The Watercress Line - Is it worth a visit?

Now I am not going to bore you with a history lesson, but once a upon a time in the United Kingdom we heavily relied on steam power. Steam trains were the back bone of the country (Not the Ford Transit as Ford would have you believe) We had railway lines spanning all over our island, a true network of being able to ship products and people. Then one man came along, his name was Beeching and decided upon a huge and punchy round of cuts to the railway network.  It meant that many branch lines were pulled up, steam trains were left to rot. Railways were no longer the best  route to transport goods and people, and started to spill onto the roads.

Fast forward to 2019 and the roads are the most congested they have been.  Old railway lines have had houses or roads built upon them. The amount of lorries and cars are at an all time high, and the only thing the government wants to do is tax cars more and more and build silly smart motorways that aren't smart

The Watercress line which is located in Hampshire is one of the railway lines that were hit by the cuts. In the late sixties it ran as far as Winchester, and to Alton. Linking it with the west coat, and into London. It was closed, and if it hadn't had been for volunteers, shareholders and investors, people who wanted to save the railway - it would have stayed shut.  By the late seventies it was open again as a heritage railway, and thanks to all the volunteers and people who put their heart, and their money into this - its still going strong!

It spans from Alresford to Alton, a distance of 10 miles in beautiful country side. You can choose to ride on the train, or see it flash by in all its grandeur from many of the vantage points along the route.  Just one of these points I happened to visit this weekend.  Take a look:

It also has events on during the year such as Walk the Line where you can well, walk the line for charity..  War re-enactments, a dining train called The Countryman, and also the Alresford Belle, The famous Santa Special where children get to meet Father Christmas - and the Little Blue Bastard, otherwise known as Thomas the Tank Engine!

There are some seriously passionate people who take the time to run this railway and it is worth a visit. You really should go and show your support!

Check out the website, and the timetables here to avoid disapointment and to avoid the Little Blue Bastard weekends!

https://www.watercressline.co.uk/

They also have a YouTube channel! Click Here

Marwell Zoo Review - We saw a Pidgeon!

We recently went on a visit to Marwell Zoo, near Winchester in Hampshire UK.

This review will be short and not so sweet.  We saw a handfull of animals, with the best being a Pidgeon near the cafe, followed by the second best thing of some Giraffes, and worst of all a tigger pacing up and down looking like its world had collapsed around him.

Zoos are a fun place for people to gawp at animals doing not much at all. On this occasion there werent any animals. 

Would not reccomend!

London Gatwick BLOC Hotel Review

VIP Room - Amazing room

I booked the VIP room (runway view 648) for my husband as a surprise before we flew to Scotland to celebrate our wedding anniversary and we were not disappointed with the view at all. 

The Armani shower is, without question, the best shower we've ever experienced in our travels. We want one for home!! It was the most perfect way to unwind post travelling and refresh prior to our onward journey. The amenities were greatly appreciated and saved us having to unpack and repack our suitcase.

The bed was comfortable and the blinds offered suitable coverage from the light outside which was impressive.

The view, well, wow, there's nothing negative we can say about that at all, we were looking out onto the stands and had a brilliant view of the two runways. We’re not aircraft spotters by any stretch of the imagination but it was really enjoyable watching the ground activity and seeing the planes land and take off. Just to mention it was really quiet too so you don’t need to worry about noise, the big A380 took off whilst we were there and it really didn’t impact on us at all.

We didn't wait until late in the evening before we attempted to use the TV. Despite following the instructions it became clear the box linked to the TV screen was clearly not working. Unfortunately we had both got into bed so were unwilling to clamber down to reception to make them aware. Believe you me, the other guests would have not appreciated the view either!

We attempted to ring reception but it wasn't answered, we rang back again and the phone rang until it connected to the duty manager’s answerphone service and neither of us felt it appropriate to make the on-call manager aware of this blip. The answerphone message asked as to phone reception and leave a message for them to contact us if we did not wish to speak with the manager. This we did however the call was never returned, we left feedback online then gave up and went to sleep.

The hotel has now fully resolved this by way of a refund and its clear they  are keen to ensure all guests get what they paid for!

It’s fair to say I shall be saving up to stay in the VIP room again!!

Destiny Scotland - Chisolm Hunter Suites review

This review for The Chisolm Hunter Suites (Destiny Scotland) in Edinburgh could have been a 4 or even 5 star review but unfortunately it was not to be.

 

First things first I think it’s important to start on the positives. 

The view of the Castle and the location of the apartment are completely incomparable. You are in the heart of the City within easy walking access to everything you may want. The apartment had every facility you need for a self catering break. 

