What did you do this summer?!

[Abi]

Thought it would be good to hear a bit of good old gossip. Where did you go on holiday this summer? What did you do? Recommend some good and bad places to us :D

I went on a cruise with Ocean Village, to Greece. And i really recommend it to any of you.

Day 1: We flew to Heraklion in Crete on Thursday, and settled into our room on the ship. They had a greek themed evening, with music, and dancing, and lots of fun. The ship is absolutly massive, its amazing. They have bars, a cinema, a spa, 2 kids clubs (One for under 12s, and one for 12-17 year olds), 3 pools, and a whole shopping area. You can sunbathe in so many places on the ship as well- next to one of the pools, on the panorama deck, or on 5 different levels on the back of the ship.

Day 2: This is a sea day, so you dont dock anywhere. Which is pretty amazing. We sunbathed on one of the decks on the back of the ship, so we could watch the sea leave behind us. You cant describe the feeling of looking out, and seeing absoltely nothing apart from sea. Its amazing.

Day 3: We went to Dubrovnik in Croatia. I really recommend this place. Its not too hot, in the mid 30s when i went. Its not too commercialised, which i like a lot. The old town is all tericotter roofs, ans surrounded by a city wall, which you can walk around. They have lots of tiny shops, with croatian goods, and products. A really good place if you want to get away from commerical areas, and massive shopping areas, and still go to an active, lively area, with lots of stuff for kids.

Day 3: We then went to Corfu. Which was ok. Lots of shopping, which was good for me, but very commericialied, which isn't my kind of thing. Lots of English bars, and pubs and stuff. But this would be great for people to go to if you have kids, because theres lots of trips in the local area, and lots to do, which is what you need with young kids, especially.

Day 4: We then went to Kefalonia. Amazing!!!! I loved this sooo much. Its all mountainous, and spectacular looking. We visted Drogorati caves. Its underground, so not too good for young kids, but teenagers like myself would like it a lot. Same with Melissani lake. Brilliant place!! Theres some pics of both of the places here (http://www.greekisland.co.uk/kefalonia/caves.htm). There was a tiny earthquake while we were there as well, which was pretty cool, lol!!

Day 5: We were meant to go to Katakolon today. We even booked to go to Olympia. I'm sure you've all seen the Greece Fires on the news- well that day, they engulfed Katakolon. So Ocean Village obviously decided that it wasn't safe to allow us to go there, so we visited Zante (Zakynthos). Which wasn't as good as Katakolon would have been, but still, it was a nice place. I've been there before though when i was a kid, so it wasn't the same.

Day 6: Athens! Loved it! Not too good for kids- very busy, and full of history- but great for older teenagers and adults. We did the whole tourist thing of the Acropolis and what not, which was good. I like that kind of thing. Veeeeeeery hot though- over 40 degrees c.

We then went back to Heraklion, and then flew back to London Gatwick!

I reeeally recommend this cruise to any of you, and all of you. Its an amazing experience. Its not overly expensive either. The best thing is, its not a normal cruise. You dont dress up, or any rubbish like that. Its all casual, apart from dinner, where people make a bit more of an effort.

If it takes your fancy, then pop over to http://www.oceanvillageholidays.co.uk/ . Over Winter, its a caribean cruise selection, and in Summer, its the meditteranen.

[DaVeyWaVey]

Thanks for the info Abi - i might look into it - it sounds like you had a great holiday, mine doesn't even compare..:D - i went to Devon for a few days - We went there to see family as my cousins live down there, but it was a bit of a holiday too. We went for the weekend and watched the carnival which was really good - then went to the fair and seen fireworks which was good! Sunday, we went to a massive car boot (my dad is a big fan. :D) and that was alright, some good bargains there. Then went to the beach on the final day and looked round the town - it rained that day but still had fun.

Then, we went to Weymouth for the day to see family again - but we looked round the town and stuff which was nice! :)

Weymouth & Devon - two fantastic holiday destinations in Britain - i recommend them! I've been to both places quite a few times and have never got bored of it.

[pookie1968uk]

weymouth and devon! love both places! but went to dorset/hampshire border this year and although it was nice its back to devon for us next year!

[Xx-Vicky-xX]

Went to Clacton & London, had a wicked time in London might be going back in October :cheer:

[Kim]

I went nowhere. Would have been doen Dorset on the boat a few times had the weather been nicer.

[.:SpIcYsPy:.]

Went to Canada.. stayed for just over 3 weeks.. Got back a few hours ago.. I didn't want to leave had such fun with cousins and the shopping there is GREAT!! So many malls everywhere and it's like 'half-price' because of the currency difference..
Really loved it, had a great time!

[Siobhan]

I was in Germany for 2 weeks and it was great.. food fantastic, cheap everything compared to Ireland.
Also spent summer taking my kids to the zoo, cinema and on picnics.. Had many bbq

[Tori]

this summer i went to the south of france, which was pretty good, just not as hot as it should have been and the waves weren't that good but hey... i loved the cities we visited (béziers, montpeillier, narbonne, carcassonne and perpignan) i'd go back in a few years but i didn't find it all that interesting!
then i went to budapest, which was amazing! i saw all the sights etc in one day, then we went to a beach on the danube which was pretty good fun- it was fairly warm and then i went to visit obaudi sziget, where the music festival is held yearly and we saw a pig!! another day we went to a water park outside of budapest, got hurrendously lost in a thunder storm and got covered in clay. we then discovered it when we retraced our steps and found out that in fact we'd followed the wrong road round!!
now i'm back and ready to start college again, which i'm really not looking forward to!

[Katy]

I was lucky and had too holidays as my mum was sailing in Abersoch for one week so we went and watched her but explored as well. That was more a chillout as we did a bit of walking, round llanbedrock and up to somewhere called the tin man statue and a trigulation point where there was a panoramic image of all the mountains you could see ahead including Snowdon. So that was really good.

Are main holiday was to Cork in Ireland though where we stayed in the UCC accomodation, i was really good and very cheap as well. We were about 10 minutes from the city of cork.
Day 1 was a sunday so we didnt really do much, just walked around the city to get are bearings, this is Ireland remember and everywheres pretty much dead on a sunday but it was derby day so we found a bar in the centre and watched the match. We then went to Tesco (very boring i know) but we needed food to keep us going for the week.

Day 2 on the Monday we went to Cobh which is to the East of the City where we have never really been before, It was previously known as Queensland and beofre that cove. Cobh was really nice, It is where the really big Cork Harbour is and is where the Titanick stopped to pick up passengers. We went in this little museum type thing in the old railway station which has now been converted and it had all facts about the Titanic and other ships that stopped there. That was really interesting.

Day 3 was my dads 50th and we had booked a little surprise. We went to the west of the City this time and went to Schull, anywhere in west cork is worth as visit as it is so beautiful. This is really nice as its not too commercialised as it is quite hidden, there was an arts festival going on so theres were loads of painting s by local artists which my dad really loved. We walked round for a bit and watched some sailing then went into this litle cafe. we had booked a room at the hotel so we went in there for the rest of the day and had a very large dinner. We went to the bar in the hotel and watched the final part of the rose of Tralee.

Day 4 we were leaving Schull and stopped off on the way back at Kinsale which was really pretty. There were lots of little craft shops which we looked round and then we had fish and chips looking out at the harbour. In the evening went into Cork City again, on the bus as its easier that way and we watched the Ireland match and then listened to a trad session that was goingon, some of the musicians were amazing.

Day 5 Thursday was my sisters shopping day, so we looked round Cork City mainly on Patrick Street which is the main one and bought half of Cork. In the evening we went to the local arts thearte where there was one of John B Keanes plays on called Moll, this was brillian it was all about a house keeper in a church, very much like mrs Doyle from father ted.

Day 6 we went exploring and went in the car to a place called ballycotton i think, there were many place names that i can't say. This was really nice, we then drove into what was the middle of no where no signposts and got lost (it's got to be done, happens to us every year) we stopped off at all these little coves and inlets the most beautiful was called roberts cove. We eventually discovered where we were and were miles away from Cork so we went back to Kinsale for another look round. when we got back one of the other residents i think it was a student had set his kitchen on fire so the fire brigade were called out. That was quite funny, then we got a bus into Cork and went to a bar to watch Italy V Ireland in the Rugby friendly and had something to eat. when we got back the fire engine had gone and we were able to pack up ready to check out tomorrow

day 7 was good as well as we had to check out at 10 and our flight was not till 9 we went to a place called Fota which was like a little peninsula, we went to the house and gardens and looked round and just sunbathed really. Then we went to Midleton which is a little further down and went to the Midleton experience which is the jameson distilery. Then we went to the airport i finished Harry Potter and watched the football highlights then went home and recovered.

It was a very busy week.