An Old Fashioned Travel App

The 60 by 60 Project

So in my last post I mentioned the “60 by 60 project” so I thought I would write a little more about the project.

For sometime I have been counting how many countries I had visited and I was at 53 countries. I then set myself a little challenge to try to get to 60 countries visited by the time of my 60th birthday which is in April 2020, so only a few months left to squeeze in the remaining 7 countries.

7 isn’t many but still a bit of a challenge given the timescale involved.

The good thing is I now have a plan and hope to achieve the project. And since starting the project I have been to Slovakia and Slovenia which takes me to 55. And I am going to Lithuania in February and hope to get to Belarus while we are there.

That should take me to 57.

We then have a Caribbean Cruise booked for the end of March and will visit the Windward Islands which should take me to over 60 providing we stop at all the advertised ports.

So fingers crossed I will achieve the 60 by 60 Project.

Of course the big question is what comes after that?

For information I am using the 195 countries that make up the United Nations as the basis for my list and at some point I will write about ‘how many countries there are’ and what makes up the different lists but for now it’s the 195!

I always wonder how many people count countries (perhaps it should have a scientific name), so please let me know how many countries you have visited?

24 Days to Vilnius Lithuania

With only 24 days until we fly off to Vilnius in Lithuania on Valentines Day we are busy making plans. We have a guide book and I am doing lots of online research. While we are there we may also pop over to Minsk in Belarus as I have a little project on the go where I am trying to visit 60 countries by the time I am 60, I call it the “60 by 60 project”.

What is always useful is to get advice from people who have visited previously and any recommendations they can make, so my big ask is?????

Have any of you been to Vilius, Lithuania or Minsk, Belarus, if so do you have advice or hot tips? Many Thanks

Slovenia Day Four & Five

As I sit and write this retrospective entry I am sitting enjoying a Hot Chocolate made with a Hot Chocolate block that we got while we were in Ljubljana, there were lots of chocolate shops and this is helping to bring back memories of our time in Ljubljana and Slovenia.

Not surprisingly we had a late start on New Years Day after a late night seeing in the New Year the evening before. We all met for a slow breakfast at the hotel before making our way into town and our planned visit to the castle or Ljubljanski grad as it is known.

I had purchased tickets for the castle online the previous day, the tickets also included the Funicular Railway. The walk into town was pleasant and was by now becoming familiar, we crossed the Triple Bridge and worked our way through the market which had some stalls open, a stop to look at more hats could not be missed.

We found ourselves at the bottom of the Funicular Railway and joined the short queue, we watched as the railway filled with people; we would board next time. The ride up was smooth and we soon gained height and as we did the view over Ljubljana opened up, we could see for miles. All too quickly the ride was over, and we were disembarking into the Ljubljana Castle.

It had been recently renovated a few years ago, they had done a great job, it was a mix of very old and very new, it looked like the villains’ lair in a James Bond Film!

We started to explore the castle and made our way further upwards and onto the battlements, the views just got better, we could see all the way to the mountains, Ljubljana was laid out below us and we could trace our route back to our hotel.

We continued to explore and discovered that there was a photographic exhibition on and so we made our way to the gallery, again this was a real mix off old and new and all done very well. The Photographic Exhibition was excellent with lots of amazing photographs of different parts of Ljubljana and life in Ljubljana.

We took our time to admire the photography.

By now we were all ready for a hot drink and rest and so we made our way to the Castle Coffee Shop where of course coffee and cake were the order of the day, all of which were excellent.

Suitably refresh we then visited the souvenir shop and picked up a few things for friends back home. The castle has a long-standing guest and indeed the oldest dweller at the castle and he is Frederick the Rat who is apparently very cunning, well it got some money from us 😉

We had a walking tour booked for 3.30 pm and so we made our way back to the Funicular Railway and back down to street level. A short walk found us back at the Main Tourist Information where we were to meet Tasha, our guide for the tour.

Tasha took us over the Triple Bridge and to the front of the pink fronted, 17th Century Franciscan Church called Cerkev Marijinega oznanjenja or Church of the Annunciation of Mary. With the clear blue sky, the pink of the church looked stunning.

Tasha, told us about the history of the church and the surrounding buildings before we went inside the church to marvel at the interior. A nativity scene had been built; I am not sure if it is permanent or not but it was well worth seeing.