Negatives

Changing our apartment the day before check in to a less desirable apartment, pee soaked bed linen and an extractor fan you can’t turn on unless you want the apartment to smell like sewage. 

We have previously stayed at one of Destiny Scotland’s other locations (the Malt House Apartment) and absolutely loved it, the apartment was beautiful and extremely comfortable with all the amenities we needed to support us during our stay. We felt we were a little out of the centre of the city however and decided when we were going to return we would be in the heart of the city and we truly were. 

We were a bit let down in a number of areas however. We booked our stay 6 months in advance to guarantee the best room available and requested to stay in one of the ‘Superior one Bed Apartments’. The images shown on the website from which we used to decide which apartment to book clearly showed two floor to ceiling huge windows which flooded the apartment with light. A sofa in front of one and the dining table in chairs in front of the other. Lovely jubley. We couldn’t have been happier with our choice. 

A week before we were due to book in (when we had already left home and were staying elsewhere) we received our check in instruction advising us we were in Flat 1 on the second floor. We were so pleased as from looking at Google Street View it was clear we were going to be staying in one of the apartments with the huge windows we’d seen in the pictures and had booked. 

Unfortunately, the day before we checked in we received a further check in email which said we would be in Flat 4 on the third floor. There was no explanation for this. I was really disappointed as I knew from looking at Street View we would not have the benefit of the larger apartment we had anticipated. I contacted the team to be told it was like a game of Tetris to get everyone in which meant people would often be moved. I was not impressed. 

We raised this again with the team when we arrived at the offices to drop off our luggage (such a useful facility to have to drop off our luggage prior to booking in and leaving with them until our evening flight, thank you). I said I was disappointed as we would not have the floor to ceiling view we had been anticipating. The member of staff we spoke with said we were still in a superior apartment and our view would not be compromised. Once we entered however I can categorically say I disagree. 

The apartment is beautifully modern, the induction hob, fan oven, fridge/freezer, dishwasher and washer/dryer were all very appreciated and meant we were fully self-sufficient, all items we were very grateful for. 

However, let’s be under no illusion here, the top floor apartments are compromised in space and access to the view of the castle. You lose space because of the roof line. Be aware too, the staircase to reach the apartments are almost corkscrew so carrying our 32 kilos of suitcase up the stairs was not a fun experience. 

We entered to find the sloping ceilings impacted on the overall space we had been anticipating in the apartment. We had a bay window which looked out over the castle which we had to clean as it was filthy inside, and out. We don’t expect the outside to be cleaned regularly, they face out onto Princes Street so expect them to get dirty quickly, however, we do expect the inside to be cleaned. There were face and hand marks of the previous occupants on the glass which impacted on the view and we couldn’t relax until we’d moved the sofa around and cleaned the windows so we could enjoy the view of the castle. 

On our last night we had booked a night walking tour but when we went to leave the complex we were held back by a number of extremely drunk people trying to access a party which was being held on the floor below us. We’re unsure whether this was in apartment 1 or 2 but it wasn’t a nice experience being stood at the bottom of the stairs being unsure to leave the complex as a group were struggling to get in. We didn’t want to face refusing access to the complex as we were unsure how they would react so we had to wait for them to source the number to access the right apartment. It was clear they were too drunk (and, according to their conversation, too stoned) to remember the log in code. We waited until they had called their friend and sought the code to enter the complex before we left. When the door opened we found two women completely unaware of their surroundings and barely able to stand entering the complex with three other gentlemen and another female. We returned to our apartment at approximately midnight to find the party still going in full, noisy swing, not what we had anticipated.

Another note, do not turn on the extractor fan in the bathroom for Flat 4, my god, we turned it on following a shower, went out and returned a couple of hours later and it smelt like something had died in the apartment. The smell was so pungent and made the apartment an unpleasant place to be. It smelt like rancid drain water and it took us a while to work out what it was and where it was coming from. We turned the extractor fan off, aired the apartment and then left it off for the rest of our stay. 

On the day of check out we always try to make things easier and strip the beds and place all the linen and towels in an easily accessible place for housekeeping staff. This is when we realised that underneath the top sheet there was a thin mattress protector which was covered in yellow stains. This would have been instantly obvious to whoever had placed the top sheet over when changing the bed linen between guests. We took photos as we couldn’t quite believe it. At £150 a night we don’t anticipate sleeping in other people’s urine because a member of staff couldn’t be bothered to change a mattress protector. Fair to say we were furious and I’m unsure whether or not we will be using Destiny Scotland again which is such a shame as they do have some fabulous properties in our favourite city. 

If you want to be in the heart of it the definitely go for it but check you get the room/apartment you pay for and expect and be anticipated to clean or check it’s clean before you stay.

