October 2013 - A Company in England who are Legal, Decent, Honest, and Truthful

Whilst planning the Christmas festivities for the U3A, I was called a Scrooge as I was against giving out party foods etc. to members who did not contribute their help or services. So I decided to look for a T Shirt with the logo "Bah Humbug" emblazoned across the front in order to live up to my reputation.

I found such a thing at somethinggeeky.com where they have a fantastic range of T Shirts, Sweatshirts, Hoodies, Mugs, etc. etc. on which are printed all kinds of slogans, comic book heroes, or pseudo technical statements - all for a laugh.

I placed the order (3 different T Shirts in total) with an expected delivery time of two weeks to Spain. After three weeks - no sign. Contact with the company assured me that a parcel was on the way and would I wait just a little longer. I waited another four days and got in touch again. Along with more apologies I was promised another parcel and despite my offer to pay for courier delivery, Somethinggeeky promised to send the parcel via their trackable, expedited service.

TWO DAYS AFTER POSTING THE PARCEL ARRIVED BY FEDEX.

Imagine my horror and surprise when on the same day the original parcel arrived after swanning around in the hands of the Correos (Spanish postal service) for four weeks. (Don't let me hear you complaining about Royal Mail again!)

Cap in hand, I contacted Somethinggeeky to tell them of the two deliveries and offered to pay my wack for the second lot of goods. I received an email shortly afterwards saying that I could keep both lots of T Shirts at no extra cost.

How good is that? They could easily given me their PayPal details but instead gave me forty-two quidsworth of goods at no charge.

This post is purely a note of praise for a Company whose Customer Service is absolutely second to none. If you need anything along the lines of what I have described above, visit their site (http://somethinggeeky.com) and place an order.

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September 2013 - Return to Spain and straight back into the good life

We took the long road south once more, staying in Beauvais, Niort, St Jean de Luz, and Aranjuez for our overnight stops.

Our "Swiss Chalet" themed room in Beauvais

Breakfast by their lake

Fishing if you want it

This was simply described as a "BandB" in Beauvais

St. Jean de Luz from our hotel by day....

...and in the evening

The weather became hotter as we travelled south until we reached about 33 degrees in Aranjuez. Welcome Home !!

We keep saying this but we are now determined that we shall not come back to the Costa until October next year as this weather is far too hot and uncomfortable for us Northern Folk. Most would dream of having the high temperatures but when it is accompanied by high humidity and carries on through the night it is a little too much.

Two days after arriving in Campoamor we are off to the final Beach Party of the summer arranged by our Social Secretary in the U3A.

Another two days and we are off on a boat ride to Tabarca Island, just off the coast near Santa Pola. Most trips to the island are unaccompanied but once again our Social Secretary had done her stuff and we had a great guide to show us round and explain everything about this tiny island.

Some of the sites on the tiny island of Tabarca

 

 

I'm not really complaining about the heat as that would be perverse but we will settle for an extra couple of weeks in France next year.

 

 

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August 2013 - At Home in the Dales

For a change we have a lovely summer in North Yorkshire. 2012 was a total washout, wettest summer on record. This time the weather is hot enough to melt candles inside our caravan.

We are taking advantage of this rare event and are getting out and about on our bikes. Close by is the Leeds - Liverpool Canal which has a very good towpath for most of its length, allowing cyclists and walkers to enjoy the scenery with only the locks providing any uphill stretches. Good access and car parking is available in the local village of Gargrave so we head there quite often for some exercise.

Leeds to Liverpool by road is about 72 miles whereas the canal builders' search for the easiest and most level route added about 55 miles to the journey. There are many websites listing its history so I will not repeat the facts here apart from to say that it was completed in 1816, has 91 locks, and a tunnel almost a mile long at Foulridge.

There are plenty of serious walkers and cyclists who do the whole route, usually for charity, and the really keen and fit cyclist can complete the route in less than 24 hours provided they have a support team to provide food and drink along the way. The famous Pennine Way uses the towpath for part of its route through Lancashire.

Kathie and I are serious at neither walking or cycling so we used the towpath for more leisurely examples of both forms of exercise.

 

 

Of course being in England gave us plenty of time to see Mike, Phillipa, and our granddaughter Catherine. The latter came to stay with us for two separate periods of a week and we took her around to some of the places she liked including the Falconry Centre at Giggleswick, the canal to see the swans and ducks, and Skipton for a canal boat ride around the castle.

 

 

 

Catherine's birthday came along in August and along with the absolutely fabulous birthday cake she received a pony from Pippa's Mum and Dad.

 

 

 

We had some visitors in the Caravan Park which came as a result of the good weather.

 

 

And finally just before we made plans to leave it was our Mike's birthday and he got his own brand of cakes.

 

 

 

Roll on 2014 when we will stay in England again for the summer.

 

 

 

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