Back outside we made our way to Congress Square (Kongresni Trg) where we hoped to find the Sculptured Ice Exhibition, I had seen it advertised when I was doing my research and thought it worth a visit. Tasha said it was smaller that last year but still we went inside.

The temperature inside plummeted as expected to keep the sculptures frozen. We walked around admiring the work, well worth a visit.

By now it was starting to get dark and so we made our way back to the hotel, we all needed a rest and we had to get some packing done or at least started.

Some of our group went to see some street art that was located near the hotel, it looked very good.

That night we had booked dinner in a restaurant called Gujžina – Prekmurska gostilna, it was small and unassuming, and it served local cuisine, I for one was looking forward to it.

We took a couple of taxis over to the restaurant and got dropped off at a taxi rank close to our destination, the short walk helped to prime our appetites.

The restaurant had a very large menu and we made our choices, I went for Ham Hock as a sharing plate which I shared with my mum, others had beef and pasta. The starters and main courses were excellent but the highlight of the meal for me was the pudding which I shared with my niece, it was Plum Dumplings which tasted amazing, I was glad we were sharing the pudding as it was very filling.

After dinner it was time to head back to the hotel, get the packing done and get ready for our journey home in the morning.

Next day we were up early, our flight was at a reasonable time, 1120, but we needed to drive to the airport, hand back cars and so on.

The weather had also changed, it was very grey and misty.

Soon we were at the airport, checked in and sitting in the departure lounge, it is a small lounge but we were able to get coffee and our last piece of Bled Cake, a great way to finish what has been an excellent break to Slovenia.

Would I recommend Slovenia as a holiday destination, yes I would, it far exceeded our expectations. The mix of Lake Bled and Ljubljana was a great choice and allowed us to see different aspects of the country. The food was excellent as was the service we enjoyed and importantly it did not seem expensive, in fact a lot of the food was very good value for many.

Should you go, well yes you should.

Slovenia Day Three

Well here we are in Slovenia it’s day 3 and it’s New Year’s Eve, we are leaving the beautiful Lake Bled today and driving to the capital Ljubljana. We are setting off early so we can make the most of our time in the capital and we need to check into the hotel etc.

The drive I’ve to Ljubljana was fairly straightforward and motorway most of the way with the sat nav have in my Skoda we found the hotel well with no problems. We were staying at the InterContinental hotel well which looks very nice. Once we arrived and checked in we then all headed into town stopping for coffee along the way in an interesting little coffee shop.

We then headed to the Old Town and the Three Bridges area and had a photograph done in front of the Cerkev Marijinega oznanjenja, the Franciscan church with a pink façade.

The Pink Facade of the Franciscan Church looks stunning against the blue sky

We then popped into tourist information for maps and more local information. Coming out of the tourist information we did a right turn into the market area and explored the market stalls. The market was split into different areas and we seem to spend more about time in the area with hats and scarves.

After some more exploring of the market side of town and the Dragon bridge area we stop for some mulled wine just to warm up before doing more exploring.

We split into smaller groups and Barbara, mum and I headed off in one direction and the others the other way.

We explored the Old Town and then walked up along the River which was very interesting and scenic, we were looking for somewhere for a light lunch and we found a cafe called Makalonca, that served lighter food and we opted for hot rolls which we all liked, there was a choice of vegetarian options, like mixed cheese and ham and cheese and so on, and you could mix those choices up..

The area of the Old Town around the river is very picturesque with lots going on and boats going up and down the river. A little bit more exploring and then we headed back to the hotel to rest before the evening’s activities.

We had decided to spend the evening at the hotel and see in in the New Year on the roof terrace. The hotel well had laid on Entertainment and food music and even some magic and just before midnight we all moved outside onto the terrace where we could see the castle and we counted down into 2020.

We could clearly see the fireworks from this distance and in fact there were fireworks going off everywhere. The fireworks I’m not the same as London and did not go on as long but it was still a great thing to see. We celebrated the new year with a glass of Champagne although Auld Lang Syne was not sung.

Soon it was time to head for bed as we had things to do tomorrow.

Slovenia Day Two

Day Two in Slovenia started bright and sunny with a lovely clear blue sky, we were out slightly later than usual after a busy day the day before and so had a late breakfast after breakfast we were going to head up to the Castle.

Lake Bled, Bled Castle with the Island and Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Maria in the distance

We decided to drive up to the castle as it was a long walk and I don’t think I could have made it , we were lucky that we went up a little early because the car park was busy but we managed to get parked near the top.

