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Posts from the ‘Travelogue’ Category

Jun 20

Travelogue – Qatar قَطَر

Our visit to Qatar was last summer, and it has taken me to now to put this Travelogue together of our family trip. I joke that we were in Qatar at about the only time it wasn’t being bombed in the last 12 months. Hopefully the Qataris can now look forward to a more peaceful existence.

We chose Qatar for a family holiday for a couple of reasons. There was a direct flight from Miami, it was half the distance of our first pick, which was Vietnam, and we only had limited time plus importantly we wanted to expose our daughter to a culture far away from what she currently occupies.

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Jun 10

Travelogue – Vilamoura, Portugal

One of my old mates was regaling the group of us that went to Portugal on a lads weekend of stories from when we were at nursery school together. We were 4 at the time, I just about remember what I ate for breakfast. I took his word for it.

The rest of our Vilamoura group friendship began at secondary school, although mostly if I’m honest after it as people went their own ways, but this group stuck together, the adhesive being a boys holiday in Bournemouth when we were just 18.

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Jun 2

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Back to the future

Flying to London tonight, a quick visit to the parents, and then on Wednesday ten of us will meet in the morning at Gatwick departures lounge over a Guinness no doubt and embark on a long overdue boy’s trip.

Almost 40 years ago the same group minus two or three went on our first foreign lads holiday to Magaluf. We rekindled that group to re-visit Majorca in 2011, and now as we close in on the next big birthday milestone, a couple have already passed it, we are together once again a little greyer, balder and less energetic.

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May 29

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Miami heat

A weekend away in Miami awaits with the family. We often drive across alligator alley and enjoy the aura Miami oozes from the more pedestrian pace of where we live on the Gulf Coast. We are booked into our favourite hotel and restaurant and have plans in case it rains, which is in the forecast.

We usually do this trip post school/ busy work period about a month later but hotel prices during the World Cup are extortionate, even although there are suspicions that large blocks of rooms that have been booked out will come back onto the market due to a very slow take up of tickets.

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May 7

Ft. Lauderdale Swimming Hall of Fame

Last weekend we were at the Ft. Lauderdale International Swimming Hall of Fame, and their impressive aquatic complex, which is midpoint of a $220 million redevelopment that is planned to be finished in 2028.

We saw it before but I had to look up why this impressive competitive arena was chosen over anywhere else in the country. According to ChatGPT in the early 1960s, Fort Lauderdale had already established itself as a premier training destination, notably hosting the College Swim Forum and international teams, making it a natural fit for the Hall of Fame.

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Apr 28

The Big Easy

I was lucky enough to be invited to the Zurich Classic this past week(end). This is the only PGA Tour’s regular-season team event, when 80 pairs of pro golfers compete at the TPC of Louisiana.

TPC Louisiana is a stunningly beautiful golf course in Avondale, 15 miles from New Orleans, built over wetlands, still home to hundreds of alligators, and carved from a forest of cypress and oak trees.

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Feb 14

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Travelogue – Lucerne & Mt. Pilatus, Switzerland

On a work trip last year to Zurich, we took the train to Lucerne in central Switzerland for a day trip. It took less than an hour and the train dissects through the Swiss mountainside with lakes for company all the way.

The train station is impressive but we exited to a murky Lucerne shrouded in a low-lying fog.

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Dec 27

My Top Five 2025 Favourite Places

🔝5️⃣ Another year, another list of my Top Fives. We will begin with Places. This year’s travels were almost entirely work related, and unfortunately a lot the places I visited were on repeat.

We did have one big family holiday, and that was to Qatar as we sought to open our daughter’s mind to another culture. The peninsula on the Arabian Gulf therefore took top spot, and here is a list of My Top Fives Favourite Places 🧳

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Oct 15

5 Comments

Rock tour

Billie Eilish did 3 cities this week. Pah, I put two fingers up at that kind of sluggish convention. Me, mind you will have a week of a true rock ‘n roll tour. 

Miami, Sarasota, Las Vegas, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Napa Valley. 7 cities, 7 days. The life of a rock star travelling salesman.

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Sep 22

Swiss roll

I used always write about my travelling whatever the reason or how insignificant the locale.

