Saturday 5th

Headed to the airport at 2pm ready for the long flight to the UK via Dubai. It was an easy start with checkin sorted in quick time.

There was a fine required when a woman and her son pushed in. They headed down the Business Class line (despite being told not to) and then nipped to the front of the Economy queue when an opening appeared. Shameless and worthy of a fine, but I decided to not go for a photo of the culprit as the taking of photos in airports can be frowned upon.

Carolyn and I sat on different rows as she likes the aisle and I can only sleep when next to a window - and I did manage to sleep on both legs of the flight, so that was good news. I tried to read, but my mind wasn't up for that and so TV was my saviour and I watched a fair amount including the Walter Mitty movie that was enjoyable.

Sunday 6th

Anyway, the two flights (15 hours followed by 8 hours) completed and we got the tube to Tottenham Court Road, had breakfast (it was 8am by now) and headed to the hotel. Having cleaned up, we headed out for the first of our two days in London.

We went over to see the markets at Spittlefields and Brick Lane, both of which were great and energetic places with lots of interesting people and stalls.

Brick Lane had some of the best selections of food available that you could imagine - stall after stall selling beautifully looking and smelling dishes, but we weren't hungry and therefore weren't torn in deciding which to experience.

There was one fine required when a chap tried to lure us into his restaurant (as many were trying) and when we declined, he looked me up and down and said "We do large portions" as if my size indicated that I go for quantity rather than quality!

We then headed back at the hotel before heading out to Picadilly Circus to meet up with my mate Clive with whom we headed to Chinatown for dinner and story telling. It was great to see Clive again after all this time and it was a great evening. But we had to call an early end to it as Carolyn was exhausted as she hadn't managed to sleep as much as I did on the plane.

Clive and I were good mates back in our teens and early 20s, but then lost touch for many years and eventually reconnected through the Friends Reunited website. Back in 2005, I had to leave Australia due to a visa issue and during that time back in England, I caught up with Clive and another mate, Paul (Bernie) at Clive's place in Buxton. Since then, we've just been connected on Facebook and pass messages every now and then. And as he was going to be in London when we were, I arranged to catch up with him. I really great thing to do.

A great start to the trip.

Monday 7th

A slow start to the day as we were weary, but we wandered down for brunch in Covent Garden before strolling along and checking out some shops on Regent and Oxford streets. (I also spotted Jeremy Paxman walking the street too).

We then caught up with my mate Michelle - we worked together in Melbourne and she and her partner, Lockie, are now living in London. It was great to see her and she is very happy with life and London seems to suit her well. We caught up on gossip and told tales of our adventures and then moved on - it was great to see her.

After that, we took shelter from the rain before meeting my sister, Louise, and going for afternoon tea at Tiffany's department store. The root of this trip is for my nephew Daniel's wedding at the weekend in Bournemouth, so it was nice to see Louise now before the madness of the weekend distracts her.

After that, we went for a bite to eat in the West End before going to see a Jeeves and Wooster play called Perfect Nonsense at the Duke of York Theatre. It starred Robert Webb and Mark Heap and was a very funny and silly experience. It was a well directed and produced show that was slapstick due to the nature of the medium. It stuck pretty close to the original P G Wodehouse book and the three actors (Mark Hadfield being the third) were superb. It was Robert Webb and Mark Heap's first night as they had taken over from other actors who had kicked the play off a few months ago. A very enjoyable experience and I'm glad that we found the play.

After that we returned to the hotel after a longish day as we were both weary - it is hard to tell whether this is age of we are recovering from the trip. And that completed our London time.

Tuesday 8th

We headed out for breakfast before getting the tube to Heathrow. From there, we picked up a hire car and started out to drive through the Cotswolds. Having started off by driving in the wrong direction (as I tend to do), we got on track and had lunch at Henley on Thames. I am sure that I had been to Henley before, but being there didn't bring back any memories - in fact, I was quite disappointed - not as beautiful as I had thought. Oh well.

From there we drove over to Abingdon that was a lovely town - very pretty with some great old  buildings that were great to see.

And then on to Cirencester which is a really nice town - the colour of the buildings (most having been built with local stone) gave the place a great look. It has a gentle feel to it and some classic looks. A lovely place to see.

