18 months of a “needs some work” house have passed, have we completed everything we wanted to? No? Are we surprised? No! Home ownership is wonderful but also a challenge as well, one which requires quite a bit of effort unless you have buckets of money to throw at it. As ever, life does tend to get in the way and we’ve found that this year more than most. I’d love to say it was because we’ve spent a lot…
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Udaipur is in no doubt in India, there is traffic, there are people, there is something happening everywhere you turn. But, for us it was a little piece of relaxation within the chaos of Northern India. After spending a few days in Delhi and catching our first overnight train we were ready for a slightly slower pace. Known as the city of lakes, Udaipur is surrounded by seven different lakes and you can see the water from most places in…
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India is a huge country with a colourful history and colourful cities. It can be overwhelming and inspirational and challenging. For us India takes time to understand, 2 weeks is not enough and one part of the country doesn’t give you the whole picture. Our short snapshot of the state of Rajasthan began as it ended in Delhi. We flew into India on 9th March 2019, at the time there was unrest in the areas close to the Pakistan border…
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Life has changed somewhat in the last 18 months, as it has for pretty much everyone. With our freedoms to travel restricted due to that pesky Covid-19 we found ourselves looking inward and considering if our HQ, our home, was what and where we wanted it to be. Long story short, no it wasn’t and we quickly decided we want to make a change. Both our hearts lie in the small city of Chichester on the south coast of the…
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We went to Rajasthan in India back in 2019, it was a wonderful experience but one that has taken some time to process. India is a difficult place with complicated social and historical challenges but it is filled with architecture, people and food. I had previously never wanted to travel to India, it wasn’t a place I want interested in. It seemed stereotypical and somewhere you go and meander through for months at a time. But what you very quickly…
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Hello? Are you still there? We are still here although wiping the dust of this blog and figuring out a new way forward. As everyone knows 2020 threw a curve ball and to be honest since the middle of 2019 it’s all been a bit full on over here with the Loxton’s. Do you like our new name? We’re trying it out. Travel is and will always be important to us but it’s not all of us. The plan is…
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Our first trip on our Summer of Sussex tour begins with a Roman palace! Who would have thought that set in the English countryside of Sussex that there would be the largest residential Roman building found in the UK! Sure, lots of people know the Romans conquered ancient Britain but it is still a bit unreal that they made such a home base in Sussex. One of the best things about Fishbourne Roman Palace, aside from it being huge, is…
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2019 marks the first year that we have not had a mid-summer trip in a really long time. 2015 saw us head to Budapest, 2016 was spent in Canada, 2017 was back to Budapest and Siofok plus Geneva and 2018 saw us head to Ireland. It is safe to say the summer is to be spent wandering. But, not this year. Our plans to head to Chile in December have eaten up a lot of our annual leave which has…
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Helsinki is the capital of Finland but is so close to Estonia they could almost be in the same country. Towards the end of our Baltic road trip through Latvia and Estonia, we decided to spend a day in Helsinki as it only took 2 hours to get to from Tallinn. In all honesty, we weren’t graced with great weather which meant our plans did have to change a bit but all the same, day tripping from one country to…
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When I wrote this post originally back in July 2015 Budapest was hailed as the undiscovered city in Europe, somewhere which isn’t as popular as say Prague but still has the same history and quirks and interesting people. It is true to say it is an pearl of a place, its interesting streets and squares with architecture which could transport you anywhere round the world whilst having so much of its own charm. Since 2015 it has become a lot…
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Tallinn is the capital of Estonia, located at the top of the country just across the way from Helsinki and a little ‘down the road’ from St Petersburg. It’s a cute little city made up of cobbled streets and historic buildings. It is also on a hill which makes for some great look out points. Walk around town We spent roughly 36 hours in Tallinn split over 2 days at the end of our Baltic adventure. We lucked out with…
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We’d been having a relaxing few days in the Baltic states but it was time for some mid-week pure relaxation before we headed to Tallinn and Helsinki. This came in the form of the seaside town of Parnu. Situated right on the beach it is a popular spot for lots of Europeans to holiday with white sandy beaches and a history as a spa town. Parnu is known for its mud spas. The most famous of which now houses the…
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Latvia so far has proved to be full of surprises and the countryside was no different. We had spent the morning exploring Cesis castle but the afternoon proved that wildlife is elusive even when you can blatantly hear it! I found out about the Ciruilsi Nature Trail on Pinterest and it was surprisingly easy to find, only about 10 minutes from our lodge. There are lots of walks and off road cycling you can do in the area. Today felt…
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After a grey couple of days in Riga, we were ready for some sunshine and countryside. We were lucky to get both. After picking up our rental car, a rather snazzy black golf from Sixt, we ventured out into the Latvian countryside. Driving in Latvia, and Estonia to be honest, was a little like taking your life in your own hands. They all have relatively slow speed restrictions but very, very few people follow them. Add that to their main…
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Day 1 Riga surprised me as European cities go, mainly because I had heard so many conflicting opinions on whether it was a good place to go or not. Despite the rain and the cold, on the whole, we enjoyed our time there, enough to consider hopping back over the Baltic Sea in the future just for a weekend. Plus we discovered an excellent underground pub that is worth a trip on its own. Riga was the entry point to…
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Our last day in Ireland was spent in Limerick, we had driven there from the cliffs the day before and checked into a beautiful hotel. It is a bit of a shame that the hotel was really the only bit of Limerick that we liked. You’ll also see from the photo’s that Limerick was pretty grey and (in our opinion) uninspiring. The weather likely had something to do with it as it was dreary which just didn’t help the cities…
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The Cliffs of Moher in County Clare quite often makes the news, sometimes for good things like it’s views and wildlife and sometimes for tragic accidents due to the sheer nature of the cliffs. It is equally both alluring and scary at the same time. As Ireland’s most visited natural attraction it is often at the top of lists of what to see in Ireland. Plus if the nickname Emerald Isle is anything to go by it will be green!…
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We were heading towards to famous Atlantic Way, with promises of epic views, twisting roads and more nature then you can shake a stick out. Well we did find exactly that. We started our day with breakfast in the castle (after an early start as our bedroom was located underneath the breakfast room) but it didn’t leave much to be desired. The novelty of staying in a castle made the stay but it wasn’t ‘all that’. Our first stop of…
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Driving down the long drive into the valley to the side of Fish Hill the automatic gates open and we step into the wonderful world of The Fish. We’ve now begun a mini tradition of taking a short break in the Cotswolds pre-Christmas to have some quality time and a much needed rest. In 2017 we visited in early December and in 2018 we went just a couple of days before the big day, both years we have opted to…
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