Fanad Lighthouse, county Donegal

Stayed in this historic lighthouse on the northern tip of Donegal for three nights and had a great time. Whether it was very windy or beautifully calm it was a brilliant experience. They wouldn't let me make my mark in the visitors book though.

Ulster American Folk Park, Omagh, county Tyrone

Well, strange but true, I've been up in Northern Ireland several times but, because we were merely heading to Donegal, there was no reason to stop and take photos. But this time, we had a bit of time to spare and so we stopped into the Ulster American Folk Park.

The Ulster American Folk Park is a fantastic family history story of the Mellon family, from their roots in Tyrone, to catching the boat to the New World and following their story in America. And it is very cleverly done, with the outdoor museum starting off in early nineteenth century Tyrone before heading down to the docks to catch the boat. You then leave the boat by another exit and are into New York City and then travel to Philadelphia, West Virginia and Tennessee.

The Mellons prospered in America and founded the Mellon Bank, still in existence today. Not unsurprisingly, the family founded the Folk Park here.

The four adults who I brought on the trip were particularly delighted with it because the normal price was £9 per head but for one day only, the over-fifties were let in free, saving them £36 in total. I was naturally allowed in free due to my celebrity status.

Yorkshire

Ee bah gum, can yer belly touch yer bum? A trip to Yorkshire in England for a few nights. Up in the Yorkshire Dales, where I never was before.

This place is the National Train Museum in York itself, a large sprawling shed, or sheds, filled with old trains and railway paraphernalia. The Mallard of course still holds the world land speed record for a steam train, set in 1938. Not sure exactly what speed it reached but it was close to a million miles per hour.

Above is the Coldstone Cut near Pateley Bridge, a large art installation on top of a hill. You walk up to it and on the other side, surprise, is a large quarry.

This is Brimham Rocks, a large area of weathered sandstone that has been carved into weird and wonderful shapes over many centuries. You have the Dragon and The Giant  and The Pentium Processor. Okay, I made the last one up.

Ribblehead Viaduct, built in the 1800s at enormous cost to life, to straddle a valley on the Yorkshire moors. There are 24 arches altogether. Many of the Irish navvies died constructing it, through illness or fighting and are buried en masse in a nearby churchyard.

Ceuta

And so, like the great explorers of the Middle Ages, we travelled by sea and set foot for the first time on continent number four - Africa!



Ceuta (pronounced Say Utah) is the Spanish equivalent of Gibraltar. It is an autonomous Spanish enclave on the southern shore of the Straits of Gibraltar. When pressed on Spain's determination that Gibraltar should be returned to Spain, yet Ceuta should not be handed back to Morocco, the answer is invariably, "that's different."



The town is small in area and population, undeniably Spanish but with a sizable Arab population. It has recently become more and more under pressure from immigrants trying to break in from Morocco.

This is me and Hercules. The story goes that Herc, on one of his tasks, had to cross Mount Atlas that lay at the western end of the Mediterranean. Rather than going over it, or round out, Herc decided to go through it, thus joining the Med with the ocean beyond. All that was left of the mountain were the two pillars on either side - the Rock of Gibraltar and Monte Hacho in Ceuta.

This is Aunty Brenda and Monica who brought me all around Ceuta as they searched in vain for a souvenir shop.

And this is how they carried me........

Ronda

A trip up to the hillside town of (Help, help me) Ronda, where we viewed the magnificent gorge from the old new bridge and then went drinking.

Estepona

Summer holidays 2018 in the Costa del Sol. We stayed in Estepona, famous for its flower pot streets and giant murals. Much less commercialised than other resorts along this stretch of coast. Weather hot and sunnty but surprisingly occasionally windy.

Oban

A much more traditionally Scottish winter's day (dark and gloomy) brought us to Oban on the west coast of Scotland, where many of the ferries for the islands leave. The thinking was that, if the expected downpour materialised, we could have some retail therapy instead. As it happened, the rain only started as we were leaving but we still had to spend a lot of time browsing tartan gloves and shortbreads.