Category: Europe

Off to Newmarket, The National Stud and The Cricketer Arms

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In past trips, we have joined stud tours at Three Chimney’s Farm in Kentucky USA, the Irish National
Stud and this trip we wanted to visit the National Stud at Newmarket England.

 

National Stud and Newmarket

                                                Driving from Manchester to Newmarket was a very nice drive of only about 3 hours 40 which we competed at a leisurely pace arriving at the Heath Court Hotel in heart of Newmarket and only 100 yards walk to the gallops.

Hundreds of horses are worked here every morning and the street around town are filled with quite big stables.

Horses and cars co-exist without all the red tape and safety measures we would have at home. The is a busy road right up to the middle of the slow and fast tracks, cars just wait when large groups horses cross from one track to another.

The tour of the National Stud was the main purpose of our visit and so after booking this online, we presented ourselves at the designated time and place. Nigel our guide was very informative as he was previously the Operations Manager (retired) of the whole stud.

He was an entertaining (muttering about the demise of Newmarket during the tour, now the Arabs own most of it) informative guide that really knew all the ins and outs of the stud.

Including the two stallions in residence
Bahamian Bounty (21 yrs old and retired) and his son Pastoral Pursuits.
Bahamian Bounty was a very successful sire in his time and his son Pastoral Pursuits

He was a very successful racehorse winning Pastoral Pursuits although has not lived up to expectations at stud as he is not attracting good mares and really needs a couple of black type winners to save him from sale.

Toronado (standing at Swettenham Stud) and Dick Turpin (standing in Western Australia) are both been shuttled to Australia for the season which will make for some interest to see how their offspring perform down under.

The stud was all freshly painted inside and out and was looking extra fresh for a working farm but Nigel told us this was due to the queen’s visit recently to plant a second tree (to mark 100 years of the stud), she planted her first tree at the stud back in 1966.


We were able to see a couple yearling being prepared for sale and a paddock full of weanlings including a Frankel Filly which was good, as this is the quieter time in the breeding season there were no foals but com Jan – Mar one could imagine how the place would be buzzing with activity with lots of new arrivals.

After our day at the stud it was back to the Heath Court for a rest, catch up on email and pay the wages for CB Transport aahh live goes on.

It is amazing that we can be so connected to home and travel at the same time. We have been having great facetime /hangout chats with all the little ones every other day.
For dinner we decided on something lighter and found an exceptional Thai place in main street all within walking distance from the hotel which was even better.

One our final morning in Newmarket we headed up to the gallops and watch the horse work again, the number of horses is staggering as well as the number young horses, no wonder this place is filled with people who look like they work in racing, lots of girls. 30 years and 30kgs and four children ago I would have loved to come and do something like this for a while. It would beat riding work in Dubbo that is for sure.

After another enormous breakfast offering, I did say offering, we took the lighter option of cereal, toast, and fruit. It was hard to resist the full cooked breakfast but we did. We headed to our next stop.

I found this interesting place called ‘The Cricketers Arms‘ on Rickling Green in Rickling, Essex we booked a room and headed that way. This was on our way back to Heathrow to return the car.

 

The Cricketers Arms Pub


What a find The Cricketers is a fantastic English pub in a tiny village overlooking the green. Cricket has been played on Rickling Green since about 1850, photos of which can be seen in The Cricketers Arms the one remaining village pub. Cricket is still played on the Green throughout the summer months.


The food, friendly staff, accommodation are first class and this will definitely make the highlights reel. The is such a welcoming warm feeling about the place that makes you want to settle in for a while.

 

A walk through the village will show many houses dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, exemplifying local materials and building traditions. These include local flints, bricks from local brickworks, tiles and thatch, half-timber as on Manor Farm.

Being only a bit over an hour from Heathrow, you can be sure there will be not a trip to London in the future that does not include another visit here to start or end a trip.


If we ever get to come back to Newmarket for the races it will be my place of choice for accommodation being only 50 minutes from Newmarket itself

It will be sad leaving here but London is calling…

 

 

 

 

 

Old Trafford and a great series win

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Old Trafford and a great series win 

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at our hotel, 
the Holiday Inn Express (able to see the Man U stadium from our room window and with 20 minute walk to Old Trafford Cricket ground, expensive (due to Soccer and Cricket being on) but well located in Salford Quays. 




