Looking back

This post has been spurred on by being part of the Trippando’s and Travel – Moments in Time’s contest about the subject, Beach. Outside the rain is beating down and the wind is blowing, standard weather for the UK in January! Time to dream of the sun and beaches. I still have two or three posts to write about Barbados and how beautiful the beaches were, so here goes!

The view of the beach at the Hilton Resort that greeted us when we stepped onto the balcony the evening we arrived was just lovely. There has always been something magical about a beach, be it serene with beautiful sand, or wild with rugged rocks, walking barefoot in the sand is just wonderful. I’ve not stepped on such white sand before and the colours in the sea ranged from turquoise to deep blue.

On one of the days there, we walked along the beach to Bridgetown and this is the view looking back to the Hilton. Small cotton wool ball clouds floating serenely across the blue sky. And everywhere there is joy.  It’s a wonderful life.

Elba

The first prize in the competition is a week’s stay (with b & b) at the Hotel Acacie on the island of Elba.  Now that does look good!

Elba is another small island that is proud of its history, tradition and the nurturing of nature; and has benefitted from the comfort and tools provided by technology. Definitely one on the bucket list!

Click on the following links for more information -

Trippando’s (http://trippando.wordpress.com/) and Travel-Moments in Time’s (http://travel.prwave.ro/) blogs and to the Acacie’s web (http://acacie.com).

Tuesday evening was spent at Lobsters Alive, the restaurant on the way to Bridgetown. A return visit after a fabulous Sunday there. But I could not bring myself to be responsible for one of these gorgeous lobsters in the tank, so I had tuna instead and it was melt in your mouth delicious. Art, the Australian owner, flies to the Grenadines and brings the lobsters back fresh.

Roger

Once again, the smiles of the team there were welcoming and friendly and the jazz quintet started playing later.

The baby of the band is Roger Gittens, the piano/keyboard player. Born here in 1964, his Mum sent all the children to piano lessons and that’s where it all began.  Roger is now a music teacher and lives nearby with his wife and 2 boys. He can surely do magic with the ebony and ivory keys!

Elvis

The bass player is Elvis Edwards, who was born in 1961. Elvis used to be in the Police Force and he started his musical career when joining the Police Band as a clarinet player. He switched to playing the bass guitar and strums those strings beautifully.  He and his partner have a small farm where they grow ‘erbs such as, majoram and thyme.

Vere

We mustn’t forget the drummer ~ Vere Gibson. Great guy with one of the most contagious laughs I have ever heard! Vere was born on this island in the year 1939 and he’s still got the mischievous little boy inside him! His family lives in Vermont and he says they come over to check him out every so often! His ability to stroke the skins to drive the beat is memorable, but it is the irresistible smile and chuckle that I shall remember most ~ and the twinkle in his eye!

Lord Jenkins

And, last but by no means least, is Lord Jenkins – Stuart to his friends. Born in England in 1933, Stuart went to Art School, and, when a student, lent £5 to a classmate, who was then unable to repay the debt. He gave Stuart his trombone instead and as he says, what good is a trombone if you can’t play it?  So he taught himself, which was made easier by the fact he was musical and could play the piano. Later, he was given a government contract to establish Art teaching at the Bridgetown community college for the ’A’ level Art exams and has lived here since. His three children live in Germany, Crete and Barbados, respectively.

With four great players, the band should be good anyway ~ but add that ingredient of joy and there is magic!  Two of them play on a Thursday evening, along with Art (a pianist),and others, at the Waterfront Cafe in Bridgetown ~ they are called the VSOP band. Very Special Old People ~ how great is that?

Oh, men in suits too, with their earpieces in, around the lobby and outside the hotel! Had someone told them I was coming back? But no, as we found out later (after being told, by one of the polite men in suits, ‘Sorry Ma’am I cannot tell you that’), it was for the US Attorney General, Eric H. Holder, Jr. And what a very distinguished gentleman he is too, carries himself with great dignity. He was staying overnight and so we slept that night knowing we were in one of the safest places in the world :-)

Another lazy morning for Tuesday.

Barbados Tourism has a strap line on its site ~ The official ambassadors of how to live life.