From there, we headed to our rather glorious hotel in Cheltenham - oh my! I don't think I've ever stayed in such a classy place - a stunning old manor house that overlooks Cheltenham race course. Just gorgeous.

It was a relaxing day and nice to be driving through the English countryside again.

Wednesday 9th

Leaving the luxury of our hotel, we headed off for a drive through the Cotswolds - the only plan being that we'd end the day in Bournemouth.

We started with a drive around Cheltenham - not much to see - some lovely bits, but lots of boring bits. We decided not to stay, but to head off for more picturesque places.

The first village we went to see was Upper Slaughter - a pretty place that we wandered around happily. We followed this with a stroll around Stow on the Wold - very nice too.

Upon leaving there, I pulled up behind 4 other cars waiting for one to turn right. Unfortunately the woman behind was looking at a light that had come up on her dashboard and by the time she saw us, it was too late to do anything other than slam her foot on the brake and almost stop before shunting us. I didn't go into the car in front, so that was good. Anyway, these things happen. Nobody was hurt (though her dog was shaking a lot) and the company I hired the car from did what they had to do. The car wasn't badly damaged and we all went on our merry ways.

The next stop was a gorgeous little village called Castle Combe - very idyllic. We wandered around there for a while before continuing our trip and arrived at Stonehenge. Unfortunately, time had escaped us and we missed the last bus that takes people from the Visitors Centre to the stones - but we found a spot fairly close to see them from and take a couple of photos.

But time was marching on and we were getting peckish, so we headed over to a place called Fordingbridge in the New Forest - passing many of the wild ponies along the way. Having feasted, we made our way to our hotel in Bournemouth for a well earned rest.

Thursday 10th

Started the day with a bit of an explore before going over to see my mother. The three of us then headed over to Portsmouth and had a wander around and a look at HMS Victory - for no apparent reason.

From there, we headed over to Salisbury for a wander and a visit to the cathedral - an impressive building indeed.

To finish off, we went out for fish and chips - we are in England after all. It was a gentle day - which is fine by me

Friday 11th

Picked up my mother and we headed over to Sandbanks to catch up with my cousin Vicky and her two kids, Max and Millie. We had a lovely couple of hours together and it is always a pleasure to be in her company again - I do enjoy her.

After that, we wandered the shops for a while and then relaxed before having dinner with my mother's friends Paul and Wendy - an entertaining evening and a relaxing day.

Saturday 12th

Today was an easy one - just hanging around. My sister (Louise) and brother in law (Jon) arrived from London, so we spent time with them and wandered the shops a bit. In the afternoon we caught up with Vicky, Max and Millie again along with Vicky's parents i.e. my uncle (David) and aunt (Judy) - I rarely see them so it was great to do so. After Vicky and the kids left for home the rest of us went out for a lovely dinner with old family cousins, Cissie and Basil. And that was it - a fine day.

Sunday 13th

And then came the day that was the source of the trip - my nephew Dan getting married to Aimee. I had thought that it was risky to have a beach wedding in a country like England, but the weather gods were more than kind and it was a lovely day.

We joined everyone early and I got to spend time with Dan etc before we all headed down to the beach. The wedding agenda had a lot of elements that needed to come together and they did.

There was the ceremony itself within a marquee on the beach and then whilst they were having family photos, all the guests were loaded into the toy trains (sweets distributed) and we rode up and down the beach front to the amusement (and bewilderment) of the other holiday goers. Upon arriving back at the marquee, there were drinks laid on and all mingled there before heading back into the marquee that was now set up for food - so nice food was presented, speeches made (father of the bride, mother of the bride, best man and groom) and then dancing began. A pleasant afternoon of chatting and mingling occurred before afternoon tea was delivered and I sat back with a contented stomach and a happy refrain.

As things ended, we ended up back at a hotel and had a final cup of tea with David, Judy and my mother and then that was it. It was a great day - lots of enjoyable moments and lovely to see Dan so happy with his wife - they are going to have great times ahead (if he does as he is told). I am really happy to have been there, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything.

Monday 14th

Leaving Bournemouth behind we set off and had a lovely breakfast at one of my favourite places - The Wykeham Arms in Winchester - a great little stop-off.

We then made our way to the gorgeous village of Chawton to visit the house/museum where Jane Austen lived and wrote most of her stuff. It is really well maintained and displayed and there was a 10 minute film that told the story of her life. I have never read any of her stuff, but I was happy to be there.

