We had the most amazing holiday. Three countries in 8 days.
There are very few positives to come out of this pandemic. But I’m going to appreciate and take joy in the ones that I found.
I found baking and eating (like that was new), I found cycling, and we travelled to places closer to home to avoid the constant changes being made with overseas travel.
No, for us this year was not one for adventures abroad, this year we rediscovered the great parts of Great Britain.
All our holidays this year have been UK based, and they have been amazing.
We will travel further next year I’m sure but for now the easier option was to stay here and enjoy things on our doorstep (if driving to Scotland can be described as on the doorstep?).
The first part of our holiday this time was absolutely incredible!
We last visited Scotland 16 years ago, when we took our puppy Hamish to the land of his ancestors. :)
He was the most beautiful little black Scottish terrier. We assumed he’d see loads of dogs just like him, but actually Scotty dogs are no longer in fashion like they were in the 1930’s. We saw zero other Scotties.
Everyone made a huge fuss of him because he was such a rare and beautiful sight.
It was a wonderful holiday. We retraced a lot of those steps on this trip, just sadly with no dogs and no children.
I assumed we were going to have some challenging weather, it is Scotland after all. I could not have been more wrong.
The skies were blue, the wind was non existent. And we had only one morning of light drizzle.
I take my wins where I can and glorious weather in Scotland, in October certainly felt like a win.
Dress from Sainsburys, cycling shorts from Boohoo
Chris had a plan in mind for a surprise day out. I dressed for all eventualities, as he hadn’t shared the plan.
I find that a silky pair of cycling shorts are perfect for smoothing the edges of my bag, especially as the bag begins to fill over the course of the day.
I could go without them, but I get a bit self conscious of the lumps and bumps as my bag fills up. My output is solid as I have a colostomy, rather than the more liquid of an ileostomy.
So armed with my trusty cycling shorts I knew I was ready for anything.
Off we go in the car, heading for the Glasgow area, and then heading to what I can only describe as an area of industrial units and docks. I was getting a bit antsy as sometimes Chris can get some peculiar ideas about what might be deemed as fun.
At one point I could see massive dockyard cranes and I was a little nervous because we have visited the cranes in Gdańsk, in the port there where Lech Wałęsa, the Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who served as the first democratically elected president of Poland from 1990 to 1995 started his freedom movement from.
And although that was very interesting, I didn’t really want to make visiting shipyards my new hobby. ;)
Anyway, I needn’t have worried, because we ended up on a ferry to another part of Scotland. And it was bloody brilliant!
After the ferry we drove and drove. The scenery is mind blowing.
Dress from Sainsburys, Coat from Belsaff, Boots from Dubarry…Hat, I stole it from Chris and by God did he moan. Hahahahaha
We ventured down a tiny country lane and ended up at one of the most beautiful areas I’ve ever seen. The remains of a castle, on the edge of a Loch. The views were amazing. The walk was lovely and all free.
Often days out in Britain can be blighted by the cost, but we found Scotland very good on free parking. I love a bit of free.
We headed off again and this time found ourselves at Loch Fyne. We had been here 16 years ago on our Hamish holiday. There’s a beautiful restaurant by the top of the loch.
We decided that we’d have a look and see what it was like inside after all those years.
(We had taken all our own food with us and hadn’t eaten out all holiday, which is very unlike us).
Chris went in to check it out, and came back and said he’d booked us a table there for lunch the next day, so that was very exciting!
It gets super busy, so you do need to book it.
The table booked for the Wednesday we went off merrily for the rest of our day out.
We ended up at a castle we had gone to all those years ago.
We ended up at Inveraray castle, it’s spectacularly beautiful.
Last time we came we couldn’t go in because we had the dog with us, and this time we couldn’t go in because we had a pandemic with us. ;)
We had a lovely walk around the grounds. Enjoying the peace and quiet and scenery.
One day we might actually get a chance to go inside.
We did very little walking in Scotland. We’d turn up to beauty spots. Have a picnic, and a look and then head off.
I think I was more than a little concerned that if we went off into the wilds for a walk we’d end up lost, or my hip, hernia or stoma would start to play up or a combination of all options.
I wasn’t keen, Chris isn’t one for walks either.
Picnics and looking is my idea of a lovely day out.
We’re not very hikey as a couple, but that doesn’t prevent you enjoying a holiday in a traditionally hikey part of the world. You do you I say. ;)
We headed for our first meal out of the holiday with great excitement!
