City Break - The Streets of San Francisco

Back in december 2006 I visited San Francisco after arrival it took me a full 5 minutes before getting invited to a Party. Actually I'm not that popular it was the Hotels Christmas Party that they were having on the Friday of my stay and all Guests and staff were invited.

The hotel "Beresford Arms" was close to Union Square and was a old building but a nice small friendly place, they even had free wine and cheese hour every evening at 6pm, was a nice touch and helped with meeting other guests/

First morning in the City although it was raining I had a walk around the area in the vicinity of my Hotel and checked out a few shops in the Union Square area, just to get my bearings.


After lunch so I caught a streetcar to Fishermans Wharf, we almost got there when a lorry pulled out in front of us and the driver had to hit the Emergency stop. Apparently when they do this the cars cannot be started again and are towed back to the depot. We all had to get off. The guard said we could walk as it is only five blocks or alternately wait until they get the track going again but it may be awhile so I walked.

Now let me explain San Francisco is supposedly on a hill but this is more like a mountain to someone who lives in a flat area. Certainly gave my legs and lungs a good workout during my 5 days in the city.

2nd day it was agian to Fishermans wharf but this time to catch the ferry to Alcatraz one of SF's must visit attractions. To be honest its just derelict buildings but learning the history of the place and about its infamous guests was very interesting.

One night remember vsiting a local Pub "The White Horse Tavern" for my evening meal and another night a local club called "Biscuit & Blues" where there was a lady singer on called Leah Tysse who was excellent.




Another day when the weather improved I hired a Bike and rode across the Golden Gate Bridge and on to Sausalito a town at the other side that was really pituresque. I reckon I only did about 15 miles but it felt like a lot more, some of the hills took some climbing, it felt like my lungs were on fire on one. Obviously the two girls that overtook me had better bikes.

Also visited Fishermans wharf for a night out on the Saturday and found a Blues Club "Lou's at Pier 47". The singer was a Lady called Annie Sampson who was really good. She actually sang a wide range of music and not just main stream blues, she had the place really rocking.

Another day I had a walk through China Town (apparently SF is the largest in north america) eventually making my way over a few mountains and back to Fishermans Wharf. I spent a big part of the afternoon watching a lady singer and her group "The Grace Woods Trio" appearing on pier 39 she only did songs she wrote herself, again very enjoyable sat in the sun just listening to music.
Was actually one of many very good street entertainers I saw, reckon it adds a lot of charactor to the place.

One little story a little scary at the time was on the way back to the Cable Car I stopped to watch a street magician where a crowd had gathered. Anyway I noticed a couple of shady characters wandering about the crowd and I suspected pickpockets. I warned a couple I had been talking to and within seconds a rather large bloke grabbed my arm and pulled me to one side, he said "Don't interfere with things you know nothing about" I replied saying something like "what you on about". He shouted to accomplaces something and started pointing towards me.

I thought a good time to take evassive action so walked straight across the busy road, a couple of them followed me for about 30 yards but then stopped. I decided I was not quite sure how many and who they were so a good time to leave the area.

San Francisco is a great place to visit and reckon 5 nights is just about right.

Parks & Canyons - Not Long enough

In June 2011 I did the "Parks & Canyons" holiday with Just You and really enjoyed it for two reasons, first you see some great places and secondly was a great group of people i hung out with. That was Liz, Rachel, Eirian, Mike, Paul & Trevor if you are reading any of you drop me a line, sure we often did our own thing during the day but always ate together having some good laughs on a night.
Some of us did have a bit of a reunion get together after which involved a day out in London which was good.
Anyway on to the holiday and the only thing I would say is 8 nights isn't long enough and I feel Just You need to add 2 or 3 more nights.

It involves starting in Phoenix Arizona and travelling to Las Vegas having two nights in each as well as in Flagstaff and a small town in Utah I can't remember the name.

 Phoenix is anice clean modern city and we had a interesting tour but more to my liking was Old Town Scottsdale so on the way back I opted to get off and have a look around others decided the hotel swimming pool was a better option.
Remember having lunch at a place called the Rusty Spur saloon which was good, they even had live music on.

