A Relaxing Weekend in Swansea

In order to make the most of Claudio's last full weekend here, we decided to take a little trip away. 

Initially, we'd been thinking of going up to Nottingham to see my old university, or possibly to Manchester, where neither of us have been before. But hotel and train prices are so steep at the moment, that it didn't seem worth it.

I then started looking at places a bit closer to home, like Bournemouth, where prices were better, but still not great considering a lot of hotels were badly reviewed. But looking at the different hotels, many of which had swimming pools, made us realise how much we wanted to go swimming! I hadn't been swimming since August last year, and Claudio hadn't been swimming for over a year, and we both were really missing it.

My dad suggested that we try Swansea - it's the city where my Nana was from, and we used to go on holiday there when I was little. So, I looked up Swansea on Hotels.com, and was very pleased to find a reasonably-priced hotel there - with a swimming pool!

The hotel we chose is part of a chain of hotels called Village Hotels. I'm not sure how long they've been running for, but I just started noticing them popping up on Hotels.com over the last few months. They all have a swimming pool and gym, but are quite reasonably priced (especially the one in Swansea, compared to those in England).

The Village Hotel Swansea is located in the docks of the city, which is quite a picturesque and modern area.

We were pleased to find that our room was very spacious and comfortable, and even had a bathtub.

After checking in, we went off to find some lunch at the India India all-you-can-eat buffet, which is about a 15 minute walk from the hotel. It had lots of different curries to try (including several veggie ones) and all of the delicious Indian side dishes you could wish for, as well as some tasty dessert options. We'd definitely go back!

We walked off our big lunch with a stroll along the beach and the marina. Even though the tide was out and the beach was a bit muddy, it was great to have some sea air.

Back by the docks, we had a look at the Norwegian Church, which is actually now a nursery. 

We then went back to the hotel to try the swimming pool!

In fact there was more than just a swimming pool to try out - there was also a sauna, a steam room, a jacuzzi within the pool itself (the same temperature as the pool water), and a hot tub outside of the pool (with hotter water). Although the steam room was a bit too hot for our liking, the other facilities were really nice to use, especially the hot tub.

The only downside was that the pool was open to members of the public as well as hotel guests, so it was busier than we would have liked. We went back again the following morning before breakfast, expecting it to be quieter, but it was actually even busier then.

But overall, it was really nice to swim again for the first time in ages, and to use spa facilities for the first time in years.

After our morning swim and breakfast at the hotel's Starbucks, it was time for us to see some castles!

We started off by walking into Swansea town centre to see the castle there. There's not so much left of it compared to other Welsh castles, but it's still quite dramatic to look at.

We then took the bus down to Mumbles to visit Oystermouth Castle. This is probably one of my favourite castles that I've visited in Wales! Not only is it a beautiful building, but it also has amazing views over the sea. 

You can pay to explore the entire castle, but we chose not too, as there's actually a lot you can look around for free. We spent quite a while there taking it all in.

Next, we went for a stroll along the seafront, picking up some delicious gelato at Verdi's along the way.

Past the pier, you can find Bracelet Bay beach, which is a really unspoilt beach with stunning views of the lighthouse.

We spent a really nice time there paddling in the sea and enjoying the views.

Overall, we had a great couple of days in Swansea, and felt like it was a nice contrast to previous trips we've taken. We realised that during a lot of our recent trips, we've walked for miles each day seeing different sights and often queuing at overcrowded attractions. While we love sightseeing, we definitely do not love crowds, and although we've still got a couple of very touristy places on our bucket list, we'd like to generally stick to more peaceful areas for our holidays in the future. We're not the sort of people to spend a whole week on a sunlounger without going anywhere, but we did appreciate the slower pace of this trip. We still walked lots on both days, but we didn't have to queue even once, and we felt quite restored after the trip, rather than exhausted!

Changing the subject to what's coming next on this blog, the truth is that I don't have any travels planned for the time being. We've got some BIG plans for December and January, but we want to save up a bit before then. Hopefully, once Claudio's got his visa, we'll do some little trips together, but for now, I'm going to focus on creating different kinds of posts rather than just write-ups of trips we've done. That's actually quite exciting, because I haven't really had the opportunity to try different things on this blog for a while, and I've got lots of ideas! My next post will be about a topic I find very interesting, and hopefully it'll be here on this blog in a week or two...

Life Update and Spring Travelling

Quite a lot has changed since my last life update nearly three months ago!

Most importantly, Claudio and I have decided that we see a future for ourselves living and working in the London area, and we're now going ahead with getting a UK partner visa sorted. There's a lot to do in order to get all the necessary documents together, but if everything goes to plan, we'll be able to properly start our life together within the coming months, and ideally be living in our own place by the end of the year.

