holidays – Foxes Den

Been there. Done it.

Been there done it, don’t want to do it anymore.

What’s a country that’s at the top of your bucket list?

There isn’t now.

As I saunter everyday, further into an old age I realise that I am now quite content with what I have seen in my life. I have visited every country I have ever wanted to visit, and even a few that I wish I’d never even bothered to visit, however they will remain in my mind as a silent reminder that not all travel decisions are particularly good ones.

It feels very unsafe travelling now, well it does to me. I’m not a particularly good traveller and I like a journey to be swift, peaceful and hassle free. However fellow travellers sometimes go out of their way to ensure that this is not always the case.

Everywhere seems to be taken over by the insta-maniacs, those individuals or couples posing and pouting and pretending to be what they will never really aspire to be, it’s annoying and they have no real intention to fit in and enjoy a foreign culture and its ways. It’s all for false likes and a need to be loved and adored.

That’s not the true meaning for visitation of a foreign country. In my view anyway.

A country I have recently visited is now being invested in by two of the most “feared or disliked” countries on the planet – allegedly. The locals feel uncomfortable with this, and personally you can feel the tension building, and that is sad as they are a peaceful, caring and generally happy people.

And this takes me back to saying I now feel unsafe to travel, friendly countries unfortunately become soft targets, and that is what scares me. Good people get taken advantage of and that is not fair or ethical.

No, my bucket list has been achieved, and apart from maybe, going abroad on my yearly vacation, I will be keeping my feet firmly on the ground in the UK.

And even that has become an unsafe environment to be in.

You just can’t win.

Have a good day.

It’s been electrifying

This holiday has not disappointed in supplying natural phenomenon to photograph. Mother nature has pulled out all the stops this year.

This holiday has not failed to produce the goods. I’ve taken some stunning photos this year and mother nature keeps supplying the photo opportunities. Another night of heavy electrical activity out to the north of the island, supplying a superb natural firework display.

Have a good day all.

Full moon, storms and rainbows

Weather mood swings in Cyprus. And a full moon.

Having a wonderful time out here in Cyprus, we’ve seen some stunning weather events and exceptionally beautiful full moon. This island continues to deliver and impress.

Have a lovely day .

Some observations in black and white

A walk around the towns and some observations in black and white

24th of September 2026 around the towns of Polis Latchi and Limni, Western Cyprus.

Have a lovely day.

A windy day

An ill wind is forecast locally today…

Just ordered beans on toast in Cyprus, a big soup bowl full of beans turned up with two pieces of toast in a rack. How quaint and it was gorgeous. Just wasn’t expecting so many beans.

Have warned my fellow holiday makers that it’s going to be a windy day today.

And before anyone goes on about being a typical Brit abroad wanting some British food..stop right there! I love the traditional food, only last night it was Octopus 🐙 and traditional Cypriot cuisine as it has been most days. This morning I wanted something lighter as I have eaten like a pig the last few days…so there!

Have a super day

Out of office

The out of office is on. Holiday mode activated

That’s it, we’ve left the county for a while. Time for some well earned R&R

Over Aurach in the Austrian Alps – Tyrol

Over Sipovo, Bosnia – you can’t see me but I can assure you I’m in the window just above the “i” on the logo

In Cyprus, tea for the ladies and a local beverage for me.

Happy holidays 👍

Great Yarmouth

Ventured off to the East coast for a few days.. just arrived in Great Yarmouth

We’ve taken a drive up the A47 today and are currently residing in Great Yarmouth for the night. Tomorrow we move next door for a few days to Hopton on sea for a little rest and recuperation.

We arrived here just as the sun was setting, so just the one picture to be cracking on with.

Hoping for a little stress free time away from it all as everything has been just a bit too full on lately.

Take care. Stay safe. Be happy 😆

Back to chilly old Blighty

Checking in after a little time away..

Apparently I’ve not posted anything for a few weeks so I’d better, provide a little update of life as it is at the moment.

We’ve just yesterday, arrived back from a lovely 8 days away on the beautiful island of Madeira. I’m not a good flyer, I hate it to be honest, I panic, I sweat and I prepare to meet my maker on every flight, to be honest I’m very hard on myself. To therefore choose to fly to an island, that notoriously has one of the most difficult landing strips on the planet was not probably one of my best decisions. That landing almost finished me, the brakes were on so hard I was almost in the seat ahead of me, how we even had rubber left on the tyres I’ll never know. But the holiday was lovely. Some pics below.

