David Jenkins' weblog

Life’s too short to drink instant coffee

Category: vacations

  • So that was 2025!

    So that was 2025!

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    At least it ended on a positive note with a fine but very cold day, my blood pressure at 122/65 and my heart rate at 53. I weighed in this morning at 65.4 kg. Last year the numbers were 120/62 and 54 and 65.5 kg meaning no significant change over the year. I continue to…

  • GoSW 2025: five highlights

    GoSW 2025: five highlights

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    Back in 2022 we took a tour of Gardens of North Wales expertly led by Tony Russell (click here for a relevant blog post). It seemed a good idea to repeat it sometime in the South and earlier this month we did. We used the same tour company which used the same guide so we…

  • Two weeks in WA

    Two weeks in WA

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    Western Australia that is. I like Australia, the world 7s series was there end January and my son lives there. All good reasons to visit so I did. I flew in overnight from Mauritius (see previous post), I was first off the plane and after a long walk I was through immigration, customs and biosecurity…

  • A short visit to Northumberland

    A short visit to Northumberland

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    We’ve just spent three nights in Newcastle as a base for visiting castles, houses and gardens in Northumberland. But first let’s be clear about what we mean: Northumberland or Northumbria? This is from the website www.askdifference.com: Northumbria, existing from the 7th to the 10th centuries, was a powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom that covered what are now…

  • Cyprus: it’s not just lemons

    Cyprus: it’s not just lemons

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    I’ve realised that the Law of Inevitable Disappointment applies to holidays. You go full of expectations and there’s always one that fails to deliver. Cue disappointment! However there is a rider viz there’s always some unexpected experience which more than compensates. And so it was to our week in Cyprus last month. Was it the…

  • Cuba remembered

    Cuba remembered

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    Last night at the Cambridge Camera Club we saw the results of a recent trip to Cuba by Roy Essary (https://shuttershot.co.uk/). It prompted me to go back and look at the photos I’d taken when we visited in 2009. I was using a Sony DSLR A300 in those days and although most of the shots…

  • Rhodes revisited

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    We first went to Rhodes in 1988 when Clare and Charles were seven and five respectively. We booked a two week holiday in a beach hotel with half board and I remember dinners were served school dinners style on long tables. We rented a car, that didn’t seem to break the bank in those days,…

  • Peaks, ports and palazzi: 5 highlights

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    We’ve just come back from a little over a week in north west Italy: Turin and Piemonte, and Genova and its coastline to the east. We didn’t have universally good weather but we didn’t have our programme materially affected and thankfully were spared the heavy rains in Emilio Romanga on 16/17 May 23.

  • Jordan 2023

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    I’ve put together a photobook of my recent holiday in Jordan. I’m slowly working out how to present my photographs with as much impact as possible. I ‘m getting there, but slowly.

  • 5 details which make a difference: Jordan 2023

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    I’ve just come back from 10 days in Jordan. It was a bucket list trip which enabled me to tick off Petra but Jordan is much more than Petra and I’m glad I went.