Visit to St Augustine Wildlife Reserve

Following a nice breakfast at the Hotel we headed back to St Augustine for the second time in two days. So why did we stop in Jacksonville and its because the Hotels are about 50% cheaper and we could get a Homewood Suites with the possibility of in suite cooking which suites us.
It took about forty minutes to get with a mile or so of the reserve and as it was very cold , about 4 degrees Centigrade, we found a sports bar and enjoyed a port chop and fries for Noel and pork chops and a rice dish for Jennifer, the pork chops were really juice, tender and tasty.

The St Augustine Wildlife reserve was set up many years ago to save the lives of animal which would otherwise be killed. Rich Americans and other purchase these mostly big cats and then find they are to big and dangerous to keep and look to move them somewhere else and so they have accumulated about 30 big cats, together with wolves and many other types of animals. So anything that somebody doesn't want they come here including two big cats from The Michael Jackson estate and there was also a black leopard which had been used in a Las Vegas show. We spent about two hours looking around the site and the tour guide really gave a good account about each animal. One amusing thing is that they give the big cats a bubble bath every two weeks, as it makes them smell nice and keeps the flies away and they really enjoy it. There was also a bear that had been so badly physically treated it was scare of everything and been fed the wrong food and was twice e the weight it should have been, but since they have had it it lost weight and beginning to recognise the care and friendliness of the staff and no so shy.

For reasons that I understand they do not allow cameras or mobile phones in the animal area as the sounds of mobile phones ringing or perhaps camera flash guns going off would disturb the animals but we purchased a small USB drive with lots of photos.
We left the site around 16.15 and headed back to the Hotel and slightly later joined the Hotel organised ‘Social’ is what they call it and u get free beer and wine and there is some free food, limited choice, but enough for many American to have up to three burgers together with mac’n’cheese and some salad, and some people went m=back more than twice. On our part we had a couple of glasses of wine and talked to the bar tender and then back to the room for a chicken salad.
We watched TV for a while and caught up with the end of the find we gave up on the other night.

A day long visit to St Augustine Florida Historic Town

We were a little slow off the mark this morning as still suffering from time change but after breakfast we headed back South to visit the very famous historic old town of St Augustine.

St. Augustine is a city on the northeast coast of Florida. It lays claim to being the oldest city in the U.S., and is known for its Spanish colonial architecture as well as Atlantic Ocean beaches like sandy St. Augustine Beach and tranquil Crescent Beach. Anastasia State Park is a protected wildlife sanctuary. The Castillo de San Marcos is a 17th-century Spanish stone fortress with views of the St. Augustine Inlet. founded in September 1565. For more details see following link about this fascination old town.
Info on St Augustine
We arrived in St Augustine just before midday and collected our tickets for the train ride around the old town and this takes about 1.5 hours. The Driver on our trip had married a woman from Suffolk which he had visited several times and loved the UK, who doesn't.

His commentary on the journey was really excellent and quite humorous at times and it made for a very interesting trip. Unfortunately the earlier sun had disagreed and we reached the end of the trip, we could go round again we decided we were a bit to cold.
The train ride takes in all the important locations and there some beautiful buildings here and it really worth a visit if you can manage it some time. A video of the train ride is linked below.

By this time we were getting hungry but were also wanting to visit the offshore Island and then use the road back to our Hotel alongside the sea. We found a Publix store where they do great sandwiches and then sat in the car park to demolish them. At around 15.00 we headed North passing house after house right by the sea and we wondered how they would survive a really big hurricane and there was a real mixture of old and new house styles and then on the opposite side of the road blocks of mostly new Condos.

we arrived in the town of Sawgrass and there were some lovely housing estates and really attractive shopping malls, if you can say that, and finally arrived back in to the Hotel just before 17.00 and little tired. In the Hotel they provide each evening a convivial hour with free wine or beer and some snacks but we are still a little tired and chose to avoid but in the meantime Noel wanted to read the instruction book on the BMW 530 to understand what all the buttons and icons mean. This car has what they call I-Drive which is an Apple invention which means its to complex and many things are unnecessary and I would not by this car for this reason alone.
We still had some of the excellent Costco chicken left and so with a salad and a glass of Chardonnay , £6.00 for 1.5 litres is pretty good value for money for the wine.
Noel caught up on some blogging for the first couple of days but thought he would leave todays trip until tomorrow morning when less tired and so we are in bed by 9.30 pm no doubt to awake early.

