Norm & Felicity’s Travel Diary

 Hi all Today is our last full day in beautiful Bath, so after dropping Holly off at the Badminton Horse Trails, we headed north to the Cotswolds villages. First stop was the town of Cirencester, which 2000 years ago was a major Roman city. Not much sign of the Romans today, but it is a lovely town for a coffee stop and explore. Complete with a lovely old Abbey that, luckily, Henry the eighth managed to leave intact. Unfortunately, the Roman museum was closed for Sunday and we did find the ancient Roman Amphitheatre, however this has been pilfered over the centuries and now is represented by a lumpy field. After coffee we set of to explore some of the smaller Cotswolds villages starting with: Chipping Campden We expect this lovely town hasn’t changed much in 500 years apart for the cars - parking was at a premium. All that walking and taking in the heritage was a thirsty business, so thank you to the old Lygon Arms pub we managed to find a lovely local cider, but more importantly p...

 Hi all, A couple of day trips to remember. On Friday we all took the local GWR train to the University city Oxford, a little over an hour from Bath. Oxford The fine weather gave plenty of time to ramble around this fantastic city. Our first stop was at the Ashmolean Museum, with its outstanding collection of antiquities which are said to rival the best collections in the UK. Including this original marble of Augustus. A walk around the city was a must, taking in many of the street views that we remember from the Endeavour and Morse TV series. Unfortunately, it is exam time in Oxford and the colleges were closed to visitors, however we had a great time nonetheless. After a great stroll around the town, and the necessary visit to the college church, we had earned a hearty lunch at the Kings Arms pub - we weren’t disappointed, friendly service and great food. Then back on the train to Bath in the afternoon for a lay down. Wells On Saturday we split up as a travel team and dropped Hol...

 Hi all,  Another day in beautiful Somerset and Wiltshire. Our first stop was an hour’s journey to the ancient Neolithic site of Stone Henge.   We were lucky with the weather, cool but little of the wind we hear is normal for this exposed site. We had a good exploration of the site, including the well presented visitor centre and some very informative volunteer guides from English Heritage. Next we made the short journey to the medieval town of Salisbury with the Cathedral our key target. We were lucky to view one of the best preserved original copies of the Magna Carta, which has been with the Cathedral for many centuries. Then it was time for a well deserved break, a walk around town which happened to lead us to an excellent pub, the Ox Row Inn - which provided well above average fair, enjoyed by all. The town has many Tudor era buildings such as the Chapter House below. We navigated our way back to Bath by mid afternoon, Felicity managing the roads like a local! Lookin...

 Hi all,  We made our way from Hobart to the UK via Sydney and Singapore arriving safe and well on the 5th of May. With Norm and Felicity in Premium Economy, as a result of Trumps efforts which cancelled our business class via the Middle East, we just managed! Holly of course was in frequent flyer economy - the young can cope! We picked up our Enterprise rental car and Felicity chauffeured us west to Highclere Castle to visit the scene of the Downton Abbey series, a great way to stay awake and break our journey to Bath. Apologies to Felicity for the wind blown hair in the photo - we had just travelled for 24 hours! Then onward to Bath and check-in for our airbnb right in the city centre where we will spend the next 6 nights. The apartment is great, right on Bath Street opposite the Roman Baths. We tried hard to stay awake  to keep the Jet lag at bay, but hit the sack at about 8pm. Not a bad spot to start our exploration of Bath, just outside our apartment. Some snaps from...

 Hi all Just three weeks away from our next trip to the northern hemisphere!  It has been a month of changed flights and rearrangements due to the Trump stupidity in the Middle East. However, while we had to give up some flights via Dubai we are now all set to go to London via Singapore instead - slightly longer, and a drop from business to premium economy, but I think we will cope! As per our last few trips Holly will join us for the first few weeks in the UK and Ireland. We are staying in Bath for the first week, while Holly attends the Badminton Horse show and Felicity and I spend a bit of time around the beautiful south east English countryside. Then we are off to Ireland for a couple of weeks to introduce Felicity and Holly to Norm’s birthplace and, hopefully, some aunties and cousins. Holly leaves us in Belfast to return home, then Felicity and Norm head off to Corfu, Puglia and Malta for the next 4 weeks - looking forward to keeping you all updated as we progress! As us...

 Hi all, Today we got up early for the 7:30am ferry to Tallinn, we were there by 9:30am, a smooth sailing across the Baltic. Nice Finnish ship and great infrastructure, just saying! There isn’t much to say about this small city of 500,000 people, except it is a stunning 12 to 14 Century gem. A double walled city, with much of the lower and upper walls still very visible in places - I’ll just let the pictures do the talking. One immaculate, one fixer upper! Both over 600 years old. Walled in. Stunning squares and streetscapes, with the best town hall. The views from the upper town to the lower town below it. Some beautiful churches, including a Russian Orthodox - they were “in charge” here a for a few centuries, then from 1945 to 1991. Plus another quaint house, we could have taken100’s and the Parliament building. Then even more ancient walls and city gates to finish. We caught the 4:30pm ferry back to Helsinki, had a great day, including an Estonian lunch, Roast Elk for carnivore ...