From there, we headed to Highclere Castle which is the house used in the series Downton Abbey. I have been to many stately homes and manors etc and this is about as good as it gets. The house and the grounds were stunning - and we got to look at quite a bit of the house. It is the home of the Canarvens - it was the 5th Earl of Canarven who discovered Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. In the basement, there are some of the relics from those digs and also some reproductions to enhance the experience - it felt weird to think of the oner of the house as being the man who was in Egypt digging through ruins and finding such wonders - I could almost imagine him coming home after his adventures. It was great.

From there we went to Oxford where we were staying in the wonderful Randolph MacDonald hotel - a lovely place in a great location. We wondered around the place for a while, went for a nice dinner, went to the pub to watch the first half of Leicester City playing Reading and then called it a night. Another day full of good adventures.

Tuesday 15th

We started the day with a drive around old Oxford before heading over to the village of Woodstock and Blenheim Palace - a place I know well from when I used to live in Oxford. It really is a gorgeous place - the grounds are stunning and the palace is huge and impressive. We didn't have time to go into the house but enjoyed our stroll around the grounds and took some good photos.

But time marches on and we had to get the hire car back and catch our plane to Barcelona.

Tuesday 15th

So we arrived in Barcelona - it certainly looked like a different type of place as we drove from the airport and as we drove closer to the hotel, other than being swarmed by scooters and motorbikes, it was looking pretty different in terms of architecture and people.

The hotel is called Mirror and is unlike anything else I've stayed at - everything is white, window or mirror - there are white statues around the place, white tables and white chairs - it is a strange look but also good in a different way. The staff were wonderfully friendly and helpful. And there was a whore club next door - just in case.

Having settled in, we wandered off for a walk and headed down Rambla de Catalunya for a bite to eat before wandering along Pg. de Gracia (containing some great buildings) and back to the hotel. A good start to this leg of the trip.

Wednesday 16th

For our first full day we bought tickets for one of the hop-on, hop-off buses - a chance to see things in perspective and enable us to plan what we wanted to do.

It gave us our first look at the cathedral (Sagrada Familia) - which is incredible and more than photos can show.

We stopped and went through the Park Guell which was fantastic and provided some stunning views of Barcelona. We even went to a 10 minute 4D film that showed the vision behind Gaudi's creations - the dragon myth etc. We also got to see the police arrest some scallywags for stealing a woman's purse.

We went to the Casa Battlo, an incredible house that contains many facets to the Gaudi vision - superb to walk around and try and imagine how a man could plan such a building - so intricate and bold.

Our three meals of the day were all good, but none of them felt particularly ethnic - but good none the less.

So we saw a lot and were out and about for 10 hours or so and we enjoyed lovely weather throughout.

Thursday 17th

Another great day that we started by making our way up to Tibidabo - possibly the highest spot around Barcelona. It has a stunning church at the top that you can go to the very top of. The views of the city from there are amazing. It has other things up there too, like a fairground, but that doesn't detract from how wonderful the church is or how great it is to be up there.

From there, we headed to the one place that everyone told us that we had to visit and that is the main Cathedral, Basilica de la Sagrada Familia. Oh my! This place is still being added to and completed as it takes the entrance fee as funds to pay for it. It is enormous and is just an incredible piece of engineering and is intricate in parts and fantastic in others. It's volume is hard to explain without seeing it - the size of the centre with the enormous columns that go from ground to roof, the underground museum, the stairwells, the decoration - it is all spectacular. The outside at the back is an intricate story depicted in a gothic style. The front is a different style. We went up one of the towers and had great views around the city. It is a must see. Stunning.

From there, we went for a different sort of time and headed to a district called Saria which was lovely even though the timing meant that a lot of places were closed, but it was nice to wander around and we may return at a better time to see more of what it has to offer.

We then took a two hour bus trip to see a whole new side to the city - a flavour of what we will be visiting over the next days.

We ended the day with a wander around Las Ramblas where we ate and got to see some interesting folk doing interesting things. Once again, we avoided being mugged.

Today was another long one where we were out for about 11 hours. We are pacing ourselves - seeing plenty but not rushing around. We have seven days, so we should cover most things - no need to push ourselves too much.