Lets head North

Well the rain had stopped and we had our Hotel supplied breakfast which is always a little basic but enough to quell the hunger and took the Hotel shuttle bus back to the Airport for us to visit the Alamo Car rental company to pick up our Toyota Camry or similar, as they say. Anyway after a lot of banter with the staff member he upgraded us with a little extra cash on our part to a BMW 530 which was brand new and only done about 480 miles. Oh well a little bit of luxury does no harm and we are due to travel quite a few miles and so we will do so in a very comfortable car.

We located the car  in the garage and then discovered it had its own Satnav which looked a little complicated but we persevered for a while and then settled to use the one we had brought with us. However we could not easily find how to turn off the BMW one and so for the first few miles they were arguing about turning left or right so after a while we located a quiet place to stop and re adjust everything. We had decided to stay off the highways and stay on the main roads as they are more interesting as you go through towns  etc . We had to travel approx 160 miles today and about 13.00 stopped for lunch in a Subway restaurant, which are always good value and easy to digest.
As we approached Jacksonville we instructed the Satnav to take us to Costco

where we could  purchase some wine and few other things and also a cooked chicken which we would have tonight for dinner. The advantage of the Homewood Suites chain is that all the suites have a mini kitchen with hot plates and microwave and crockery etc and so its easy to cater for your self. After Costco we then went to the Publix Supermarket just across the road for the hotel and we arrived there about 18.30, a little later than we wanted but that's life.

We checked in to the Hotel and had a shower then followed by Chicken and salad with a glass of Costco Chardonnay to wash it down and then settled down to watch a film on the TV but we were beginning to sag and so gave up half way in to the film which was called, “ The shape of Water” which was quite interesting and worth perhaps watching the complete film.
And so to bed, Oh boy do we need this…

The Shape of Water ...

Off to sunnier climes we hope

After an overnight in the Hampton Hotel at Gatwick we grabbed our suitcases and walked across the bridge to the main North terminal and were quickly checked in , less than five minutes, oh the the pleasures of travelling in business class.
In the Virgin lounge we had a good breakfast and read the Sunday newspapers and then we had arranged for a people carrier to collect us as Noels knees were a little troubling after carrying suitcases around the house and airport terminal and this was a good decision as the gate was at least ten minutes away for somebody with good walking skills. we boarded the Virgin B747-400 which was named ‘Jersey Girl’

and settled in to our seats for the 9.5 hour flight to Orlando. The flight left pretty much on time but we had quite a lot of rough weather for several hours which was, according to the flight crew, completely unexpected. It was perhaps one of the roughest flights we have had since flying across India in a monsoon, its amazing how bumpy and noisy it is at 36000 feet when the rain suddenly hits and the aircraft lurches all over the place.You could spill your drink!!
However Noel had a few slight challenges food wise and tried a couple of dishes and settled on the last fillet steak which by this time was rather dry, and so it was a steak and six small bits of carrot and a couple of bread rolls which kept him going not forgetting a couple of glasses of Chardonnay sitting with Jennifer at the bar.

We arrived in Orlando Airport and I was then beginning to worry how long it would take to get through immigration and it it was brilliant and it put Seattle and Fort Lauderdale airports to shame and was on a par with New York Newark Airport. From getting off the aircraft to getting the luggage was about 35 minutes which we thought was excellent. So then to try and find the Hotel shuttle which we did and in the heavy rain it took us to the Homewood Suites

Hotel about ten minutes from the Airport. After a quick wash and freshen up we walked next door toe the Long Horn Steak House where we both enjoyed a nice sirloin steak and baked potato, salad and broccoli and couple of glasses of wine for under £ 40.00 including tip. You cant get anything at this price in Weybridge.

And so to bed

BREXIT- A constitutional crisis- Well done Mrs May

Whether you are for or against the BREXIT that the UK public have opted and voted for is not the discussions here. What is important is where you have the so called people representative who are known by the term Members of Parliament who did not like the British people voting when they felt they should be making the decision.
With Mrs Mays efforts to try and please some of the people part of the time and all of the people all none of the time she has succeeded in upsetting just about everybody in the UK. The conservatives are in a complete shambles and only to be outdone by Labor Party. There are no other parties of substance at this time other than these two.
There many MP's calling for a new vote, I am not sure why unless its the best vote out of ten that wins. They also call it a 'Peoples vote' which is what I thought had happened!.
A number of my friends, no names who did in fact vote to remain have changed their views on the EU following the way in which the EU have also handled the negotiations. Its all about the money that will be lost and nobody else in Europe wishes to pay more and so lets try and hang on to UK by causing mayhem.
There are over 139 EU Embassies around the world fully staffed with expensive personal based in very expensive offices, WHY OH WHY DO WE/THEY NEED THESE EMBASSIES when all of the EU countries have their own embassy there anyway.
And now a European Army, what for?? who are they going to attack ,maybe perhaps its England once we have left the EU
Many countries in Europe are all having second thoughts about the EU and the people are speaking with demonstrations around Europe and governments being changed.

