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Exploring Scotland, Europe and the World

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Tag: Airbus A320 family

July 2022: First Time in Cornwall: Part 3

22 March 2023 RandR.scot England, Europe, UK

St Michael’s Mount Friday brought another solo day trip by train and also the achievement of another item ticked off on my personal ‘bucket list’. I visited Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy

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July 2022: Two-Centre Sweden: 2. Stockholm

6 January 2023 RandR.scot Europe, Sweden

Journey and Arrival Our rail transfer between Sweden’s second city and its capital took just over three hours. City Hall – Gamla Stan The following day, having arrived at City

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Thailand Contrasts (2022): Day 17: One Night in Bangkok

20 December 2022 RandR.scot Asia, Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry, Thailand

Although largely dedicated to relocation, today still managed to be reasonably interesting and enjoyable. Breakfast was a little different and considerably more colourful than usual as the hotel was hosting

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Thailand Contrasts (2022): Day 12: Onwards to Chiang Mai

2 December 2022 RandR.scot Asia, Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry, Thailand

The journey north Today began when Bruce’s phone alarm went off at 0444 and mine followed at 0445. (He has a penchant for using non-standard times!) We both knew that

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Thailand Contrasts (2022): Days 6-7: An interlude in Leiden, then onwards to Phuket

7 November 2022 RandR.scot Asia, Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry, Europe, Featured Flight, Netherlands, Thailand

Leiden Yes, Day 6 and I was still in the Netherlands – but on track to travel this evening! I had my usual Hampton breakfast before showering, packing and checking

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California, Here We Come! (2021): Diary Epilogue

20 April 2022 RandR.scot Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry

At this point, the sightseeing was over and all that remained was to get home. One of the reasons for choosing Paris as the end point of our intercontinental tickets

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California, Here We Come! (2021): Days 14&15: Miami Interlude and Return to Europe

10 April 2022 RandR.scot Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry, Europe, Featured Flight, France, North & Central America, USA

A few hours in downtown Miami I woke up after what felt like a short night, due to the combined effect of the 3hr time change the previous evening and

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California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 13: Transcon in (Some) Style

4 April 2022 RandR.scot Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry, North & Central America, USA

St Andrew’s Day brought the first steps in our homeward journey, initially with a short hop back down the west coast to LA, then with a transcontinental flight to Miami,

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California, Here We Come! (2021): Days 3&4: Our Outbound Flying-Fest

16 February 2022 RandR.scot Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry, Featured Flight, North & Central America, USA

London-Helsinki on Finnair Once again, we followed the recently established pattern of no pre-departure breakfast, due to our proximity to the airport. Catching the Piccadilly Line to the airport, we

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California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 2: And now, erm … back to the UK!

16 February 2022 RandR.scot Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry, England, Europe, UK

Schiphol-Heathrow Today started by following a similar approach to that used on Thursday: we left the hotel without eating, intending to have some form of breakfast in the lounge. In

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California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 1: Quick Visit to Amsterdam

16 February 2022 RandR.scot Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry, Europe, Netherlands

Heathrow-Schiphol The trip was now underway in earnest, and you join me as Bruce & I enter the so-called ‘First’ lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5, which in reality is for

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California, Here We Come! (2021): Diary Prologue

16 February 2022 RandR.scot Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry

As the first travelling day of this trip was purely a positioning exercise to London Heathrow, with no sightseeing component at all, I thought of it as ‘Day Zero’ rather

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June 2021: London in Summer (Part 1)

6 August 2021 RandR.scot England, Europe, UK

Exactly two weeks after arriving home from a 3-week trip to England, I was off again for a follow-up visit to London. And why not?! It was still only my

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England Grand Tour (2021): Day 20: Going Home

31 July 2021 RandR.scot Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry, England, Europe, Scotland, UK

With today being the final day of the trip for me, we decided to go out for a slightly more substantial breakfast than usual. The venue was Boston Tea Party

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England Grand Tour (2021): Day 4: All Change!

29 June 2021 RandR.scot Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry, England, Europe, UK

I’m flying – I remember this! We had our Covid-style Holiday Inn Express breakfast, then packed, checked out and caught a Tyne & Wear Metro train to Newcastle Airport. Today

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December 2020: Christmas Cheer(s) in London

20 February 2021 RandR.scot England, Europe, UK

Arrival The last trip of 2020, and for an as yet indeterminate period thereafter, was once again to London. Outbound travel was on Sunday 13 December. The first two nights

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October 2020: Northern Portugal (Part 1): Arrival & Day Trip to Braga

3 February 2021 RandR.scot Europe, Portugal

Arrival Less than a week after getting back from Greece, it was nice to be off again, making hay while the sun was shining in this year of travel washout.

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Lounge decor

Japan in Winter (2020): Diary Epilogue

9 August 2020 RandR.scot Big Trip, Big Trip Diary Entry

While the main part of the trip was over at this point, it would take another four days for me to make my fairly leisurely way back to Edinburgh. Saturday

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