A few days prior to a procedure to fix Mr C’s unexpected health condition that caused us to cancel our Madeira trip in October we had a last minute day trip to London.

We enjoyed a special meal deal in The Ivy looking towards Tower Bridge, our destination for the day. Tower Bridge with its glass walkways and views of London from above is well worth a visit. After our tour of the bridge we had hoped to visit the nearby Tower of London but in winter months it closes earlier, meaning we had run out of time. Instead we visited Foyles book shop where neither of us were tempted to buy anything.

A couple of days later I took Mr C on the 50 minute drive to the hospital (in appalling weather) where his procedure to remove some anomalous non-malignant cells was due to take place. General anaesthetic was administered but when the consultant prepared to do the procedure he found that the anomalous cells had vanished…

He was allowed home rather than having to stay in hospital overnight. Another 50 minute there and back again journey for me. We stopped on the way home to pick up something for our evening meal. A cup of tea was in order and we were tempted by naughty cakes.

Today was my birthday so I enjoyed a cup of tea in bed whilst opening prezzies. Breakfast was much as I remembered it although now it is completely self service whereas on our previous visit some of the breakfast items such as eggs were cooked fresh to order.

After breakfast we walked through misty Harrogate to Valley Gardens then through the Pinewoods to the RHS Harlow Carr.

By the entrance to the pinewoods, I stopped to take a photo of the beautiful autumn trees. A gentleman saw me and asked if Mr C and I would like him to take a photo of us together; he had also seen the photographic scene. After he had kindly taken the photo, we got chatting to him and his wife. They told us of a potential walk near Knaresborough where the trees are spectacular at this time of year.

It was mizzley and misty as we walked but by the time we had arrived at the garden the mist lifted to reveal brilliant sunshine. We enjoyed our early lunch of poached salmon and prawn sandwiches in a window seat in Betty’s where we enjoyed looking at the garden lit up by the sun.

Rather than follow our sandwich with a cake, we decided to take advantage of the sunny weather to enjoy the gardens at their best. The autumnal colours were spectacular. The sun graced us with its presence until we left the gardens through the shop and made a return visit to Betty’s for the cake we had promised ourselves.

The weather had become overcast as we walked back to town, with a lite sprinkling of rain. I had also been rather forgetful after my recent visit to Cardiff and had not recharged my second camera battery! So, part way through the return walk, I had to resort to plan B, my mobile phone camera.

Back in town Mr C took me to the board game shop, Gamers Crusade and bought me an extra birthday present, Kelp, the game that caught my eye the previous day.  Back in the hotel room we weren’t able to crack it open and play it. Although the room was large there was no table to play it on.

Later we dined in the hotel restaurant, The Pickled Sprout. Before dining we had an aperitif in the bar, once again perched on high stools which I found difficult to navigate in a skirt. When it was time to dine, we relocated to more comfortable seating in the restaurant. The lighting was rather dim making it difficult to read the menu (the couple next to us resorted to their mobile phone torches). I chose fish and chips; the fish melted in my mouth but the meal portion was enormous! Mr C chose salmon which was slightly overcooked accompanied by undercooked stringy beans. Perhaps not quite the gourmet experience for a ‘special’ birthday meal.

Before returning to our room we rounded off the evening with a nightcap in the bar where, thankfully, there was room to sit on the more comfortable lower-level seats.

Working my way round all the breakfast options, today I chose traditional breakfast items from the hot buffet area.

After breakfast we drove the short distance to St Fagans national museum of history, avoiding the bus lane which hides in plain sight. The 100 acres of parkland at St Fagans is free to enter and houses over forty original buildings that have been re-erected there from different historical periods and areas in Wales. We started our tour of the site in the “Wales is…” gallery which is located in the main entrance building.

We then followed the route around the parkland using the map to visit the buildings mainly in the order that they are numbered on the map. We paused for lunch in the building that houses Gweithdy galleries and workshop. One of the first buildings we visited was Melin Bompren Corn Mill where a guide explained the workings of the mill to us. As we were leaving the mill he asked me if I was Welsh, he thought he could detect a slight Welsh accent. I don’t think I have but perhaps I have picked up a bit of a twang living just across the border in Shropshire.

We had another interesting conversation in the Llys Llywelyn (Llywelyn’s Court) building where an English lady who had learned Welsh explained the Welsh alphabet and how to pronounce the letters. She also told us that all public facing staff had to be able to speak Welsh.

We had to miss out a few of the buildings to make sure we were able to visit St Fagans Castle and gardens. Only part of the castle is currently open to visitors but the gardens are stunning, we wished we had more time to explore them.

We returned to the café before it was due to close for tea and cake but for some reason it was closing early and only provided a takeaway service. This meant that our chosen cake was shared from a paper bag! Other people turned up just after us and were ignored leading them to leave empty handed.

