Go to gate 50

After being dropped at Waterloo by Bangladeshi taxi driver, Kabir, I boarded the train and immediately struck up a conversation with Tony (58) from Sydney who happened to be on the same cruise. 30+ years working with Qantas, he retired…

We had a much needed sea day before the next stop in Cartagena, Spain. I spent my time in the retreat and got speaking to Ron (78) from Stoke on Trent. He’s on the ship with his ex-wife who he…

For Pisa and/or Florence the ships dock in Livorno, or Leghorn in English, an Italian coastal city in the Ligurian Sea (the leghorn chicken originates from Tuscany). The choice was Pisa or Florence and I chose Pisa (12 miles away)…

It think country number 76 deserves a blog of its own because it was quite fabulous. The second smallest country in the world to the Vatican, with a bulging population of 38,000 (Goodson Park could hold them all) comprising about…

Our first port of call was the lovely city of Alicante. I was due to go on an excursion to Guadalest but three hours on a coach was less appealing than a colonic taster session so I went freestyle and…

The three sea days sailing toward the Mediterranean provided an opportunity to acquaint myself with Britannia and the P&O way of doing things. This was also the first time I’d cruised from a UK port and the first time I’d…

I awoke alarmingly early on the final day and was still perplexed by the lack of tartar sauce served with my fish and chips in the hotel restaurant last night. I mean this is France. They’re supposed to know about…

I left the hotel with a heavy bag around my shoulder and schlepped to the car park a few hundred metres away. There was no helpful man to assist me in my moment of need. I knew the car park…

I spent time in four different countries on Tuesday - Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Germany and France and didn’t pay one toll. But it did take me seven hours and the little Mazda is great fun but not for long journeys. It…

I left at 11 from another garage with a car lift in it. Never experienced one before then have two in a row! So bizarre I needed a lie down. At first I’d decided to give Neuchwanstein Castle a miss…