After breakfast i went to the beach, i stayed there sunbathing and swimming until lunchtime. I can’t wait to have my lunch and return. It is lovely and the ocean is so refreshing, i stayed there until about 6pm. Then i went to shower and dress for dinner, i was eating at the seafood restaurant tonight, El Patio. The restaurant is on the beach, you can dine here and at the Italian restaurant once a week.

I left about 8:15pm my reservation was 8:30, i was seated and given a menu, there wasn’t a great deal to choose from. I chose the fish soup and seafood with rice, the waiter told me this was paellla. I’d had that already in the buffet restaurant, so i asked for the lobster, he said he’d bring me both, just for me. I didn’t like the soup very much but the dinner was very nice, i had a couple of vodkas with lemonade. The restaurant finished about 10:30 so then i made my way back to the hotel.

I went to the grill bar for some more drinks, i was sitting alone when a woman sat at my table. I had seen her when i was having a coffee by the pool the day before. She said her name was Violeta, she was from Poland but had been living in Canada for 16 years. She had come with her sister and two daughters. One of the daughters came along and said to her “you can’t do that, just sit next down”, Violeta said “yes i can i want to make friends. So that is how i got to meet and know Violeta and her family. Violeta was drinking a red coloured drink, she said it was called paradise, so i was introduced to the paradise cocktail and we chatted until 1am.

After breakfast i went to the beach until lunchtime, i knew Maureen and Colleen were leaving about 3pm, so i wanted to see them before they left. I found them in the reception and we had some time to chat about the night before and laugh about the events, we had such a good time it was a pity they were going home.We had exchanged email addresses the night before and said we would keep in contact. Then their coach came and it was time for them to leave. I returned to the beach for the rest of the afternoon.

After dinner i met Al again he was with his girlfriend Amy, she was German, she would try and talk and say things to me but i didn’t know what. They were with another couple, i forget where they came from but they could speak English. So we stayed up drinking and chatting until about 1am, then made our way back to our rooms.

After breakfast i thought i would go for a walk to find the market and local beach, it was further to walk than i thought. After lunch i spent the afternoon on the beach, i am in my apple cart now, sunbathing and swimming.

After dinner i sat at the grill bar, i was having a few vodkas when i was beckoned over to join some people. His name was Al originally from Liverpool but now living in Canada, he spoke with a Canadian accent but could still speak Scouse. The two ladies he was with Maureen and Colleen were sisters from Canada. Maureen asked me was i going the disco, so i said ok great. So the four of us went the disco, we danced and had some drinks, Colleen got talking to a Hungarian guy from Canada. So we all got together and had some drinks and shots, we had a great night. It turned out to be Maureens birthday the next day so Colleen and me put it over on the microphone and everyone sang Happy Birthday. Unfortunately Colleen and Maureen were going home the next day.

When we arrived Holguin Airport the sun was shining and it was very hot, the coach journey took about an hour and we arrived at the hotel about 9pm. We were booked in and i was shown to my room, which was nice, clean and spacious and my bed was huge.

My legs and feet felt terrible, they had swelled so much during the flight i thought they would pop.I unpacked my case then showered and changed. I then went to find the restaurant, i always find this a bit daunting when i first arrive as i can never find anything. I had a few drinks with my meal then went to the lobby bar for a while. I lasted until 10pm, Cuban time (3am UK) then the tiredness took over again so i had to go and sleep.

My taxi arrived on time, it took about an hour to get to the airport at Manchester. when we arrived no one knew where to go it was very confusing. I and the others on the pickup eventually found terminal 2, then i made my way to departures, we were like cattle being herded. It was so busy the ques were so long but i eventually made it through security, it is very tight now and i think even more so after the recent terrorist attacks. I did some shopping at the duty free shop, i waited until then to get my sun lotions and some perfume. Then i made my way to the departure gate, everything was running on time. We boarded on time and everything was going smoothly but unfortunately we had an hour delay. It seems someone had set the fire alarms off and some of the passengers had got lost in the confusion. Eventually everything was ok and the missing passengers were located, boarded and we were able to take off.

I was sat with a nice Scottish couple, i was next to the exit, not a good place to be i found out. The air conditioning dripped on take off and landing and i was unable to sit straight or stretch my legs out in front because of a box at the side of me. We had a lunch of chicken in tomato and pepper with potatoes and a snack of cheese and tomato calzone and a scone with jam and cream. The flight took about 10 hours, i was so tired i slept most of the time.

The last day at work hooray !! i arrived home my usual 3pm and again began to try and finish my packing, i hate that job so much. Even more so this time as my baggage allowance was only 15kg ( my toiletries weigh that much !!) instead of the usual 20kg, and that is difficult enough. I spent a few days before weighing and trying to decide what i should take to wear, trying to pick out the lightest items. Usually i have all matching items including jewellery to wear with each outfit but not this time. I even had to go out and buy a new smaller light weight suitcase, my last one being too big and heavy now and that probably weighed about 10kg on its own. The new case cost me £60 but i would rather pay that than excess baggage costs.

It was very difficult trying to weigh everything on a pair of little kitchen scales, but eventually i did it and was finally able to close the suitcase, that is always a relief. I had a bath, washed and styled my hair ready, i was being picked up at 5:30 so i didn’t want too much to do the next morning. I finally got to bed around 1:30am i was so tired. finished

Hello everyone !! Well i am back from my holiday in Cuba,  over the coming days i will  be writing  about  the  amazing and wonderful times and experiences i had there.

I returned to work on Wednesday 20th December, we had our staff Christmas party so it was a nice day to return. We finished for the holiday on Friday 22nd December,

Hamada and me went to my sister Hazel and her family on Boxing Day, my sister Ruth came for us. It was a very nice day lots of nice food, Hazel does a hot and cold buffet and plenty to drink. After dinner we all exchange our presents, all of which were very nice.

Except for getting together with all my family on Boxing Day my Christmas and New Year was very quiet and came and went.

I returned to work after my accident on Wednesday 20th, we had our Christmas party which was very nice so it wasn’t a difficult day to return haha, we finished finished work for the holiday on Friday 22nd.

Happy Christmas Everyone!!!!!

We had a quiet Christmas Day, just Hamada and me, dinner and tv, i have to say the tv was pretty rubbish.

We spent a very nice Boxing Day at my sister Hazels, my other sister Ruth came and picked us up. We had a very nice hot buffett, a selection of roast turkey, beef and pork, roast potatoes, vegetables and yorkshire pudding and a cold buffett of salad, prawns, vol au vents, pastries and sweets. Oh and plenty to drink!!!!! We all exchanged presents after eating, all very nice and very pleased.

Then we spent the night at Ruth and Dougs.

I woke about 11:30 and continued with my washing, the clothes i’d put in when i arrived home were done so i could get the rest done. I hate this job, i leave the place in reasonable order before i go away and then half an hour of being home it looks like a tornado took a short cut through it

My brother David invited me to come for a bbq when i got back. When i telephoned he said he’d come about 3pm, my modem had arrived for my internet connection so he was going to set it up for me then take me to his house, the bbq was being done for 5pm. His mate Paul was there and his daughter Paige and niece Katy, so i was complimented on everything from my phone to the charms on it and my handbag.  We had burgers, hotdogs, chicken and salad, i was well stuffed. We had some drinks, i brought myself some vodka and the cocktail of vodka, sprite and grenadine the waiters made up for me before i left, lovely.