Our first break of the year was two weeks escaping the freezing temperatures of the UK to sunny Orlando Florida or so we thought. In the days leading up to the flight out, it was questionable whether we would even get to the airport due to the snow, let alone take off. Flights all over the country were being delayed or cancelled. So we had to drive to Gatwick airport and just hope that it was actually going to leave at all. To cut a long story short, we took off 5 hours late on a ‘merged’ Virgin Atlantic flight. The flight was reasonably standard. Economy is never an easy trip, but bearable when you consider the price of Business Class. We landed in Orlando, Florida at 8pm. The temperature wasn’t what we had expected. At -2 degrees, it was colder than the UK. Oh, the irony.
We had spent the first week, at Disney World in newly purchased jumpers and coats. We visited the big four. Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. We also managed a few trips to Celebration and the big shopping malls, Millenia and Florida Mall. The malls in Orlando are like any other around the world. Millions of car spaces, marble floors, trees indoors, full of shops, you get the picture. I bought some tops in Hollister and a coat in Gap while my wife was clearing out Neiman Marcus of cosmetics and perfume. The Florida Premium Outlets malls are slightly different in the quality of shops but equally good for bargain hunting. Stock tends to be stack high unlike the well presented Mall of the Millenia and Florida Mall.
While at Disney World, we spent some time getting our photos taken with the Disney characters. We had to queue for over 20 minutes from some of the characters but worth the wait. It was great fun, even James enjoyed it.
The second week was much warmer, with temperatures hitting 24 degrees and the humidity at 90%, we spent most of the time at the villa in the heated swimming pool and jacuzzi.
Link to all the videos from Orlando Florida 2010
I spent the weekend in Salzburg at the weekend. Gatwick to Mozart Airport via British Airways and arrived in 2 hours. I was expecting freezing temperatures and snow but it was surprisingly milder than the UK.
We spent most of the time, browsing the Christmas Markets, drinking coffee and eating waffles.
We stayed at the Radisson SAS Altstadt Hotel.
View the photos
I took Sarah and James out for lunch at Luton Hoo this Sunday. Booked in at the ‘Adam’s Brasserie’ beyond the main house. The restaurant is set in the stabling area of the Luton Hoo grounds. The restaurant is decorated with photographs of film shot on location at Luton Hoo. There was a quiet atmosphere and the staff were friendly. The food was very good too.
We spent the weekend in Bruges in West Flanders, Belgium.We drove down to Folkstone and got the Eurotunnel and from Calais continued to Bruges. The whole journey only took about 4 hours.
Bruges is a wonderfully little city, full of narrow cobbled streets and long canals encircled by a walkways and cycle paths. There is a mix of old and new architecture and you rarely see two similar buildings side by side and there’s over 40 canal bridges to walk over while exploring the city streets.
Jan Brito
We stayed at the Jan Brito hotel. I strongly recommend staying there. It’s a small hotel with huge rooms situated not far from the Astridpark. We booked a suite on the ground floor, this comprised of a large bedroom and a separate bedroom for James. There was also a well equipped bathroom. The decor was 18th century. The ceiling had to be about 12ft high with massive coving detail and a great big chandelier in the middle of the room. Buffet breakfast was included. Cereals, Toast, Breads, Fruits, Deli, Eggs & Bacon, Tea, Coffee etc. The experience was very good.
Belgian Waffles and Hot Chocolate
We browsed the shops selling tourist stuff. There is a excellent assortment of shops selling chocolate and other sweets in Bruges. After buying our souvenirs and hours of walking around the city, we rested in one of the countless cafes watching the tourists go by. It seemed like every other shop in Bruges was selling chocolate in some form or another. We ordered hot chocolate, coffees and Belgian waffles with chocolate sauce.
Canals
Bruges has some lovely waterways in the city. It has the feel of Amsterdam with the tour boats appearing like buses. We took a canal boat tour on the Sunday when it was quiet. The driver/tour guide was very informative and the 30 minute tour was well worth the money.
View the rest of my photos on my Bruges ’09 folder.
Stratford is a beautiful place to be. There are wide rivers, old churches and medieval terraces to see.