vickygoestravelling

my journey to health and well being via exotic destinations


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A long post-Covid weekend in Champery

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The Dents glowing in the evening sunshine

Still exhausted from Covid and lying on the sofa watching Wimbledon, I haul myself off to meet Ross in Champery after his long walk. Heathrow is busy and security has long queues and we are late taking off as there not enough staff to load the plane. This is only the beginning of broken Britain – the worst is yet to come I fear. I go to Switzerland to try and forget about the state we are in….and to admire the Swiss attention to detail as below! Continue reading →


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Covid tours to Sicily: Part 2

Still feeling a bit rough, after a couple of nights at the Agrotourismo Trigona in Piazza Armerina,  we head off for Ragusa via the Casa Romana,  a villa housing 4th century AD mosaics. This extensive villa was excavated and restored only quite recently and the mosaics are largely intact and quite astonishing in their detail and long-preserved information on life all those centuries ago. The best ones represent the capturing and loading of wild animals for show in Roman games in Carthage – rhino, elephant, ostriches, camels – but also pastimes such as fishing and domestic scenes. And no – those are not bikinis but competitors in the heptathlon! Plus an erotic image – look closely! It is very hot.

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Covid tours to Sicily: Part 1


A long-booked holiday with our Swiss family & friends (Diego, Christine, Tim, Annie & Janet) became a parental honeymoon following the marriage of our beloved Tommy to his gorgeous Anna. Can’t start this blog without reference to the great day – and of course some pics. The humanist ceremony took place in a woodland glade at High Billinghurst midfarm in Surrey; the sun shone and the cotton wool clouds scudded across the sky in a light breeze.

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The highs and lows of 2021

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In a year where there has been little travel and many health issues I am challenged where best to post and how to write this blog! For most of us it has been a year of great uncertainties and lows, with a few highs. On the whole we don’t share our lows as we maintain our oh-so-very-British stiff upper lip. So here goes – my year in review. Continue reading →


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Gorgeous Grenada – isle of spices and smiles

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Grande Anse Beach

The first time I was in Grenada was shortly after the US invasion, when the lush island was littered with burned-out tanks, bullet-ridden and shelled-out buildings, and people were wary of strangers. Now the murdered premier Maurice Bishop has achieved hero status with the airport named after him, though the reason for his execution was his link with Castro. I have been back several times in between and seen the island in its various stages of development – from only a couple of beach front hotels to some spanking new developments…and more to come. Continue reading →


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Climbing Les Gorges du Dailley – not for the faint-hearted

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Somehow managing a grimacing smile

After a gruelling day walking to the Col de Cou – 12.6 kms and 4 hr 20 – I decide an easier stroll is required. Ross, basing his choice on Tommy’s recommendation of last year, picks on the scenic Gorges du Dailley which looks fine according to the website. I’ll have words with him when I get home! Continue reading →


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Les Crosets to Village des Chèvres for lunch and back – on foot (mostly)

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Looking down from Les Mosettes beyond the Lac Vert towards Morgins. The GR 5 hut hut is in the foreground, just in front of the Lac Vert

The weather has turned glorious at last. We have been making the most of it and going on various favourite walks (more of those on another blog), but we decide to meet up with some old friends from Heinemann days (yes – that old) and to meet in our favourite ski rdv in France, Le Cremailleure. Continue reading →


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Girls just wanna have fun – in Aldeburgh

IMG_0683A travelogue has not been possible for obvious reasons – but this week the girls manage an escape!

While two of our husbands (Ross and John Pooler) are walking the Cape Wrath Trail, with David Mitchell – the toughest walk in Britain, 380 kms in 17 days, from Fort William to the aforesaid-mentioned Cape Wrath – the two grass widows plan a trip to the seaside, with a fellow Cambridge girl. Continue reading →


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Remembering Louise – ten years on

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Louise as I  like to remember her, with her beloved Pom Pom and hula-hoop gear (holes in tights), in her kitchen at Evering Rd

Tuesday 2 March should have been just another day. Except that it isn’t. It is ten years exactly since we received the terrible news that Louise was dead. 

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On lockdown, publishing and green shoots

1F1E7DD4-D448-4C1A-8358-F945FBA60B9BLockdown life is different for everyone. I’m the first to admit that my cunning plan of going straight from the Maldives to Switzerland was a good one – no quarantine and a remarkably liberal attitude to social gatherings, restaurant, bar and shop openings up until Christmas, when the shutters come down on all but socialising privately with up to six people – and this is really a blessing. Continue reading →