The Wonders of the Isle of Wight with Led & Netty

The Wonders of the Isle of Wight

 The views of the coastline were just beautiful on this warm sunny day. We visited the famous landmark the Needles and the 3 stacks of chalk, jutting out of the sea was very impressive. 

 Next stop was Alum Bay, where we filled up glass ornaments with brightly coloured sands that you can only find here on the island. We were very pleased with our end result and what lovely mementos they would make. 

We watched a demonstration on how sweets were made and luckily for us we got to sample some of these tasty treats at the end. Our next lesson was at the glass making factory and we saw the craftsmanship that went into making such beautiful vases and ornate glass ornaments. 

 The grounds here at Norton Grange are stunning. It was always a lovely way to spend any free time that we had enjoying the beautifully kept flower beds and we all really liked relaxing on the swing.

We set sail on The White Line passing through beautiful Cowes and past all the stunning boats before heading through the Solent, to Portsmouth. The Captain gave us a full, in-depth running commentary about all the boating history of the Isle of Wight. As we sailed past The Spinnaker Tower we learnt that it is the highest tower on the south coast and cost of a staggering 30 million to build! We sailed into Portsmouth harbour and we had a great view of the British war fleet. We even got a glimpse of the flag ship, The Endeavour in which Captain Cook was the famous captain.

An afternoon spent at the Donkey sanctuary where we met and got to pet the friendly donkeys was brilliant. On our way back we stopped at Godshill and treated ourselves to a delicious ice cream and a cup of tea. 

 The wonderful Osborn House, the home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert was steeped in years of history. The sun was shinning and we took in the beautiful scenery and the amazing trees which were all over two hundred years old. We later found out that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert used to buy trees as birthday and Christmas presents for their children to plant..We saw the drawing room, nursery and the Queens bedroom, where she had died. 

Butlins, Fun & Dancing with Darren, Isobel & Donna

Butlins, Fun & Dancing

Game on! We hit the bowling alley for some friendly games, all getting high scores. Mark managed a huge score of 101 and was crowned champion!

The arcades were always great fun and we loved spending our 2p's on the penny machine.

Popcorn at the ready as we took our seats in the theatre eagerly awaiting the pantomime, Sleeping Beauty to start. The costumes were dazzling and the songs were upbeat. We loved booing and hissing at the evil Maleficent. 

Most evenings you will find us on the dance floor, showing off our groovy moves to the fantastic tribute acts. 

The funfair is always a big hit with us! We loved flying through the air on the high swings and bumping into each other on the dodgem cars.

We spent a lovely morning in the village of  Lynmouth and rode the cable cars  which are water powered taking us up to Lynton where we admired the beautiful and spectacular views at over 700 ft of the fantastic coastline of Lynmouth. 

The Butlins memorabilia always makes for a great photo. We were lucky to meet the lovable and cheeky Mr Men.

More fun at the fair with us winning some great prizes. 

One of our favourite bits about this holiday is getting to meet the friendly Redcoats. Whether it be on the dance floor or in the arcade, they always have a smile on their face.

Stadium Tours - Premiership Football with Jon & Claire

Stadium Tours- Premiership Football

We're football crazy, we're football mad!

Our first stop on our football tour was to the Emirates Stadium, home to the Arsenal football team. the stadium towered above us and we were in awe at the huge scale of it.

Our tour took us from the Director's Area, the exclusive ‘Diamond Club’, to the changing rooms and the VIP Manager's seating at the side of the pitch and not forgetting, access to all of the media and press areas. 

 An afternoon besides the seaside treating ourselves to ice creams, fish and chips and trying our luck in the amusement arcades. 

'3 Lions on our shirt 'was the song of choice as we made our way to Wembley Stadium

We explored the exclusive seating area for the Royal family, as well as the changing rooms where we saw the shirts of some of the most famous players that have played for our country including; Beckham, Rooney and Lampard. 

   

One of the absolute highlights was the chance to walk through the players tunnel. We imagined how thrilling and what an honour it must be for the players to walk onto this pitch playing for their country. 

 Time for our own sporting competition as we hit the crazy golf at course. It was phenomenal fun, with gushing rivers and waterfalls, a huge shark and even an imprisoned pirate who shouted at us all when we were golfing in the cave! 

With three West Ham supporters amongst us we couldn't believe our luck when we bumped into two of their players, Pablo Zabaleta and Andriy Yarmolenko! A moment to remember forever. 

Our tour guide Vicky answered all of our questions and was so enthusiastic and very knowledgeable. We visited the expensive bar areas and seating, as well as the director's boxes and changing rooms and of course not forgetting the pitch and press rooms. 

The London Stadium had been purpose built for the 2012 Olympics, and everywhere we looked we saw reminders of the Games all around us; from the Wall of Fame, to Olympic rings and the original practice athletics track that we got to have a go on.

The sun was shinning and we spent a morning being London tourists. We made our way to the historic borough of Greenwich, home to Greenwich Meantime and the Cutty Sark. Our first stop was the Old Naval College, which comprised of a collection of stunningly impressive buildings, including The Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul, with its beautiful paintings and embellished ceiling. We had tremendous fun in the museum trying on suits of armour and clothing from bygone eras.