bucket list

Our Bucket List Challenge to visit 12 UK cities in 12 months is moving on a-pace with our latest visit to the historical and tiny city of St Davids in West Wales. This is city number 6, so we’re half way through our challenge!

It was a bright, cold and breezy Sunday morning when we decided to make the trek to St Davids. This really is one of those oddities where we tend to visit lots of faraway places whilst ignoring those places of interest and beauty which are on our doorstep, and whilst St Davids is roughly a 1 ½ hour drive from home, it’s a scenic and pleasant drive and of course it’s situated in my home country of Wales!

The city of St Davids is unique in the UK as being the smallest both in terms of physical size and population (less than 2,000 inhabitants) and has the feel of a small country town but with the addition of a sizeable and impressive cathedral. The Cathedral of course is the reason for its status as a City, which was granted in the 16th century, but then lost in 1881. In 1994 however, its city status was restored at the request of the Queen.

We set out on our journey with the intention of stopping off for a picnic lunch at one of the many excellent beaches which lace the coastline. We were soon off the major roads and meandering through country lanes lined with hedges laced with elder flower and daffodils. In the distance the coastline bobbed in and out of our view with the sea a gorgeous aqua blue.

Right on cue, as we rounded a bend a stunning view of Newgale Beach opened up before us. We began to descend the hill and since it was so close to lunchtime decided to make a stop for our picnic lunch and to stretch our legs.

[Read more…] about 12 Cities Challenge – St Davids

Welcome to Part 2 of our London and Canterbury Bucket List Challenge update. If you missed Part 1 about Canterbury, you can check it out here. As a quick recap: we took a combined trip to Canterbury and London earlier in April, a three-day, two-night break to make the most of our time and to keep costs down a little.

This isn’t the first time we’ve been to London, and in fact we’ve made a point of doing the ‘tourist thing’ in the past with a visit to The Tower (highly recommended), Harrods, Carnaby Street etc, so choosing what to do in the short amount of time we had was difficult. In the end, we chose as our first port of call, Windsor Castle. [Read more…] about London 12 Cities Challenge Part 2

Bucket List Challenge: 12 UK Cities in 12 Months

London and Canterbury – Part 1

Our 12 UK Cities in 12 Months Bucket List challenge stepped up a notch in March when we took a 3-day break and visited two cities in one go. Doing it this way enabled us to combine the travel and time costs to cover two cities which are over 200 miles away. It was also very hectic and we were worn-out when we got back home, but it was definitely worth it!

Our visits took us to London and Canterbury and today in Part 1 I’m going to cover our visit to Canterbury, a city which is situated on the south-eastern side of the UK and close to the English Channel and France.

Canterbury is easily described as an ‘olde-worlde’ city, with cobbled streets and dark beamed buildings and the hotel we stayed in dated from the 17th century and boasted narrow corridors, oak beams and leaded windows. The floors were also squeaky and the doorways quite low in places leading to the odd bump to the head!

Being so close to France, there was a strong contingent of French students on (I imagine) school trips visiting the city, so there was lots of hustle and bustle and a lively atmosphere.

As has become customary on our City trips, we had earmarked a visit to the Cathedral, but other than that, our itinerary was fluid. The weather was bright and sunny, but a little on the cold side, so a good day to wrap up warm and see the sights. [Read more…] about Bucket List Challenge: Canterbury Part 1

Stonehenge

Welcome to the third visit of our Bucket List Challenge to Visit 12 UK Cities in 12 Months and this time we’re in Salisbury and Stonehenge.

On the 5^th of January we set off on a day-trip to Salisbury, a city of about 40,000 inhabitants situated in Wiltshire. Salisbury has an extremely rich history, not least, Stonehenge which stands just a few miles North. Obviously we could not visit Salisbury without including a visit to this renowned World Heritage site.

As it’s January, we expected the weather to be cold and overcast…and we weren’t disappointed! Dressed up warm and prepared for the weather, and a Bad-Hair-Day, we set off for the 100-mile outward journey, which was easy and uneventful.

As we approached Stonehenge I felt an increasing feeling of excitement, and even though I was hoping to see ‘The Stones’ from the road as we approached, the landscape was giving nothing away.

Stonehenge has a brand new Visitor Centre (opened in December 2013) which is sleek and modern. The car park was already busy when we arrived at about 10.15am on this cold January morning, which gives you some idea of how popular this monument is. We were told (via the free audio) that Stonehenge receives around 1 million visitors a year and if our experience was representative, then it’s clear that people come from all over the world to visit.

From the Visitor Centre we were taken by small, regular buses to The Stones. It is possible to walk up to The Stones, but since it was so cold, damp and muddy, we decided the bus was the best option.

The Stones are immediately visible from the drop off point, and you are encouraged via path markers to switch on your audio tour as you enter the ‘park’.

The Stones are striking in appearance and this is further enhanced by use of the audio which helps to bring the story of their existence to life. However, despite many years of research, there is still no agreement on the reason for their existence. Some believe that they were magic or had powers of healing, others believe that the Stones are sacred and still others believe the Stones are a primitive calculator for plotting the movements of the sun and planets. In a lot of ways, this disagreement only adds to the mystery and appeal of the place. [Read more…] about Salisbury and Stonehenge