Map of Lake Bled showing our Hotel, the castle and some of the other places we visited.

We then had the walk we did the previous evening up to the ticket office and entry into the Castle.

We could all start to see the Magnificent views even though we were not at the top of the Castle, but we would soon be there.

This is me sat on the castle wall enjoying the view over the lake.

On the way there we stopped at the printing shop which is one of the shops in the Castle and here you can discover all things about printing in Slovenia and it holds one of the oldest printing presses in Slovenia we grabbed a couple of souvenirs while we were here.

Me and a souvenir that Barbara found in the printing shop, it says” We Travel Not To Escape Life But For Life Not To Escape Us” I love the sentiment of this and feel it is very reflective of me.

We continued with The Climb and made our way to the top of the Castle where the views of the surrounding countryside and the lake were amazing, you could see for miles although in some directions there was a slight mist.

The Castle as you can imagine also had a souvenir shop and Barbara headed straight there to see what she could buy, I must admit I followed her there and found a book called Slovenology, which I thought looked interesting and so I bought a copy for myself, I then later Returned and bought a copy for my sister-in-law.

We spent a bit of time taking in the views and of course taking lots of photographs.

We then headed to the restaurant where we had dinner the previous evening and enjoyed a cup of coffee on arrival, we were met by the same staff who had looked after us so well on the previous evening. They welcomed us and showed us to our table, and we enjoyed our coffee with a great view.

We spent a little more time exploring the Castle up onto the battlements and so on before heading back down to Bled and some lunch.

Once we got down to Bled, we headed to the Panorama Cafe which we had seen earlier for our lunch. I again went for soup, but this time I went for the goulash and potato cake it was lovely, not too spicy but with great flavour and very warming after being out in the cold. I also opted for a beer just to re-hydrate.

After lunch some of the group felt like a little bit of exercise and decided to cycle around the lake it was quite chilly, so I thought they were being very brave.

They hired bikes from the information centre and set off, we gave them a wave and then opted to drive around the Lake by car.

We met them at the halfway point at a small restaurant called Restavracija Camping Bled. They were very pleased to see us and warm up inside and have a hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was lovely really thick and tasty. We drank them with a spoon!

The views from the western end of the lake were just as stunning as the view from Bled and the hotel, and as the sun was setting and the water very still there were some fantastic reflections of the Castle and the island and the Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Maria.

After our hot chocolates they continued their cycle ride around the lake, and we jumped back in the car to continue our car journey around the lake, we passed through some lovely villages with a distinct alpine feel.

For dinner tonight we had booked a restaurant near the hotel called Oštarija Peglez’n. It served the local cuisine and wine and we all took out time choosing what we liked, the service and the food and of course of wine were all excellent everybody enjoyed what they had and some of us even shared.

I opted for a local spicy sausage which was lovely. We went for a red wine, a Cabernet Frank called Ščurek. It was nice and very smooth and complimented all our different food choices.

And then it was off to bed as we had an early start in the morning as we were heading to Ljubljana for New Year.

New Year In Slovenia-Day One

Well this is my first travel blog, I have decided to break it down into smaller chunks, so here is day one in Slovenia.
How lucky was I to be able to spend the New Year in Slovenia, we had chosen it on a bit of a whim and after speaking to Aljaž Škorjanec from Strictly Come Dancing who is from there and highly recommended it.

We only booked it in late November and there would be 7 of us going, my wife (Barbara) and I (Phillip), my mother and Barbara’s sister, husband and family.

Barbara and I were a little nervous having made the recommendation to go to Slovenia as the party had grown from just the two of us to the seven with an age range from 16 to 80. Slovenia had big expectations put on it but boy did it live up to them and indeed exceed them.

We flew out from London Stansted Airport with EasyJet and to be fair the whole check-in and boarding process worked pretty well. I was wearing a spinal brace and it was the first time I had been through an airport with it and so didn’t quite know what to expect but of course security had seen it many times before and knew exactly what to do.

And for the first time ever the flight actually took off at just before 7 am and soon the pilot was announcing that the flight would only take 1 hour and 45 minutes rather than the scheduled 2 hours.

And so before long we were over the Alps and descending into Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport with lovely clear blue sky. Once on the ground the plane quickly taxied to the terminal and we were disembarking and heading into the terminal.

Given the choice I like being in the front seats, it gives you a head start getting through security and so on. And again, to be fair the whole process of immigration and bag collection went very well, I was impressed.

