So we went to Pirate’s Beach Club in Tekirova, Turkey for a bit of sun and to catch up with some of my in-laws.

Warning, the link above has very annoying background music – music they played a lot at the resort itself.

This beach resort is unsurprisingly themed on pirates, although thankfully more Long John Silver than Sumalian, and it’s not really in your face – just everyone wearing stripy shirts and a hanky on their heads.

The resort primarily caters for the Russian market and so everyone except me was Russian and all the staff speak Russian, although a few did speak a bit of English too.

This was fine for my family, but a bit weird for me, especially as all the events and activities were in Russian too (but very very good). Fortunately, the weather was nice, I had a good book and the bar was free.

Mostly, though, it was great to catch up with my sister-in-law, who I hadn’t seen in eight or nine years and her daughter who I’d never seen. I do quite like being an uncle.

Travel notes after the jump…

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Last month, we took a break from the madness of work and headed over to mainland Europe with Herman for a two-week tour of seven countries.

It’s taken me a few weekends to sort out all the photos on Flickr, and whilst I’ve posted a few notes on Facebook, I’d thought I put up something here to round it off, mostly disconnected thoughts on travel related topics… Continue reading »

The last few weeks have been quite difficult for me.

Work has been generally unsatisfactory as there is way too much support/management and not enough hands-on development work. This was made worse by my boss taking a couple of weeks in Asia followed by three weeks on holiday, and all this at a particularly busy time.

Net result? ultimate responsibility, 60+ hour working weeks and being permanently on call.

Well he’s back now, so at least I no longer have to cover his role and generally having an extra body in the team spreads the support load around a bit more.

I even had yesterday (Friday) off in lieu of the bank holiday I had to work a couple of weeks back. Very nice turning the raspberry off

Good news now is that I have one more week in the office, then two weeks off on holiday. Hurrah!

We’re going on a Euro road trip, in part, inspired by the Top Gear search for the best driving roads in the world.

Itinerary goes something like this:

• London -> Luxembourg -> Geneva -> Nice+Monaca
• Nice -> Menaggio (Lake Como) – staying 3 days
• Menaggio -> Davos – staying 3 days
• Davos -> Baden Baden – staying 3 days
• Baden Baden -> Spa -> London

The six days in the lakes/alps will see us visiting Col de Turini, the San Bernadino Pass and Stelvio Pass as well as many other interesting bits. The trip up through the Black Forest is supposed to be amazing too.

All in all, should be eight countries/principalities and something between 3800 and 4000 km

Can’t wait. Herman’s quite excited too

We’ve just got back from a mini break to Dubai for my wife’s birthday.

We stayed at Al Qasr in the Madinet Jumeirah resort – this is near the palm island and adjacent to the Burj al Arab.

The resort is a bit Las Vegas. It comprises two hotels, a shopping centre and access to another resort hotel and the Burj al Arab, all with their own themes. They are all connected by electric buggies and abras (boats) on an internal water way. 

Because of this, it’s possible to see and do lots of different things without actually having to leave the resort. Given that the rest of Dubai appears to be a shopping mall and building site (like Vegas) this is probably a good thing.

You don’t see many arabs there and the (excellent) service and hospitality comes mostly from people from south-east Asia. You do occasionally see a local  in a thawb and ghutrah, but usually propping up a bar (somewhat surprising).

Weather was quite good, although a little strange. It is warm and sunny in the mornings, but overcast and cooler in the afternoons and actually quite chilly in the evenings. Quite pleasant actually, although you do need to get your beach/swimming done by lunchtime.

Dubai doesn’t strike me as a particularly cheap place to visit, and this resort was particularly expensive. You get the feeling you’re going to be cleaned out as soon as you arrive, with Rolls, Bentleys and Lamborghinis parked outside, then you see restaurant and bar tariffs and you’re left wondering if your normally ample credit card limits are going to be sufficient.

However, I’m left feeling it was pricey, but not a overpriced – good value of money, if you will. Certainly the best service I’ve experienced.

The one bit of the trip that’s not so great is the travel. The flying time is around seven hours or more with 45 mins drive time at the Dubai end and 90 mins at the London end, so for a four day trip, that’s a lot of time squeezed in a metal box. 

Will I go again? Yes, I think so. Probably in four or five years time. Like Vegas, it’s always changing, so next time, there will be more to see. I’d particularly like to go up the Burj Dubai.

As a wrap up of posts from our recent holiday in Wales and North York Moor, here is a link to the picture collection page on Flickr.

Had been a splendid week off, in Wales and here in the North York Moors, but now heading home.

Unfortunately, we’re heading south through the storm heading north, so who knows how long it will take. Hopefully it will take no more than five hours.

We’re on holiday next week, leaving tonight. It’s going to be a British holiday, partly in Snowdonia and partly in the North York Moors.

Of course, this means it’s going to rain constantly

But we do get to be away from cities and congestion, have a wander around some very pretty countryside and maybe even get a bit fitter.

The roads are meant to be quite good too.

So here we are at the end of 2007, and for me and mine, it was a good year.

I started the year unemployed after 4.5 years at my last job. It was time to move on and a subsequently enjoyed a couple of months chilling, finishing Zelda and generally relaxing.

I also started a new blog and later ended it. Of course, I also started this blog

During this time, wife and I spent our sixth anniversary (+/- a few days) in the Maldives. Amazing place.

My last month and a bit of unemployment saw me seriously looking for work and I ended up in my current job, one which I’m very happy with.

Hurrah!

This is also the year that I turned forty, and wife and I celebrated this with a trip to Las Vegas and NYC. Also very splendid.

This is also the year I decided to end reliance on public transport and get a car… However, unless I pop out and get one this afternoon, I’ll miss the 2007 deadline. Still, it was the decision that was momentous.

There were some downs with the ups, but all in all, a good year.

I hope everyone else had reason for cheer this year too, and that everyone has a happy and prosperous 2008.

Hic!

I had a much needed two-week holiday recently and have finally got around to posting all the photos on Flickr. No doubt a snoozefest for most, but it’s easier to give interested parties one URL (this one):

Las Vegas
Grand Canyon
Hoover Dam & Lake Mead
New York City
Trip to Staten Island
Top of the Rock
Central Park
Niagara Falls