Mini update…..

It feels like a lifetime since Iain and I were last away together, yet it was only January. I didn’t bother to blog about it as who wants to hear about us lying on a beach, or by the pool in a 5 star resort in Cape Verde? I can however thoroughly recommend the Riu Palace Santa Maria hotel! We also took a small jaunt down to Santa Maria town itself.


Aside from that, and  in between February and May, Iain was off to Nashville with his mum and brother, while I’ve been away with work to Toronto, not exactly a holiday although I did take a long weekend while I was there. Again, I can recommend a food tour and a visit to the Scotiabank Arena to see the Toronto Maple Leafs, an NHL team. I also visited some friends who live outside the downtown area so it was nice to see somewhere different and get some proper Canadian hospitality.


Here’s a few photos of both Cape Verde and Toronto to whet your appetite!


Cape Verde








Toronto


Food Tour:









 







Amsterdam Brewhouse




Bloody Caesar -you can’t beat them! At The Frog & Firkin



Scotiabank Arena - Maple Leafs v Ottawa Senators

 






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Anniversary Holiday

Image
Every year, around December 8th, I look to see what we can do or where we can go to celebrate "surviving" another year of marriage.   Over the last few years, we've been back to our wedding venue for an overnight stay, had an all-inclusive holiday in Ras al Khaimah in the UAE, visited New Orleans and had a Michelin tasting menu at The Kitchin in Leith. This year, we decided to stick with Europe and head to Riga, the capital of Latvia. Back in April 2020, we were supposed to visit Riga, but the trip was cancelled due to Covid. I'm not sure why its taken us so long for us to rebook, but the prospect of a traditional Christmas market and some Glühwein convinced us. We flew Ryanair from Edinburgh to Riga on Sunday 3rd December; the flight was 2 hours late, but thankfully we had paid for a lounge so we weren't too bothered. I had pre-booked a taxi on arrival and was delighted given the delay; the journey was only 15 minutes, but it was midnight and -10 when we arrived ...
Read more

Bucharest & Dracula

Image
This is another one of these holidays that we had booked in 2020, for my birthday to be precise. It's only now, April 2024, that we managed to rebook and make our way to the Capital, Bucharest and the mountains and countryside of Transylvania. It was the usual deal, British Airways via London using a companion voucher and Avios to upgrade to business class; I'm pretty sure the flights cost us £2. The flight to London was early, and it was absolutely beautiful coming into London; we had fabulous views of the city.  We arrived in Romania late afternoon, and had a taxi waiting to take us to the hotel. I had booked The Mansion Boutique Hotel, a 4 star hotel in the centre of the pedestrian district; we had to be let off by the side of the cobbled streets but thankfully it was only a 2 minute walk. Check-in was great, we got a glass of fizz each and taken to our room which was called "Zen". We actually didn't have too long, so unpacked quickly and made our way out of th...
Read more

History, Food and Wine….again!

Image
  I could get used to this breakfast, take note Iain! We left the hotel just before 10am, with a short walk to the fountain within the city walls on the cards; we are starting the day with a history walking tour with our guide for the next 1.5 hours, Zoran.  The first stop was back outside the walls at St Lawrence Fort where we learned about the first settlement in the first half of the 7th Century. Zoran was a historian, and was keen to tell us everything, which I clearly can’t remember!  After the first stop, we walked back into the walled city via Pile Gate; outside practically every entrance to the city is a statue of St. Blaise, the patron saint of Dubrovnik. You can always tell it is him, as in every statue, he is holding a miniature walled city in his hand.  The next stop was Onofrio’s fountain, built in 1438 and decorated with ornate figures. The fountain also took a direct hit during the Seige in 1991, but it has the most amazing spring water, which you can ...
Read more