It was just a short walk across the road at the front of the terminal to the Car Hire building. We were getting two cars; we had gone for slightly bigger car than we would normally choose and had also gone for automatic with 4 wheel drive just in case the weather become snowy. I ended up with a Skoda Kodiak and my brother in law got a Mercedes, we had both chosen Hertz for our cars.

The process was quick and we were soon loading up our cars, I had not driven a Skoda before but it looked like a nice car and I got used to the controls and set the Sat Nav to take us to Lake Bled which would be of first destination for two nights before heading to Ljubljana for another 2 nights and New Year.

Lake Bled was only a 30-minute drive from the Airport and we were soon checked into our Hotel, the Grand Hotel Toplice, which was at the side of the Lake and opposite the Castle. My first action was to go onto the balcony and take in the view which was stunning. We all did some quick unpacking before meeting up to do some exploring of Bled.

Bled is at the eastern end of the lake and has all the things you would expect, we headed to tourist information and picked up a few maps and guides which would be handy over the next few days. There were some shops and we popped into a few, there was also a small Christmas Fair taking place which we explored as well. The fair had a variety of gift stalls and food stalls, it looked and smelled great.

After a walk around we looked for somewhere to go for a bite of lunch and we made our way to the Park Restaurant and Café, which had a great view over the lake. Turns out it also had a great menu and we were all keen to sample some Slovenian food and there was lots to choose from.

I opted for Beef Soup which was like a consommé and came with beef and sliced pancake, with veg. It was just what I needed and I everyone else enjoyed their choice. We followed it up with cake and I went for the apple strudel which again was delicious.

We then took a boat over to Bled Island and the Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Maria. It is about a 20-minute trip to the island depending on where you board and most of the boats are rowed by an oarsman. It is quite relaxing and a great way to see the lake although very cold in December, hats and gloves were quickly put on after boarding.

A steep flight of stairs leads you up from the jetty to the Church with great views in all directions across the lake.

The church is very pretty, and I was amazed at how ornate it was inside, there is a tower that can be climbed but I choose not to make the climb due to my back.

We explored the small island and after 40 minutes it was time to make our way back to our boat and head back to shore. By now the sun was going down and the temperature was dropping, but the views were amazing, well worth the trip.

Once on shore we made our way back to the Grand Hotel Toplice to warm up and relax before dinner in the evening.

For supper we had booked a table at the Bled Castle Restaurant which is part of the castle opposite. We drove to the castle and made our way up to the restaurant; it was quite a climb up a steep cobbled road; I was puffing by the time we got to the restaurant.

The view from the boat of Bled and the Castle

But it was so worth the effort, the restaurant and the food were fantastic, the service was very good and at times felt like theatre. Our waiter was very knowledgeable and introduce each course, describing the food and wine.

Once again, we were all very pleased with our choices as we made our way back to the hotel and to bed after a long but very pleasing day in Slovenia.

What’s It All About

What’s it all about?

I can hear you asking, well let me tell you.

I have always loved to travel and go to new countries and have been lucky to visit as many countries as I have.

One day I was wondering how many countries I had visited and so I started to count them up and was amazed to discover that I had been to 36 countries, I was pleased with myself.

I then began to wonder how many countries there were? This is where it gets a little complicated and I will cover this in more detail at some point, but I concluded there are 195 countries.

So, there I was, I had visited about 18% of the countries, I wanted more!

But before I could visit more, I needed a better record of the countries I had visited and so I started to create a spreadsheet to record dates etc, this quickly ballooned into pages for each country, list of countries by continent and so on.

I also spent some time looking at digital apps that I could use on my phone and there are some great one’s that I now use but I think there is something traditional and tactile about using a pen and paper to record your travel, think of the old Captain’s Log!

I also had some friends who would never use a digital app and so I started to pull together the pages I was using to log my travel and “An Old-Fashioned Travel App” was born.

In the blog I am going to try and write about my travels and how I select them and record them as well as anything travel related that I feel is relevant.

Lavenham in Suffolk

Lavenham weekend

25th to 26th January 2020 staying at the Swan Hotel in Lavenham and the best news is that Teddy came to.

We don’t live far from Lavenham, it’s about 40 miles away or about an hour drive but it is always nice to get away and we look forward to a break from the norm.