These days I travel so much with work that I rarely get time to write about them or frankly the places don’t muster a lot of creative thought.

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Aug 17

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Travelogue – Boca Raton, Florida

We bookmarked our holiday in Qatar with fleeting visits to a couple of Florida spots that we hadn’t visited in a long while.

Boca Raton I was last in 20 years ago, and Coral Gables was a place we used to visit regularly but our last time there was pre-pandemic.

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Jul 31

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On the search for oil and culture

I was talking to another Dad a few months back and he asked me what year our daughter moves into this next year at high school. Junior (11th grade) I said. ‘Oh just two more summer’s with her then’ he replied.

Wow, I thought. I’d like to think she may want to come on holiday with us when she’s older, and I am aware that will depend on where we go and who pays, but time is running out and on the basis she regularly denies or forget’s she’s been to any of the places she has, then I thought this summer we had to do something different.

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Jul 28

Boca

I’ve had a bit of a tour of Florida this past week. Orlando with work, Ocala for a swim meet, back home to Sarasota, tomorrow to Boca Raton and then Miami for a long flight on Thursday.

More on the 14 hour flight from Miami later.

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Mar 19

Siesta Key

Just a couple of miles up the road from us is Siesta Key, recently voted the best beach in the United States, and the 4th best beach in the world by Trip Advisor.

Siesta Key is a barrier island that sits across the gentile waters of Little Sarasota Bay from us, and got badly battered in Hurricane Milton, but happily is just about getting itself back on it’s feet.

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Mar 9

20 Places

Just as I chose 20 Players I also chose 20 Places that have left an enduring mark on me in my life. All this to commemorate me writing this Blog for 20 years.

It was Benjamin Franklin that said “either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about” and I’ve lived by that since I penned my first Blog post in June 2004.

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Jan 29

Blueish violet

I am lucky to currently be in Colorado with the beautiful backdrop of the Rockies and rarefied mountain air for company this week.

The sky is a blueish violet and the sun is warm, and I probably didn’t need half of the layers I squeezed into my carry on.

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Jan 19

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My Top Five 2024 Favourite Hotels

🔝5️⃣. I stayed in 39 hotels last year, over a hundred nights not in my own bed, and there were plenty of AirBnB stays too, but I can’t get excited about them.

I do like a hotel, especially fancy ones, although sadly they weren’t always fancy. Anyway, I have selected a handful and these are my 2024 Top Five Favourite Hotels 🏨

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Jan 5

6 Comments

20 Years; 20 Places: No.18 Miami

We are coming close to the finish line, we are at 18 of my 20 Places to laud my 20 Years of writing this Blog.

I chose them in no particular order, but each one stands on its own as a place I hold dear. At no. 18 is Miami.

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Jan 3

2 Comments

My Top Five 2024 Favourite Places

🔝5️⃣. Welcome to my annual Top Five series where without any hint of shame I write about my favourite things from the past year.

Back in the day I listed a lot more of these, but I’ve narrowed it down over time, and I’ll start with one of my most craved obsessions, and that of travel. So, I’ll begin with my Top Five Favourite Places 🌇.

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Dec 8

4 Comments

Travelogue – Ocala, Florida

You probably would only heard of Ocala if you are a competitive swimmer or a competitive equestrian, or have it in yourself to watch either.

The city of Ocala is nestled between the eastern and western coasts of the northern part of Florida. The area is home to over 400 thoroughbred farms and training centre’s and is considered the ‘horse capital of the world.’ Kentucky, Newmarket, Ireland, Chantilly and Dubai might have something to say about that claim, but it is most definitely horsey.

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Nov 4

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20 Years; 20 Places: No.14 Iceland

Another Place on my list of 20 to commemorate my 20 Years of writing this Blog.

In no particular order, but each one memorable. No. 14 is Iceland.

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Sep 27

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Travelogue – Zürich

It must be about 20 years since I was last in Zürich, and I only know that because I had never done a Travelogue previously. Before then when I worked in London I was a frequent visitor.

I had forgotten how beautiful this city is, sat on two rivers and a lake with the Alps looming large in the background.

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Sep 24

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Oktoberfest

I am leaving Munich today feeling a little fragile after a night at the Oktoberfest.

