19. The Seychelles

 Honestly, now - who doesn't want to visit the Seychelles?  How could an archipelago of islands in the Indian Ocean sound unappealing?There's a feeling of anxiety that taints my daydreams of the Seychelles, however - a panic that they might be swallowed by the ocean before I ever save up enough money to get there.  Some of the islands have become submerged already, which brings home to me the fact that as powerful we humans think we are, we are pretty helpless in the face of nature. On a more positive note, the Seychelles are the stuff that holiday programmes are made of - blue seas, white beaches, your every need catered for in style...  Who's coming with me?Who's already been?The stuff that dreams are made of!

18. R - Blame It On Rio!



I've always fancied Rio de Janeiro but I've never been and I'm in two minds about whether I ever will, if I'm honest.  It's not just the potential cost of such a trip...

If you've seen the subtitled film City of God, or simply read the news on occasion, you will know that there is a dark side to Rio - a world of slums, hardship, crime and violence.  I know that side of the  city is probably off the tourist route, but it's still there.

Then there's the other Rio; the sunny, beachy, expensive, playground for the rich and famous which features in one of my favourite films from the 80s - Blame it on Rio.  It's one of my favourite films for two reasons: a) it brings back happy memories of watching it with my mum and laughing together and b) it just looks sooooo wonderful!  I can't really recommend the film for the acting (watch it and you will find a very young, slightly wooden Demi Moore playing an older, slightly uncomfortable Michael Caine's daughter) but the location more than makes up for it.  It's a slightly unsettling story that manages to be tender and sad as well as upbeat and very funny.  

Breathtaking Rio by the sea-o!



Has anyone reading been to Rio?  Can you recommend it?  Where did you stay?

17. Q

So, Q...  Nothing comes to mind!

Having Googled 'places beginning with Q' I was amazed to see just how many places actually begin with Q - did you know that Quebec can be found in Surrey and Durham (UK) as well as in Canada?  I didn't but if the website I found can be believed (getting into murky waters here, the internet being what it is), it's true!

There are a mass of places beginning with 'Queen or Queens...' (for obvious reasons) and plenty of other places beginning with Q, but unfortunately I haven't been to any of them and don't have a long-held yearning to visit any of them, either.  So...  here are five of what I consider to be the most charming UK place-names beginning with Q and a photo to go with them!

1.  Quemerford, Wiltshire, UK.  

2.  Quabbs, Shropshire, UK  

3.  Quadring Eaudike, Lincolnshire, UK 

4.  Quaking Houses, County Durham, UK 

5.  Queenzieburn, North Lanarkshire, UK 

Do let me know if you live somewhere beginning with Q so I can check it out! 

16. Penzance, Cornwall, UK

 Penzance reminds me of how you don't necessarily need good weather to enjoy a holiday (which is just as well if you're trying to holiday in the UK.)My husband and I had a holiday in a caravan close to Penzance in 1991, just before we were married.  As you may have guessed from my intro - it was windy, chilly and/or rainy every single day!When I'd booked the caravan, I'd gone for one that allowed dogs in order to save a bit of money as we had our wedding coming up.  We discovered that the caravans that allowed dogs were cheaper for two reasons: 1.  They were old2.  They smelt of dog. Well, you live and learn! Here's Barry looking thrilled to be in a manky, dog-smelly caravan on a chilly, rainy day in Penzance:  

You can see how salubrious the caravan was!

HOWEVER, it was one of the best holidays we've had!  Maybe it was the excitement of our wedding looming, snuggling up in bed with the wind and rain lashing outside, or maybe it was just the wild beauty of Cornwall.  I came home with lovely tanned legs from stubbornly wearing shorts whatever the weather (wind-burn mostly!) and I still think back to the (whiffy) cosiness of that van with fond nostalgia.  We were a few miles out of Penzance where the terrain was windswept fields and winding lanes.  There was a pub about half a mile up the road and Barry delighted in disappearing into fields and howling like a werewolf to freak me out every time we walked there through the inky blackness of those cloudy Cornish evenings. (And, yes, every time I freaked out!) We climbed rocky outcrops, sat on beaches in our thick, Aran sweaters and just enjoyed being together (with the exception of one hushed but stressful row in a Penzance restaurant - all his fault, naturally.)

Here's me at Penzance - note the wind-swept hair and the wooly cardi!

And here's Penzance on a much better, picture-postcard day (not during our holiday!)


Did you ever end up really enjoying a holiday even though it didn't initially live up to your expectations?

15. Otwell on the Ouse

I hope it's not considered cheating to choose a fictional place to visit!
When I was about 10, I read a book called The Family From One End Street, by Eve Garnett, which I was pleased to find is still available - here.  Then, as now, I loved reading.  In the end, my mum stopped asking me if I wanted to go out and knock for someone to play with, because I truly preferred just to sit and lose myself in a book. 




