Old timers day out in Cambridge

Punters: Please note the new cap acquired in Cambridge

One fateful Saturday morning, each nursing a cold, we hauled ourselves out of bed and onto the train to Cambridge for a day trip we had been planning to do for ages - but had never got round to actually doing.

It was a fairly grey autumn day but that didn't stop us exploring the historic colleges of this famous university town. We visited Trinity college - which is the most wealthy of all the colleges (having added the O2 Arena in London to its immense property portfolio) and can claim greats such as Newton amongst its Alumni. We also visited the King's College Chapel - reputedly one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in England.

The Trinity College library was highlight - with interesting snippets of history on display such as AA Milne's handwritten notes for a Winnie the Pooh story along side a first edition, a copy of the first bible translated into English (1 of 3 copies remaining in the world) and early works of Newton with his handwritten mark-ups on them.

We also like the 16th century gateway which features a statue of King Henry VIII. In his hand he holds a wooden chair leg - which replaced the golden sceptre which he held until a student prank many years ago

A day in Cambridge is not complete without the obligatory punt trip down the Cam. Having witnessed two punters take an unscheduled dip I was pleased with our decision to take a 'chauffeured' punt together with entertaining commentary. Very relaxing and nice to see the colleges from the water.

With a day of exploring under our belt we hopped back on train to London late in the afternoon with the Saturday paper to keep us entertained on the way home. A very nice day out of London.

Good times in Barcelona

With Dazza in town, we decided (along with Heron and Ben and Rachel and Jeremy) to join him for a weekend in Barcelona.

View from hotel back to city

It was our second trip to Barcelona and continuing the precedent set in Stockholm, Michelle and I took it fairly easy on the sightseeing side of things.

We were all scattered around the centre of Barcelona - our hotel was down on the harbour and provided the perfect base to catch-up with everyone when it came time for a meal or drinkie which seemed to be quite regularly.

On the eating front we managed to have lunch at Cal Pep - a famous tapas bar which we were unable to get to last time and it did not disappoint - fresh seasonal mushrooms, deep fried aubergine, tomato bread, calamari and sensational tuna tartare (to name a few...).

We had a fantastic weekend (again with stunning weather) and were reminded what great city Barcelona is!

Self portrait: Little piggies in Barcelona

Ambling in Stockholm

It's been a while since we've updated the blog... but we have had a few trips in the past month or so - starting with a weekend city break to Stockholm in September.

We've both been pretty busy at work and as a result felt like a very leisurely weekend. Although winter is almost upon us we were treated to a couple of stunning crisp sunny days.

Stockholm is of course the city of design - so a big part of the weekend was spent window shopping in the many designer stores - which ranged from exclusive homeware stores through to small quirky design shops filled with weird and wonderful gadgets - the perfect place to shop for that person who has everything!

The main 'tourist attraction' for us was visiting the 'Vasa'. This museum is built around a 70m 1620 warship which famously sunk about 1.3km into its maiden voyage (due to it being top heavy!). It sat buried in Stockholm harbour until 1961 when she was re floated and restored. 95% of the wood on the ship is original due to the fact that the Baltic Sea is not salty enough for wood worms to thrive. Seeing this immense ship is pretty amazing and it is hard to fathom that so much hard work and labour could be lost so easily!

Stockholm as a real cocktail culture (although drinks are notoriously expensive!) and we embraced this and enjoyed cocktails in all sorts of interesting places - notable were the Gondolen (great views from this bar at the top of a historic lift) and the Icebar - where everything is made of ice... the walls, the bar, the chairs.... even the shot glasses!

View from Gondolen bar

Our hotel (http://www.nordiclighthotel.se/en/) was very cool - labelled 'designer chic' in style. They employ a 'light manager' to control lighting in the rooms and hotel and the beds are the most comfortable beds ever - just what the doctor ordered!