My one and only visit was over two decades ago, and from memory hardly recognizable from back then.

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Aug 23

20 Years; 20 Places: No.12 Beaver Creek, Colorado

The next Place of 20 to extol my 20 Years of writing this Blog.

In no particular order, or ranking but each one as memorable as the other. No. 12 is Beaver Creek in Colorado.

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Aug 18

20 Years; 20 Places: No.11 Paphos, Cyprus

Back from a little break for the season’s kick off from my 20 Players and 20 Places list celebrating 20 Years of Blogging. No order, no ranking just those Players and Places that endure.

We had reached no. 10 for Places, and at No. 11 is Paphos in Cyprus.

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Aug 1

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Down Mexico way

We are in Miami tonight prepping for an early flight to Mexico in the morning. Prepping by being sat in a hotel bar drinking martini’s and picking at a bowl of olives🫒.

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Jul 13

20 Years; 20 Places: No.9 Rio

20 Players and 20 Places to celebrate my 20 years of writing this Blog. No order, no ranking, just those that left everlasting memories.

Next up on my 20 Places was one for the bucket list. No. 9 is Rio.

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Jul 8

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20 Years; 20 Places: No.8 Japan

20 Years of Blogging has compelled me to select and write briefly about my memories of Charlton players I have held in high esteem, and of Places that have stuck with me in my life.

My No.8 pick of 20 Places is Japan.

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Jul 6

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20 Years; 20 Places: No.7 The City of London

20 Years I have been writing this Blog, and to celebrate my endurance I am selecting 20 Players and 20 Places, in no particular order, that I hold dear.

No.7 in Places is The City of London.

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Jun 29

4 Comments

Daiquiri

I have a different job these days, with differing pressures but still most of the hard yards come in the first six months of the year and that has remained the case so this weekend represents the ‘end of the season’ for most of us in our business.

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Jun 23

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20 Years; 20 Places: No.6 Napa Valley

Another Place on my list to extol my 20 Years of writing this Blog.

In no particular order, but each one memorable. No. 6 is Napa Valley in California.

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Jun 19

20 Years; 20 Places: No.5 Buenos Aires

Moving on with my 20 Places to celebrate 20 Years of Blogging. No ranking just memorable.

Next up is the Queen of El Plata, the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires.

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Jun 15

20 Years; 20 Places: No.4 Brussels

I am picking 20 Places and 20 Charlton Players to celebrate 20 years of this Blog. No pecking order, just those that were memorable.

Number four on my list of 20 Places is Brussels in Belgium.

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Jun 9

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20 Years; 20 Places: No.3 Maguluf, Mallorca

The continuation of 20 Places and 20 Players to put a stamp on my 20 years of Blogging.

Back to the Places then, and one that will always bring back great memories…. Magaluf in Mallorca.

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May 25

20 Years; 20 Places: No.1 Saint Barthélemy (St. Barts)

20 Players and 20 Places to celebrate my 20 years of writing this Blog. No order, no ranking, just those that were meaningful in my life.

This is the first Place of 20 that has stuck with me, the volcanic playground of the Caribbean island of St. Barts, or Saint Barthélemy in the French West Indies.

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May 13

38 Comments

20 years young

A month from today this Blog celebrates its 20th birthday, for which I have a binary sense of immense pride as well as complete amazement.

I was 30 something when I started penning these pages in June 2004, living on my own in an apartment in Chicago, and England were about to have another ignominious exit from a major championship on penalties.

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Apr 22

Travelogue – Clermont, Florida

Rarely do you ever see rolling hills in Florida, but running down the spine of the sunshine state is Lake-Wales Ridge, a 100-mile white sand ridge that tops out at 312 feet, the highest natural point in the state called Sugarloaf Mountain…. Not to be confused of course with the other Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro.

About 10 miles south of here on the same sand ridge is a pretty little place called Clermont. We were there this past weekend for a swim meet at the National Training Center staying at an AirBnB a couple of miles from the historical downtown area.

