The morning of the 7th April dawned and my friend was off ridiculously early to work and going straight from there to Schipol airport. I was on my own and so what to do? She had asked me the previous night what my plans were and I replied in all honesty that I had no idea. I really didn’t. Continue reading “On my own again and off to Den Haag (or the Hague if you prefer).”
Category: Uncategorized
Another great day and another great meal in Leiden
So another wonderful day had been had on the 5th of the month and up early in the morn ready for more of the same. I was still feeling pretty down and my natural enthusiasm for travelling had not fully returned due to online issues as previously discussed although it was coming back slowly but surely. I was rather enjoying myself in a lovely place with very good company. My friend was working again so I had the whole day to myself and not much idea what to do with it. I determined on another quick wander round the centre and then the rest of the time attempting to get productive with my TravBuddy writing (as it was then) as I was already falling behind. It always seems to happen no matter how diligent I try to be. Continue reading “Another great day and another great meal in Leiden”
Let’s look at Leiden.
The next day dawned and a quick look out the window of the hotel room onto the fairly uninspiring aspect of a carpark and some office blocks indicated that the day was bright, although I knew it was going to be chilly enough. The hotel certainly was not chosen for it’s amazing vistas!
A leisurely wash and brush up and it was time to go out and explore the delights of Leiden. I had the whole day to myself as my friend would not be back from work until about 1900 and I had absolutely no clue about what there might be to see or do in the city. Frankly that did not worry me as it is the way I love to travel. I derive great delight in just ambling about fairly aimlessly until I stumble upon something vaguely interesting and by doing so I have no doubt that I miss so many of the “sights” in any given place but by way of a trade-off I end up discovering some amazing places that regular travellers probably would never find. It is a compromise I am quite willing to make and it has served me well thus far. Continue reading “Let’s look at Leiden.”
I finally got there.
I was awoken in the morning by a Tannoy announcement piped into the cabin which informed me that we would be docking in Hoek van Holland in an hour and that breakfast was being served in the restaurant. Breakfast is a meal I rarely take so that was not a concern but the hour’s warning gave me ample time to have a lovely hot and leisurely shower, watch a bit of TV news and be ready to disembark at the gangway. Continue reading “I finally got there.”
A totally schoolboy error.
So, all was set. Get the ludicrously early 0638 train to Harwich for the Hoek van Holland boat on Monday morning. That in itself was not a problem as I have a sleep disorder and staying up all night is no problem for me. I managed to miss the bus by seconds as the driver (typically Transport for London) chose to ignore me running for it having obviously seen me so I jumped in a taxi from the local firm which I have used for 30 years and made the train with loads of time to spare. I don’t intend to make this site a marketplace but I like to pass on useful information as well as observations and I do recommend Dell Cars for a taxi in the East End. Continue reading “A totally schoolboy error.”
All Fools Day – why not plan a trip?
A quick word of explanation before I start this series of entries which refer to a trip I began in April 2017 and went on rather longer than initially expected. The entries were originally written for a travel website called TravBuddy which is now defunct and led me to creating this site. I have edited them slightly so they make better sense.
As always I shall post the entries back to the dates they refer to or I shall get completely lost. It will take some time to complete this series as it is quite long but I have some time on my hands now as I am staying with my Father in Northern Ireland and do not have much to do so it is a perfect opportunity. I do hope you enjoy it. Continue reading “All Fools Day – why not plan a trip?”
Sadly, it is home time again.
Despite the slight excess (I stress slight as it was in my terms) of the previous day I was up early as I had to vacate my room because this was to be the last day of my trip and I had an evening train booked back to London. I asked the young lady in the bar if it would be possible to leave my kit there rather than lug it around and she very kindly agreed to stow it for me. I should mention at this point whilst researching for this small series of blogs that I read, admittedly on the rather good Calderdale Tourist website in the interest of fair reporting, that people round here are very friendly and I cannot find any fault with that statement. Continue reading “Sadly, it is home time again.”
Happy in Halifax (and the other place).
Let’s explore the home base.
I woke relatively early on the 9th after great night’s sleep and headed out for my last full day in West Yorkshire. I had decided that I had not really explored much of Halifax yet and I even had a vague plan if I could ever be said to have a plan but today I wanted to visit the local military museum and an art gallery. Yes, Fergy was going to actually get bit of culture for a change odd as that may sound. Aimless wandering is normally the order of the day but at least I had a vague notion of which direction to head on this not overly warm day although at least it was not raining. Continue reading “Happy in Halifax (and the other place).”
On my tod in Tod.
The morning of the 8th arrived to find me in my very comfy bed in the Old Post Office hotel in Halifax. As always I shall start with a very brief explanation and the obligatory apology to my regular readers. If you have happened upon this page by accident, which happens given the vagaries of search engines, it is in the middle of a set of entries about a canal trip I made in Yorkshire with some great friends back in September 2015 and if you go to the bottom of the page you can get back to the start which I do recommend as it may make a little more sense that way.
Now that is out of the way, let’s get on. For one like me that is fairly nocturnal I was up at a reasonably civil hour and ready to go. The weather was not great but not horrible and, as I had no option of breakfast in my hotel (a meal I rarely take anyway) it was time to hit the road. Continue reading “On my tod in Tod.”
Cruising ends and exploring begins.
I do hope the reader has come upon this page by way of those previous and, if not, I would recommend they have a look back a few entries on this site as this will all make a bit more sense.
My friends Gilly and Aly and I had awoken very early on the “good ship Westmorelend” i.e. the canal boat we had hired for a weekend in the little backwater called Salterhebble. I use the word backwater advisedly as it is, being a now closed off section of what was formerly the Halifax canal but is now really the “road to nowhere” being probably a mile or a little more to a basin and a decent enough bar / restaurant (see previous entry) but we had to be on the move early. The boat needed to be back by 0900 and I expect most folk on a short hire probably moor up “back at base” but I was very glad that we had not as we were treated to a simply beautiful early autumnal morning which was probably the most aesthetically pleasing of the trip. Continue reading “Cruising ends and exploring begins.”
Fergy's Rambles. 