SO LETS JUST GET OUT AND DO OUR OWN THING LIKE WE USED TO DO. AND WE DID IT VERY WELL IF YOU ARE OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER.

Christmas at the Groves household

Due to Michael working on the 24th and 25th of December we decided to have our Christmas family lunch on the 23rd instead.
we were lucky enough to have the complete family including three grandchildren to enjoy the usual turkey with lost of trimmings. The presents were also great for the grandchildren and Joanne and Tim could have done with a bigger car to get them home but they managed it.
Anyway a great time was had by all as the photo below will show.

Although Katherine looks a little cross

Another day another restaurant and delayed by the "gilets jaunes"

Well it was jolly cold this morning as we all met up around 0915 for a walk back in to the old town to the bar where we were yesterday to enjoy a breakfast of croissants, baguette and coffee. Knowing that it was going to be damn cold this morning we did not use our usual haunt which is a little shop with mostly outside seating and at minus 3 Degrees Centigrade, No Thanks.

having enjoyed the breakfast then we left for the large Auchan Hypermarket just down the road for so,me last minute Christmas Food shopping for some whilst the others waited patiently with some more coffees etc. From there it would only be a quick 30 minutes up the motorway to Les Attaques and the next restaurant we thought!!! Only we woz wrong.
Not long after we got on the motorway heading North we came to a grinding halt and we dribbled along for a good 25 minutes and we thought there had been an accident but we found out later it was due to protest's by the 'Yellow Vested' people someway up the road. we exited the Motorway as soon as we could and then got held up by the police checking on our destination but we got through that and arrived at the restaurant 40 minutes late.

The Restaurant le Gare is a very basic place but with really excellent food and very low prices, which helps to offset the previous nights excess, and very little wine was drunk mainly due to it being decanted form the sewer outside, or so it tasted like that.
We then departed around 14.45 and arrived at the Eurotunnel and we all left on the 15.20 and all back home early evening and some went straight to bed, well I did almost.
A really enjoable trip aided by us wearing some rather natty french berets provided by the tour leader.

The Jubilados leave for Bologne-Sur-Mer

It is the time of the annual visit to France for the Brothers of the Jubilados group and this time we return to Bolougne-Sur-Mer close to Calais.

The group departed from three locations and headed towards the Channel Tunnel where it was delayed by the purchase of Bacon Sandwiches although one group , no names, appeared to have arrived the previous evening in preparation for the event, says Bob.
Satisfied with the late morning breakfast we entered the train for the 35 minute crossing and 10 years behind , France before heading down the Motorway to our destination which was the Ibis Hotel next to the Old Town.

Somehow we all arrived without getting lost and then headed in to the old part of town the the bar we had frequented in the past for a few glasses of something and some light snacks. One of our Brothers became very attached to a very friendly dog and not long afterwards they were married in the Church square to the heckles of the remaining bros.

Some dissapeared for a late afternoon kip before meeting up and going for dinner in the restaurant we have used in the past where much to our pleasure we were shown in to a private room where we could make as much noise as we like without disturbing other guests. 

Many bottle of wine and some really excellent food again and the budge was nearly broken but the good thing was it was cheaper than last year in Saint Omer. By midnight it was time for a quick return in the freezing cold to the Hotel and one last glass of plonk before hitting the bed sheets.

Ethan Leslie Groves born today to our son Michael and Daughter in Law Becky

We are proud to be Grandparents for the third time with a lovely boy Ethan Leslie born at 08.30 this morning to Michael and Becky and weighing in at 8 pounds 11 ounces.

So Congratulations to parents.