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Jan 1

2 Comments

My Top Five 2023 Favourite Places

The return of my annual 🔝5️⃣ list begins with Favourite Places 🌃. I did what seemed like endless travelling this year especially since we moved stateside, but only an overnight pitstop with my dog in Savannah, Georgia was uncharted territory for me, so 2023 was really about rediscovering places.

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Nov 21

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Epic proportions

To wrap up what was an epic week of travelling, I am now in Miami with the family and friends celebrating a 50th birthday.

Flying back from Las Vegas Sunday night was tough, this body of mine is hurting after 10 days of travelling in California and then onto Las Vegas for the Formula 1 on Thursday. It was a week of epic proportions but one for the memory bank.

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Nov 18

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F1 sport and show

I am in Las Vegas for the inaugural Formula 1 race, which has garnered mixed reviews from locals and drivers alike, but it has consumed Vegas this weekend and is expected to bring in around $1.7 billion of additional revenues to the city that doesn’t sleep.

At last night’s qualifying there were some empty seats around us in the East Harmon Zone grandstand opposite the new permanent paddock, but the noise and octane levels were high.

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Nov 12

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Team building

A spell of quick work trips was the warm up for a much longer one. I am in San Francisco, California after travelling here yesterday. I am due downstairs in a few minutes to jump on a bus for what has been flimsily described as a team bonding day of wine tasting in Napa Valley. One of my happy places so the team building should be effortless.

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Sep 22

Too soon?

There’s a saying that after you leave somewhere you can go back too soon.

7 weeks after leaving the island of Bermuda I was back this week and it probably was a little soon.

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Aug 4

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One man and his dog. A road trip. Part III

We made it.

Around about 5.15pm tonight I pulled my gigantic American gas-guzzler onto the drive of our Sarasota home with the pup in the back.

Three days, 1,290 miles and nine states.

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Aug 3

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One man and his dog. A road trip. Part II

It was an eventful drive today. 470 miles most of it in rain, some of it pretty bad on a predominantly a two-lane interstate which made the South Circular look sexy.

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Aug 2

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One man and his dog. A road trip. Part I

It was around about 11pm last night when our chocolate Labrador (called Rolo 🍫) was delivered to me in Newark, New Jersey. That was originally where he was meant to fly into, but it was changed last minute to JFK, so he was driven the hour or so to the hotel I was in after he had cleared customs.

He settled and slept well and today in our obscenely-sized SUV rental car we successfully negotiated the 330 miles to Richmond, Virginia where he lays asleep next to me, exhausted no doubt by all of the driving.

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Jun 17

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Update with no update

Another update about having no update today by current CEO Peter Storrie.

It does sound like this takeover is a long way from being finalized, and who’s hand is at the wheel and in who’s pocket it is in when it comes to transfer activity is very mystifying.

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Jun 13

11 Comments

Bahama Islands

We all leave today for the Bahamas where my daughter is again representing Bermuda at an international swim meet. The Bermuda team is joined by other Caribbean nations as well as a sprinkling of Americans and Canadians trying to secure Olympic qualifying times, so it should be fun to watch.

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Jun 5

2 Comments

Leaving Las Vegas

Flying on the red eye tonight from Las Vegas. I had four days in this crazy place on the premise of a best mate’s 50th birthday that never got to happen during the pandemic, and was swiftly thrown together for this past weekend.

Las Vegas really is a nuclear attack on the senses. Some of the things you see, and some of things you can’t un-see are disturbingly funny.

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May 2

Travelogue – Whistler, British Colombia

Named for the marmots that roam the area and whistle like a deflating balloon Whistler is the largest ski resort in North America and is only a 90 minute drive from Vancouver with the ocean accompanying you almost the entire way.

Originating in the late 1970’s and Winter Olympics host city in 2010, Whistler alongside sister mountain Blackcomb are two imposing peaks joined by an artsy and busy village at ground level.

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Apr 3

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After B.C.

British Columbia is 350,000 square mile province that has a 16,000 mile coastline. BC has always intrigued me since I first visited Vancouver in 2011, and this trip has furthered my fascination even though we only tiptoed through Vancouver and spent the majority of the week in the mountains.

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Mar 26

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O Canada

Leaving for Canada 🇨🇦 tomorrow for 10 days out to British Colombia initially to get in some late season snow, and then back east to Toronto for a few days next week leading into returning home for Easter.

