three, fortunately I had my headphones so didn’t disturb her. Later in the evening I headed up to the roof terrace, as there was a bar up there and they did food.
Firstly I had to find the roof terrace, the normal lift didn’t go there. Eventually I found a secondary lift that started two doors down from the top and went straight to the terrace; bigger signs may have helped!!!! Stepping onto the terrace and straight into a snowstorm, the roof terrace was a large, insulated marquee type building but the entrance was around the corner; well planned!!!!!!!! It was worth the effort, a managed to order food and drink with room service, so worth the effort.
Thursday 7th December 2023
After 18hrs of sleep, this morning Christine felt marginally better but we have our flights so after breakfast and an extension to our room, Christine dosed herself up with medication and we jumped into a taxi.
Budapest airport isn’t the largest and getting there too early didn’t help as we had to wait around for the BA desk to open, still we made ourselves comfortable in the café. Two hours, on the dot before the flight the desk opened, and we booked straight in and headed up to the BA lounge. I use the word lounge “loosely”, yes it was a lounge but with very minimum facilities and even less choice of “goodies” to enjoy, still never mind we have a meal on board.
With the way Christine was feeling, flying business class certainly paid off as we settled into our seats before the rest of the passengers boarded.
Again, a very comfortable flight though I had to remember I had to drive when we arrive, still we enjoyed our first Roast Turkey of the season, and I have to say it was rather nice.
Arrived on time but unfortunately no “airbridge”, we had to board a bus, just what Christine needed!!!! Our bags were first to arrive, and we headed to the carpark bus. Again, during my “booking-up’ process, unbeknown to me I had booked the business car park and as soon as we caught the bus, it was off, no other passengers needing their car; note for future, use business car park.
We have booked into another Heathrow hotel just in case the flight was delayed, we drive back home tomorrow.
The really good news is, everything I had booked online worked, I’ve conquered my issues!!!!!
* Seven Chieftains of the Magyars were leaders of different related Hungarian tribes in 830 AD who set up a confederation from which Hungary grew from
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After a very comfortable night at the marina just outside the Bilbao docks, “highly recommended”, Christine cooked a breakfast as by the time we board and get settled, lunchtime will have come and gone. We also spent a long time knackering the dogs out.
Our booking includes two cages for TT & R, as we were unable to get a pet friendly cabin but this morning Christine rang Brittany Ferries just on the off chance there was a dog friendly cabin available through cancellation, and “bingo” there was one, Christine was over the moon, but again more money had to change hands!!!!
Arriving at the ferry check in we joined the queue and after about 30-minutes or so of waiting, arrived at the kiosk only to be told we were at the wrong booth. There was a “Pet Specific” lane, so we had to follow the lady from our booth to a special exit. To be fair she was most apologetic and explained that her booth didn’t have the necessary to process pets. Perhaps they will put up a big sign up at the entrance telling pet owners which lane to use!!! Fortunately the new lane was quick so didn’t lose much time in the end, not that that mattered as after being searched for immigrants we were held in another lane for an hour or so👹👹
We eventually drove onboard, we were “tail-end Charlie’s” along with a number of other motor homes. Oh well, looks like we will be last off when we arrive in Portsmouth tomorrow night; just hope they get on with it quickly!!!🤞🤞🤞
We found our pet friendly cabin, much the same as the rest but sparser and isolated with its own passageway leading onto a special deck for exercising dogs sporting several hoses and a supply of “doggie bags”. At the end of this walkway we’re the kennels; so glad made that ‘phone call this morning.
OK first things first. The dogs as well as us were desperate for a shower so after mine Christine went in with “both” dogs!!! Fortunately after all the “pools” they had visited recently, they had no fear of water, they both accepted their “fate” and got on with it. The big issue was trying to dry them before they shook and sprayed everything. Christine did a Stirling job washing them but drying them was a different story, she rubbed them as best she could with a towel before letting them out, but once released into the cabin, they “let rip” and sprayed water everywhere👹👹; still they were clean and smelt better!!!
Not much to see! Wet and cold!
The rest of the day was taken up walking the dogs as much as possible, visiting duty free, eating and playing crib. Unfortunately we could only get an inside cabin so sitting in it was not an option; still, the afternoon slowly went by and it was dinner time. We’ve done this trip numerous times and could always look forward to and rely on a good meal in the nice restaurant with excellent surroundings, but unfortunately the main restaurant on this ship “Galicia” seems to have been downgraded. Yes the food was nice but the “ambience” has gone; they want you in and out, what a shame.
A good night’s sleep though Christine thought she was “Rocking-n-Rolling” too much for her comfort.
Wednesday 18th October
The dogs aren’t happy, they’re not eating properly and their natural habits have been disrupted still we get off this evening; hang in there TT & R.
We’ve got a long day but can’t relax and have a drink as will be driving later so much the same as yesterday, exercising the dogs, crib and mealtimes.
The sea state was just a force 6 which Christine still found uncomfortable, and there was 22-knot following wind with heavy rain, so couldn’t see anything.
We eventually arrived in Portsmouth, an hour later than planned, sailed past the British navy, “one mine sweeper” and docked, so headed down to the car deck.
Spinnaker Tower
Once in the driving seat the “deck-hand” told us to turn round and face the other way, curious we thought, this is a “roll on-roll off”, why turn around? Anyway we did as instructed and realised this was also the way off, and we were in pole position for a quick getaway.😀😃😁
After a few minutes, the barrier went up and we were first off, unbelievable. First to border control but that’s when things slowed down due to the dogs being checked but still it was fairly quick and next we had to drive through the customers channel, this was a worry. Travelling through France we purchased a lot of wine, all for “ourown” consumption of course, but a lot. In Spain we also topped up with Soberano and Tio Pepe; we may have had a difficult and slow time getting through if stopped!!! The good news was we sailed straight through and hit the road back to South Petherton.
The drive back was uncomfortable as it rained heavily and there was a rather long diversion on the A303 due to roadworks, but arrived home around 0015hrs.
When will we be out in Rosie again, planning starts soon!!!!
Thank you everyone for making us so welcome, we both thoroughly enjoyed our time in Spain, hopefully see you all some time next year. Christine xx