 Was a little story getting back I was told which service bus to get and to look our for the Starbucks, it was one long road so couldn't go wrong could I.
Well nobody mentioned there was more than one starbucks and I got off 2 miles before the hotel and had to walk in temptretures over 100f, was shattered when i got back, at one stage wasn't sure i was going in the right direction and had to call in a shop to ask.
On the evening we were taken for a meal and more live music to a place called Rustlers Roost it was on a hill overlooking everywhere and was apparently a old outlaws hideout, all good fun.




 On leaving Phoenix we were travelling through the desert we stopped for a few photo shoots along with plenty of Indian trading posts.  On this photo i didn't hang about too long as a nice big snake started to rattle its tail behind me.

We called at Sedonna where we took a jeep ride into the hills whic again was great fun and some fantastic scenary.



Two nights in Flgstaff and remember 1st night eating at a traditional Route 66 diner which had to be done then on the 2nd night our gang got a taxi into the town centre. Found a cracking restaurant with a Pub attached and even better they had live music on so had a excellent night out. One word of warning to anyone visiting Flagstaff is take your woolies although its in the middle of a desert its at altitude and got really cold at night.

Of course we visited the Grand Canyon and as I'd previously done the helicopter flight i decided to walk so far down the mule trail. Now two hours is easy one hour down and turn around and back in a hour. With the altitude my lungs burned coming back up should have given myself more time.




Another place we visited was Lake Powell where we had a nice relaxing boat trip.










One highlight for me was Little Hollywood (Kanab) where we had a meal with sme more live music before taking part in a bit of a mock film, again was great fun. This is a place where lots of westerns were made including my favorite "The Outlaw Josey Wales".







Now although the Grand Canyon is awesome with its size and a must see attraction, Bryce Canyon is something else, fantastic to spectacular don't think photos can do it justice. The bus called at three view points but wasn't staying on and a good few of us took the option of walking around the rim trail to the pick up point.





We also visited Zion National Park and again got a nice walk this time along the stream/river that flows through the park, very beautiful part of the world.



Eventually got to Vegas for a couple of nights partying before the long journey home, remember one night doing the City tour and the other the Rat Pack show (my 2nd time u still enjoyable). I didn't do the day tour of Vegas as had done it the previous year so visited a few of the theme hotels that I'd not been in before.

Other than that "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas".

Decisions

So far I've got a City break booked to Barcelona coming up at end of February plus a JY holidays to Slovenia in May and America in November sorted I'm now swithching my attention to other months. As I've said previously this is going to be a big holiday year.

I'm really thinking of doing a walking holiday in April am looking at a couple of options so m ore on that later.

June is the difficult month, I know I've said I'd like to go to Chicago while the Blues festival is on, in fact was looking at a deal the other day. When I looked the best deal I found currently was for a week flying from Manchester and a very good 4 star hotel in a ideal location for everything. The cost for a single person was £1,184 (no meals) but prices are changing all the time so just monitering. Not a bad price but it drops much further could sway me.

Against that option I'm considering a Greek island holiday with Solos for a forthnight and taking everthing into account including spending money reckon the costs would end up very similar.

So the decision is a week in Chicago against a fortnight on a Greek Island.

Obviously if I choose Chicago I'd be totally on my own where as the Greek option would be a group holiday. Travelling alone isn't a major issue to me but it is nice to travel with others, maybe some of you reading this fancy the same holiday (my email is at top of page), would be good to get a small group together.

So watch this space will decide soon I think.

July I'm not planning anything, a friend is planning to visit from Australia but not got dates yet.

USA Deals

For anyone thinking of a short trip across the pond Expedia have a 72 hour sale on at present (59 hours left), careful the prices advertised are for two sharing but still some ok prices if you change it to one person.

Check it out :-

http://www.expedia.co.uk/hot-deals?emlcid=CM-M-issu370-testEN-segmX-segaX-date20140121040030-vers01-link12572137-paid-dmaX-wave810064

Not that any of the destinations are on my radar for this year, may benefit someone who reads this blog.

