A summer break in the Algarve, part 2 – exploring Tavira

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Welcome back to Part 2 of our Algarve adventure (catch up with part 1 first if you haven’t already)! As well as exploring the city, we made sure to make some time for the beach – which, as we mentioned, was on its own island, the Ilha de Tavira. The ferry took us through the harbour and moored up on the edge of the beach:

Boats on the beach on Ilha de Tavira

We passed some fascinating natural wildlife, so to see it a bit more closely we took a tour in a small speedboat along the coast. We passed storks, white flamingos, egrets and other animals!

Storks around Ilha de Tavira

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A summer break in the Algarve, part 1 – trip to Tavira

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We’re very British [and proud of it]. One of us is from Yorkshire, and the other one is so pale she’s blue in certain light. So 37°C in Portugal was both stunning and a shock to the system! We chose Tavira, a little town [technically a city but it certainly didn’t feel big enough to be] in the Algarve, because it looked attractive, historical and quirky. It’s also a pretty convenient 30-minute train ride from Faro, where the airport is located.

The town is built on a river, with extensive beaches on an island a short ferry ride away. This didn’t put us off, and we’re glad, because the ferry was reasonably priced, cooled us down and made a trip to the island that bit more of an occasion.

Tavira

There was a festival on, and we saw some great evening performances in the town square. The town was also decorated with a nautical theme:

Festival decorations in Tavira

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Her birthday adventures – looking over London

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Amongst other brilliant happenings, including a horse riding lesson in the countryside and the aforementioned barbecue, we returned to London on the Sunday evening for a lofty surprise. 20 Fenchurch Street, otherwise known as the Walkie Talkie (or the Scorchie, after it melted some cars when it was first built) is home to the Sky Garden, bookable for drinks, snacks or just a wander around.
20 Fenchurch Street

You need to book a couple of months in advance, but it’s free, and you’re whizzed up in a lift to floor 35. Once there, you’re free to walk around the outer perimeter and get a panoramic view of London.

St Paul’s looks dwarfed by the BT Tower:

St. Paul's surrounded by other buildings

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His birthday adventures – from Regent’s Canal to a secret Tube station 

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Our birthdays are six days apart, which in effect means about three weeks of continuous sociableness and fun. We thought we’d share with you a little snippet, though, of each birthday – the bits that you might like to do for yourselves (rather than have a barbecue/camping/mini-festival with my friends, which you might enjoy less than I did, for example [oi, stay on topic – this week is my birthday]).

First, it was his birthday [better]. Given our (his) [definitely our] slightly geeky propensity for transport, I booked a canal boat trip along the Regent’s Canal, from Little Venice to Camden Lock. Simply called Jason’s (both the boat and the enterprise), it trundled up the river while the owner gave us a fascinating historical commentary.

Cafe boat in Little Venice

We passed lovely boats, old factories, beautiful houses, and ended up at the love-it-or-hate-it Camden Lock.

Boat passing through Camden lock

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We’re back!

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Hello! We know we’ve been quiet for a while…

It’s not been the greatest few months and blogging wasn’t something we were in the mindset to do. But all is now well – with a brand new job, new flat and new National Trust membership in time for summer, we’re full of fabulous weekend trips and summer excursions to tell you about! In fact, this month includes both our birthdays, which may or may not include some superb days out – we couldn’t possibly comment… (Even to each other! [The suspense is killing me…])

Theo the dog

Two fabulous summer happenings already (above and below) – a dachshund and a rose (both from my parents’)!

Rose

We’ll also be belatedly posting back through the last few months [I’ve got quite a few photos to dig through], so there should be plenty to read very soon! Thank you for sticking with us 🙂

A trip to the Avebury stones

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To road-test my fancy new pay-monthly National Trust membership [previously you had to pay for the full year in one go, but now you can pay by monthly direct debit: currently £5/month], we paid a long-overdue visit to Avebury in Wiltshire. You may know Avebury for the prehistoric stones, in the manner of Stonehenge – some would say Avebury is far superior! Although less impressive as a photo-op because they are more widely spread, the stones at Avebury cover a [much] bigger area and are many more in number. It’s also a wonderfully cute village [partly encircled by the stones] and contains a manor house which is also worth a visit.