We set off on foot for the ground, this turned out to be a good move (left car in hotel car park) as it was an interesting area. 



Couldn’t miss the opportunity to see the Manchester United Stadium up close was amazing, they were starting to set up for game later in the day. we joined the ever building throng heading towards the Old Trafford Cricket grounds.



















What a great game we arrived in time to see all the warm ups, the ground is small so from where we were sitting we felt very close to the action being adjacent to the door of the Australian dressing room. 



Apart from when Starc hit the English Captain and the ground collectively held their breathe for what seemed like forever. 



You could hear the thud from the stands so to get away with only concussion was a good outcome. 





Strac was visibly upset, he was fielding right on the boundary near us it was great how the team looked out for him on the field and Darren Lehman came along for a quick chat and pat on the back each time he was back on the boundary between his overs (glad he kept bowling).  













As they pictures tell a story of a thousand words so enjoy.


Click to watch highlights video 



It’s showtime!!!

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Is it possible that we could had the trip highlights two days into to a month long trip. Day one was spent driving up to Manchester from Heathrow but day two and three both lived up to and exceeded all expectations.

Bowes Agricultural Show

After a rare blue sky day it began raining during in the night and was pouring while we packed the car to head another twos North to attend the Bowes Show at Bowes. 

This is England after all. the drive was good and the rain did start to ease. We

decided that we would find a bakery for a late breakfast in Barnard Castle is a market town in Teesdale, County Durham, England. 


It is named after the castle around which it grew up. It is the main settlement in the Teesdale area, and is a popular tourist destination.

It was still raining a fine but persistent rain so it was off to purchase a pair of gumboots (wellies here) for me, Sharpy was all set in the trusty RMs. They may just be the best £12 I have spent. After coffee and a very tasty mushroom and cheese toastie it was off to the show. 

 


After following the signs we arrived in a what yesterday would have been a big open field with 6 to 8 inches of meadow grass and that would be all. 



Today however, they opened the gate added gatekeepers (£5 pound entry) a few marquees, portable sheep yards (wooden) seven roped off rings for horse events and there you go we have a show.  



After slipping and sliding into the parking in the adjacent field we headed in. The rain had almost stopped and the sky was lightening up so look like there was going to be a break in the weather. 

What a welcome, the gate keepers were very welcoming and gave a full run down of what to see and where to go to see it, even though it was all laid out before our eyes.  We bumped into the show president who gave us the same warm welcome. 




After chatting for a while we made a bee line for the sheep judging with a brief stop to watch the little kids and the ponies going through their paces. Oh and a quick look at the tractors Sharpy found his fathers tractor on display. 


The sheep were in two lots the registered (stud)  and unregistered (flock). 




Talk about liquorice all sorts, who’d thought sheep come in more colours than black and white or a combination of the two. Well yes they has the black the white but also blue faced, yellow, and even some with pinkish wool. 

Not treating mobs by the 1000 here





So many different breeds and not a merino not even a dorset or border which I expected. They were definitely what what we would call exotic breeds. 






It was fun to watch the judging which was the same as at home but they never once looked at the wool, conformation and muscle seemed to be the areas the judges were looking at.






After and hour of so we headed back down the hill to check out the pavilion/Marquee display of crafts, cookery and produce competition.



We detoured to a food van via the two side shows for a steak burger and chips for lunch, nary a dagwood dog to be seen. 






It was fun to watch all the little kids and their sometimes wayward ponies getting ready for their events some led some riding independently or at least going where their ponies wanted to go.



Back in the marquee which was lined with trestle tables loaded all sort of cakes, jams jellies, eggs, pies and crafted of all sorts from painted rocks to vegetable characters and the usual photography and crafts.


 
Handwriting Competition

Even a class for you Ruth Reid and Judie Lordan, handwriting competition, and just quietly you both would have been in the ribbons. 

The cakes were good but not up to standard of usual competitors at the Bourke and other local shows in NSW. 