These Boots are made for Walking

Yesterday was out shopping and decided to buy some Walking Boots. Yes they were a very good price and us Yorkshire folk love a bargain.

Its something I've been thinking of investing in for quite a long time, don't mind walking.

I'm now looking at a Walking holiday this year so my plans are changing. It'll be a new type of holiday for me.

Love to hear from anyone thats done a walking holiday, what are they like ? do you get a good group of people ?

Gee I'm in danger of getting fit.

City Break - Atlanta, A pleasant surprise

Back in 2007 I visited Atlanta and must admit was impressed with the City it was a really nice place. Remember my first day visiting Olympic Park and what a lovely area it was, not big but very well kept. Was interesting because there was thousands of bricks with the names of medal winners at the 1996 Olympics on them, not many Brits though it was a bad one.

Also spent the day walking around the downtown area it is a very clean & nice City. It was the same holiday I'd visited Philadelphia which was scruffy in comparison, in fact the two cities were so different. Even the Subway system is imaculate the cleanest I've ever been on, totally safe, security people everywhere, the trains are even carpeted.

First night I found a Spanish restaurant/bar close to my hotel which was in the midtown area, remember I had a mixed grill it was unbelievable, the lady behind the bar called Diane was extreamly friendly kept calling me honey, babe & darling. She even started massaging my sholders at one stage, I was trying to eat at the time, very difficult to concentrate. To be fair I think it was just her friendly nature she was really nice and would try make everyone feel welcome, all the people are a bit like that, really nice. She spent ages chatting with me as the bar was quiet (I said chatting) and I certainly had my fair share of beer but at only $3 per pint so I was virtually making a profit. To be honest I was planning to have an early night cos I was tired but didn't leave the bar until 11.30pm, I enjoyed the place and the people, even the manager came over for a chat and shook my hand when I left (probably due to me increasing his profit).
I'd actually started drinking quite early cos from 5pm to 6pm every night my hotel had a free bar and it would have been rude to refuse.

Although I was staying in Midtown it was easy on the Subway (got a weeks pass) to get to the other main areas such as downtown or Buckhead (where there is a excellent shopping centre called the Lennox Mall). You can also get to the airport on the trains.

The hotel was great you even get a free cooked breakfast, hell bacon sarnies in a morning set you up for the day.

I remember visiting the Aquarium one day, I'm not into Fishy things but apparently the Georgia Aquarium is supposed to be among the best so I thought why not.

Another place to visit is the Coca Cola museum, even get a free drink.

I also went up to the observation deck (72nd floor) of one if not the tallest building and took some photo's of the City and surrounding areas. Apparently Atlanta has the tallest buildings in the US outside Chicago & New York, I was surprised didn't know that until I read up about the place.

One night I went to a bar advertised in my hotel called "Front Page News" its apparently supposed to have a New Orleans type atmosphere. To be fair it was quiet (it was midweek) with just a few people dinning. I got sat at the bar with some locals and we got talking for ages had a few beers found everyone friendly which is nice when travelling solo. Remember having a slight accident, I was leaving the restroom when I walked staraight into a glass partition which looked just like a opening, the locals were quite amused and apparently a few people had done the same, it was a regular occurance, no damage though so at least I gave people a laugh.

On my way back to my hotel I heard signing from another bar, thought it must be karaoke because somebody was slaughtering "Killing me softly". I thought it may be fun so I popped my head around the door and it was a proper singer, he was terrible so didn't stay.

Have I mentioned the place was on a mountain, believe me is tough on the legs, everywhere you seem to be spent a few hours there walking around, it is a very nice area.
When you get off the subway down town you have to go up the longest esculater I've ever been on to get out.

Another place to vsit is, Underground Atlanta which has loads of shops restaurants and nightclubs, apparently its one of the places to visit downtown, so the locals told me.


Visited Piedmont Park and spent a pleasant few hours walking around the area.