Love that, and it is so true ~ their culture is one of smiles and friendliness; of laughter and joy.  There is no ‘London Underground’ culture here, you make eye contact and speak, it has such an uplifting effect.

Tuesday we turned right and went to Hastings - we walked past the Garrison and the Savannah Racecourse onto past the Savannah Hotel and then we came across this, well how can I put it, expensive, ostentatious blot on the landscape.  This is the HQ for the European Union Executives Office; good to know the taxpayers’ money is being used wisely! Built on a premier location above the beach, the picture is of the righthand side of the building.

Moving swiftly along, we kept to the beach road and it was gorgeous. The next post will be about Tuesday evening and all that jazz!

Other than this, we sang and danced in the rain with Gene Kelly! Just love that song :-) The temperature was fine, it was just wet and if you’re dressed for the rain, t-shirt, shorts & flip flops, then you can have a wonderful time. We walked into Bridgetown and we walked back, with taxis beepings their horns at us every few minutes and asking if we needed a lift. The look on their faces showing their disbelief in these strange people wanting to walk! It continued to rain for the day and evening, the Hilton being a great sanctuary!

Sunday morning did not disappoint, it dawned with a beautiful glow everywhere, yes!  Oh my goodness, the different hues of blue in the sea, from turquoise to deep, deep blue. I could get used to this! We had nothing planned, so stopped at the concierge desk to chat about what to do. We struck gold with Pauline, what a star! So much to do and, as the old cliché says, so little time to do it! Pauline recommended we go for lunch at Lobster Alive as on Sunday lunch times they had a jazz band playing. That was one of the best recommendations we could have been given, and, luckily, there was one table that wasn’t booked! The team working there was great; helpful, professional and so friendly. As for the food, suffice to say that my diet has been blown to pieces! Gorgeous! And then the band started playing, oh my, but they were good ~ bass guitarist, trombonist, keyboard player, drummer and vocalist/steel drum player. Lunch is served from 12 noon until 4 p.m. and I guess we were there most of that period. During one of the breaks, I was emboldened to ask if they would do a Sam Cooke number.  This pic is the vocalist singing ‘You Send Me’ - oh, and I was, it was beautiful, my favourite singer & song of all time, done with a jazz twist. What made the whole experience even better was you could see the joy the guys were getting out of playing together. That’s the word that comes to mind when thinking of Barbados, JOY!  And when they sang ‘What A Wonderful World’, the words seemed more vibrant.

Fortunately, they’re playing again on Tuesday evening and we’ve already booked the table! How can you beat good service, good food, good music and joy???????

Delightful, smiling girls as the cabin stewardesses, and the food was okay.  Was an hour into the new Woody Allen film, ‘Midnight in Paris’, when suddenly a passenger announcement came on to say the entertainments system was not working properly and so they had to reboot it, would be about half an hour. These things do happen. Back on and fast forward to where it had been interrupted – oops, not for long, blank screen again.  Loading, loading, loading  . . . please wait. Reading fonts . . .  please wait.  Verifying configs . . . please wait.  Uh oh, a blank screen again!  It did come back eventually and I  managed to watch the end of the film and went on to use up quite a few tissues watching the film ‘The Help’!

Finally we arrived to be greeted by a series of fabulous Malibu Rum posters; the first of which said, ‘Welcome to Finland . . . only joking!’. Ha! I immediately thought of the lovely Zoe, The Quirky Traveller, when I saw that. J  Quite a wait to be checked through customs and then caught a taxi to the Hilton.  My Aunt Selina had said that she stayed at the Hilton when visiting Barbados many years ago and there was a tree in an atrium growing up in the middle of it.  Not there now though, the hotel was knocked down and completely rebuilt in 1999.

The Hilton is, as one would expect, very plush, and we had greetings from so many friendly and professional personnel.  The room is gorgeous and this is the view that greeted us as we stepped onto the balcony, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

So far we have met Swaine and the lovely Cheryl from the team at the hotel; both definite assets to the
Hilton.  More to come . . .

I can’t remember all the names I’m afraid but it was fascinating to sit there and listen to people being recorded whilst talking about their memories.  They spoke of the times when bombs fell on Bedford and seeing the bomb doors open as they were dropped.  Next to Bedford is Cardington, where the kite balloons were manufactured in the huge airship hangars and also, where the RAF was based. They spoke of playing in the ruins of the houses in Albert Street, where there was a direct hit. They spoke of the hardships and the fun, but most of all, they spoke of the community spirit, each helping, and looking out for, the other.

Aunt Selina spoke of the Morris shelter they had in the house and then they asked whether she remembered anything of World War I, and she did – she was born in 1912!  Her Dad, Edward Turney, went off to war and came back, like so many, a changed man, who never mentioned the horrors he had witnessed.  He had contracted TB in the trenches and Auntie was only 15 when her beloved father died. There is so much more to the story, but that’s for another time.  What she spoke about is now taped and will be put into the living history section of the Bedford Museum.  Fabulous project.  The next meeting is on 1st December and we’ll be there again.

The first Bedford tweet up came about when Eric Swain received a text from 4Square saying he had been usurped, as Mayor of Bedford Station, by James Parton!  Eric sent a text to James saying he wasn’t too happy about that and the rest, as they say, is history.

It’s not a fast networking event, it’s a great evening to relax amongst lovely people and chat.  I was lucky enough to meet some fabulous new people last night, Rachel Benton, Nicola Cameron, Leigh Frost, Dawn Giles and Ian Henderson.  I didn’t get to chat to everyone, but then there is the privilege of meeting them next time :-)

We had an inspirational talk from Gemma Hutton and Kristian Purcell from the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum. These two great institutions have been merged into one and the buildings are currently undergoing a massive redevelopment project ~ just as well really, as Kristian was saying he was giving a talk there just before it closed and the ceiling suddenly gave way and let through gallons of rain water that had collected! This must be one of Bedford’s crown jewels and, when it reopens in the spring of 2013, I would encourage everyone to go along and experience all it has to offer.  Beautiful artworks by Turner, Degas and Picasso, to name a few and collections of objects that will blow your mind away.

I love living in the shire of Bedford , the passion and purpose of the people is infectious. Gemma and Kristian, and everyone else who works at @chagandbm, are to be congratulated on what they have achieved already, what is going on during the redevelopment and the new experience it will be to go there when open. Their latest tweet was; This weeks object of the week blog, as Halloween is nearly upon us, includes a web footed skeleton with a scythe.

Under the Thatch’s ethos is one of conservation and sustainability ~ profits are used to maintain the historic buildings and to fund the purchase & renovation of new ones. This is where the lambswool comes in!

As Greg says: “We use traditional crafts and materials in our building conservation. This means we use lime instead of cement, limewash instead of acrylic emulsions, local hedgerow timber is used for roof repairs, and gorse cut from the local fields. We endeavour to use environmentally friendly materials in our building work, such as sheepswool insulation rather than fibreglass, limecrete rather than concrete, linseed-oil based paints etc.  We have an exceptionally high occupancy rate that leads from our flexible pricing – working hard to keep properties full, and with community benefit all year round. We employ local people to conserve and maintain our properties, and do not use any outside agencies. We source local tradesmen and women in the restoration of our properties, and prefer to use freelancers who then take their newly-gained conservation skills with them to other jobs.”

Now, how wonderful is that?  When you go on the website for Under the Thatch (UTT), you will be spoilt for choice ~ it really is full of authentic, unique and quirky places to stay.  Fancy staying in a railway carriage? Then have a look at Wendy in Wales.  A gypsy caravan? Then Geaglum Cottage & Gypsy Caravan, in the Irish lakelands of Fermanagh, is for you. (Chosen by the Independent in their ‘Six Best Romantic Rentals’.) Or how about trying one of the new properties, now ready after a 6 year restoration project. Enjoy a truly ancient French medieval townhouse in Bellac - a ‘cite de caractere’ in the beautiful Limousin region of central France. The property dates back to the 15th century and just take a look at the box bed!

Greg is passionate about what he does ~ his 4 Ps are passion, purpose, projects and preservation.  Greg will tell you himself, he is living the dream.  And what a great dream it is ~ what UTT does benefits so many people and safeguards historical premises that are falling into ruin. Without his passion and purpose, none of this would have happened; a trail blazing pioneer if ever there was one. All people who work for UTT are as passionate as Greg, their ethics are strong and they love what they do too.  As Sir Winston Churchill said,

If a man finds a job he loves, he will never work again.

While fewer and fewer of us are travelling abroad for our holidays; the cottages and other accommodation offered by UTT are so unique, it’s a totally new experience to stay in one. That’s a good thing for this wonderful planet of ours ~ we have to become more conscious of the impact our travel makes and we have to leave teeny-weeny footprints where we go, or better still, no footprints at all! But that’s for another post!

Greg and UTT have been showered with many awards, have a look at the About Us page on the site. Each one is well deserved; you’ve got to take your hat off to someone who truly has made a difference; who is being the change we want to see in the world ~ thanks Greg.

The noun of Pioneer is described thus :  pi·o·neer 

Bruce Poon Tip and Anna Pollock are outstanding examples of trail-blazing leaders.   Trailblazers who have followed their hearts and dreams ~ who have dared to go out on a limb ~ who have led the way to bring their visions of how the travel and tourism industry could help look after and cherish our wonderful planet, to fruition.  

They’ve both been recognised for their work; Bruce has been awarded, amongst many other honours, the Ethics In Action Award, World Savers Award by Condé Nast Traveler magazine, as well as the Travel and Leisure Global Vision Leadership Award for voluntourism.  

They put everything on the line to follow their passion and risked everything to do what they believe in.  They are what this industry needs, the doers!  There are enough talkers, organisations and associations to drown in ~ we need the Pioneers ~ they are vital to the industry’s future.  Not going on in the same old way, doing the same old things, but bringing passion and purpose to the forefront, getting ‘it’ and doing ‘it’.  It’s called ‘Living the Dream’.  It is anything but easy, people scoff at your ideas and show no support, when you start out.  The Dream requires passion, persistence, purpose and personal belief.  

In 1990, Bruce Poon Tip founded G Adventures in order to deliver authentic experiences to travellers, who also craved adventures beyond all-inclusive resorts. When no bank was willing to provide a loan, he started the company with two credit cards. A true Pioneer! Since then, G Adventures has grown to become a world leader in adventure travel, offering more than 865 small group experiences on all seven continents to more than 100,000 travellers annually.  Until the World Tourism Day, on 27th September 2011, the company was known as Gap Adventures ~ on that day they held The Future of Tourism Conference in Toronto. Gap between G!  G for great, g for genuine and g for get up and go! Have a look at the website and register to watch ~ see Bruce in action, along with other great speakers.  An evening of motivation and purpose ~ no tickets to buy, no affiliation or registration fees, just a donation of whatever you felt appropriate to Planeterra. (Determined to lead his industry in sustainable tourism and community development initiatives, Bruce founded the non-profit Planeterra Foundation in 2003 to make a positive difference in the lives of people around the world.)  Prepare to be inspired!

Anna is a high level strategist with over thirty years’ experience advising tourism destinations, tourism boards and major corporations in Canada, Australasia and Europe. She’s an acknowledged visionary ~ indeed, in 1999, British Columbia, Canada, presented Anna with The Tourism Visionary of the Year award for her perception, vision and knowledge in her services to the tourism industry. She has detected a number of major trends affecting the development of tourism internationally and has developed innovative strategies to exploit emerging opportunities, with the main focus on environmental & social responsibility, climate change and low carbon economies.  Anna, with dual citizenship of Great Britain and Canada, is a true visionary and wrote papers ten years ago about many of the subjects being discussed now.

Anna founded, and is President of, Desticorp, and is founder and Chair of the Advisory Board of The Icarus Foundation, a Canadian-based NGO focused on developing a climate friendly tourism sector in Canada. Anna is currently writing a book and has founded a new organisation called Conscious Travel.  Her vision is that the industrial model that fueled tourism’s growth has now run out of steam and carries within it the seeds of its own destruction. Working together, we must find an alternative, less harmful way of enabling humanity to explore its home, Planet Earth.  Read Anna’s latest post, ‘Good morning Tourism: time for your wake up call’

Exciting times and two very exciting people I am privileged to know. I am always motivated after listening to them. As speakers, they are passionate and powerful. They really do believe what they say, they live it!

And, best of all, they are both absolutely wonderful people :-)

To me, It is all about the magic and privilege of travelling ~ capturing the moment and the place ~ and taking your reader there.  And being responsible about how you travel and what you do on this wonderful planet of ours.

It is also about integrity, that is the most important factor ~ you mustn’t go on a ‘Blog Trip’ because it’s free, you must go because you’re excited about seeing this new destination and want to go there.  If you are excited and enthusiastic, it will shine through in what you write.  If your blog makes someone else want to go to the same place, then you have been successful!

Enjoy reading Zoë’s article.  The website is www.thequirkytraveller.com.

What is a Blog Trip?  It’s an updated version of the Press Trip, often offered by tourist agencies, PR companies and tourism businesses which generate publicity for their venue, resort, hotel, attraction or other holiday destination.   They are similar to Press Trips and may include journalists from newspapers or magazines as well as online bloggers.

Here are 10 questions for first-time blog trippers to consider before accepting a tempting invite or leaving for that dream destination.

1. Will ALL your expenses be covered?  Sometimes you will get paid everything from the time you leave your house to the moment you return, but other times you may find yourself quite out of pocket.  Remember that even if meals, accommodation & transport are generally covered, drinks, taxis, duty free/souvenirs (well, sometimes you have to!) all add up. You will need some currency so get yourtravel money before you go – you may not have much time to change money on the trip.
2. What is expected of you in return for the trip?  What does your client want re Social Media ie Twitter, Face Book, StumbleUpon etc.   How many blog posts are you expected to write? You’re going to be busy and it can be tiring so don’t overpromise.  Do they want you to write them whilst you are away?  Which leads to …
3. What’s the WiFi or internet connection going to be like when you get there? Is it included in the package?  Uploading photos can take ages when you have a slow connection.  Remember – if you are using a smart phone abroad those Roaming charges quickly add up.
4. Who else is going on the trip? Where are they from? You may be the only blogger going in which case you will have an exclusive or you may be part of a group.  It might be a Press trip as opposed to a dedicated Blog Trip, in which case you may be along with journalists from newspapers & magazines.  If you are on your own, check if you will have a host or someone to show you round and help if anything goes wrong.
5. What’s the itinerary? Does it coincide with your interests?  You may be given a choice of activities so do think about your readers and what they might like to read about.  WARNING – some companies put together really great things to do but remember – you will need some time to yourself so don’t be afraid to ask for free time.
6. What research do you need to do beforehand?  You may like to just turn up at a place and go with the flow, but it can pay dividends to find out some basic info about the country, customs and culture.  (I usually get the Culture Smart guides when I go somewhere new.) There are some fantastic travel Apps that you can download before you go.
7. What clothes do you need to take?  Of course you need to know what the climate is like, but also whether you will be expected to dress up for a special dinner or doing adventure activities.  Some countries are more formal in dress code than others so do check.
8. What are the rights to your writing?  Does the client expect exclusive use of your articles and photos or can you use the material elsewhere.  There are all kinds of regulations over Intellectual Property and it’s changing all the time for internet use, so it’s helpful to clarify it beforehand.
9. On your return what is expected from you? Do you let the client know when articles are posted or links used? Is there anything else they want from you?  Let them know you value the relationship and hopefully it will lead to other opportunities for travel …
10.  What else do you need to remember?  Of course you have to have your passport – do make sure it’s up to date as you may be asked to leave at short notice.  Keep a bag packed with essentials – ie passport, travel money, toiletries, travel plug, sun cream, mosquito repellent, first aid kit.  Charge up your laptop, cameras, smart phone, camera prior to departure and make sure all the right leads and plugs are packed.

Finally, remember that this is supposed to be fun so make sure that you really do want to go on this trip – your readers want to share your enjoyment too!

The effervescent Quirky Traveller, cruising and blogging