This time of year in the UK is a bit of a shock to the system! Wam bam – over the course of a few weeks it has gone from light evenings and moderate temperatures to being dark from about 4pm until 8am along with frozen windscreens! I’ve had to re-join the gym as it is too dark to go running before or after work now! I still don’t have any gloves though!!
Snowdon at its beautiful best
Last year we made the mistake of going to a hot country in November and coming home was a shock, that said – it didn’t lessen the marvellousness of our holiday, but we did realise when we came out of the airport that winter had arrived! We spent a week in Oman. It was a perfect time to be in the country as the mind-blowing heat of the summer had subsided and it was outside of school holidays!
Paradise is probably best known as the Daymaniyat Islands!
There’s a new airport opening soon which will open up the country for tourism, but at the moment it is still relatively untouched! There’s plenty to do and its easy enough to do so under your own steam. We were lucky to have friends over there so the highlight of our sightseeing was a sail out to the Daymaniyat Islands which is essentially a coral reef island with beautiful white sand beaches! We also took a trip to Wahiba Sands for some dune-bashing (not self drive!) and then went to see a nearby Wadi. Once we were in the city we visited the Souk and also the beautiful mosque.
But then we got cold when we came home and so changed our approach for 2013 – we did the hot stuff in April which is particularly enjoyable after the bleak and coldness of winter! Actually – we were essentially going back to our tried and tested! In 2010/11 we had been to Cape Cod in the Autumn followed by the blissful heat of Singapore the following February!
Ocean Drive Newport
So this year in spring 2013 we went to Jamaica and absolutely loved it! Undiscovered Caribbean and way less edgy that the global press would have you believe…
Sunset fun!
Then across the summer and autumn (and I admit we were lucky with weather here this year) we visited Cornwall a number of times, once in June and then again in October. Beautiful country and lovely to see it for longer than a weekend which is how we’ve visited it recently! Hours of walking along the coastline and incredible food at equally incredible prices!
Cape Cornwall in full bloom
So we are left already looking forward to heat in the new year! Thankfully we’ve already booked it and the flight countdown on BA says less than 90 days!! I’m going to write about the trip for Marina at Lux Traveller and there should be plenty to report back on!! We are flying out to the UAE with BA first (love the concorde room, but hoping the new amenity bags are in stock on the plane as we’ve got enough of the boxy ones!) and back Virgin Upper – so that should be an interesting comparison!
Sunrise in the Corcorde Lounge
When we are there we have a real variety of accommodation booked! First we head south, into the desert – we are staying with Anantara. I’m particularly looking forward to this. Our room has its own terrace which means that we get real privacy and peace and quiet.
Qasr al Sarab terrace photo
Basically we are comparing this trip to the Chedi which we loved, but so many of the other top end hotels in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are massive scale and very glitzy. So I was thrilled when a friend recommended this as I hadn’t found it myself! After 3 nights there (particularly looking forward to ‘Dining by design’ as a birthday splurge for my husband), we head back into Abu Dhabi.
Qarat al Beri hotel photo
We’ve enjoyed the Shangri La experience immensely before, the service is incredible, and so we are particularly looking forward to going to their base here. It has its own beach with a stunning view of the mosque. They’ve already impressed me – connecting on twitter and also confirming immediately after booking that my dairy allergy would not be a problem in the club lounge! The final bit of our stay I am still congratulating myself about!! I managed to find a 10 room boutique hotel in Dubai old town – The XVA.
XVA lit by paraffin
Dubai is a world away from where we normally go, so I think we’ll get the balance of this boutique base and the glamour and extravagance of the city!
I suspect the rest of the year will be UK-based – we are well overdue a trip to North Norfolk which we love and will also spend time in Cornwall visiting family and in Anglesey visiting friends. That will bring us into Autumn looking ahead to the next year and a warm get away to end the winter gloom!!
Looking out to Scolt Head Island from Brancaster
Maybe we’ll fit in some time in Cumbria too. My husband is muttering about San Francisco, and the muttering is getting louder!! He has been numerous times with work and wants to take me too. Having flicked through the guide book he’s probably right, and with Sonoma to visit as well as the city and Yosemite I’m sure we’ll get there one day soon!!
But for now I’m going to embrace winter, buy some gloves and ‘man up’ in the mornings when scraping the ice off my car! Hoping for a spattering of snow for Christmas too, but not too much!!
Wow looks like you might have an exciting year ahead!!
Author
sure hope so 😉