Heathrow T5 Pod review - Its bloody amazing!

Heathrow T5 Pods - Its bloody amazing!

Many years ago the option for travelling to the airport was to catch a taxi to the local train station, and then a train either to Heathrow or to Gatwick.  Having experienced this on a few occasions with varying degrees of anguish, disappointment and upset we vowed to find an alternative to what we considered to be hell.  The final straw was finding a load of cancellations due to overrunning engineering works, and then a taxi driver who wouldn't shut up.  Having just asked us where we had been, and us replying - we had been out of the country - his next question was "did you watch the Rubgy?"  "NO, we've been on holiday!!"  This was after we had to clear away the rubbish from his back seat to actually let us sit down in the first place.  Enough was enough!

Having investigated parking prices at Heathrow and Gatwick it was a no brainer. Prices to park a car for 2, even 3 weeks was cheaper and far less hellish than a taxi and a train. Just don't go dirt cheap and get valet parking from one of these firms who take your car, let it rest upside down in a wet ditch for a few weeks before bringing it back to you, and then expecting a tip! 

Now what could be better than not catching a disease from a train, and getting talked at by a taxi driver until rigamortis sets in?  Maybe parking your car in a secure car park easily just outside of the airport and then getting a little electric pd that takes you directly into the terminal?  As luck would have it, British Airways Terminal 5 at Heathrow has just this.   Check out the full journey view below:

This actually opened in 2011 so has been existence for a while but its revolutionary.  The car park is known as "business car parking" and has a good amount of spaces in a very secure place.  It is just outside of the runway.  Sidle up to the bus stop like thing and tap a little button to say you want a ride and within seconds a pod that can house 4 people, or 2 with a good amount of luggage arrives and whisks you into the terminal. You get a great view of the runway as you speed along.  It really is fantastic and worth doing.  It is this kind of technology that makes Electric cars seem useful!

Komandoo Island Resort review- Maldives

A 'good' resort but some work to do

Let me open this review by saying we may very well return to Komandoo so don't think this review is entirely negative, it's not. This is an honest review of a resort which prides itself on being 5 star and, somewhat surprising to us, continues to receive 5 star reviews. 

 Full Trip video:

We booked Komandoo for our 3 week honeymoon based on the fact it's one of the few adult only resorts in the Maldives and due to the amazing reviews. We'd waited a year following our wedding in order to be away for 3 weeks and it's fair to say our expectations were high, however there were a few niggly bits which dulled the overall shine of an otherwise incredible honeymoon. To place in perspective I've been very lucky to have been to the Maldives on a couple of occasions previously, Mayaafushi and Mirihi as well a number of resorts in Mauritius, Antigua, St Lucia, a couple have been 5 star resorts and others 3 or 4 star so I've seen a broad spectrum of accommodation types. 

First of all, and not the resorts issue, make sure you have a pen in your hand luggage to fill your immigration card as soon as you land in Male, it's a bit of a fight to try and find one to complete, not sure why they don't hand out on the planes. But anyhow, after 17 hours travelling there was quite a delay before our seaplane flight to the resort. We were quite disappointed especially as we then flew to Kuredu and had quite some time waiting there. Ultimately it was 4.5hrs from landing at Male until we reached Komandoo so were exhausted upon arrival. The welcome coconut milk and ice cream were well received albeit we were absolutely shattered and just wanted a shower and a nap. When we arrived in our water villa (Eagle Ray 12) we were amazed at the beautiful view and size of the villa. However, there's no escaping the rooms are looking very tired and need a deep clean, there was a crack in the tile on our shower floor as well black mould all over our shower tiles and our jacuzzi bath was broken. In order to get it work we had to take the bath panel off to locate the button to turn on and off. There was also on overwhelming smell of urine in the toilet, for days we kept the lid down thinking it was the drains but it really bothered me so I turned investigator and pretty much stuck my head down the toilet. Then I realised there was a huge buildup of urine smelling limescale at the front of the toilet under the rim. Having taken maintenance 4 days to repair our bath I decided to sort myself, I soaked tissue in Coca Cola from our minibar and wedged up under the rim to act as a descaler. After doing this for a few days combined with a good scrubbing from the toilet brush actually made a bit of a difference so it wasn't offensive to be in our toilet again. 

There's a very handy washing line in the water villa which was a lovely touch however do not use the clothes pegs provided!! They're stained brown wooden pegs and due to sheer exhaustion I used a couple when we arrived and freshened up however they stained our clothing. In the room are some really useful thoughtful items, dressing gowns as well as life vests which if we'd known beforehand wouldn't haven't taken one with us, really nice consideration. We also has honeymoon t-shirts, fruit platter and some sparkling wine with an imaginative towel display upon arrival thanks to Ali. He also repeated the towel displays on our anniversary and again on Valentine's Day when we also had chocolates and a beautiful red rose in our room. Wonderful gestures, thank you. 