The other exciting news is that we've officially booked our wedding for December! We're going to be getting married at a beautiful location on the beach in Chile, which is just a dream come true. Of course, there's lots to organise for both the wedding and the honeymoon afterwards, but we're very excited about it all!

So, as you might imagine, we're very busy at the moment, and I haven't had so much time for this blog. But we've still managed to go on several travel adventures of varying sizes over the last few months, which I'll be sharing here today...

The Corinium Museum

After getting back from Rome, we wanted another fix of Roman history, so headed to the Corinium Museum in Cirencester. Cirencester was actually the second largest city in Roman Britain, so there are plenty of incredible artefacts from the era that have been discovered there, including beautiful mosaics and statues of Roman gods. It's amazing to think that the area we're living in at the moment was once part of the same empire that gave us places like the Colosseum and the Forum! 

Overall, visiting the museum was really interesting, and gave me a real sense of travelling to a different country - despite the fact that the artefacts all come from my local area!

An Easter Walk

After our Easter lunch, we decided to burn off some calories with a long walk over to the next village and back again in a circular route. For some reason, despite having lived in the same village most of my life, I'd never done this particular route before, and now wish I had! We passed through lots of peaceful countryside, and even made friends with a lovely horse!

STEAM - Museum of the Great Western Railway

We travelled to another period of history, when visiting STEAM museum in Swindon. I loved going to this museum as a child, but probably hadn't been since I was in primary school, so it was great to go back again after so many years, and also introduce it to Claudio.

The museum covers the history of the Great Western Railway, and is really fun and interactive - I remember that it really stood out to me when I was younger, because there weren't many museums around at the time that were so entertaining.

It starts with some sections about the different jobs that people did on the railways, and after that, you have the chance to see some actual steam trains - a couple of which you can go inside, and one of which you can walk underneath to see all of its components. You even have the chance to drive a train simulator and have a go at working in the signal box!

But my favourite parts are towards the end of the museum. Firstly, there's a recreation of a 1950s railway station, complete with a working vintage chocolate vending machine! And then, there's a section all about the popularisation of seaside holidays that came about as a result of the Great Western Railway. There are plenty of vintage travel posters to look at, which was fascinating for me as a marketing professional with a passion for travel.

Of course, life in the 1950s had its drawbacks, but STEAM museum definitely makes you feel like you've returned to a more glamorous age for a little while!

Pittville Park, Cheltenham

Another exciting thing that happened recently was that I started driving again for the first time since 2016. My parents went on holiday for a week in April and put me and Claudio on the insurance for their car for the month, so that we could get around while they were away. Claudio has always been hugely passionate about cars and driving, but I was never a very confident driver, so I felt quite nervous about getting behind the wheel again. However, I surprised myself by how much I enjoyed getting back into driving - it gives you so much freedom, especially when you live in a rural area, as we do at the moment.

During the week that my parents were away, we went all over the local area, to places including Jubilee Lake, Somerford Common Wood (we didn't see any wallabies, but we did see a beautiful deer!), Lower Moor Nature Reserve, Malmesbury and Ashdown House. We had a fantastic time! But the first place we went, after dropping my parents at the train station on the Sunday, was Cheltenham.

Cheltenham has to be one of my favourite towns/cities in the UK - it has the beauty and European elegance of places like Bath and Oxford, but without the crowds of tourists. 

Although I'd been there many times, there was one particular attraction that I'd wanted to visit for years, but never made it to, given that it's a bit further out from the town centre: Pittville Park. This park is known for its lake and the grand, elegant Pump Room. We finally got there on our recent visit, and spent a lovely hour or two walking around the beautiful green space, before enjoying some food and shopping back in the town centre. A great way to start our week of freedom!

South Cerney

After our time in Cheltenham, we didn't want the day out to end just yet, so we stopped off at South Cerney in the Cotswold Water Park for a little walk. This is such a pretty Cotswold village, which is somewhat off the radar compared to other, similar villages, making it very tranquil. We were lucky enough to spot two deer there!

Our Cotswold Road Trip!

During the week, I booked a day off from work, allowing us to take a longer trip. We decided to use this day to go up through the Cotswolds to Moreton-in-Marsh, where we visited Batsford Arboretum followed by Sezincote. These are two places that I discovered during the pandemic travel restrictions, and are actually two of my favourite places in the entire Cotswold area, though they are not that well known - perhaps because they are not your typical Cotswold destinations. Batsford Arboretum is heavily inspired by Japan, and boasts the UK's national collection of cherry blossom trees, along with a Japanese rest house and many other Japanese garden features. And literally just across the road, you'll find Sezincote House and Gardens, which takes inspiration from India, with a beautiful palace reminiscent of the Taj Mahal, and picturesque gardens filled with exotic plants and even a Hindu temple. So going to both places feels like taking a fabulous journey through Asia in just one day, without even having to leave the UK!

