Back from a seven day Saga river cruise aboard the Spirit of the Danube, fulfilling an ambition both born and thwarted some years ago when a booked Emerald trip was cancelled as we were about to depart because of low water in the Passau area. So, accompanied by the Saga door to door service (excellent again) we set off hoping for better luck on this occasion,
I’m revisiting these old reviews of Bishopstock 2000 and 2001 as a reminder of what a great event this used to be and to reflect on the sad way it ended. As far as I recall, this was the first festival (as opposed to gigs) that we had been to together and holds a special place in our memory. Most of what you see in …
First up on the Sunday (and an interesting choice to kick start the second day) was Corey Harris. He had to battle the worst of the day’s weather and his acoustic, intimate music is hardly suited to raising the crowd on a damp early Sunday afternoon – and yet he worked perfectly. Remarkable guitar work, heavy on feel and touch and less on pure technique, coupled with wonderfully expressive vocals, the performance went down well with the crowd and set us up for the rest of the day. The fact that Corey could then be seen wandering in the audience after his set listening to the artists following him speaks volumes about the event; by and large, any egos had been left at the door (or the next field possibly!)
Saturday kicked off at 12.00 on the dot with Amor, the band led by ex-Hoax member John Amor. Good, solid, heavy riffing blues with a contemporary edge. Very different to the Hoax but none the worse for that and a fine start to the first day. Ana Popovic was next up, a vocalist and guitarist with a growing reputation. Her performance got stronger as the set developed but I didn’t hear anything truly exceptional or noteworthy in the set.
Just under a week ago, we returned from a trip up to the North East to complete the first of our catsitting duties for 2025, although we extended it to just under two weeks with a break in Derbyshire on our way back home. We again broke up the journey on the way up with an overnight stop at Wentbridge; however in startling news that may well rock the world of our core audience we stayed in a ‘Courtyard Room’, a first for us and a pleasant upgrade on the pre-booked accommodation!
A little late as we have been back just over two weeks but here nonetheless is a brief resume of our Saga Cruise (our second Saga after our first in 2023) to Scandinavia. This was on the Spirit of Adventure, thus ensuring we’ve now travelled on both the company ships. As specified, there are subtle differences but the overall layout is in fact exactly the same and means we were very quickly comfortable with our surroundings. Of the subtle changes, the one we noticed most keenly was the Nepalese specialty restaurant, which we both thought was excellent and an experience well worth repeating. We had learned from the previous ‘newbie’ experience and ate mainly in the grill to avoid the ‘perils’ of anytime dining, although on the occasions we did eat in the main dining room we had no trouble securing a table for two, so in fairness maybe they had made minor adjustments to the set-up (i.e. more tables for two!!)
This is a very specific post, aimed fairly and squarely in the direction of Mrs. No. Name, largely in response to her not too infrequent accusatory remarks that we haven’t really been anywhere. So, apologies to the vast general readership (oh the irony) but unless travel and lists are your thing, this one isn’t really for you…
Or in this case, a trip to Sunderland last week to visit S&G that did not include catsitting duties, although it is still sad to report that any such future tasks will be to support two cats following the sad demise of the second of the older twins after more than twenty years of domestic ‘harmony’. Also, when I say Easter at Sunderland, it was more a three day break in the middle of a longer break with visits to Easby and Richmond on the way up and Baslow and the Peak District on the way back.
Absolutely disgusting behaviour – hail the French Revolution and reintroduce the guillotine I hear you cry. Well as you know, I’ve always been a little conflicted by the Warners concept, as indeed I have by the poor relation that is Center Parcs. As I’ve probably mentioned before (I can’t be arsed to actually check), Warners specialise in large historic properties that have been upgraded and, significantly, added to with a swathe of more modern accommodation.
Only booked three days or thereabouts before departure, so a ‘rushed’ reservation, but a two night break at the Wentworth Hotel is certainly not ‘radical’ as we have stayed there many times before. It was however disconcerting to note that our last visit was around two years ago. Far too long a gap before a return visit to our favourite Aldeburgh abode.
A special birthday for lovely Mrs. No Name but as I rather reluctantly had a hospital eye clinic appointment (all clear by the way) on the birthday morning, I decided on a very local overnight birthday celebration. Been to the award winning Seckford Hall before so we were interested to see how it was shaping up. Unusually just a standard room booking as we wanted to ensure we were in the main building; as you can hopefully see from the collage, it’s an historic hall ( built 1535ish) and the standard rooms reflect its age, with room doors stretching back over 400 years and décor to match (in a good way).
Down to Colchester last Tuesday for a long overdue overview with our friends from Essex. Decided on lunch at Greyfriars as we had enjoyed it at our previous lunch, which we were shocked to see was way back in February – our meet ups are getting rarer and rarer it would seem. Anyway, we got there just about on time despite the twenty minute delay on the A12 and I immediately ordered the Vesper cocktail, which is, I am told, the original James Bond martini – “Three measures of Gin one of Vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large, thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?“. You can tell!!