Friday 18th (Good Friday)

Knowing that a lot of places would be closed for Easter, we took the opportunity to wander around a bit. We walked down Las Ramblas and into the Dock area where it is quite modern and a lot of places were open so we could enjoy what was on offer.

We then ventured into the Gothic area and down the many laneways and soaked up some of the atmousphere that was unlike anything we had yet experienced in this city. It was gorgeous and had many photo opportunities that were hard to resist.

We then went into the Picasso Museum and saw many pieces from throughout his life and could see his style evolve and develop over the years - very interesting stuff.

From there, we wandered further around those areas including a visit to the lovely 4 Cats cafe, before taking a break back at the hotel.

In the evening, we went to an after-hours tour around another Gaudi building called La Pedrera - this was an enormous house that he built for a family - they had the first floor and rented out the four floors above them - all in all, there were homes for 25 families in this enormous construction. The most impressive part was the rooftop with fine views and some great architecture.

And so another day was complete and more of Barcelona had been explored.

Saturday 19th

For this day, we started slowly and caught the bus down to a market where we had breakfast and wandered down to a shopping centre that used to be a bullring stadium - yet another test of my uncomfortableness with heights.

From there we headed up to Poble Espanyol where you get to experience all of Spain in one location. It's a whole area where there are buildings of all different Spanish architectures from the years and many shops and some handicraft areas where they are glass-blowing etc. It doesn't sound it, but it was a cool place to visit.

We then headed for a stroll around the MNAC (Museu National d'Art de Catalunya) with it's great views of the city. The building itself is quite dominating, but we didn't actually go inside - we were just strolling around the area.

From there, it was back into the Gothic area for a wander around more laneways surrounding the Cathedral and beyond. This area is unlike any other thatI have been to and I love it - I lose my sense of direction pretty quickly and have no idea where we are going - I think that I have got used to living in a city where it is all straight lines and where you can see into the distance - the Gothic area takes all of that away. I really do like it a lot.

From there, there was some shopping and a relax before finishing off with a lovely meal at the Can Majo cafe in Barcelonetta - great way to end another great day.

Sunday 20th

We had been warned that the day would be odd as it is Easter Sunday and most places would be shut - so what can you do on such a day? Plus, we were greeted with rain to start the day, but we were undaunted and as it eased, we set off.

We wandered off to a different part of the city before heading down into the Gothic area again - because I love it there.

We then went on a 90 minute boat cruise which turned out to be a bit pointless - yes, we got to see Barcelona from the sea, but so what?

Then a bit of a shopping around the Dock area before more strolling through the Gothic district where we stopped for tapas at a couple of really cool places and saw some new and interesting buildings before stopping for cake and coffee at another place.

So a steady day - just a day to enjoy being in Barcelona and enjoying what it has to offer.

Monday 21st

Our first early start of the holiday as we had booked for a trip. We had wanted to go for the day trip to the Dali Museum and the a couple of places that Dali had lived, but it wasn't taking place at the time, so we booked a trip to see Monserrat instead.

This was the second day that started with rain, but that is fine - we were up early, had breakfast and were at the tour place by 9am. It was an hour's coach ride to Monserrat and when we arrived, we couldn't see anything because of thick fog - damnit.

We stuck with the tour guide for a while, but some of our fellow tourers were annoying so we went solo. It was nice to wander around and the monastery was impressive and as the fog cleared, so were the views. We had three hours there and it was enough time and we were ready to return.

When we did get back, we headed off for a stroll and look in the shops again. In Barcelona, the Easter holiday is Friday through Monday (in the rest of Spain, it is Thursday through Sunday), so a lot of the shops were still closed. But that was fine, there were plenty that were open and we once again drifted down to the Gothic area and discovered more delights. We found a great cafe to sit and watch the world go by from and before we knew it, it was time to eat, so we headed to a recommended restaurant called 7 Portes down in the dock area - a nice paella to end our last ful day in this fine city. Happy days.

Tuesday 22nd

We took it easy on this day - a lie in followed by packing and then out for an early lunch. Then on to the airport for our flight to Dubai and then on to Singapore for the next (last) leg of the trip.

Wednesday 23rd

The first thing to say about Singapore is that it is muggy - and uncomfortably so having had two weeks with that I consider to be very nice weather - Carolyn found it to be too cold at times, but I was happy with that too.

Our hotel (The Quincy) was very nice and just off Orchard Road. We headed out for a wander around the shops and then had an early dinner before returning to the hotel.