Last day today and home tomorrow morning

Gosh, what an improvement in the weather overnight and the sun was shining and the sky was blue, just when we have to pack up and leave, but that's life.
Following breakfast in the usual place we headed down to have about ninety minutes of sun before returning to the bedroom for packing up. Packing did not take long really as we had hardly unpacked . We noticed that there was large cruise ship had arrived overnight and it looked like Celebrity line but it was quite a way away even with binoculars. We returned to the line for a cuppa and waited for the sandwiches to be made available and then time to leave.
I may have mentioned that I had a few problems with the Hotel operation which culminated in me writing to the General Manager of the Hotel and this must have shaken a few people as when we arrived downstairs there was the Guest Services Manager, The Duty Manager plus two other guys all waiting to apologies for the the problems and then we got in the car en-route to the airport courtesy of the Hotel. People tend to get home and then put a report on Trip Adviser but never face the management, I am a little different and like to address matter head on.
We arrived at the airport and their was a huge queue for the economy check in but being in business after ten minutes we were ready to face immigration and further security and although there was a massive queue for immigration we only waited perhaps 20 minutes. We found the business class lounge and can you believe the following. They have what looks like brand new Japanese toilets but we don't think they have installed them as you are advised to put the used toilet paper in the dustbin on the floor as it clogs the toilet???? These are probably the macerating toilets which always have a small waste pipe but clearly somebody failed to connect the electric motors or whatever and hence the problem, In this day and  age this is incredible, I think I will wait until I get on the plane.
The business class was nearly full and the service and food was very good indeed. The flight from Manila was about nine hours in a Boeing 777 and we are transferring to a Airbus 380 ( yes the really big one) for the journey back to London.
Well I am writing this last bit of our around the world trip in the Abu Dhabi Business lounge, Jennifer is having a kip on the settee and guess who is watching the baggage and writing the update.
We both agree the highlight of the journey was the Alaskan Fjords, The Area of Asakusa in Tokyo and the Best Japanese Garden, already documented. And now for a quiet couple of months at home waiting for the new grandchild to arrive, start the process for selling the house, planning our trip to Florida in Feb and Marc, we must escape this UK cold weather…
Well that's its then, we should be home in about eight hours or so from now as we are due to arrive in London at 0645 when its quite cold after leaving a 32 degrees in Manila.

Typhoon’s here, lets go to the Shopping Mall

It was very windy and rainy overnight and all the pool furniture has been consigned to storage and everything battened down for the day. By mid morning the light rain had turned in to a downpour and we understand all the schools have closed for the day.

Jennifer wanted to see if she could buy a new long dress and we thought the best place for this would be at the Asia Mall ( which in fact is the 7th Largest mall in the world) which we understand is relatively new and so we caught the free shuttle bus to the mall about 15 minutes away. As usual in the town all Hotels and major shops have security guards and X ray machines so as to stop and local terrorism attacks although some of the security guards really don't take their job seriously it would appear. The first two shops we saw when we arrived was Starbucks, KFC and Pizza Express, this did not bode well I thought. And so it was like walking through Bentall's of Kingston-on-Thames as it was almost all the same shops that we know. So Dorothy Perkins, Top Shop, H & M, and many others who would have shops and so it was a rather pointless visit. So after about 90 minutes we left this very, very crowded Mall and went back to the Hotel for a cup of tea and cake.
Upon watching the TV it would appear that the typhoon has hit the Norther Philippines quite hard with power lines down and the usual flooding, boy does this country have a bad shake of the dice. I think the Pope should have word…
In the evening we returned to the club for a light snack and glass or two of plonk before an evening of Netflix.

A couple of days doing Damn all!

So we got up the morning and had breakfast in the lounge and then down to the pool until mid afternoon and then headed back to the room for a shower and change and then back to the lounge for some snacks.

This we did for two days except on the Monday evening we went to the main


Spiral Restaurant in the Hotel where we had some good food.

At 03.00 hrs on Monday morning we had set out our alarm clock to wake up and watch the Mexican Formula 1 race which was not to bad then back to sleep and we got up just in time before breakfast was stopped being served.
I have a few complaints about the Hotel and in the process of writing a letter on the subject to the General Manager and lest see what happen. I could just write a report on Trip Adviser but having looked at other complaints raised against the hotel the so called Quality Manager seems more of an Auto Answer Service as the same complain keeps coming up. One of those for an example is that yesterday evening I wanted to the ONLINE CHECK IN For our Etihad flights and was proposing to do this after dinner at around 21.15 and Noel discovered that the business Office was closed and only opens between 0900 –1700 which is quite ridiculous. They need to have 24 hour access like every other Hotel we have stayed in.

Oh well that's it for now except to mention that a Typhoon is heading our way but will not hit Manila as the Signal ONE LEVEL has been raised but it will most likely hit the Northern Islands before targeting Guangzhou and perhaps a little bit Hong Kong. It is expected that the winds will drop by Wednesday afternoon and so hopefully our flight will not be affected.