There were definitely no Margaret Mitchell/ Marie Stephenson sponges to be seen. 


After almost two brief periods of weak sunshine the rain came back in and we decided to return to the car for our drive back to Manchester.


Remember that field of 6 inch meadow grass I described from earlier well it was well churned into mud and we slopped through mud up to ankles most of the day. 



The best part was watching people just treating it as any other day they were all dressed for the occasion which we were thanks to the wellies. 







After another long chat and photos taken by the gatekeeper Sharpy left him roaring with laughter with oldie but a goodie (slightly adapted) whats better than a 4 wheel drive (usually company car)…”a hire car’  after he asked if we would be okay negotiating the muddy car park (slippery but not boggy). 

Definition of wishful thinking




Not sure Avis weren’t planning on us driving their beautiful almost near mercedes around muddy fields and bouncing out along farm roads for a5 or 6 miles before joining the freeway again. 

What a great day that met all expectation and was exactly as I imagined and English County Show.



Flying in and heading north

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The flight…

Room to spare

Emirates has just become my number one preferred airline after fantastic flight from Sydney to Dubai
and Dubai to London.

Maybe my current feeling is due to having a spare seat between us on both legs of the journey, this may the journey very comfortable, of course

I did pick a row that I anticipated there could be a chance of achieving this outcome.

Food was excellent and crew were helpful, not that we called on them.  The entertainment options were outstanding with a very extensive variety of programs and games to choose from, anyone that couldn’t find something to watch would never be pleased.

Sharpy true to form watch back to back reruns of Big Bang Theory and I finally watched season 3 (20 something eps) of Hart of Dixie.

The trip seemed to pass relatively quickly and in no time we were touching down at Heathrow, where we had a very slow journey through customs (due to volume of people).  We eventually made it through and found our lonely bags sitting beside the conveyor belt. A quick taxi ride and we settled into the Novotel Hotel.

The first drive…

Sam we stopped by on our way out of Oxford

The old body clock that always wakes me at 5am anywhere is still working.

Our second visit
As we were both awake we decided on an early but leisurely breakfast. The buffet was extensive and certainly set us for what turned out to be a full days drive. 

After breakfast we jumped on the shuttle bus back to airport to connect with the Avis shuttle to
collect our car.

All set and of we headed, the first bit to Oxford was a breeze a quick stop of to take some photos of the school that Samantha worked at a few years ago and a milk shake from her favourite place in the covered markets it was back on the road.

We had the Chocolate Sam

It wasn’t long before it was evident that weekend traffic was starting in early and after a very slow trip we gratefully checked into the Grant Arms Hotel at

Ramsbottom.

After a pint in the bar we set off for a walk for find some food, we found just what we were looking for at the Railway Hotel just down the street.

The walk did us good and we enjoyed a small shared plate which was all that was needed to meet our needs.

After our first full day concluded as we fell into bed and slept well.

Tomorrow it is show day…

Here we go…

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London – Brussels – Amsterdam – Hungary



The last minute planning is complete and packing done. We are getting better and better at packing light, this is my best effort yet. Looking forward to filling the space with something to remember the trip by.

Finalised what I think we will do on our road trip around the english countryside
After picking up the car we will head north to Ramsbottom to take in a county agricultural show at Bowes, One Day International cricket match, National Stud at Newmarket and anything else we stumble across along the way

The final hours before flying home

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The Swistotel was a lovely hotel to stay in and they were gracious enough to allow us to check in early.  

The Swissotel Amsterdam is a four-star luxury boutique hotel located by

 

Dam Square, in the heart of Amsterdam’s historic city centre and a short walk from Amsterdam Central Station. The hotel is surrounded by shops, museums and restaurants and is a 20-minute drive from Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport.


We wandered around for the afternoon. We had very little for dinner as we both felt that we eaten enough in last seven days to last us for a good while.  

 
Our final day in Amsterdam we decided to do the red hop on hop off  tour to give this great place a final look over before boarding sour long flight home. 
 
We flew home via Abu Dhabi on the very good Eithad Airlines. It was a long flight but we both managed to get quite a lot of sleep and there was no-one on being plane being Easter. We were able to spread out in rows of our own on the final leg into Sydney. I was glad to be home but the trip we exactly to plan.