On the flights over, I had managed a fair amount of sleep whereas Carolyn had about an hour. As such, she was knackered so it was lights out by 9:30 having discussed plans for the following day.

Thursday 24th

Unfortunately, I woke up at 12:30am and having spent an hour attempting to get back to sleep, I got up and wandered down to read and play on my ipad and hope to either feel tired so I could return to bed or kill time until Carolyn woke up and the day could begin. Well, I did get a couple of hours of additional sleep - Carolyn got 12 hours - so the day was going to be a challenge for one of us.

Well, we eventually got going and had a wander down Orchard Road and then got the hop-on, hop-off bus to explore how the city is joined together.

Having got a sense of the place, our first stop was at Little India but nothing grabbed us there - it was interesting to see, but we didn't stay too long.

We moved on and went to a park that contained a couple of incredible creations; the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest - they are two (really) enormous buildings that contained flowers, trees and vegetation from round the world and the Cloud one had a huge waterfall amongst other things - it may sound lame, but they were both impressive.

Then we went to the Marina Bay Sands - that is the very tall hotel with the infinity pool and impressive views. When I first saw the place from the bus, it was weird to take on - it is unlike any other building I have seen - it is three towers, but the top floor is above the three towers and stretches beyond the width of the towers - you'd have to see it to understand. And while we were in the park opposite, night came and the lights came on in the building and it looked like a spaceship from the movies - a weird building indeed. We went up to the Sky Deck to check out the incredible views of the city, river and parks.

From there we went for dinner at Chinatown before heading back to Orchard Road for coffee and cake. The weather is not how I like it - humidity and fat men don't get on well - it's taken a toll but there is a great bath here, so I am about to relax my limbs and hopefully sleep.

Friday 25th

A slower day as the jet lag and heat are keeping us from over-doing anything.

The day began with a visit to a local tailor who Carolyn wanted to see to have a couple of jackets made. We had to return to the tailor at lunchtime for some further measuring, so that affected what we could do.

So the morning became a visit to the Raffles Hotel for a drink and to check the place out - and very impressive it is.

The afternoon found us revisiting Chinatown as we wanted to see it in the daytime, plus to see what other shops would be open during the day - it was nice to wander around - it's not a bad area at all.

From there, we headed down to Clarke Quay where we took a cruise down the river and then had a nice dinner overlooking the water. And that was us done for the day - damn this weather.

Saturday 26th

As usual, I was awake early and headed off for an adventure allowing Carolyn to sleep and rest. I headed back to the river to see what it is like during daylight hours - hmmm, it appears I was here before the day began for most people, but it was nice to wander around before it gets too hot. I looked at some further places before returning to the hotel as lunchtime approached.

We then headed out to explore more of the multitude of shopping centers that line Orchard Road - there was some interesting things and purchases were made. It was a good wander.

Late afternoon we headed back to Carolyn's tailor and then went to the zoo for the Night Safari - something that had been recommended by a number of people. We queued for about 30 minutes in a line to get on a tram that would take us through the various enclosures. Seeing the animals was great but the behaviour of others on the tram was a real downer - an experience can be made or broken by those around you - it wasn't great. If we had our time again, we would have paid for a more private experience than joining the masses - ho hum. We then had a bite to eat at the zoo and called it a day from there.

Sunday 27th

We started the day with a sleep in and then a wander of the shops and picked up Carolyn's purchases. We then just killed time at the hotel while awaiting our flight and there endeth the holiday.

To summarise

It was a good trip and felt like longer than the three weeks that it was. I always enjoy being back in England and we drove through some lovely places and I caught up with friends and family and we stayed at a couple of lovely hotels. It was a lovely wedding and great to see Dan so happy with his new wife Aimee - and my mother and sister were in their element.

Barcelona was a great place to visit and didn't disappoint in any way. The weather was kind and the sights were magnificent. And I fell in love with the Gothic area. I'm not sure that it is a palce to revisit, but it was great to see it.

Singapore was an add on that we threw in because we could - it was either there or Dubai. The weather was the prominent feature of the visit and had a huge impact in the experience and the decisions on what to do - it was quite uncomfortable to be outside. But it was certainly worth a visit and we saw some great sights.

There were plenty of annoying people who I felt obligated to fine - these can be seen on my fine website.

Happy days