Before all of this I had visited reception to purchase a guide book only to be told that they had sold out and there were none available in the shop either. After finishing my cake and drink I visited the shop on the off chance that a guide book was available. I noticed two ladies at the till with a guidebook in hand and there seemed to be some sort of problem. I approached to ask about guidebook availability. I was told that there was a misprinted guidebook where the map was missing from the back of the book. The shop manager had just allowed one to be sold to the two ladies and I also purchased one (on a non-returnable basis).

The journey back to Cardiff was tedious. The traffic was heavy and the SatNav kept trying to navigate us along bus lanes which meant we had to go the long way round to get to get back to the car park. Eventually we arrived back at the hotel later than we had intended.

We freshened up for dinner which was in the nearby Laguna restaurant. The service was a bit disjointed but the food was delicious and all the staff were lovely. As our dessert arrived the waiter insisted on taking a photo of the two of us.

By the time we had finished our meal it was too late to walk into town so we returned to the hotel for a nightcap.

The lady who served us complimented me on my co-ordinated look and how lovely my skirt was which reminded me that earlier in the day one of St Fagans employees commented on how lovely my scarf was. The previous evening a passer by had said how lovely my skirt was. Cardiff seems to be the town of compliments.

For various reasons I wasn’t able to lay my potential holiday clothes options out on the bed then reject some, keeping my packing to a sensible level before packing my bag the day before travelling as I usually do.

This left me feeling stressed out packing at the last minute whilst Mr C sorted out some last-minute things and fuelled up the car for the journey to Manchester. Whilst he was out, he picked up a mini fish for lunch before packing his bag.

We set off mid-afternoon for Manchester and our overnight stay in the Premier Inn. The Satnav picked a scenic route to Manchester along roads that we don’t usually travel along. We enjoyed the delightful route enhanced by the glorious sunshine.

When we checked in at the Premier Inn, we found our room perfectly located for a bit of plane spotting as they made their final approach to the airport runway. The experience was enhanced by a live plane tracking app on Mr C’s phone.

We dined in the Griffin rather than our usual Tatton Arms. We were welcomed, shown to our seat and told to order at the bar when we were ready. When Mr C went to the bar to place the order there was momentary confusion when the lady who served him said that that they weren’t accepting any more food orders. The man who had greeted us informed her that we had pre booked so we were not walk ins and she promptly took the order.

A few minutes later someone rushed up to our table and apologetically informed us that our choice of meal (chicken schnitzel) had run out! We took a few minutes to choose other options, in my case scampi. When the food arrived it was delicious. Before we left, I couldn’t resist the urge to have my photograph taken with my VE 80 virtual challenge medal next to Churchill who was part of the Griffin’s VE day decorations.

We returned to the hotel for a nightcap. We found the bar to be scruffy with few people, no atmosphere and no beer (they were waiting for the order to arrive). It was a Friday night!!  The atmosphere was a stark contrast to our experiences there before they rebranded it in 2024. Before the, the bar was fully stocked and the room was full and buzzing.

After this less than satisfying experience, we retired to our room for an early night in preparation for our 7:10 am flight to Rome.

“VE Day stands for Victory in Europe day, a key event at the end of WW2.

On 8 May 1945 people all over the world celebrated Germany’s surrender, which had been agreed the previous day.

It comes ahead of VJ Day – Victory in Japan Day – on 15 August which commemorates the end of the war.”

On Bank Holiday Monday Paddington Bear invited me to Snugburys to sample his marmalade ice cream. When I arrived, he doffed his hat to welcome me.

Thank you, Paddington. The ice cream was delicious.

We got up early so we could enjoy one last hotel breakfast before the taxi arrived for our transfer back to Rome airport. After collecting our bags and checking out at reception, we waited in the lounge area for the taxi to arrive.

There was a bit of confusion when the taxi arrived. The driver read out a couple of names, neither of which was ours. The driver was expecting to pick up four people and when he checked he realised that he had read out the wrong name.

We shared the taxi with a couple who had been celebrating their wedding anniversary and a couple of ladies who were already on board. The transfer ran smoothly whilst the six of us engaged in interesting conversations. The others we were travelling with had all flown from Birmingham and their outbound flight had suffered with air turbulence which we had not experienced on our flight from Manchester.

Checking in at the airport also went smoothly giving us time to relax before boarding the plane. Once again, the flight was delayed due to air traffic control issues. The captain was eventually, one hour late; given the all clear for flight. When he announced this, he added that we would now be joining the ‘Conga’ queue to the runway. There were around ten planes ahead of us on the curvy taxi way to the runway.

The flight was also smooth, albeit with a slight bit of turbulence. Once back at Manchester and past customs and passport control, we made our way to the baggage reclaim area. This proved to be slow again. My bag arrived quite quickly but Mr C’s took a long time to arrive as did many other passengers’ luggage. A few cases would arrive and then there would be a delay before more cases arrived.

With our car reclaimed from the ‘meet and greet’ parking we headed home, stopping to pick up a ready meal for dinner. We stuck to the Italian theme and chose lasagne.