Another story was one night I was quite tired and I decided to leave the bar i was in after my meal probably around 9pm to have a early night. When I got back to my hotel I thought I'd have a nightcap as the hotel bar was only open untill 10pm.
I stook my head in the bar and there was one bloke and the girl serving, the bloke looked like he had downed a few, in fact it turned out he'd booked in 3 hours earlier gone straight to the bar and his luggage was still in his car.
The girl serving was called "Precious" and we got chatting about allsorts, I knew that was her name because she had it tatooed on her neck. After a while I commented on the Tatoo as you do and she cracked a few jokes about it. She then asked if I'd like to she her other tatoo, not been rude I said "yes" to which she suddenly undid her top to reveal the tatoo on her back, sexy bra also I may add.
Did I mention this was even funnier because she is about six months+ pregnant so had a bit of a bulge.
Believe it or not next she started to massage my upper body and asked if I thought it felt good, hell this was the 2nd women to do this in Atlanta, I should consider moving to the city, lol. It turned out her other job was a massage therapist, hell I was getting a freebie and not complaining.
She started mixing cocktails and asking me and the other bloke to try them. She was giving them to us free hell the bar was supposed to be shut ages ago. Her excuse was that she was leaving and t was her last night and she wanted to mix drinks she had never done before, so we ended up working our way through the cocktail menu.
Eventually we left just before midnight but she wouldn't let me go until I gave her a hug and kiss, so anything to oblige. I will add it was all in good fun, I think !.

Thats what I remember about Atlanta, well worth 4  nights or so, I had a week which is probably too long in all honesty but got some chill time.

City Break - Barcelona

I'll be doing a City Break to Barcelona in early March, just booked it and very happy with the deal I've got.

Going for 4 nights so will get 3 full days to explore the city so really looking forward to it.

Got a email from Avios offering flights for £1 (plus normal rate of avios points), its normally £35 so a big saving there, flying from Manchester via Heathrow with British Airways. The £1 deal is available for two days (runs out lunch time tomoz) and had choice of a number of places including Rome, Nice, Dublin, Amsterdam, Jersey, Madrid, Lisbon and of course Barcelona.

Also got my hotel from Avios because they had some excellent discounts, has cost me £219 but includes full breakfast. Checked same hotel on Expedia and they would have charged £315 without breakfast for the same nights.
Really happy with the location very close to the main Plaza and also the cathedral, so for £220 I reckon I've a nice little break.

Discover Mallorca - Are Singles Holiday companies just a dating agency ?

Are Singles Holidays just a dating agency ?

Well I've done a few now so probably in a position to answer this common question. I would actually say if you booking a holiday and are just looking for love this isn't the place.

Sure people do meet and appear to hook up on these holidays but it is very few and certainly no more than if you put 30 or so singles at any other function or event.
In fact I would estimate on average maybe somewhere between one and two couples possibly get together per holiday, whether these relationships last who knows.

What I would say is lots of friendships develop and i hear of many reunions and of people holidaying together again. Done all that and have lots of friends I keep in touch with.

I go on holiday because its the holiday I want to do and certainly don't go looking for love, the vast majority of travellers are there for the same reason. I have on rare occasions spoke with people who are looking to find someone but in my experience finding a partner is something that happens when you are least expecting it.

Saying all that I have met someone who I had a very good relationship with on a holiday, in fact we dated for almost a year and are still good friends, just didn't work out because our lifestyles were so different (but thats another story).

As you'll have guessed it happend on the Discover Mallorca holiday at Easter in 2011 with Just You, we actually first met at the baggage carosel at Palma airport (was only looking for my luggage honest).

Think it was about the 2nd day of the holiday and a large group of us were exploring the resort (Santa Ponsa) together. Anyway as lunchtime approached  spotted a Pub that looked ok but most of the group wanted to head back to the hotel but I decided diferent. Anyway the lady in question decided to join me while the rest moved on leaving just the two of us.

We chatted and discovered we got on really well and also the added bonus was we lived close to each other. In fact we got on so well we spent most of the rest of the holiday (others did join us).
We actually met the night after we returned to England and the rest is history so they say.

