Western Europe

The Western European Countries (EU, EFTA etc)

Another late off the press finale… Bail out skipper

Posted by on 1, Nov 2024 in 2024 - Friends and Family, Benelux, Europe, Tilly the Tandem, UK | 1 comment

Another late off the press finale… Bail out skipper

Our coastal 2 day break at Seaton Carew was a nice stop with an extremely noisy hotel, but the beach was great and we even took in a Robbie William tribute on the seafront at the town Tribute festival, he wasn’t very good. We had planned to stay on for Oasis, Coldplay and Abba, but with Robbie being poor we decided that staying up on the seafront in another hoolie with the rain wasn’t quite as appealing as getting tucked up in bed! We arrived in Hartlepool the next morning to see the historical harbour, but again the mist was so dense you could hardly see the water, but we did...

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The North East Coast.

Posted by on 25, Sep 2024 in 2024 - Friends and Family, Europe, Tilly the Tandem, UK | 1 comment

The North East Coast.

Hornsea is a town that time forgot.  There are no chains! Heaven! It a gem of a seaside town and where our friend Mike grew up. It’s full of nice restaurants and coffee shops and of course hundreds of chippys, where we had the children’s menu Battered Veggie sausages and chips. Why don’t they do a adult portion? Who knows …. Refreshments in Beverley We had a great time with Mike and 3 days off in his lovely new house despite the seagulls pebble dashing Mikes car each day in a very strange Welcome to Hornsea move. We left Mike reluctantly and tried to stop for food on...

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The North!

Posted by on 15, Sep 2024 in 2024 - Friends and Family, Europe, Tilly the Tandem, UK | 1 comment

The North!

“Eee by ‘eck lad, tha’s like a pair of whippets on’t one o’ them double seaters…” Welcome to the North! Where does the north begin?.. Someone told me it’s where Pret is out numbered by Greggs… So that’ll do for me lad. Our short cycle from our fabulous Airbnb to Doncaster was flat and wet, but surprisingly as we entered Doncaster we were impressed both with the cycle facilities (Well done Donnie) and some of the grand buildings. We rolled up at our Premier Inn well early, 2 hours before check in. We stood in the entrance hall...

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5. Things can only get better

Posted by on 7, Sep 2024 in 2024 - Friends and Family, Europe, Tilly the Tandem, UK | 1 comment

5. Things can only get better

We had a couple of days off in St Alban’s – surely one of the hilliest cities in England – to see my Aunt and take her out for lunch.  Dementia is horrible and it’s always sad to see her deterioration but we had a nice time with her going to the Cathedral and a wander around this wonderful old church. Naturally when we returned to our Airbnb, having used Taxis all day Tilly had a puncture, obviously feeling aggreived by our betrayal in leaving her for the day.  It was the front so it’s a 5 minute job to change, once you’ve found the tyre...

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Back to reality…

Posted by on 1, Sep 2024 in 2024 - Friends and Family, Europe, Tilly the Tandem, UK | 3 comments

Back to reality…

No priority disembarking at Dover! None of the proirity to cyclist that we’d enjoyed when boarding our ferry in Dunkirk..back in the UK we were last off the ferry, having had to wait in the middle of the disembarking traffic lanes while they unloaded all the vehicles (welcome to England, we said to our european fellow cyclists….where the car rules…)…we finally lead the way for the other foreign tourers, through the port of Dover.  “Follow the red line” we were told. Whether that was made from  paint or the blood of previous cyclists was hard to tell...

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JOOO…(Jonny off on one)

Posted by on 24, Aug 2024 in 2024 - Friends and Family, Europe, France, Tilly the Tandem, UK | 3 comments

JOOO…(Jonny off on one)

We’ve noticed a change in our hotel stops in the EU this trip. We’ve not had any hotel with those little disposable bottles with shampoo etc in, every hotel has had wall mounted dispensers, which has been great, especially as trying to get the top off those little bottles in the shower sometimes with wet hands is quite tricky for us pensioners. Another thing that has also changed, and not for the best, is the disappearing bog brush.  Why do hotels no longer put them in the loos? Our last hotel even had a sign asking you to go to reception if you wanted one! – the walk...

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