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MACKS MEANDER ABROAD
  • Linda McKinlay
  • Linda McKinlay

MACKS MEANDER ABROAD

Time to celebrate a 70th birthday and 50yrs of wedded bliss. En savoir plus
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  • Linda McKinlayMACKS MEANDER ABROADVoyageur

    Grenada

    23 septembre 2025, Espagne ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Sorry didn't get to update last night as internet reception in our room not good so writing on the bus as I have been doing a lot lately. Enjoyed our day of variety yesterday at a slower pace. Started with a gentle strole through the city with lovely Alecia our traveling guide. (She calls us 'family', as in "Good morning family") very sweet. Walked around the cathedral but didn't go inside this one.
    Then on a small bus to a very high point (St Nicholas look out) with beautiful views over the city and of the palace grounds which which we visited in the afternoon. This area was settled by the Moors and has really narrow alleys and pretty white houses with the black wrought iron .There is a catholic church / convent which was once a mosque. It's called the Arab Quarter. Take note of the paving. You might have to zoom.    En savoir plus

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  • Linda McKinlayMACKS MEANDER ABROADVoyageur

    ALHAMBRA

    23–25 sept. 2025, Espagne

    This place is so special and beautiful and I have lots of photos so doing a separate report. You might want to goggle it. It's very interesting.
    We had a booking for 4pm which meant we had time for a nice wee rest after lunch. We had a 3 hour walking tour through this UNESCO world heritage palace and fortress site. We walked through the beautiful shady gardens first then moved through another security check, passports and scanners, to get into the castle grounds. The first records of construction are 9th century and we saw areas of present archeological digging uncovering buildings from Roman times. Its got a really interesting history because of all the changes and additions over the centuries. The area within the castle grounds are 11 hectares plus the gardens. One of the original buildings is now a hotel. In the 13th and 14th centuries the site was transformed from castle into a fortified palace complex. We walked through 3 of them. There is a lot of restoration work happening today. Oh my gosh we could hardly walk and taking photos was really difficult because of the thousands of tourists. Heaps of them Asian. We hadn't seen any Asian tourists till we got to Seville now there are bus loads. Rog and I enjoyed this place and even though it was a lot of waking, (with some steps,) in the heat of the afternoon there were lots of shady areas and quite a lot of time we were indoors. So glad we both have good knees!!!! 3 of our group struggle with all the walking because of knees and one lady is just really slow dont know why.. Enjoy the photos.En savoir plus

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  • Linda McKinlayMACKS MEANDER ABROADVoyageur

    Velencia

    23 septembre 2025, Espagne ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    To day we moved on to Valencia passing through an area where people live in caves similar to the ones you possibly know about in Turkey. I tried to get a photo from the bus but you'll have to zoom. Landscape changed again.to food production. The area is called the food basket of Europe because a lot of what is grown is exported throughout Europe. Huge areas of vegetable and fruit gardens. Heaps of orange trees (eg Valencia oranges of course) pomegranate almonds vegetables of all description etc. Stopped at a winery for a very interesting
    tour and tasting over a delightful 4 course lunch. They were very generous sharing the wines for tasting which I think all wines were given a very favorable thumbs up. 4 reds 2 rose and one sav/chardonnay mix.
    Voted the best meal yet. Wine very reasonable to buy at about $10 - $12.per bottle I think most of us bought at least 1 bottle so they'd have done ok. And look what was in our room on arrival. 😋    En savoir plus

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  • Linda McKinlayMACKS MEANDER ABROADVoyageur

    Valencia to Barcelon

    24 septembre 2025, Espagne ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Just the one night here with a guided walking tour this morning and short visit to view the beach where we had coffee. Valencia is a beautiful modern city with lots of high rise apartments and office blocks. About 25 years ago the city was badly damaged by flood waters when the river running through town over flowed. So they decided to divert the river away from town. The old river bed is now a beautifully planted park with a specific area of very stunning beautifully unusual buildings which house a stadium, aquerium, theatre, museum, opera house and water features. Paella (actually pronounced pya not sounding the 'l') is synonymous with Valencia so that was what Rog and I had for lunch. Now in the bus heading to Barcelona for 3 nights. Stopped st Tarragona to view Roman coleseum ruins
    Arrived in Barcelona 7.30 so a hotel dinner is a good choice for tonight. In the beach photos note how much sand you have to cross to reach the water. Note the smallest house in Barcelona. Skinned rabbit for sale in the food market. The big coulourful building with all the people on the steps. No they're not urinals. They deflect the exhaust fumes apparently. Bit high for urinals
    Sorry they're muddled    En savoir plus

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  • Linda McKinlayMACKS MEANDER ABROADVoyageur

    Barcelona / Segrada Familia

    25 septembre 2025, Espagne ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    A day exploring the city. Our guide met us at 9am and we jumped on the bus with our jackets on as the morning was a bit chilly. We did a big drive around the city passing points of interest. Stopped at a lookout for good views then set of for Gaudi's Segrada Familiar Catholic Church. We had a booking time and joined the throngs of other tourist waiting in line. Once through the gate there were strict security controls again with scanners etc. I don't think I really understood how huge and spectacular this church is. I know about Gaudi so expected it to look a bit strange. Building started in 1882 and it is expected to be completed in 10 years. Made 40million euros from ticket sales last year and its the ticket sales that are enabling the work to be progressing quickly now. While the outside of the building is a bit weird it does depict the Christian faith in lots of little vignettes in the facade. The inside is suprisingly plain with the main eye catching feature being the stained glass windows. I liked the inside a lot.En savoir plus

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  • Linda McKinlayMACKS MEANDER ABROADVoyageur

    Park Guell

    25 septembre 2025, Espagne ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    The next highlight and again a booked time slot and ticketed was a visit to the Park Guell. Another of Gaudis designs though had to be completed by a friend after Gaudis death. This is a really fun place to visit though taking photos was really tricky owing to the thousands of visitors. Enjoy mine. The thing that looks like a thumb sticking up is nick named 'the suppository' by the locals
    The 3 ladies Leah. Our travelling Spanish Guide Alecia, lovley Maureen and Rebecca our tour leader.    En savoir plus

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  • Linda McKinlayMACKS MEANDER ABROADVoyageur

    A day of leisure

    26 septembre 2025, Espagne ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Nice to have a slower start to the day. I was wondering why so many of the fountains had no water. It's because there's been a drought and they were all turned off
    Came across the one in yesturdays photo walking home from the dinner last night and some others have apparently been turned on now. Just walked and walked fairly aimlessly today. 13,500 steps today if my watch is to be believed. Saw a theft. Heard a loud yell in an alley way and saw a chap running fast and a couple of guys who looked British standing and not quite knowing what to do. Think it was a bag snatch
    Made our way down to the America's Cup harbour then looked at a market checked out some shops had lunch then came back to hotel for a rest and a coffee. Final dinner tonight somewhere close to the hotel I believe. The first of our group leave at 8.30 to self drive France. We heading to airport with the others round 11am. So you won't get a daily report with lots of photos maybe just an update every couple of days from now
    Thanks for your interest in my 'show and tell'. Photos. Decorative buildings everywhere. This gorgeous ceiling was in a shop
    Photo 3 is the entrance to a large fresh food market. Photo 9. Vendors everywhere so you just drop a cloth down on the pavement amongst the crowd and display your wares on it. Mostly it's souvenir magnets. I think the white guy on the water must be watching the sailor up the mast. He's certainly collecting a lot of poop on his head. Potato chips on a stick. Try it at home! Gaudi in Lego. A decorative water fountain. The people on the balcony aren't real. Saw lots of that    En savoir plus

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  • Linda McKinlayMACKS MEANDER ABROADVoyageur

    Uk travel

    30 septembre 2025, Angleterre ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    We've arrived in the UK. Have had 2 nights in Windsor and 1 in Weymouth now in Torquay for 2. 2 1/2 hours from Barcellona to Heathrow went fairly fast. Getting through Heathrow would have been a breeze if the luggage conveyer belt hadn't broken down leaving us waiting about an hour for our bags. Got a cab.to the car rental and collected our very nice upgraded almost new car. Enjoyed Windsor and a chance to visit a laundromat. Unfortunately it rained in the afternoon when we went for a walk so didnt go far. The first photo is of me with Windsor castle in the back ground. I didn't realise its right in town. I liked Windsor village and it's good to have seen it after seeing it on telly when the royals visit. Stopped at Salsbury for lunch on our way to Weymouth. Have visited the cathedral in a previous visit so it was just a photo this time. Weymouth is a typical English beach holiday town. Very pretty and tidy with lots of bunting. I had a paddle to check the water. Was a but chilly though there were swimmers. We're lucky with the weather 20degrees today. Suit us just fine. Made a couple of stops on the way to Torquay following the coast. Past through a gorgeous wee village with thatched roof houses. Photos from moving car not great but no where to park. The road was really narrow and the houses really close to the road edge. I don't think they could use their front doors. So cute we really should have turned round and driven through again. Parking is a pain. Even the b and b's don't have designated parking. You have to find free parking on the old which we managed to do so I don't think we'll be driving tomorrow. Nothing more. Will write again in a couple of days. Photos 3. and 4. Salsbury cathedral 5. easy breakfast 6. I have circled where we are staying. 7 - 12 Weymouth. 15 TorquayEn savoir plus

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  • Linda McKinlayMACKS MEANDER ABROADVoyageur

    Torque to Plymouth

    2 octobre 2025, Angleterre ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    SORRY SHARON AND CAROL i meant to send this via whats app to Rachel and Leah.. 😵‍💫 Had a couple of interesting stops today. First was Dartmouth for coffee.. Quite a pretty wee village and harbour on the river. We crossed the river by ferry to get to the town. Rather like the Opua ferry. parking is pay and display everywhere only this car park wanted cash not card which was a pain. Luckily I had some coins left from the laundromat. Anyway made me laugh because 30mins was 1 pound 50 and an hour was 2 pound 50. So of course we didnt have 50p. So had to pay 2 pound for our hour.. The note on the machine said " we dont give change and you dont get xtra time for over paying" What a cheek!!! Then the loo in the carpark was charged but we found a free one. 😉 Next stop Salcombe and lunch. Had to park on the edge of town and walk about 10min down 214 steep steps to get into town. That was the recommended short cut. You'll see by the photoes there is no parking in town and the streets are very narrow. Very quaint. We sat overlooking the marina and ate our freshly made salad sandwich. It's soooo good to be eating healthy familiar food again. Staying in Maison Pierre b n b in the Royal William yard. It's a very cool old complex of navel buildings dating from early 18 hundreds. Photos 1 - 8 Dartmouth then Salcome. The last 2 are where we are staying. You'll need to zoom the house. We are in one of the top dormers and if you look closely you might see dad's undies on the windowsill drying 😁 poor man had to carry 2 bags, one very heavy, up 3 flights of stairs. No lifts in these old buildings. 🥵En savoir plus

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  • Linda McKinlayMACKS MEANDER ABROADVoyageur

    FINAL UPDATE

    9 octobre 2025, Angleterre ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    This is our last stop so no more Penguins from me till my next trip. Heading to Heathrow tomorrow for an afternoon flight. Home Monday afternoon nz time. Thought I'd send some photoes from 2 of our favourite spots which we have visited this week. The Minack Theatre is amazing. Built on a rugged cliff by a lady using small garden tools then eventually with help from a couple of Gardener friends. Shows are still performed here regularly and the tourists flock to see it all.. As well as looking incredible the story of its conception and construction is worth a visit to Google . Then we have the dear wee historic fishing village of Clovelly. A very steep cobbled street tumbles down past gleaming white 14th century cottages to the tiny harbour. No vehicle access. Donkeys or sledge carry goods up and down. It's a heart pumping walk back up the hill to the car park. 🥵 Also worth a Google search. I have learnt that the Britz love dogs almost as much as flags and bunting. 🐶 cafes and restaurants welcome them. I am sick of narrow windy one way streets in town and narrow country lanes with sharp blind corners. 🫣 I have noticed an abundance of cars with scrapes along the side probably not worth a repair. Looking forward to getting home for a decent coffee ☕️ Pasties in abundance and not many pies in this area anyway. Don't like the Pasty. ☹️ You know how cafe staff at home say "enjoy" well if you ask for something here the very nice response is always "of course you can". 😁 yellow lines don't mean no parking!!!! You can park facing either way. Trucks drive in the left hand lane on the motorway!!! And everywhere you go town, small country village, beach, garden or any tourist spot requires you to use the parking meter. Usually 1 pound for an hour or sometimes 1 - 2 hours. Virtually no street parking in town in fact our accomodation in Barnstable didn't even have customer parking. We had to use a car park up the road which luckily gave free parking from. 6pm to 8am. Anyway we've had a good trip, explored lots of wee nooks and crannies, seen some real gems, learned some more history and feel we know Cornwell and Devon pretty well, AND we're still enjoying each other's company ☺️ Roger did a pretty good job booking our accomodation with only one that was a disappointment. So sorry the pics muddled themselves again 🙃 photo shows our attic room in Barnstable. Another 3 flights of narrow windy stairs with 2 heavy cases 🥵 poor Rog. That's it for now. 👋En savoir plus

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    Fin du voyage
    14 octobre 2025