 

 
I was pleased were were able to see so much in such a short time and I guess the two biggest highlights was out 6 days in Switzerland and the river cruise. I know i will be doing many more of these in the future. It is a fantastic way to travel. I occasionally enjoy it when someone else takes care of all the details and I just go along for the ride. 

Need to get this posted before we set off to Fiji for a week of relaxation. The three grandsons are coming along and we are planning lots of pool time.  

 


Never again will I be leaving blog until I get home to write up.  It is too easy to keep putting off and before knew it we had been home for 6 months.

Day 7 15th April – Back to where we began

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During the night we docked at the now familiar Amsterdam dock across from the Centrale station.  After our second last breakfast where I made short work of an awful lot of smoked salmon with my perfectly cooked scrambled eggs. 



The morning was filled with tour to a canal cruise which is the best way to view the historical centre The Canal Cruise ended at the Gassan diamonds centre where we attended a complimentary presentation.           





We decided against walking the attractive route back to the ship and opted use the free transfer on the bus to sit down for our final buffet lunch. The food on this cruise has been absolutely outstanding and such wide variety in keeping with particular region in which we were travelling at the time. 

Don’t go to coffee shop
 and expect coffee
Coffee will be found in a Cafe
(Marijuana sold here)







                                                                           





After lunch were set off on our final tour to Edam (cheese cheese cheese) and Volendam. 

Edam, Cheese and the City







The most obvious association with the name ‘Edam’ is its cheese. For centuries the well-known round Edam cheeses have been sent from this town to all corners of the world. The cheese market, once again restored to its place of honour, is enacted weekly during the summer months. And nearby cheese warehouses keep alive the memory of a colourful past. 




We spent a pleasant hour wandering around Edam and taking the most beautiful houses and scenery of this magical place. For a small place it had such a big church which could be seen from all parts of town.




This was probably the most picturesque place I have ever visited. I really look forward to being able to come back and explore further next time I am in Amsterdam











Our Dear Lady has been standing on this
hallowed ground since the 14th century








After a short bus ride we were in Voledam for a glimpse into the past, and a drive along the low-lying fields and windmills of North Holland, It is too pretty to be true, the quaint fishing village surrounds a picture-postcard harbour lined with wooden houses, where locals still wear traditional Dutch clogs, aprons and bonnets.

 

 

Historically, Volendam’s claim to fame was as the harbour for the neighbouring town of Edam. More recently, it’s easy to see why artists like Picasso and Renoir were drawn here to paint scenes of the harbour lined with steep-roofed fishermen’s houses, canals and drawbridges. Mum and I found a good place for a coffee and a loo. before wandering along the foreshore.   



Mum purchased one more cuckoo clock and I was able to get all the girls their clogs. After another short walk we were back on the bus for the ride back to ship and our farewell dinner. Dinner was equal to anything we had had in the past seven days and we thoroughly enjoyed every morsel. 




After getting our instructions for disembarkation tomorrow we headed to the cabin to pack up and turn in for the final night on board. We had a leisurely breakfast before leaving the MS Impression for the final time and head to our hotel near the main square in Amsterdam. 


Every day of cruise was a highlight of our European vacation, also the food morning noon, night and in between was ample and a great example of fine dining at its best.

Day 6 14th April – Maastricht and cruising back to Amsterdam

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After another good night onboard we enjoyed out breakfast at more leisurely pace this morning our cruise was drawing to a close with only another couple of nights on board. 






I was just too tired to do this walking tour but mum set off with the guide and about 20 other hardy souls to visit. the shops were closed on Monday morning as they often do in Holland but if shopping’s your thing, you can hardly go wrong in Maas­tricht.  

Where the density of boutiques and unusual specialty shops is hard to beat. 




Just about all of the streets between the St. Servatius Bridge and the Vrijthof offer inexhaustible scope for emptying one’s purse or wallet , with Stokstraat and the surrounding Stokstraat Kwartier being particularly charming. Mum really enjoyed this and I relished the time spent in my cabin catching up on email and other communications from home. 

