The Holiday Blog

Last month my better half and myself visited Portugal for one of my oldest friend's weddings. His family has always had property in the Algarve (south coast) and it was therefore an obvious choice for their event. The UK can be pretty drab at anytime of the year (it has actually been great this year but it wasn't worth the risk of rain). The wise choice is therefore to fly 2 hours away to the south of Portugal for guaranteed sun. By having the wedding just after the school holidays in September, the prices were very reasonable for flights and accommodation. Because I was a long time friend and travelling from farther away from the UK, I got to stay in the family villa (see photo below). This meant I just had to cover the cost of the essentials like electricity. Most of the wedding party got a very reasonable deal at a small hotel down the road. Poolside at our villa The wedding lasted for a week with all the before and after events. It was the perfect little holiday a...

We have booked to go away this year at the end of July for two weeks in Spain. We found a good value package deal, made sure all our passports were up to date and got our youngest his first passport (nightmare at Liverpool's passport office- avoid them if you can), we even starting buying bathing suits. Then we realised that our youngest James, has no idea how to swim. We quickly asked around and looked online. We found a really nice website for kids swimming lessons Trafford , it was coincidentally a service that our neighbour recommended to use too. So we were doubly happy to sign up. I work with computers so always appreciate when someone has a nice clean website design. It makes me think that they will also provide a good service. We spoke to the head honcho Linda, who was very nice, and she invited us to come and try out her next lesson in Stretford. It was ideal. A clean pool, not too many getting taught at the same time, a fun atmosphere and it seemed to be very effect...

Boracay is rightly the top tourist destination in the Philippines, a country with over 7,000 islands in the tropics. This is one of the most beautiful places to visit, plus it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to be there. Firstly Boracay has awesome white sand beaches. In Station 1 in the north part of the main White Beach, the sand is like powder. The sea is fairly shallow and seaweed and coral free. This means it has a beautiful turquoise color. It is bliss just to be there and such pleasant surrounds make it a place where you don't feel the need to "do more". Secondly the relaxed way of life here is addictive. Residents and visitors live on "island time". This means a brief foray out in the morning, then a leisurely lunch and possibly a snooze when the sun it at its hottest. In the afternoon people really start to go out to the beach in numbers and by sunset it is full. Finally sunset cocktails and sunset sailing. Most days you will sit in one of the m...