On the way back, we continued our world travels with a stop off in the Venice of the Cotswolds, Bourton-on-the-Water! Claudio had never visited this particular Cotswolds village before, and he absolutely loved it! We finished off our afternoon there with a traditional afternoon tea next to the river, which felt like a really special experience.

New Zealand!

I didn't expect to visit New Zealand this April, and I certainly didn't expect to go there and back home in one evening after work - but that's exactly what happened! 

Yes, unsurprisingly, this wasn't the actual country of New Zealand, but rather a hamlet with the same name in Wiltshire! It's only about 20 minutes away from my house, and I'd always been intrigued by it, purely because of its name, but had never actually been there. However, having access to the car gave us a perfect opportunity to take an evening drive there and get photos with the road sign!

New Zealand is basically just one road with some cottages and farms, so not exactly a tourist destination. However, we did see some gorgeous Shetland ponies and a muntjac deer there, and the scenery was very green and pretty. Maybe it's not too dissimilar from the other New Zealand after all!

Easton Grey

Another new place we recently visited was the village of Easton Grey, near Malmesbury. If you're ever visiting the Cotswolds area and want to discover a picture-perfect village without any tourists, this is the place you need to go! 

In fact, my parents actually only found out about it by accident a few months ago, when a road was closed, and they had to pass through it in order to get to where they were going. They later told us that it looked just like Castle Combe, and I can now confirm that that's true!

Though it's lacking the tearooms of more touristic Cotswolds villages, Easton Grey is just as beautiful. Claudio and I had a lovely, tranquil walk around the village, and definitely appreciated the lack of selfie sticks and coaches!

A Cotswold Water Park Walk

April 31st was our last day with car insurance, and we decided to make the most of it by driving up to the Cotswold Water Park after work. We parked at the car park by The Gateway Café and had a nice evening walk around the lake by the De Vere Hotel. It's a really beautiful place to walk, and to make things even better, we said hello to some cats!

Our Weekend in London!

To celebrate the anniversary of our civil union, Claudio and I spent a weekend in London. This was when Claudio had his first experience of West End theatre! We went to see Les Misérables, which is my absolute favourite show of all time, and I was really pleased that he enjoyed it just as much as I did!

We had a fabulous few days exploring London's sights, including Big Ben (the first time Claudio saw it properly, without scaffolding!), Tower Bridge, the National Gallery (very busy but amazing paintings), Fortnum & Mason (more of an experience than a shop), and Greenwich Park.

We actually stayed just outside of Greater London, partly to save money, as hotels in the centre are hugely expensive these days, but also to get an idea of what it would be like to live a little outside the capital and commute in. This gave us the chance to see some different parts of the city while travelling in by train or bus, and gave us some ideas of areas we could potentially live in in the future!

Chepstow

During the May heatwave, we crossed over the Severn Bridge into Wales to visit my godfather in Chepstow. Claudio loved seeing the castle, and it was a lot of fun crossing the little bridge between England and Wales!

We had lunch at Panevino Italian restaurant at an outside table right by the river, and with the sunshine, it almost felt like being on holiday somewhere in the Mediterranean. The food was delicious, and we were delighted to meet a lovely cat there!

Broadway Tower and Nuclear Bunker

One of the places in the Cotswolds that Claudio really wanted to visit was Broadway Tower. So on another sunny Saturday, we went up into Worcestershire for a nice day out.

It was great to visit the little castle, which really looks quite magical, located on one of the highest hills in the Cotswolds and surrounded by rolling countryside.

We were also lucky enough to see (and stroke!) some beautiful and very tame deer while we were there!

In addition to the castle, Claudio and I visited the nearby nuclear bunker, which was quite fascinating. It was built during the cold war and has been preserved to look as it did then. You have to climb down a steep ladder to get in, and once inside, you can see all of the different equipment that the volunteers who looked after the bunker used to use. It gives you a real insight into a very interesting period of history.

Well, I think that just about covers everything!

We've had some really great times over the last few months, and we even managed to fit in another, slightly longer trip last week that I'll be writing about next.

Sadly, Claudio will now be returning to Chile, as he has to go back there in order to complete the visa application. We're hopeful that it will be approved quickly, and we'll be able to start setting up our life together in the UK in a few months time.

So, there won't be any big travels featured on this blog for a little while, but there are lots of things I plan to write about, and I also want to pay some attention to my Instagram, Pinterest and Pexels accounts, which have been a little bit neglected recently.

See you back here very soon!