Candlelight Dinner:

We were looking forward to taking part in a number of trips whilst there however the biggest disappointment to us was that Hayes and Jarvis and Komandoo advertised daily trips to a local desert island, Kadadoo. We love snorkelling and were looking forward to visiting different places however these are not happening. Kadadoo is the 4th resort of Crown & Champa which include Kuredu, Hurawalhi and Komandoo. 2 weeks after our return these daily trips are still being advertised. The resort is due to open in December 2017 and the building work has been ongoing for some time. We even saw a Hurawalhi plane at Male advertising both that resort and Kadadoo Residences. To not communicate this to prospective travellers is not acceptable. The building work is obvious and does spoil the view from Komandoo, when calm you can hear the works which starts early and finishes well into the night. The 'local' island people also talk about which is visible from the sunset side is also a lot closer than people have described and is an industrial tuna fish canning island, it's not pretty and it's not what we had been expecting. 

The location offered few options for evening entertainment which suited us as we didn't want a party island however we were desperately disappointed when the few events (2 movie under the star events) and a crab racing event were cancelled with no reason and no communication, on one occasion we sought an explanation and were told it was too windy for the movie but there was no explanation for the first time it was cancelled. We had been sat waiting for the event to start under the clear and calm sky so still don't know why that or the crab racing was cancelled. Another communication issue which needs addressing, the information provided to us at pre arrival stage and on the Komandoo website doesn't match the information provided in people's rooms, info re doctors, food, trips didn't match, they didn't always match the info we'd been provided with. 

Beware overbooking at Komandoo, unlike other resorts we've been to there is no identified transfer days, I'm used to Sundays being a day when people arrive and depart which is easy for a resort to manage however seaplanes and new people came and went pretty much every day. This has led to problems of overbooking and people are being offered the opportunity to move and on some occasions are being moved to Hurawalhi despite their protestations. Hurawalhi looks lovely (we went there to go to the 5:8 underwater restaurant, brilliant experience but air con is useless at lunchtime so you will get very warm, ) but it's a much bigger resort which doesn't have the intimate feel of Komandoo. People we spoke with said it was a resort which was very stylish but they had not enjoyed their time there as it was not the usual, relaxed and intimate feel they loved about Komandoo. 

There are two restaurants on the island the buffet restaurant where you have all meals and the Aqua restaurant which offers an a la carte and tasting menu. We asked to book the Aqua restaurant upon our arrival for Valentine's Day to be told it was closed that day as the main buffet restaurant would be doing something special. Fair enough we thought so booked another day however shortly after spending a considerable amount of money there Aqua was advertising a special Valentine's Day menu, after a dinner on the beach meal for our anniversary, a meal at the Aqua restaurant and at the underwater restaurant we couldn't justify spending another $300 to eat there, disappointing. We were also surprised there was no offer of vouchers towards eating at Aqua if you were all inclusive and didn't eat at the buffet restaurant, other resorts offer a token gesture or credit towards your bill if you eat elsewhere on islands but not here and not sure why. A note about the buffet restaurant, if you want a seat on the deck at tea time either be prepared to get there at 19:20hrs and fight your way to the front or tip your waiters excessively. I was taken aback being pushed to one side by people behind me in the queue desperate to sit at the front, watching ladies in their 70's running through foliage to the side of the restaurant to get to their seats and staff reserving seats for some visitors. This last point really sticks with me, first come first served or nominated seating, do not show preferential treatment in this way it was very frustrating. We loved our Vila on the sunrise side, the villas from approx 7 to 15 are sunrise side and look out to open sea, we had the sun on our deck until about 15:00 which was perfect for us. However there was an issue with privacy which we weren't anticipating, Hurawalhi offer jet ski and speedboat trips and we frequently felt on view as these went zooming past on a regular basis. 

Spotted Eagleray:

 

The snorkelling is out of this world, the coral is bleached but we saw and swam with a number of turtles, rays, black tipped reef sharks and a couple of octopus as well as a huge range of wonderful fish. Definitely the best snorkelling on a house reef I've seen and was amazing highlight of ours.
We loved our honeymoon, it was our honeymoon so were going to! The snorkelling was incredible, the food wonderful and the overall location beautiful but this is not a five star resort and feel that should be fairly reflected.

Octopuss!

