Author Archives: dipidydoo
La Ville En Rose
On our last full day in Toulouse, we left the apartment early. Everything here is very quiet until mid morning, and we enjoy the peaceful streets and the cooler temperatures. An extensive fresh fruit and veggie market was in full swing as we walked to Jeanne d’Arc metro, crossed the road, and entered the Capitole […]
L’Aigle S’est Pose
Toulouse is France’s centre for aviation and aerospace. So it was off to Cite de l’Espace, to learn more about Europe’s role in the space industry. Unwisely, we left Captain Kumamon in charge of the ice creams. Set out similarly to Kennedy Space Centre, but much smaller, Cite de l’Espace features a range of indoor […]
Albi (not Aldi) and Cordes (not Coles)
Make that four gold medals … Today I left Ian behind, ostensibly working, although there seems to have been ransacking of the icecream (for which he blamed the Captain), and online purchasing of Lego. I took a bus tour to two medieval towns – Albi, and Cordes Sur Ciel. Ian thought I said Aldi, and […]
A Change of Pace
Ian has been putting up (mostly) gracefully with being dragged around old cities, medieval walls, courtyards, balconies and doorways, for much of this trip. Today it was time to visit Aeroscopia, the aviation museum at Toulouse airport in Blagnac, for something much more recent. First we had a new metro system to come to grips […]
AirBNB-O
Yesterday was a long and exhausting travel day. Very early start before leaving the ship. Passports stamped, marking our official entry into the EU (apparently if you are on a ship overnight, it doesn’t count). We took a taxi to Barcelona-Sants station, waving at familiar landmarks such as Montjuic and the Sagrada. It was very […]
Be Still My Beating Modernista Heart
Our final port of call on this cruise was Palma, the capital city of Mallorca, which is the largest of the Balearic Islands that sit off the east coast of Spain. They speak Catalan here, in what is something of a mini Barcelona. Before we left the ship, we could see the Cathedral which completely […]
Ian’s South Downs Way Walk
An hour drive to Winchester followed by a ride on the Park & Ride bus from the car park on the outskirts of the city centre meant a late start for my first day walking the South Downs Way (“SDW”). It was soon after 11am when we found the first sign pointing to the way […]
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The last sea day is when it hits you – you only have one more day to do everything you haven’t done yet. How much can you cram in? Do you stick to your favourite activities or try some different ones? Have you found every secret nook and cranny on the ship? We decided to […]
Malaga – “Very Nice”
Today we did something new for us – we each took a shore excursion with the ship. These always cost considerably more than doing a tour with a third party, or exploring on your own. However we had some credit, so my tour was effectively free, and Ian’s was cheaper than I could find elsewhere. […]
Seventh Continent
In Antarctica last year, we saw people posing for photos with signs saying “Seventh Continent”. A quick calculation revealed we’d been to 6, with only Africa missing. One of the reasons we chose this cruise was because it called in at Tangier, Morocco. Before we left, we printed our own sign, and put it away […]
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