Some pictures of Madeira, there are hundreds more, but I won’t punish you here.

There are two individuals who seem to have had such an impact on the island, that their presence is seen at most places that you visit. Christiano Ronaldo, a son of Madeira and sporting legend owns massive swathes of the island and the locals won’t have a word said against him, rightly so as he is a local lad that has done good. Secondly is Sir Winston Churchill, he only visited the island twice with a fifty year gap in between, but he painted some local pictures and as a result there are statues and areas dedicated to him all around the island.

Then we came home.

A change in temperature drop of about 15 degrees is extremely noticeable, it’s cold at home, winter is starting to wrap its frosty tentacles around the UK.

The house move is stagnant, nothing is occurring at the moment and I suspect the money people are rubbing their hands as the bill increases with the time they are taking. We’ll just have to be patient, I’m still not confident of what will occur, as I’ve stated from the start my confidence is at an all time low and always has been. Incompetence reigns supreme. (Them not us)

So that’s about it, apart from some new health conditions that I won’t bother you with, I’ll save those for another day, just things that I’ve never experienced before, starting to occur on a more regular basis, growing pains if you like.

So I hope you are all well, being kind to whoever you meet, and most of all that you are all happy.

I couldn’t ask for more.

Take care.

Up and away

What are your future travel plans?

We’ve got a few trips planned this year, and are already planning ahead for where we are venturing off to in 2026. This last year 2024/25 we took things slow and stayed at home as our dog Alf was unwell and we knew he wouldn’t be with us a great deal longer, so we decided to forfeit time away to spend quality time with him, and I’m glad we did. Sadly he left us in August of last year and since then the only trip away overseas we have had since, was when we went to Iceland in February of this year.

Alfs last holiday in Devon with us, he could hardly walk

We have had two or three further breaks away, in the UK and thoroughly enjoyed them, and I think the following year will contain a few more trips away such as those, we have a beautiful country here with so much to see that at present is unseen to our eyes, so I do think a number of our future breaks will be closer to home.

However, that said we are off to somewhere completely different and alien to us this year, that we are kind of looking forward to but not really sure what to expect. We are off to the island of Madeira. Now fortunately we are visiting with a cousin who just so happens to be married to a Portuguese national, so there will be no barriers as such and we do at least have someone with us who knows the island, and that can only be a bonus.

Then come February next year we are returning to Iceland to venture further around the island, we love this place and we are now getting to see things off the beaten track as they say.

Later next year we will be returning to our favourite place on the planet after a hiatus of two years. Cyprus. Southern Cyprus to be precise. It’s a home from home, and the locals in the remote part that we go to, are more like friends to us. I just can’t wait.

Our little home away from home in Cyprus

There will no doubt be days and weekends away interspersed with all of the above, and they will be most welcome breaks to get us both, (especially me) away from the drudgery of shift work.

My dream of retirement sits just over the horizon and hopefully the next few years will bring that dream to fruition.

Until then, we just keep on, keeping on.

Happy day everyone.

Last nights pub crawl

Just back from our break away and some of us are still in the holiday mode, itchy feet the decision was made to take a short train ride out to one of the areas I patrol at work – Barrow upon Soar, a small town between Leicester and Loughborough.

Barrow-upon-Soar is a parish and large village, which gives its name to a Poor Law Union district, and a county court district. It has for ages been celebrated for its excellent limestone, and is pleasantly situated on the east side of the navigable River Soar, and on both sides of the Midland Railway on which it has a station 2 miles N. of Mount Sorrel, 3 miles S.E. of Loughborough, and 9 miles N. of Leicester. Barrow township comprises about 2510 acres of land and had 1099 inhabitants in 1801, 1638 in 1831, 1800 in 1861, and 1973 in 1871, the increase of the last ten years being ‘attributed to the opening of the limeworks.’ It is in East Goscote Hundred, but its parish comprises also the townships of Mount Sorrel North-end, Quorndon, and Woodhouse, all of which are in West Goscote Hundred. The area of the whole parish is about 9160 acres, and it had 5857 inhabitants in 1871.

Wikipedia

On the train we soon arrived after a 17 minute ride, and as always the difference between city and town is so noticeable, life is a lot more serene and uncomplicated in these small towns surrounding the city.

We tried four different pubs, had a lovely meal in one, took a nice walk on the canal, and ended up sitting beside the river soar to complete the evening. It was lovely and finished off the break away just fine. We now have the joy of a new working week to look forward to. Roll on next holiday….

Here’s a few pictures: