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My take on a couple of topics this last 24 hours. Thousands of houses being built in our (fairly rural) area and several large apartments blocks going up in our nearest town. In our road last year the year 7 intake (moving from primary to senior school) couldn't get into our nearest walkable school and were sent to ones miles away. We use to go to the cinema every 10 days or so pre covid, now we hardly go at all. Not sure why, streaming services on TV perhaps, cost ? 🤔 I've been to Royal Ascot which is about 10 miles away, a few times. Nice to dress up and people watch. My DIL and her girlfriend still go every year as well as The Royal Horse Show held in the ground of Windsor Castle (on this weekend). She is horse mad

Thank you for a great travel blog. I really enjoyed reading it every day. Wishing you safe and stress free travels home

We went there last Sept and really enjoyed it. Also enjoyed the boat trip in the bay from the Aquarium

Wow, that's a crazy price

Thank you, she was an amazing women. Wow! Your great grandad was a pirate ☠️ what a great story All my ancestors are Cornish, and there was a tradition of smuggling in past centuries, so there were probably a few dodgy characters in my past too

You have a lovely house and garden Graham. We have a big garden room/oversized shed with windows and double doors, but Gary uses it for his woodwork, man shed and his multiple cycle bikes. I would love to have a sunny conservatory but unless we win big on our premium bonds it will stay a wish

P@O has two adult only ships in their fleet (Arcadia and Aurora). They also have large family friendly ships like Iona. So it is possible, though I agree unlikely, for RC to have adult only ships

Talking about parents who have passed away , my mother's story as a child is terrible sad. Her farm worker father died when she was about five and the family with three under 5's lost their tied farm cottage. Her mother married again in haste to a wrong'un and sadly took her own life when mum was 9. There was no social services or government help in the '30s. It was either the workhouse or farmed out to other relatives. She was lucky she was taken in by an aunt but didn't see her siblings again until she was an adult. At 14 she had to earn her own living. But she never complained and was the sweetest most loving mum anyone could wish for. At 48 she achieved her lifelong dream of becoming a nurse. She inspires me so much and I miss her every day. This is her wedding day in 1955

Definitely not so much air con in older European city centre hotels or Airbnb private apartments. If you're lucky there may be fans. Lifts I would say depends on how old the building is and how many floors. Most decent size hotels should have lifts. You can always filter in air con and elevators into a search engine like Booking.com

A lot of ports are great for DIY but beware some ports are far from the top tour destinations. For instance Rome from Civitavecchia and Florence from Livorno. Personally for these ports we take the ships transport that allows us to DIY once in Rome etc. Book Vatican museum entry or other Gallery or Museum entry in advance and skip the line

Looking forward to the new 'Shardlake' series starting tonight on Disney. I've listened to all the books on Audible in the series. Sad that the author passed away a few days ago. And it has Sean Bean so win win 😉 Also looking forward to the new 'Clarksons Farm' series starting on Prime in a few days

She was very 'present" all over the ship on our Beyond cruise two years ago (along with our lovely Dani and hubby). Often seen in the cafe doling out cakes and did a very interesting talk in the theatre one afternoon. I've got a pic of her with me and Gary somewhere

Sorry to hear about your dad, the shock and finality when it's unexpected can be harrowing to come to terms with. Heartfelt condolences 🙏 But it sounds he had a long and great life. And its conforting to know that he didn't suffer with any long painful disease or dementia RIP

Wow, such great advice. Wish more people were like you, perhaps the world would get on better

I did both three on, three off. Day shifts 7am to 7pm, so 36 hrs in a six day week Then four on, four off, two days 7am - 7pm and two nights 7pm to 7am. 48 hrs in an 8 day week. Nights shifts finished 7am on first day off but you got a 24 period off between days and nights. This was at LGW in the 70s to 90s. LHR doesn't have night flights, so shifts start at 5am and finish at 11pm (early and lates, 8 hour, four on two off, so 32 hours in a 6 day week. Glad to see the back of shift work