And thankfully we were not disappointed. Loch Fyne Oysters is as good as it was all those years ago. It was part of the Loch Fyne restaurant chain, it was in fact the original and best, but that endeavour ended about 10 years ago, so now it’s an independent restaurant again.
Chris loves shellfish, I’m not so keen, but I’ll happily eat fish fish.
The joy on his face when his fruits de mer for two, for just him turned up was palpable. Hahahahaha.
3 kinds of smoked salmon to start.
Sea bass for me.
And this mountain of shellfish for him.
He was a very happy boy. It was all a bit too grown up for my liking, so I just stuck with the sea bass, always the safe choice. :)
If you fancy a trip to Scotland, and yes, I would thoroughly recommend it, remember to pack the right clothes. Not just for the season you’re in, but for every season, because in Scotland you can easily have all the seasons in one day. :)
And remember if you’re going in summer take your anti midge spray.
We has such an amazing time, Scotland is an incredible holiday destination. We will go back sooner than 16 years I imagine, I hope so anyway.
We got back to our cottage and heard on the news that both London and Essex (our county) were being put into Tier 2 for the next phase of the pandemic (oh, you don’t know what tier 2 means exactly? welcome! Join the club!)
Anyway we then saw that Wales had decided to shut the border to people living in Tier 2 areas from midnight on Friday night. Well, we were heading to Wales on Friday day time anyway for the second part of our holiday, so we decided to pack up early in Scotland a day earlier and head to Wales.
Twin destination trip, how fancy is that! Hahahahaha
We rang our hotel to check to see if they were still taking guests, which they were, and we booked an extra night.
Following our very pleasant trip to Portmerion last month, and discovering it was not just a day time tourist destination, but also a hotel complex, Chris had booked us in and tacked it on the end of the Scotland trip.
I can’t really explain Portmerion, you’d need to google it really. It’s a bit like Disneyland but with no rides, just small scale replica buildings from the Italian Rivera.
It’s a resort of sorts. It has two main hotel buildings and also hotel suites scattered around the complex above the ‘shops’, which aren’t real shops, they are ice cream parlours and cafes.
The magic is after closing. It shuts at 5.30 so after that the only people there are hotel guests. And there weren’t that many of those.
It felt like we had the place to ourselves.
Comfy travel clothes required.
Top from Sainsbury’s, Leggings from Next, Boots from Tod’s
As you can see, it’s terribly bleak here. Hahahahaha
When we came here for the day last month, we asked a member of staff what it’s like to come to Portmerion and stay in October ~ Without missing a beat he replied “bleak!”
He literally said bleak, with no humour involved. I think he’ll get a job with the Welsh tourist board no problem! I’m so glad we decided on coming anyway. Bleak isn’t quite the word I’d have used to describe it. Plus I wasn’t terribly bothered by the possibility that it might be bleak. I like bleak weather by the sea. It can be startlingly beautiful.
My only complaint would be that the suite we booked didn’t have a ‘private’ sign at the bottom of the stairs like the other suites do.
Which did lead to two awkward interactions. One with a Japanese tourist I found outside my door sitting on my patio furniture, who I had to inform that this was in fact a hotel suite and not for the public and one with a troubled goth that made a bee line up the stairs, having seen me sitting on my patio furniture and assuming it was a delightful cafeteria (his words, not mine).
Other than that it was a blast! It was everything I had hoped it would be and more.
Weirdly we exercised more on the complex than we did in the whole week in Scotland. I think it’s because I knew that there was a boundary wall and that we couldn’t get lost. There are miles and miles of pathways to explore, but all within the confines of Portmerion estate.
Because we booked the extra night at the last minute we weren’t able to get the suite we had already booked for Friday and Saturday.
Which actually worked out really well because we were able to have the experience of two of the suites instead of one, two different views too.
This is the second suite we stayed in. It’s called the Neptune suite. Internally the decor is a tad dated (the 1990’s called and asked for their curtains back type of thing, but I can forgive unfashionable decor as long as it doesn’t smell bad, and it smelt just fine) :)
Plus, as with Burgh Island Hotel, you’re getting the chance to stay in a bit of history.
There are two hotel buildings with restaurants on the complex. We arrived on Thursday lunch time and didn’t leave the grounds until Sunday afternoon.
You don’t really have to get all dolled up for dinner but I like any opportunity to do so, so I took some new frocks.
Dresses are my favourite item of clothing. That said I’ve been steering clear of short dresses for a few years now.
