We started to experiment with some different types of holidays this year 2022 one of them being coach trips. our first one was 3 days in London with the main purpose being a full day at Hampton Court for the annual RHS show which was an amazing experience such a large and diverse show with wonderful show gardens and many, many exhibitions and it was a really hot day, we bought quite a few plants to bring back with us as well. We had arrived the day before and we were all booked in to a lovely 4-star hotel at Canary Wharf a place which I had not visited since it was all modernised. We had walks along the Thames then took a water taxi down to Tower Bridge and spent the evening walking around. The following day was the RHS which took up the whole day, and the following day after breakfast and checking out we had 4 hours in the centre of London. Jun and I spent most of it at the British Museum.
The next coach trip was to the Scottish Lochs staying at a hotel on the shore of Loch Long which we spent some time walking around as well as having a boat trip on Loch Lomond. The following day we drove to Edinburgh for the day as we all had tickets for The Edinburgh Tattoo. I had last been to the Tattoo as a 13-year-old boy in the Army cadets when we were at annual camp. During the day we had a good walk around Edinburgh and again had lunch at the Muslim Centre, food as good as ever. The evening show was extraordinary even Jun loved every bit of it.
The next day we drove to Oban and spent a couple of hours in this lovely seaport where ferries go out too many of the Islands. We then drove to Inverrary another famous town in Scotland and I was so pleased to see one of I think only two or three remaining Clyde Puffer ships left. After another night at the hotel, we set off home and called on the way to Scotland's Gretna Green the famous blacksmiths forge where people fled to get married, many from England and often being pursued by families trying to stop them.
We did another short weekend one going to Lincoln and York staying over one night in a hotel in Doncaster, Lincoln was very nice with many of its ancient buildings still intact, we also spent time in the Cathedral very impressive as well as seeing some Turners and Lowery paintings in the museum. The next day in York we did some shopping to find some Art deco prints for the house, had a nice Thai meal then went to the Jorvik Viking Centre as it had all been modernised since I was last there after the floods. It was well worth going we were very impressed with it all as you went through the reconstructed Viking village on a mono pod you had all the sights, sounds, smells along with the automated villagers.
The next one was a longer and bigger coach trip which lasted five days, we travelled down to the port of Hull and boarded a P&O ferry for Rotterdam, we actually stayed on the ferry the whole time as each night at dinner time it would sail out 12 miles to an anchorage and stay there overnight then sailing back in at 6am while we were at breakfast. The ferry was having repairs done during the day so after breakfast there were four coaches of us that would set off each day to a different destination. The first day was to the Hague which was better than I thought it would be although on the morning it was torrential rain it had cleared within an hour of arriving. We set off to explore the city and visited the famous Mauritshuis Art gallery where we got the opportunity to see Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. The next day we drove to Brugge in Belgium a place I had not been to before and which really impressed us both with all its beautiful streets, buildings and canals the Rozenhoedkaai Quay of the Rosary, the Belfry tower which unfortunately was closed, the market square which was cleaned up spotlessly as soon as the morning traders left. The Groeninger Museum with its Flemish painters and ancient as well as modern works of art, The Church of Our Lady with its Michelangelo's sculpture of The Madonna and Child, the Basilica of The Holy Blood where we were able to go up to and look ( with a priest observing everyone from the other side ) the purportedly vial containing a cloth with the blood of Jesus Christ on it, one thing for sure there was a very strong atmosphere in the place. And of course, we had to try Belgian waffles with the many extras you could put on them.
The next day we drove to Amsterdam which as we had last visited in March and saw all the big galleries, gardens and museums we decided to firstly take a canal boat around the city which was very enjoyable then just have a good walk around, we visited St Nichola's Church off the square then all around Jordaan which was like stepping back in time, we spent time around the China town and Jun enjoyed a traditional meal from her hometown area. After this we wandered in to the red-light area which gave Jun a bit of a shock, we then went down to the cycle rental, repair vegetarian cafe we had visited last time I asked the couple who run the place what was the soup of the day, he said ( I thought ) spinach, I said great I'll have that, he then said no, finish all gone that gave us all a great laugh.Then it was back to the ship for our overnight crossing to Hull arriving the next morning with the only hitch being the passenger walkway broke down so we couldn't disembark, eventually we all had to down to the cargo deck and be bussed around to the customs and security gates.
We arrived home Friday evening and spent Saturday unpacking and repacking as on the Sunday we were driving up to Glasgow with other local Stella Maris ship visitors for its 25th World Congress and its 102-year anniversary of its founding. There were delegates from the Vatican and all over the world for the 4-day event which was packed from start to finish starting early on a morning till late at night. There were some really good talks and opportunities to meet and talk with many people as well as attending church services and functions like dinner at the Chamber of Commerce with the Glasgow Lord Provost and other dignitaries.
And finally the following weekend we took another coach trip to Manchester to see The Cirque Du Soleil performance at the arena that was to say the least increduble I was enthralled watching it. The next day we drove to Liverpool for 4 hours so managed to go to the Catholic Cathedral with the most beautiful stained glass and light, then we went to the Walker Art Gallery saw some more Lowerys then down to Albert dock for a walk around finishing off at the Museum of Liverpool before heading back home.