We left home at around 11:30 on Saturday morning, first stop was the Mill Hotel in Sudbury the hotel looks a little tired on the outside but is very nice on the inside and what’s even better, the food is great.

The weather was grey and overcast at about 5 degrees centigrade, so a little on the cool side.

Lunch at The Mill Hotel was very good I had a Steak Sandwich with chips and Barbara had a Cheese and Mustard Mayo sandwich with chips, both were very good, and the big chips were especially tasty.

After lunch we went for a walk with Teddy across the water meadows, I had my new zip up boots on and my new parka and I am pleased to report that both worked very well.

Because it has been very wet Teddy had his coat on, I know he doesn’t like it, but it does help keep him clean. We met a very nice dog called Mylo, he was a cross between a Bichon Frise and a Golden Retriever and looked very cute, trouble was Mylo was a bit frisky and was trying to hump Teddy all the time.

We walked across the water meadows for about 30-minutes.

Once back at the car we headed to Pets at Home to get that teddy a few treats before heading on to Lavenham.

We had to park in the overflow car park which was very busy and then we checked in and we were shown to our room, room number 53. It was a nice big room with a bath, plenty of space for the three of us.

It was then beer o’clock and time for a beer, so we headed to the bar. I had a Moretti and Barbara had a Raspberry Pinkster Gin.

Once we finished our drinks, we took a walk through the village where we visited the Marshbeck Interiors shop which is an old building that looks very grand and is full of little Knick knacks and furniture. They have some great things in there lots of wood as well as antiques, it’s well worth a visit if you are in Lavenham. We also had a look in the antique shop on the way back to the hotel, but they didn’t have anything that took our fancy.

Lavenham – I love the crooked building which is Munnings Tea Room, which serves great sandwiches and cake.

So, we headed to the car park and I moved the car into a better car parking space. We then retired to her room for a rest, another beer and a quick nap before dinner.

Come 7.30 we were down in the Gallery Restaurant for dinner, we have dined here before and it is very nice with some background music playing, we were seated at a table for two and the menu was brought over.

Our waitress for the evening was a young lady called Skye.

For starters I went for Scallops with Celeriac, Lime, Honey and chive, which was lovely, a riot of different flavours. For main course I had Braised Beef Cheeks, Blue Cheese Pomme Puree, Onion and Baby Leeks, and for dessert Orange Souffle.

To go with our food, we went for a Chilean Pinot Noir called Conquistador. It was very nice and went well with our food.

After dinner we took Teddy out for a walk and then went to the bar for a night cap, I had a Balvenie Doublewood, a little expensive I know but I deserve a treat every now and then! I then had a Disaronno to take back to the room as a nightcap.

It’s worth mentioning the bar at the hotel, as it is also a shrine or at least a memorial to all the American airmen who served at RAF Lavenham during World War II and especially those that gave their lives during that conflict and after.

The bar is a shrine to those who served at RAF Lavenham during World War 2

We had a bit of a rough night as Teddy did not settle very well, I think he could hear noises throughout the hotel and was very restless.

We were a little late getting up although we still made for breakfast at about 9:30. I had the Swan Full English Breakfast which was lovely, and Barbara had Mushrooms, Tomatoes on toast. I saved a little bit of bacon and sausage for Teddy as treat for later on.

After breakfast we finished packing and Barbara loaded the car and we checked out. Our bill came to £88 partly due to my expensive tasting whiskey the previous night.

But overall the stay and the dinner were free after the poor service at Christmas.

Once the car was loaded, we walked up the road to the church and had a look round, it was a big church very impressive and very imposing.

There was a farmer’s market taking place in the village hall and we headed there, I brought two Scotch Eggs and Chorizo Sausage and we brought some Darcy Spice Old English russet apples which are very tasty. We also brought a bottle of apple juice made from the same apples.

Barbara got some Blackberry Gin for us and also some gin for Karen at work.

Then it was time to head back to the car and make our way home, the gin, that Barbara had tried earlier must have gone straight to her head as she was soon nodding off in the car as I drove along.

Overall all we had a lovely weekend; we both appreciated a change of scenery and it was nice to spend some time together and with Teddy despite him keeping us up all night.

On the way home we discussed having a day trip to Sudbury at some point in the future, similar to what we had done on Saturday, we will also have a look at Halstead which is probably worth a visit as well but I need to look at what walks there are around there. We also picked up a leaflet for St. George’s Distillery in Roudham, which looks like it might be worth a visit as well as they do whiskey tasting.