Well, and this may sound odd, but Chris bought me some gorgeous boots from Jimmy Choo, and something just clicked in my head and I decided that the best way to show the boots off would be with shorter length dresses.
Plus I had a good talk to myself about not listening to the negativity my own mind can bring to the party.
You’re too fat, you’re too old, you’re too short, you’re too this, that and the other…But what I am is STILL alive, so I will do as I damn well please and wear what I damn well choose to!!
Dress from Zara, Tights from Sainsburys, Boots from Jimmy Choo
Dress from H&M, Boots from Tod’s
Dress, as above, Boots from Barbour
Dress from H&M, Boots from Jimmy Choo
Dress from H&M, tights from Tesco, Boots from Jimmy Choo
Life’s short, wear the dress, wear the boots, love your life.
We had such a wonderful holiday. Chris wanted to just switch off and relax. He read 3 books so I’m thinking he got his wish.
I was rather proud of myself, as sad as this may seem as I managed to keep myself from disturbing his reading (I have a habit of being annoying when I see him pick up a book. Love me as I am I say! Hahahahaha).
We had such a chilled out time. No driving anywhere, Lots of eating, walking. a bit of hiking crept in at one point after a wrong turn and plenty of reading and watching the world go by.
I don’t think it could have been more perfect a holiday if we tried. Would it have been nice to be in Portofino, yes, definitely would, but as we have chosen to not holiday abroad this year - Portmerion, in Wales was not second best, it was absolutely perfect.
One thing I found very calming on this trip was access to bins, yes, you heard me, bins, a garbage receptacle.
Let me explain before you get very confused about my likes, dislikes and peccadilloes.
The hotel suite and the cottage had immediate access to the outside world and bins.
This meant at bag change time I could bag up my waste and take it straight to the bin outside.
There are many many pros to having a colostomy, and there are only 3 things that I have never gotten used to;
1, *I can’t wear tight or silk dresses.
2, I find the passing of wind without warning mortifying,
and 3, the smell of a bag change is horrendous.
(*in fairness, with my pot belly and cellulite my tight or silk dresses days were well and truly over before I had a colostomy put in). ;)
The first question I asked when I was told I needed a stoma, through my sobs and tears was ‘Will I smell?’
And the answer was ‘no’. And for the most part that is true.
But sometimes the bag leaks, shit happens - so don’t fret about the what ifs. Change it, move on. Forget about it.
BUT bag change time is eye wateringly smelly.
The main reason it’s so bad is because, well, it’s poo, but also because I have the bag on for 24 hours.
So if I start pooing straight after I change it, and I do, it means some of the poo will be sitting there a full 24 hours in the bag. As you can imagine, that is going to stink once the bag is taken off for a clean one to go on.
Anyway, it’s a right pain in the arse in hotel rooms. Nothing can kill a mood like the cloying smell of a bag change. It’s also why I don’t stay overnight at friends homes.
Hotel suites with internal bathrooms are my absolute nemesis. Having no access to air flow really does cause me a little melancholy, knowing I’m going to stink the place out. But what’s the alternative? Stay home and never go anywhere or see anything? No thanks. I’ll suck it up and get on with living thank you very much.
When staying at a hotel I can’t (or rather don’t) bag it all up, carry it down the corridors, in the lift and out through reception to dispose of it.
I’d love to, but I wouldn’t. So the bag sits there in its multi layer disposal bags until the cleaner comes to do the room.
I’ve had some cleaners unsure what to do with them so they have just left them there to pile up.
Absolute nightmare!! I had to ring reception to ask them to come and remove them on more than one occasion. Mortifying.
So this is why is was lovely staying at the cottage, and in a suite that opened straight outside to the fresh air. After every bag change I merely popped out to put it in the bins outside.
Something as simple as that can make a huge difference to my day.
Once you open the windows in the room and blast a breeze through you can get rid of the rather, acrid smell pretty quickly. That and a spritz of ostomy room spray and you’re good to go!
The holiday came to an end far too quickly, although it did feel we’d been away for months.
It was back into cosy clothes for travelling and we headed off.
We hope to book a holiday for next month too, but as it stands right now we’re going to wait and see what new restrictions come in, or out come to that.
We were so lucky to get our holiday to Wales in, because as of midnight on Friday it’s going into to proper lockdown again. Which means Portmerion will be closed. I feel very lucky that we managed to go. Someone’s looking out for us that’s for sure.
Stay safe, keep well. Xx
Jumper from The White Company, Leggings from Tesco, Boots from Jimmy Choo.