Early morning exercise in Swansea!
During our visit to our birthplace of Swansea, I used to exercise every morning which meant I would jog along the beach front and usually walk back to our apartment past the local homes; all whilst my brother and nephew slept.
It was usually in the wee hours of the morning so I guess that is why my brother and nephew were sleeping but it was such a lovely part of the day and sometimes I would see the locals out and about with their dogs; some of them enjoying the sea (dogs not the locals). And I guess jet lag played a huge part of me being out before 5am.
I know some people are not early risers but I certainly am and love getting out and about sometimes seeing the sunrise or just enjoying the quietness of the day. And the views this time of the day along the waterfront in Swansea were lovely.
Today I thought I would share the seashore of my hometown on my blog, as the photos have brought back many [many] lovely memories of me with my brother and mum down the beach before we emigrated to Australia. I must say though that this beach is so very different to some of the big surf beaches we have here in Australia; different but still lovely.
When my brother, nephew and I were in London, I booked a hop on-hop off bus tour through Big Bus Tours so we could see all the city and as the name suggests; hop off when we felt like it. I woke up early again (due to jet lag and did a jog around Kensington Gardens) and then after breakfast we walked up to the main street to catch the bus – really easy as there are so many stops to get on board.
There are a few lines to choose from and I chose the longer line that went past Madame Tussaud’s as my brother and nephew wanted to get off – I had said to them that I didn’t think it would be that great but they still wanted to go…mmm more about that later!
We sat upstairs on the open air bus even though it was a little cool but we had good views of everything.
Then it started to rain so we moved under the canopy but still remaining upstairs – I think it’s so much better to see the sights from the top of the bus…
And isn’t Big Ben just fabulous…even though it’s being refurbished, it still looks fab..just one of those incredible sights in the world you have to see…
What history London has and what incredible buildings…
My brother and nephew then left the bus to go visit Madame Tussades – who told me later that it was not really worth the visit…but they did have some favourites – royal family, Usain Bolt, Audrey Hepburn and Elvis – who they said were more lifelike!
But I am still on the bus enjoying the London sights…
And what history and sights there are, across the Thames…
Looking out at the amazing London Bridge…
And the Borough Markets building…
What a city….and after about two hours I decided to leave the bus and walk back to our Airbnb through the parks…great day!
The hotel has a couple of upmarket restaurants and a buffet which is where we had our breakfast and lunch each day…so much choice – I usually had eggs on toast for breakfast and a cup of peppermint tea – a great way to start the day.
My usual choice for lunch was the hummus/tabbouli/vine leaves/Arabic flat bread and a delicious fattoush (salad with mixed greens and tomato).
On occasions we would sit in the foyer and chat and I would take the opportunity to prepare my photos for my posts…
One afternoon we enjoyed a late lunch in the foyer cafe after we completed a ride on the hop on-hop off bus, around the city. We ordered two burgers [Mark and Braydon] /fries [to share] and a salad [me] and vegetable samosas [to share] with coffee/wine and a couple of soft-drinks – oh my goodness I forgot how much hotel lobby cafes charge – it was incredibly expensive but good food and allowed us to relax in the air-conditioning so for us it was worth it.
My nephew and brother would then take a dip in the pool whilst I would sit on the lounge chair in the shade with a little esky which the staff provide that contains ice and a cold bottle of water. We didn’t last that long though as again it was so hot.
There is also a great gym which overlooks a lovely beach area within the hotel gardens…
Great cakes and pastries too…we tried a few of the Arabic sweets – delicious.
The rooms were also good; spacious with wi-fi all throughout the hotel…it was a great place to stopover on our way home.
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.
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.
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.
