Grandad Making Memories

From Banff we drove along the Icefields Parkway road . You need to set aside plenty of time for this as it is an awe inspiring drive. I found myself running out of superlatives. The mountains and lakes are were a beautiful sight. Fortunately there are plenty of pull offs to enable a leisurely journey…

It’s a destination that has long been on the “to visit” list . A long days travel from the UK flying from Edinburgh to Toronto, then to Calgary and pick up a hire car to drive to Banff . All the flights and organisation went just fine. First stop Banff – the Rimrock Hotel .…

Italy just seemed to have a zest for life , a vibrancy about it . It was good for the soul Italy – thank you it was fantastic

We took the opportunity to visit some of the world famous art. In Rome the Borghese Galllery , and in Firenze the Uffizi , and also the Medici museum . It wasn’t possible to take in everything in one visit . After a few hours one religious painting begins to look like another . There…

The second part of the break was 5 days in Firenze – aka Florence . Of course it’s far more compact than Rome which made it easier to walk our way around . The weather even though it was the last week in October was in the 20’s with blue skies every day . I…

In Rome we stayed at The Lord Byron . which was north of the Borghese Gardens in a more residential area . It meant we had plenty of walking – much needed with all the food We had booked a private limo transfer to the sister hotel of The Lord Byron , The Regency in…

Part of the holiday experience for us is enjoying finding some great places to eat , and even better some fantastic food and wines

We had promised ourselves a revisit to the Rome after visiting back in 90s . This time we would also combine it with a stay at Florence. Rome has so much history to see we had plenty of choice . October is a good time of year to visit in terms of weather as a…

I was invited across by the Vienna Wargamers to play in their Dresden 1813 recreation . It was an epic game played with old friends and new. Vienna of course is a fine historic city . The hotel of choice fur the group is the Kaiserin Elizabeth close to the centre. Excellent service , great…

With the world opening back up post Covid we took the opportunity for a couple of visits out of main season to La Sagerie in the Manche , near Brécey. It’s been a regular haunt since 2009 and is a great place for a simple recharge of the batteries . Normandy and nearby Brittany are…