Dinner at Avebury Manor

Avebury Manor was chosen in 2009 by the BBC for a restoration project (The Manor Reborn) with the NT. They restored each room from a different era of its life and ownership, making it the first ‘hands on’ house – everything is touchable, which makes it a great place for children (and adults! [it’s amazing, you can even try out the beds…]) to visit. The dining room (above) is a Georgian recreation, where it’s entirely possible to sit at the table as though you were taking part in that excellent cheese course… Featuring real port too, judging by the smell! [Real, yes, but I wouldn’t advise drinking it…]

Below is a detail from Alexander Keiller‘s sitting room, in rather garish 40’s style – he was the archaeologist who excavated and restored the stones, and made Avebury the site it is today. We may have played with this camera for a fair while…

Vintage Kodak camera

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Weekend in Leeds, part 2 – Hardwick Hall

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After Nostell yesterday, we then headed to Hardwick Hall. Although pretty cloudy (see below), it was stunning. This year, the house is celebrating its association with Arbella Stuart, niece of Mary, Queen of Scots and Bess of Hardwick’s protegee. Bess, Arbella’s grandmother, built the house and attempted throughout Arbella’s youth to realise her not insubstantial claim to the English throne. Arbella had other ideas, however, and ended up imprisoned in the Tower after a secret marriage.

Hardwick Hall

Gripping as it is, the experience of the house runs alongside and yet beyond these two fiesty Elizabethan women. Built in 1590, the house is one of the earliest examples of English Renaissance architecture, and seems to herald the arrival of the ‘country house’. Its very structure has been built to accommodate the more traditional hierarchy of master and servant, with very separate living quarters and ceiling height and scale to reflect the seniority of that room’s inhabitants. It also sees a move toward the more decorative architectural style, and a departure from the fortifications of castles of old.

Bedroom at Hardwick Hall

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Weekend in Leeds, part 1 – swans and statues at Nostell Priory

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Today on the blog we have two very special properties to help you make the most of that National Trust membership! (Even without it, entry fees were reasonable.)

We have a family in Leeds, so headed up there for the weekend. First stop was Nostell Priory, featuring a beautifully symmetrical exterior… [although, if you look closely, you’ll notice some damage on the left-hand side from a fire in 1980]

Nostell Priory

And an interesting lighting project, From Gloom to Glow, where they cast light on previously hidden objects. It certainly made for some dramatic photographs!

Gloom to Glow statue at Nostell Priory

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Weekend in the Cotswolds, Sunday – animals everywhere at Cotswold Farm Park

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So I grew up in the countryside. Next to a farm, in fact. But after a few years in London it’s a bit exciting to go to a farm park… Especially one where you can hold bunnies, since that just doesn’t happen on normal farms.

As a result, on day two of our Cotswold adventure, we visited the Cotswold Farm Park. Tickets were a little expensive, at £9.25 each, but there was plenty to see.

We [she] definitely didn’t elbow any children out of the way to cuddle these bunnies:

Bunny at Cotswold Farm Park

Or these chicks (their feathers were so soft!)

Chick at Cotswold Farm Park

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Weekend in the Cotswolds, Saturday – Bourton on the Water

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As a very welcome and exciting surprise, I was taken to the Cotswolds on 24 hours’ notice. Excitement! Our first stop was Bourton-on-the-Water, a town chosen mainly for its tandem-hiring ability but one which turned out to be picturesque and gorgeous.

Tandem outside Upper Slaughter church

You may remember us hiring a tandem bike in Cornwall. We now consider ourselves practically pros [that might be pushing it], although it turns out that Gloucestershire isn’t quite as flat as the Camel Trail near Padstow… Our tandem trail took us to Upper and Lower Slaughter (much nicer than they sound!) complete with beautiful little church to explore.

Gravestone at Upper Slaughter church

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