I have been to a few places in Canada, but mostly with work or at least for work reasons. I have spent time in both Vancouver, and Toronto a couple of times, but never to Whistler, a scintillating 75-mile drive north of Vancouver I am reliably told.

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Mar 8

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The Nation’s Capital

I’m in America’s capital today.

The District of Colombia is a walking museum of history, power and influence. 67 square miles of wide criss-crossed boulevards lined with trees bursting into blossom, monuments, memorials and just about every federal government building you can imagine.

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Jan 29

7 Comments

Mile high

I woke up this morning in Denver, Colorado.. as you do.

Flew here yesterday afternoon via New York, and arrived at the hotel at 2am. It was quite the hike. Snow lightly fell as we checked in and the photo is from my hotel room window just now.

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Jan 16

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My Top Five 2022 Favourite Places

🔝5️⃣ My next 2022 Top Five is places. Travel was better in 2022 if not extensive and if I tell you until recently Accrington was on my list, then that tells me I need to get out more..

We did a few trips, nowhere new or too far, but were lucky to sample some new parts of some old places. Here are my 2022 Top Five Favourite Places 🏞️

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Dec 29

5 Comments

Travelogue – Barbados

The only other time I went to Barbados I stayed with my son up in the north of the island at Saint Peter.

That was 19 years ago, but this past year I was in Barbados twice, both times (first) and (second) to watch my daughter represent Bermuda swimming. Those trips centered around the Aquatic Centre, which forms part of the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex on the outskirts of the capital Bridgetown. The national football stadium Wildey Turf is also there.

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Nov 13

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The Streets of San Francisco

San Francisco’s streets were more like how I remember them last week when I was huffing and puffing up and down those towering hills.

I was staying at the top of Nob Hill, one of the seven famous hills in the city, although the list of the city’s hills is nearer to 50.

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Nov 4

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Work vacation flutter

I’m in Sarasota, Florida for a few days, the first time I have been inside our house since Hurricane Ian. Happy to report it is still standing!

On Saturday, not long after the end of the Addicks’ FA Cup game, I fly to Las Vegas for what my daughter charmingly calls a ‘work vacation.’

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Sep 11

Travelogue – Puerto Rico

We were last in Puerto Rico in 2009 and was enchanted by the Isla del Encanto, and one afternoon in August sat in our kitchen in Sarasota we decided on a very last minute trip back there.

The last time we were there, 13 years ago, my unknowingly-pregnant-other-half and me spent a large chunk of our time sampling the charms of Old San Juan. We danced to very loud music, drunk piña colada’s and tumbled late out of bars onto its shiny blue cobblestones.

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Aug 11

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Isla del Encanto

We haven’t done anything spontaneous for a while. Years ago we would regularly make last minute trips bound for unknown places, but children and life got in the way of such whims and a global pandemic of course.

Anyway that outlook changed suddenly yesterday when we went online and booked a hotel and a flight to Puerto Rico for this morning.

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Aug 1

4 Comments

Sussex bubbles

Whilst in East Sussex last week I wanted to take my parents somewhere a little different, and I found an absolute treasure trove of a place just 10 minutes from their home.

To say the Rathfinny Wine Estate is tucked away is hardly legitimate when it occupies 600 acres, with flawless rows of vines growing on the south facing hills of the South Downs. Yet the entrance gates to the estate are located just beyond the chocolate box village of Alfriston near the Deans Place Hotel and one could easily drive past them.

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Apr 24

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Barbados, cow bells and butterfly

Barbados was a blur. I couldn’t decide if it went by in a blink of an eye or it seemed like we were there for weeks.

The reason we were in Barbados was that our daughter was representing Bermuda at the CARIFTA regional swimming championships. Like a Caribbean youth games for under 18’s.

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Jan 8

2 Comments

My Top Five 2021 Favourite Places

🔝5️⃣. Next up on my look back at the year that wasn’t of 2021 is My Top Five Favourite Places. Not quite as limited on exploration as the year before, nevertheless the five were relatively easy to select.

There was nowhere new, but plenty of places revisited, one in particular was long overdue. Here are my 2021 Top Five Favourite Places 🌇

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