 The Ruggles family who feature in the stories are delightfully chaotic and mischievous and I read it again and again.  I also had a really clear picture of Otwell on the Ouse (what a fabulous name for a place!) in my head and for many years assumed it was a real place. I was slightly disappointed to learn that it was fictional, as I had been hoping to go there one day, thinking it to be in the Cambridge area and therefore not too far away.  I have no idea why I thought that - it was the impression I got when I was 10 and it just stuck. Otwell on the Ouse is, in fact, based on the town of Lewes in East Sussex where the author lived, so I was probably about 200 miles out with my guess!  In honour of Otwell on the Ouse, which cannot feature pictorially in this blog-post, here is the book cover followed by a picture of Lewes, which actually doesn't look too far off what I imagined Otwell on the Ouse to look like!  Do let me know if any of you have read this book - I'm going to read it again for old-times' sake.

14. Norfolk Broads, Norfolk, UK

My mum and stepdad used to have a boat on the Norfolk Broads, so the Broads hold many happy memories for me.  For those who don't know, the Norfolk Broads are interlinking lakes and rivers in Norfolk - at the northern end of South-East England.  We had many happy Sundays and holidays on the Broads and, inevitably, there are some stories attached...
 When I was fifteen, I had a French girl to stay for a fortnight and we took her for a long weekend on the Broads.  Her English was good, but of course there were some difficult moments...  One went like this:
Her:  Linda, have you got a fanny-ole?
Me: (unable to believe my ears) A what?
Her: A fanny-ole.
Me:  (wondering how the heck to answer)  What?
Her:  A fanny-ole.
Me: A wha...
Mum: (butting in exasperatedly and trying not to laugh) Linda!  A FLANNEL!
Me: (unable to function due to hysterics) ...

Another episode of LIFE ON THE BROADS  went like this:

It is fully dark, at the end of an idyllic Sunday spent with my grandmother (Nana) on the boat.
Mum: Wait on the boat until we come back to help you off, Mum.
Nana:  I can manage.
SPLASH!
(Nana is now in the water, trapped dangerously between the boat and the dock)
Mum: (panicking, gets stepdad to haul her out with help of a boathook.) Mum, you're soaked!  Take your clothes off and wrap up in this blanket.
Nana:  Don't fuss.  I'm not wet.  (Stubbornly sits in back of car in her dripping clothes all the way home)

And also...

Several years later, my husband, Barry, and I drove to the Broads to meet my mum and stepdad for a day on the water.  Mum and I were on the boat, unpacking the food for the day.  Step-dad and Barry were in the dinghy (for some reason).  There was a kerfuffle of raised voices:
Stepdad: Noooo, Barry!  Wait 'til we're closer.
Barry: (one foot on the boat and one in the dinghy, which is drifting away from the boat) Whaaaaaaaa!
SPLASH!
Me: (looking through window)  Oh my God, Barry's fallen in!
Mum: (dropping the bag she was unpacking) Oh he hasn't!  Wait!  Let me get the Camcorder!

Here's Mum at the mooring in the late 80s:

Happy days!  Enjoy the pics of one of the most charming parts of South East England :-)

Our first boat was similar to this

Wroxham

Thanks for visiting :-)

13. Margate, Kent, UK

> Firsly, just a quick apology that I won't be out and about on the A-Z blogs today - MY SISTER (pictured in blogpost aged about 5!) IS GETTING MARRIED!  Have a great day, everyone - I know I will! Margate is a real trip back in time, for me.  I last visited Margate when I was seven years old; a plump, clumsy child, prone to daydreaming and playing make-believe.  My parents took my sister and me to stay in an hotel, of which my only memory is crawling around in the 'lounge' with a boy called Malcolm playing dogs or something (I told you I loved make-believe).  I can remember Malcolm's face but not the room (apart from wooden chair legs and a patterned carpet) and I have no idea whether my sister was playing too (probably).  My next memory is of being on a merry-go-round at the sea-front and sliding sideways off the model motorbike I was on as the ride got faster and faster.  My mum had to shout at the man who was operating it to rescue me (embarrassing, even at that tender age!) There are holiday photos of my sister and me wearing purple swimsuits covered in bright flowers and swim-caps with huge flowers on them too.  Ah, the seventies!  One thing I really remember about Margate is going to The Winter Gardens to see a show.  On the bill were Jimmy Tarbuck, Arthur Askey and the child star Lena Zavaroni (who was 11 at the time), although sadly I don't remember all that much about the show except for Lena Zavaroni tap dancing in a red dress and white knee-socks and my dad being very excited and upbeat about it because they were people who had been on the TV!
I'd love to post the photos of chubby little me in my purple flowery swimsuit and stunning swim-cap, but unfortunately I can't, so here's a photo from the previous year!I'm the one on the left and our lovely late mum is in the middle.  And now, here's Margate today: