Poole August '09

Well it was a bit of an impromptu weekend away - but it was spurred by our desire to be by the sea. We both looked at each other after we had decided that we wanted to go away and said "I feel like going to the seaside."

So that's what we did!

We jumped on the train on Saturday morning and after an emergency stop to help an unwell passenger disembark and the hiccup of over-enthusiastic train brakes, we arrived in Poole. We had dropped off the majority of the SW England population at Bournemouth due to the fact that, unknown to the van der Watt's, there was a weekend airshow happening at Bournemouth. We didn't mind as this left Poole pretty much to us :)

So after filling our tummies with some yummy fish pie at the quay and finding a place to lay our heads for the evening we had a little wander along the quay front before deciding that we might brave Bournemouth for the evenings entertainment. We caught some of the aerial ballet - a ballerina suspended below a hot air balloon and some of the hand to hand combat fighting displays before we decided that we would head back to Poole before the crowds.

After a great night's sleep we rose before most do on a Sunday morning and wandered through the high street and old town of Poole before boarding a boat destined for Brownsea Island. Here we wandered via the viewpoints, observed the Red Squirrels and learnt about the founding of the Scouts before heading across to Sandbanks to oogle the houses on Millionaire's row - some of the most expensive in the world apparently - just some window shopping really before we stopped for a 'spot' of lunch :)

It was then time to wander the pavements of gold a little more as we returned to the jetty to make our way back to Poole and the train that would return us home :)
All in all it was a great weekend in the sun, by the sea with some much appreciated time on the beach watching the yachts and speedboats go by :)

Bath June '09

And so we go exploring again :)
This time to Bath - we visited the crescent, discovered the interior of a real Georgian House at No. 1 on the Crescent as well as learning more about Jane Austen.
We then proceeded to the Roman Baths where we were taken back in time.
Our evening was filled with laughs as we did the Bizarre Bath Walk - highly recommended!!
Sunday saw us wandering along the canal, visiting Bath Abbey and wandering over Pultney Bridge peeking into the shops. It was a lazy Sunday - just what we needed before we jumped on the train to return home.
Decided we going to have to make a return visit to savour all that the Spa has to offer - always got to have something to look forward to!

British Open July '09

The much anticipated weekend arrived - the Open at Turnberry :)
We had booked to fly up to Glasgow on the Friday night and return on the Monday afternoon - a 3 day weekend is always appreciated!!
Hennie and I made it just in time to sneak through the various checks at Terminal 5 to make a mad dash for the plane. Unfortunatley Adrian and Heath just missed the cut-off and were not allowed to board despite the fact that we sat on the runway for an hour. They got themselves last minute train tickets and we all eventually linked up on Sat morning.
The boys went off to spend the day at the golf on Saturday while Heath and I went exploring the surrounding countryside between Glasgow and Turnberry. We visited a beautiful castle on the coast as well as Robert Burn's home and museum and learnt a bit about curling :) before picking up the boys and heading for dinner.
Sunday was a bright and early start as we all headed to the golf. We had a really good day in terms of the weather and a nail-biting finish to the Open. St Andrews's here we come for 2010 :) (No photo's as youcan't take cameras into the golf)
Monday saw us visitng the lakes north of Glasgow - really beautiful!! (See photo's)

Brugge August '09

All the well laid plans were revealed last weekend when Hennie whisked me away to Brugge. It was the surprise that he had been telling me about for a while but which I had no idea was going to happen when it did :) I was told that I had to be at King's Cross at 18:30 on Friday evening. From there the adventure began as I discovered that we were going on the Eurostar - the next question was which of the destination's was ours :)
And so it unravelled that it was to Brussels we were to go and then catch a train to Brugge - yay!!
Hennie had booked us into a gorgeous little hotel complete with garden and wooden ceiling beams. After a well-deserved sleep we were rearing to go on Saturday morning and so exploring we went. We started the day with a boat trip on the canals - you can see why they call it the 'Venice of the north.' We then did some wandering before taking a tour of the only working brewery still in Brugge (even the van der Watt's did some beer in Brugge), followed by a tour of a chocolate factory - another must in Belgium!!
We also fitted in the climb to the top of the Belfry - what a view!!
After a little late afternoon snooze :) we treated ourselves to a yummy dinner next to the canal :) and then enjoyed some of the evening happenings that Brugge has to offer.
Sunday saw another bright and sunny day arrive and we decided that we would do a little exploring outside the city - so we jumped on a tandem bicycle and toured the canals and countryside - beautiful!!
We did some last minute shopping - need a good supply of Belgian chocolate at home - and then jumped on the train and made our way back to Brussels and then home.
It was a magic time!!