British Airways - Club Europe

As you may have seen in an earlier post. Recently we travelled to Edinburgh and decided that instead of painting ourselves Orange to mingle with Easy Jet peoples, we would go forth and fly with BA.  We opted for Club Europe mostly for the lounge access, but also because you get Food and drink on the plane, priority boarding, better seating, more luggage allowance and the chance to throw a potato at the pilot should he not be very good.

Whilst you contemplate which kind of potato check out the below for a time lapse of London Gatwick Runway (Not filmed by a Drone)

London Gatwick lounge access is very good, but I have to be honest and say it is not as good as at London Heathrow. There is a much better selection at Heathrow. None the less the ability to have food and drink and not sit on a chair made of nails out in the standard departures area is a good thing!

View from the lounge

BACON

Boarding the BA A320 was fine.  We were in row 2 and when it came to choosing between a cold meat selection and an English breakfast the choice was obvious. More Bacon please!!  Then it came to the people in row 3 to have a choice and they were told they'd run out of English Breakfast, and only had 1 cold meat selection. They did not appear amused, and when pushed were offered a bacon sandwich! It would appear on these very short flights that BA only stock 3 of each option. Considering you could have 12 people sat in Club Europe - you could have some very upset and hungry people. Funnily enough on the return journey it was the same.  The random choice of a Salmon salad at 9pm at night was not the favoured choice, but they only had 3 of the alternative mushroom, vegetarian, olives, shaken up in a bag and served in a dish option.

The landing however was text book and there was no requirement for throwing of the aforementioned potatoes

On the return journey however, things were not well.  An announcement was made informing passengers that all the lockers on the A320 heading back to London were broken and basically insisted all passengers check in their hand luggage to go into the hold.  Stupidly we believed this to be true and begrudgingly checked in our hand luggage. Not many other people had done so and the crew were getting increasingly agitated at this fact. One lady who must have had a hard time holding up her face due to the layers of face paid on, looked really angry and marched up and down looking for victims. She made a few people hand in their possessions but other members of the crew seemed to be avoiding the issue and even on large wheelie bags (the sort of size a small man could fit into) they let them off and said it would be OK.

Upon getting on the aircraft we watched our bag sit in the pouring rain before being loaded into the hold, surrounded by a max of 20 bags. A member of the cabin crew then was overheard saying that only 3 overhead lockers were broken, but this then transpired to only be 1.  So in fact there was no requirement to panic people quite so much and make such a big deal out of this.  Not sure exactly who had ordered the panic, but the customer service and communication skills, and consistency in their approach was not great.

So in conclusion, is Club Europe on very short flights really worth it?  If you like getting drunk at 6am in a comfy chair whilst waiting for the plane then yes. If you want to get a slap up meal of your choice on board  - then no. Make a visit to Burger King before hand and sit down and shut up.

Arthurs Seat - Edinburgh

We have just recently returned from a short trip to Edinburgh.  During our trip we decided to make an early morning (I really do mean early, like 6am!) trip to Arthurs Seat. Now, if you know what a seat looks like and you think its just a seat for a man called Arthur you are gravely mistaken!

Yup, its a big hill - or actually its an old Volcano. Its not about to go boom any second so its quite OK to get close without some fire extinguishers!
Anyway, as it turned out it was well worth the early wake up time and there are a few tips for you on how to get here safely.  Before all that though, check out this video on what you can expect to see:

Arthurs Seat by Drone

Firstly - unless you are a complete idiot... DO NOT attempt this in the dark or in bad weather. We learnt that the night before we visited some chump had decided to head up there after dark and just before a snow storm. It ended in them breaking an ankle and getting mr chopper the heliopter man and mountain rescue out to save him.  It is not something you want to do if you are not fit, and capable or in the dark

Secondly - there are two ways up the top.  The first one starts just opposite Holyrood Palace and looks like a gentle climb but shortly after youve invested too much time and its too late to turn back it accends into a hell climb full of steep, slipery steps, slippery paths and then slippery rocks.  The second path starts on Queens Drive, so basically turn right at Holyrood Palace, follow the road round and to the left til you get around the back side (theres a joke there somewhere) of Arthurs Seat, and there is a slightly less risk of death way up.  You still have to climb up rocky paths to get to the very top but its a much better way than the first one!

Thirdly - please be bloody careful. You need to take it slowly, and be sure of your footing. If it is slippery in any way this is a very dangerous place to be.  Ensure you have good footwear. If you are in any way about to attempt this ins flip flops, or those awful Crocks then quite frankly you deserve to fall off the edge!

If you are careful, then you will very much enjoy Arthurs Seat and be glad you did it.
If you feel as though its too dangerous then sit back, relax and take a look at what you could have seen below: