Granny Gray

Hold the presses – or whatever the phrase is. We interrupt this broadcast (of holiday travelogues) with breaking news – my fabulous daughter-in-law, Sophia, gave birth to our first grandchild, Constance Jane Gray aka Connie, weighing in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce – massive for three weeks premature. Her entry into the world was marked by a solar eclipse and a stack of meteorites. It wasn’t the easiest of starts, but she’s a fighter, and her parents have phenomenal reserves of courage and strength.

Here’s some pix:

Hot or What? - Barbados

We were lucky to spend a week in Barbados in 2013, courtesy of my wonderful sister and her partner. Sam and Barry bought a timeshare in a smart hotel a couple of decades ago and holidayed there almost every September since then. They knew the island well, and rented a couple of adjacent villas, inviting the rest of us to stay – his job in Philadelphia meant he had enough airmiles to boost us up to first class. Awesome.

I never appreciated how time works at the equator – the day/night is always 12 hours (give or take a minute or two), and the sun rises every day at 6am, and sets at 6pm. no matter what the season. On several mornings, we got up at six and strolled along the beach before breakfast, and every evening saw us watching the sunset with a Pina Colada, usually from the rooftop of one of the villas. Barbados was a perfect piece of Paradise and we had a virtually private beach with a mill-pool sea 500 yards on from fun filled body-surfing breakers. Although a decent bottle of wine was prohibitively expensive – way more than a bottle of locally of locally-brewed rum, and we discovered fierce competition to serve the the best Rum Punch on the island – oh the lengths we went to on the quest of that little gem! Sheer Bliss!

Here's a taste of our holiday:

Hot or What? - Italy

It was always on my bucket list to visit Italy, so when my lovely hubby booked us a week in a really posh hotel, in a room overlooking the gorgeous Lake Como, I was thrilled.
The Grand Hotel Menaggio was the height of luxury, with fabulous food, friendly staff and all-in-all, one of the best experiences of my life. A decade later, I still remember the intricate patterns the housemaid made from my nightie - it was beautiful origami, as you can see - the purple rose in the montage below.

It was one of the few holidays we had where we didn't hire a car, but we discovered another way to travel - by ferry boat. Not the huge, well-equipped car ferries with shops, restaurants and cabins, but more like a bus or train, travelling across water instead of roads. The slow ferries take forever and the fast ferries are quite expensive, but Bri was 65, so the OAP discount was quite good. It got quite chilly - especially going to the extremes (Gravedonga/Como town), and a light jacket was essential. If we were to do it again, we'd consider going one way on the bus.

One of our favourite places to visit was Belaggio, and that and Varenna were linked together with Menaggio by frequent ferry trips. Como town was everything you might expect from a local centre - the market was fun and the cathedral was awesome.
On one day, we were a tad ambitious, doing Villa Monastero (top) in the morning, a quick half, then Castello Di Vezio (bottom). Monastero was beautiful - stunning gardens and a dozen rooms filled with exquisite furniture and artwork.
The walk up to the castle was quite challenging, but so worth it for the views, the history, the falcons and especially the ghosts. I have dodgy knees and one of them swelled up to twice the size by the time we walked back down. If we had a do-over we'd do that first, then maybe return for Monastero another day.
Villa Carlotta would be my 2nd choice - it was pouring when we did it, but there was still plenty to see.

Here's a flavour of our visit: