[2019]
OUR FAMILY HOLIDAYS
From 1959, when I went to Spain and met Pat - and with the honourable exception of our 1961 honeymoon in Paris - we didn't go abroad again until the early 1970s. It was only in 1974, when Miles was coming up to 8 years old, that we went for our first foreign holiday as a family.
In essence these were sea, sun and sand family holidays – which were typical of holidays in general at that time. On the other hand, we did extend them to – much to the disgust of the children – to include the cultural highlights of the areas we visited.
0277 Costa Brava, 1974 (0277T*)
0227 Rimini, 1976
(0227T*)
0297 Tours from Rimini, 1976
(0297T*)
0229 Rome, 1976
(0229T*)
We then splashed out on the holiday of a lifetime; in the US. This was at the time when US package holidays were just opening up – but were still something of a rarity – and it was a month long tour of a large chunk of the West Coast. It was, Pat claimed in justification of the fact that it almost bankrupted us, likely to be the last with the children. Of course it wasn’t!
0247 Californian Holiday - Los Angeles & Palm Springs (1980)
(0247T*)
0248 The Grand Canyon & Las Vegas (0248T*)
0216 Death Valley, Bakersfield & Yosemite (0216T*)
0252 Los Angeles follow-on (0252T*)
Indeed, we followed it up with:
0270 Holiday – To the Loire Valley
(0270T*)
0291 Holiday –Loire Valley Chateau
(0291T*)
But, thereafter, our holidays were just Pat and myself. In particular, Pat came along, for a holiday, on several of my business trips with IBM:
0237 Pat’s Trips with IBM (0237T*)
The best of all, though, was our trip to Ethiopia; at a time when the two of us represented 2% of all the (100 only) foreign tourists visiting that country! The best part of this was not the tour we paid for but what I had seen as a duty; visiting the various places where the aid agencies were at work. Although it was meant to be 'business', this was just about our best holiday ever!
9171 - Ethiopia - Visiting with the Aid Agencies
(9171T*)
9166 - Ethiopia – With the Aid Agencies Part 2
(9166T*)
Even so, the tour we booked, with personal guides, was also impressive, if very expensive, and at times literally fatal.
9151 - Ethiopia – Axum
(9151T*)
9150 - Ethiopia – To Bihar Dar
(9150T*)
9127 - Ethiopia – Lalibella
(9127T*)
9101 - Ethiopia – Gondar (9101T*)
Although, despite the problems, the tour turned out to be a marvellous holiday, the tour company’s service left something to be desired:
We then returned to our usual package holidays, albeit – slightly ahead of our peers - to more exciting destinations.
9175 Egypt Cruise -- 1990
(9175T*)
9991 To Aswan -- 1990
(9991T*)
9989 Cairo -- 1990
(9989T*)
9990 Luxor -- 1990(9990T*)
These were interspersed with shorter city holidays, closer to home, which were then also starting to become more popular with holidaymakers.
9198 Florence 1993
(9198T*)
9981 Florence - Duomo 1993
(9981T*)
9980 Florence – Pitti Palace 1993
(9980T*)
9982 Florence – Uffizi 1993
(9982T*)
9983 Florence and Sienna 1993
(9983T)
9984 Venice 1993
(9984T*)
9985 Venice – Regatta 1993
(9985T*)
My final trip, before my heart condition put paid to such things, was our most luxurious holiday of all.
9202
Jodhpur (9202T*)
9160 Jodhpur to Jaipur
(9160T*)
9203 Jaipur to Khajuraho (9203T*)
9204
Khajuraho to Varanesi
(9204T*)
9158
Nepal
(9158T*)
Pat has continued to take such trips. It is her favourite pastime, and she has been to Australia and the Far East, Peru and South America, South Africa, and Florida; as well as to Russia and to Germany several times. But summarising my own experiences:
* Text only versions
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