Dinner at London Airport followed by a flight to Abu Dhabi
After a couple of weeks in the UK, my brother, nephew and I stayed at the Hilton Hotel at London’s Heathrow Airport because our flight to Abu Dhabi was very early in the morning and there was no way we were getting up around 3am to depart from our Airbnb. It’s a nice hotel and takes about ten minutes to walk to the terminal in a covered walkway – so easy and so close.
After we checked in we took a look around the hotel and whilst the hotel has a few nice restaurants, we chose the Chinese restaurant for dinner. We met in the bar area for a drink before going to the Zen Oriental Restaurant. Its a nice little restaurant that has a good range of dishes to select from. 
I ordered the fried tofu for entree, my brother had the deep fried spring rolls and Braydon, who wasn’t feeling very hungry, just ordered the chicken sticks with satay sauce as his only dish.
I was happy when I saw fried eggplant on the menu so of course ordered that with a small bowl of rice. My brother enjoyed a chicken dish with cashew nuts. Service was good and I saw all sorts of different people dining; men travelling alone/families/young and old couples and of course us!!
The next morning we were up very early and walked to the terminal. Terminal 4 at Heathrow was so quiet and we got through customs and immigration easily which meant we had a good wait at the Etihad Lounge where we had breakfast cooked for us – scrambled eggs on toast with tea and coffee. I did a bit of last minute souvenir shopping in the paper shop, Boots the chemist and the Harrods store.
Finally we were called to board and I was seated next to the window again which is my favourite seat. I was offered a glass of champagne which I enjoyed and Mark and Braydon got themselves ready for the nine or so hour flight to Abu Dhabi.
I started watching a few shows on tv but then fell asleep; which is something I find easy to do on a plane but not before taking a few snaps out of the window.
Next thing I knew it was time to put the seat upright to land in Abu Dhabi where the heat hit us like a tornado once we left the terminal. Wow!!
Laugharne (pronounced Larne) is a beautiful town on the estuary of the River Tâf and the home of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas from 1949 until his death in 1953. But even more important to me – it’s the home of my beautiful Auntie Anne and her lovely husband Bill and my gorgeous cousin Simon and his family. These are family that my brother has not seen for over forty-five years and my nephew has never met. So whilst in Wales we caught the train to Carmarthen where we were picked up and driven to Laugharne to spent the weekend. And what a fabulous weekend…
I have been back to Wales twice since we emigrated to Australia in 1971 and have visited Laugharne once. It was all new to my brother and nephew and they loved it. Laugharne is such a beautiful place with small streets with lovely colourful homes.
Our English cousins came in from different parts of the country and along with our Welsh cousins and family from Laugharne we had a huge dinner at our Aunt’s new home – what a fun night with so many laughs and childhood memories…great for my brother and nephew to hear these stories.
along a pathway through the forest…
where I saw the tiny garage that was converted into a study by Welsh poet and writer Dylan Thomas. The Boathouse where Dylan lived was closed as I was there too early in the morning.
Along pathways with stunning views of Laugharne and its vibrant green grasslands.
And beautiful views of the river and colourful plots of land across the water.
We then took a look inside this lovely little trinket shop owned by a Welsh lady with the strongest Welsh accent; people in this town were so pleasant especially when they knew why we were visiting. I bought a lovely copy of Dylan Thomas’ ‘A Child’s Christmas in Wales’. Laugharne, like our home town of Swansea, has the remains of an old castle so we stopped by for a couple of photos.
We were going to take the train back to Swansea but Simon our youngest cousin offered to drive us; a lovely offer and wonderful way to chat to him for an extra hour and for him to get to know my brother a bit better – very special!
A great visit with family!! And an opportunity for my nephew to pretend to take a call on his dad’s mobile phone in a lovely red phone box.
And then through the streets of Braddon which is now where all the new restaurants in the city are located. It’s become a very trendy street also with cafes, trinket shops, bars and of course restaurants.
I arrived at the restaurant and met Paul and Jane who were already seated with a glass of wine in hand and one ready for me – great friends!! We were in a booth which unfortunately had very slim seats and the table was unmovable and did not allow much space between the seat and table. A little uncomfortable!
The bar itself is also pretty impressive although my photos don’t really show how impressive – the lights have names of what spirits are on offer.
And then there are the lucky cats…
The restaurant has dishes that are meant to be shared; I think this is a trend with a lot of new restaurants now. I ordered the miso & honey baked sweet potato with garlic kumara chips and blackbean with sesame and lime. We all tasted this and each of us said it was exceptional.
Jane and Paul ordered the Szechuan peper squid with salted black bean, lime, coriander and aioli.
Also Mum’s chicken which is a boneless poached chicken, Singapore sauce, cabbage with sesame and soya sauce.
Before even arriving in Abu Dhabi, I knew I wanted to see the Grand Mosque. It’s a spectacular building that took approximately ten to twelve years to build, depending on which website you read. The wonderful concierge at the Intercontinental Hotel told us the best time to visit, for two reasons; 5pm – firstly to watch the sunset and secondly it’s said not to be as hot as during the middle of the day (she was sort of wrong – it was awfully hot and having to wear a scarf over my head and shoulders only made me more hot!).
We all started off with a pot of tea each and waited for the High Tea to arrive. It really is a little different to the usual High Teas I have been to. Firstly warm fresh sourdough rolls with house-made butter were brought to the table and then a large plate of savoury items arrived – a plate each. Jenny had advised the restaurant I didn’t eat cheese so I had a plate of mini pumpkin sandwiches, salad, olives, mini quiches and sun dried tomatoes – all delicious except the olives which I don’t like.
Jane sort of forgot the sweets were yet to come and was a bit full when they arrived but then again she does not have a sweet tooth so it didn’t matter to her; Jenny and I tried most of the desserts; probably more than needed. At this point Jane and I ordered a glass of champagne; none for Jenny who attends a yoga class on a Saturday afternoon.
On the large slate plate, beautifully displayed and carefully arranged were passionfruit profiteroles, macaroons, chocolate tarts with popcorn, a coconut curd with a cream and fruit topping and a mini pavlova topped with strawberries – all so lovely but some never made it off the plate – too full!!
The trolley lady came around and we ordered tea/coffee/muffins/biscuits and chips (or crisps as they are called in the UK) as we hadn’t had breakfast and as I went to pay, I was told that the snacks are complimentary for First Class passengers. Yay…she came back about four times over the three hour journey but after the first visit we were too full to eat anything else.
I booked a lovely Airbnb apartment on the fourth floor of a building at the Marina in Swansea which had great views of the water, moored boats and Swansea city.
Most nights we walked out to the Marina area and had dinner in a local restaurant and in the mornings we either went out to a small cafe [where we had to take a photo of the HP Sauce that was on every table as that is what our mother used to put on our cheese sandwiches when we first arrived in Australia – a fond and humorous memory for us] or made breakfast in the apartment.
Every morning I would be up very early and off on a walk around the local area – I loved the homes around the Marina where the owners have decorated their walls and balconies with colourful baskets of flowers.
After my walk, it was time for my proper exercise for the day; a jog along the beach. The beaches are very different to those we have here in Australia i.e. no real waves but I love them all the same as I recall times our mother would take us down to the beach with friends to sit on the sand [pebbles really] for us all to enjoy a day out.
It was so nice to visit our birthplace! And one thing more that was special for my brother, was a visit to Swansea Football Stadium where we asked for a quick tour of the grounds but were told the tours had already departed. So we returned the following day and pleaded for a quick tour and it worked! Very kind of the staff.
Swansea brought back wonderful memories for Mark and me and new ones for Braydon!
Whilst in Abu Dhabi on our stopover back to Australia from the UK, my brother, nephew and I stayed two nights at the Intercontinental Hotel. A lovely hotel with its own beach but with the temperature being around 45 degrees celsius it was way too hot for me to go there for any longer than a short look. I preferred sitting in the lobby with the beautiful orchids and the air-conditioning.
And then when we entered the restaurant which was dimly lit and very lovely…
along with beautiful views over the river and the Grand Mosque in the distance…
Our entree was some beautiful tasting naan and a serve of pumpkin and falafel balls which we shared (well my brother and I as my nephew didn’t like them)…
For my main course I ordered the palak paneer (a spinach and paneer cheese dish) and my brother and nephew ordered two dishes which were both meat but I think I was too taken by another complimentary shot that arrived as a palate cleanser – watermelon, lemon and some spice I can’t recall that I forgot to photograph one of the dishes. I must say the dishes don’t look that good in my photos but the food was very good.
And the watermelon, spice and lemon shot was so good too…then to end the evening there was a hot chocolate for my brother but nephew and I were too full – and more complimentary things arrived – a little plate of almonds on chocolate with decorated toothpicks to make eating easier.
A great night; too much to eat but definitely worth the visit for the food, service and views!
Sue's Fabulous Travels 
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