River cruising my new favourite way to travel

Day 5 13th April – Antwerp, Palm Sunday Mass and Brussels

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After another sumptuous leisurely breakfast, at least we are getting the hang of getting to dining room early enough to linger a while over our breakfast before grabbing our headsets and communication sets and boarding bus for short ride into Antwerp. 



Our tour guide walked us around all the sights and after a strolling along the Scheidt taking in the old Steen




Fortress (medieval castle), we walked Antwerp‘s classic shopping boulevard, Meir, with its elegant department stores and trendy boutiques, which then leads into De Keyserlei. A side-street of the latter, Quellinstraat, is also good for fashion, but for jewellery shops, try Pelikaanstraat in the nearby Diamond Quarter. 

Of course being Palm Sunday we choose to attend mass at Cathedral of Our Lady Antwerp’s Cathedral of Our Lady can boast arguably the world’s most exquisite Gothic tower (404 feet high) completed in 1521. 

 

Stripped of its original furnishings, the sober interior contains four magnificent canvases by Rubens. It was a great opportunity to celebrate Mass is such a beautiful old Cathedral, the alter was something to behold.  





After a beautiful lunch of soup and other delicacies we boarded the bus again to head in to Brussels, we were getting weary by this time and I think we slept most of the hour bus ride. 


We visited Grand Place (Grote Markt). which except for its City Hall (with 315-foot-high tower), all of Brussels’ Main Square was destroyed in 1695. Rebuilt within a few years, its ornate guild-houses and Maison du Roi (c. 1870) are best studied from one of the many out­ door cafes. 

 
The little bloke everyone come to see

We had Belgium waffles (as if we needed more food, but when in Belgium!!!) from one of these restaurants  and of course who could come to Brussels with out visiting the ribald figure of Manneken Pis (1609) nearby, in the Rue de l’Etuve . 


He was so much smaller than I expected but well worth a look. I managed to secure an extra carry on bag to ensure we could get all our purchases from the trip home. The bus ride home was quiet to say the least, we were all exhausted and most of us slept for the entire journey.

 

 

After a short rest cabin, we dressed for dinner and were greeted with a five course meal for the captains dinner. 




Included such delicacies as lobster tail and beautifully prepared beef. It was such a memorable meal. 






We ate with a couple from England that were old hands at the travel gig so we were able to swap many travel stories.

 

Day 3 11th April – Delta Works and Middleburg

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With another busy day ahead we were up early again for breakfast (can’t get an enough of the fantastic selection on the buffet) as the tour to the to the impressive Delta Works which consisted of  a presentation, documentary film, exhibition and a visit inside one of  the piers. We drove through the quaint Veere a small village on the way to Delta works. 

The Delta plan came in to being after a tragic event on the the night of January 31 and February 1,1953. was a fateful one for the inhabitants of Zeeland on the coast of southern Holland. The combination of a hurricane with high spring tides caused hundreds of breaches in the dikes. so that over 100,000 acres of land were flooded. More than 1800 human lives were lost, and the damage in terms of material losses (including 200,000 homes) Following this catastrophic event the delta works was developed to ensure such a catastrophe never happens again. 

It was so interesting to see how the Dutch took control of their environs and with great ingenuity implemented this amazing plan to hold back the sea. 
The afternoon was filled with a talk from local ladies from Middleburg and then a guided walking tour through the historic Middleburg township. This was interesting and our guides were first class. We had three groups to suit all levels of fitness.  
Traditional  Group (Our chosen Group) This was the optimal  way to see the sights with all its features. Local guides giving us an in-depth presentation  and  answered all our questions along the way. We were able to keep up and still had time to take lots of photos of this charming old place.



The Essential Group took in the first part of the Traditional tour, with a brief introduction and basic background commentary. On a certain stage the guide dropped them off at a central location. Ideal for those who prefer to have more time on their own.
The Leisurely Group  – This walking tour was ideal for the gentle walkers, with a slower pace for those who wanted to take it easier. They didn’t miss out of the highlights but without the pressure of keeping up with the faster groups.
This was the case for most onshore tours and there were always at least two levels of walking tour.