I have started my training at long last!

Well I have fiinally started my training for the Great Birmingham Fun Run in October.  I will be running with my work colleagues as we have been put forward by our chairman for the race, he will also be running with us.  I decided to say 'yes' to this as it was my 40th birthday this year and I feel I have reached a milestone in my life and if I do not do this now then I will never do it! 

Anyway I went out the weekend and purchased some running shoes and went for a taster on Sunday.  I only went to the local park and I did some brisk walking and jogging as I need to ease myself into this because I am not a very fit person, I don't do 'gym's'!  However, I was out for an hour and even though I felt exhausted afterwards I felt very proud of myself and I really do think I am going to enjoy this.  I will be training 3 times a week now and by the 21st October I need to be running 13 miles so that I can finish the race.  I have a very long way to go but I am very focused now and watch this space for my progress.  

Disney Cruises - WOW

I have just been looking at the new Disney cruise ship the Fantasy and I have found some fascinating information.  I didn't realise the colours are the same as Mickey Mouse's!  Even their tender boats are yellow (normally they are orange) and this is to match his shoes!  I cannot believe I hadn't picked up on this before.  See for yourselves:






Well I have to say I have heard so many people say to me how great a Disney cruise is and that it is not just for kids but for adults aswell.  If you are going on as a family they also have great Kids clubs and whilst the kids are enjoying themselves onboard the adults can go off and look around the ports of call on their own which I think is great.  I know when I have been cruising with my nephew and he would say to me 'when can we go back on the ship', he loved the ship more than the places we visited and I know he is not on his own because all of the kids were saying the same!  Another good point is that they have designated adult only areas including dining, Spa's and Bars onboard so you can chill out and have a relax on your own. 

This is one cruiseline that I have not cruised with as yet but it is definitely now on my list of ships to go on.

NCL have a new ship launching, NCL Breakaway

I was just reading about NCL's new ship 'Breakaway' which will be launched in April 2013, she will be cruising from Southampton to New York on a 7 night sailing.  I must say I was lucky enough to go on the Epic when she launched and I was taken back by her, she was so big and had some amazing places onboard to see and this is where I watched The Blue Man show.  However the Breakaway looks even better!  Her design is supposed to offer the best of NCL's current fleet while infusing a variety of new innovations to create the best vacation ever. She will be setting sail in the summer of 2013 from New York to the pink sand beaches of Bermuda, and in the winter to the warm tropics of the Caribbean and Bahamas & Florida.

My Fantastic Weekend in Brighton

I thought I would let you all know that I am back from my brilliant weekend in Brighton.  I have to say the weather was not fantastic, in fact is was very cold, especially on the Pier.  However it didn't ruin the weekend at all, I was very impressed with Brighton and I have to say it has the best Pier I have seen!  I even braved the roller coasters, they only had 2 and I went on both and I screamed from start to finish, however they were very scary!  The one ride I didn't go on was the Ghost train as I really do not like them and they always scare me so I steered away from this one.   The sea did look very cold, there were a few people on their jet skis and a few small sailing boats cruising around.  I did makesure I walked along the beach as it is very rare for me to see the sea where I live.  It was a pebble beach however is was so clean, just a shame it was too cold to go and have a dip in the sea.  I went shopping on the Saturday and I must say the shops are fantastic, they have some really cosmopolitan shops and some very unique ones, it is great to have a look around as the town itself has some little cobbled streets which were very interesting and the buildings have real character.  All in all I had a wonderful time and I am definitely going to go back to Brighton soon, hopefully when the sun is shining so I can appreciate the beach a bit more!

Here is some of the shops and cafe's on the beach front.



Here are the roller coasters I went on:

Turbo ride:


Mouse Trap ride:


I feel very brave now!!!!!

I am off to Brighton!

I thought I would let you all know that I am off to sunny Brighton this weekend.  However I don't think we will be calling it 'Sunny Brighton' with all the awful weather we have been having lately.  This was booked last year for my friends Hen weekend and we did think the weather should be nice and sunny, how wrong we were!  Anyway none of us are going to let it ruin our time in Brighton, I have never been there before so I am really looking forward to it and I am looking forward to going on the pier.    I do know it is not going to be the same as when I cruise, for one I will not be waking up somewhere different each morning!  but I am going to really enjoy myself and let my hair down and make it a very special weekend for my friend, one that I hope she will never forget.

New Cruise Terminal for Greenwich

I have just been reading about the plans for Greenwich in London to have a new large cruise liner terminal, this is once authorities have granted the approval for the development.
The cruise liner terminal will have the capacity to allow large cruise ships to dock right in the heart of London beyond the Thames Barrier. The new dockyard will be able to offer anchorage to ships up to 240 metres in length and receive around 100 ships every year, once it is completed.  I think this is great news due to the location for passengers to get to and from as it is centrally located.
Construction of the project is expected to commence by November 2012, however they think it will take approximately five years to complete!  But I think it will be well worth the wait once it is up and running.  It will accommodate approximately 40,000 passengers and they will be able to disembark at the terminal, once it is fully operational.

More Fab pictures from my River Cruise with Avalon

Well as promised, I said I would put on more pictures from my fantastic river cruise with Avalon.  I visited Paris, Conflans - Paris and Vernon and in each place I went on a shore excursion which were included in my package. 

My Fabulous trip on Avalon River Cruise

Well, as promised I have lots of photos for you to look at from my river cruise on the Avalon Creativity, you will see I travelled with a few other agents.  I went from St Pancreas Station on the Euro star in London, it was so easy, much easier than flying as we had to be there 30 minutes prior to the departing time, passport control took literally 10 minutes to get through, I was really surprised.  Before I knew it we were on the train which took approximately 2 hours to get to Paris!  we were only under the tunnel for 20 minutes and the train was very comfortable. 

I am back from my River Cruise!

Well, my river cruise is over and I am back to work!  I had an amazing time, it just went too quickly.  I have so much to tell you about it and lots and lots of pictures.  I will start my Blog shortly and tell you all about it but in the meantime here is a picture of the group of people I went with, just a quick taster of whats to come.  You will see from the pictures we had fantastic weather, I think we were really lucky, good job I took my sunglasses with me.

Here we are at the Eiffel Towel in Paris:

Here we are outside the ship, the Avalon Creativity:

I am now Cruising!

I just thought I would let you know that I am breaking up today and going on my River cruise and I cannot wait.  I will not be back in the office until Saturday 7th April.  I am cruising on the Avalon Creativity ship from Paris through the River Seine.  I will let you know all about it on my return.