As for the holiday if I'm honest ther than finding love I can't remember too much, think my mind was elsewhere. Not only with the start of a relationship but my Mum had an accident while I was away and was in hospital.

If I remember correctly the hotel wasn't really that good for singles it was more a family complex with kids entertainment until 10-30pm in the bar.
The food was poor and remember we abandoned the half board we had paid for and ate in local restaurants which were good, well some of us did and numbers grew each night.

We did some nice excursions, remember Palma was good and also the Soller train journey but there was definately a few others. Also remember ding a boat trip in a glass bottomed boat that we arranged ourselves.

Mallorca is a nice place and well worth a visit, maybe I should return sometime, hope you enjoy the photos.

Treasures of Andalucia

My 2nd ever group holiday was in November 2010 when I did the Treasures of Andalucia holiday with Just You

Its certainly one I can recommend if you are like me and enjoy nice excurrsions, I opted for them all which left us with only one free day. I spent it exploring the local area but others in the group decided to go to Malaga and i believe others went to Marbella using public transport.

Home for the week was Hotel TRH Mijas in the pituresque village of the same name, it sits in the mountains overlooking the beach resort of Fuengirola. It was November so of course the beach was deserted and the hotel had a nice outdoor pool but again it just wasn't the weather. Don't get me wrong it was nice enough to walk and explore without the need for the winter woolies.

Our tour manager was Clair who is English but lives in Spain, she does this holiday on a regular basis so anyone reading and done this trip will more than likely met her, she is very good.

Also thought the hotel was ideal and the staff were very pleasant, just a nice place. Food was typical Mediterranean hotel buffet stuff have had better but also had much worse, it did the job.


One of my favorite excurrsions was to Rhonda an lovely medievil town famous for its bullring. Its set on a mountain top with superb views.
Was really nice to wander around,visit a couple of small museums and chill out in the coffee shops.

 Bit of a story in Rhonda though we lost one of our passengers Callum who decided he'd rather have a beer than catch the bus back. We waited and searched for ages before leaving without him. He was a nice guy but a total charactor and reunited with us a day and half later.


An highlight to many on the holiday was the trip to the Alhambra Palace but it seems to be one of them places that divides opinion, can't despute its architecture and the gardens are impressive but the lack of artifacts were a dissapointment to me. Would much rather visit some UK attractions such as Warwick Castle, Windsor Castle, etc.



The trip also included part of the day in Granada itself which seems quite an interesting place itself, quite a modern city.









Another day we visited the muntain village of Frigiliana which was very similar to Mijas but then to the coastal town of Nerja. Loved it there and would probably be where i choose to stay if  i visit this part of Spain again.
Sadly one of the Ladies in our group had a accident slipping and breaking her ankle and spent the rest of the holiday in hospital. Its my understanding she was put on her flight home to East Midlands airport but I didn't see her because went with the earlier Manchester group.
It created more problems for Clair who was backwards and forwards between hospital visits and the group (was 45 of us), still she found a suitable person in the group to run the quiz night a lovely gentleman, yes I volunteered.
Seriously if anyone reads this blog that knows the young lady concerned it would be nice to hear how she got on and if she has had a holiday since, must have been aweful in a foreign hospital not knowing anyone.

Still my favorite trip is another that splits opinion but i consider Gibralter an highlight. Of course the British influence and the history are of much more importance to me. Was good to be able to visit the Trafalger Cemetary among other places.
Decent Grub for lunch in a British Pub, Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pud if my memory serves me right of coarse swilled down with a pint of John Smiths.

Still no trip to the rock would be of interest without meeting the little fellas, yes the Apes are just fun to watch, this one had stolen a carton of orange and it was fascinating wathing him tear it bit by bit so he could drink without spilling much, then he opened a packet of crisps, just could watch them all day.




 Often on these group hols we make a number of friends that we keep in touch with but eventually the emails, texts, phone calls, etc dry up. Well I made one good friend on this trip that I've kept in touch with and although we live at opposite ends of the country we chat on phone on a regular basis. Have met a few times so its all good, nothing wrong making friends on these trips.