First full day in Manila and where has the sun gone?

When we arrived Friday afternoon the sun was shining and with a lot of blue sky which is now missing when we opened the curtains this morning.
This grey weather seems to be following us around  Asia whilst there is a Typhoon the way to us and due around the time we leave Manila on Wednesday night just perfect. We spent the morning and some of the afternoon down alongside the pool where reading and listening to music are the order of the day. After many weeks of running here and there a few days of doing nothing looks good and apart from a trip to to the Seafood Market where you pick your own prawns, crabs, fish etc and then leave it to them to cook and serve is on the cards for Monday lunchtime. Also we thought a trip to the local shopping Mall on Tuesday to see if Jennifer can get a couple of casual long dresses and to be frank that's the only things planned and no tours and/or cultural visits, just relaxation and wait for the flight on Wednesday evening.

During the day we noticed several failure’s in the management of this Hotel which have escalated a bit. Having stayed in a number of Japanese Hotels where almost everything is perfect, this is a bit of a let down and I have already written a letter to the General Manager of the Hotel, lets see what happens next although one of his flunkies has tried to bribe us off with a free ride to the airport. More on this to follow. Its not that I don't know a good Hotel from a bad one when I have experienced perhaps almost 10000 room nights in Hotels around the world
In the evening we visited the lounge and a had a couple of glasses of wine and some rather snacks which is enough for for dinner and then returned to the Hotel room to watch some stuff on Netflix. Yesterday I had noticed a HDMI connecter with information in the Room Information book saying that we can plug in and watch stuff from our PC and all we have to do switch over to HDMI 2. However the remote control his no button to switch over and so a call to reception and a engineer came up and said you have to push this button on the TV and not the remote. I said why does that not appear anywhere on the information booklet and his reply is that we have many different types of TV here and some work from the remote and some don't. Brilliant.
Manila has grown substantially since my last visit with many new Hotels and large office blocks and also several large Casinos. The population of this town is about 13 million, give or take few thousand people.
Manila (/məˈnɪlə/; Filipino: Maynilà, pronounced [majˈnilaʔ] or [majniˈla]), officially the City of Manila (Filipino: Lungsod ng Maynilà[luŋˈsod nɐŋ majˈnilaʔ]), is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the most densely populated cities proper in the world.^[3] It was the first chartered city by virtue of the Philippine Commission Act 183 on July 31, 1901 and gained autonomy with the passage of Republic Act No. 409 or the "Revised Charter of the City of Manila" on June 18, 1949.^[10]
The Spanish city of Manila was founded on June 24, 1571, by Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi. The date is regarded as the city's official founding date. Manila was also the seat of power for most of the country's colonial rulers. It is home to many historic sites, some of which were built during the 16th century. Manila has many of the Philippines' firsts, including the first university(1590),^[11] light station (1642), lighthouse tower (1846), water system (1878), hotel (1889), electricity (1895), oceanarium (1913),^[12]stock exchange (1927), flyover (1930s), zoo (1959), pedestrian underpass (1960),^[13] science high school (1963),^[14] city-run university (1965), city-run hospital (1969), and rapid transit system (1984; also considered as the first rapid transit system in Southeast Asia).^[15]
The term "Manila" is commonly used to refer to the whole metropolitan area, the greater metropolitan area or the city proper. The officially defined metropolitan area called Metro Manila, the capital region of the Philippines, includes the much larger Quezon Cityand the Makati Central Business District. It is the most populous region of the country, one of the most populous urban areas in the world,^[16] and is one of the wealthiest regions in Southeast Asia.^[17][18] The city proper is home to 1,780,148 people in 2015,^[6] and is the historic core of a built-up area that extends well beyond its administrative limits. With 71,263 people per square kilometer, Manila is also the most densely populated city proper in the world.^[6][7]
The city is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay. The Pasig River flows through the middle of the city, dividing it into the north and south sections. Manila is made up of 16 administrative districts: Binondo, Ermita, Intramuros, Malate, Paco, Pandacan, Port Area, Quiapo, Sampaloc, San Andres, San Miguel, San Nicolas, Santa Ana, Santa Cruz, Santa Mesa and Tondo, while it is divided into six districts for its representation in Congress and the election of the city council members. In 2016, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network listed Manila as an "alpha –" global city.^[19]
All this took about 40 minutes to sort and so rather than watch a long fil we watched a couple of episodes on ‘Line of Duty’ series 3. Its a good series .