Las Vegas – 12th September

I had a little bit of housekeeping work to do on Sunday 12th September as one of my customers was leaving the UK today for New York to start a special cruise and stay holiday. It was also the same day that Martin Garrix was DJing at Tao Beach in Las Vegas from 11am. I’d asked Captain Caveman if he could perhaps get us on the guest list but, as we hadn’t planned it in advance, it was too late. It didn’t matter, as I don’t think we would have got there for 11am anyway and I didn’t relish the intense afternoon heat that much.
Instead, we headed out on foot to have lunch for our first meal of the day. We hadn’t planned it but we found a really nice diner which was clean, cool and had great service. The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company had a very extensive seafood menu and I was finally getting to eat some pork! I was just going to stick with tap water but when the others ordered alcohol I thought, why not – I had a day off today so a Coronarita (a margarita with a Corona beer in) for $17 (£12.64) seemed like a great choice because you got to keep the blue shaker it came in. Louisa had a Watermelon Coronarita and Briony a Sangria. Kitti, our server, was extremely attentive and efficient. Briony ordered a Clam Chowder soup and a Shrimpers Heaven (a basket of different battered seafood bites), Louisa and I both had pork ribs with shrimp.
Here’s what we had with the prices in dollars;
1 Sangria 8.50
2 Coronitas 34.00
1 Clam Chowder cup 7.99
1 Shrimpers Heaven 28.99
2 Ribs & Shrimp 73.98
1 cheesecake 11.99
Tax 13.86
Tip 36.00
Total spent $215.31 (£159.58)

The food was good and I enjoyed it but I couldn’t manage a dessert. The girls shared a strawberry cheesecake for afters and then we took a few photos before heading out on to the sunny Las Vegas strip. I was still having issues with understanding the tipping system as the total bill came to $165.45 but there was additional $13.86 tax on top plus a 22% tip! I didn’t understand why we were paying the tax on top even when Briony explained it and I felt like it was big companies ripping people off.
As I didn’t have any actual dollars I paid £106.52 on card and Louisa gave me some cash for hers – it was like an episode of the fast show but I worked out my meal and tip, with tax, had cost me the equivalent of £65.52. I’d enjoyed it but I wouldn’t say it was worth that price and, of course, I had blown the budget for today already. We got a new shaker to take home as a souvenir and I thought it would come in handy for a gift for Captain Caveman for when he gets his new flat.

We went to the Coca Cola shop next, where the girls had been shopping yesterday. It was absolutely rammed packed and I was fascinated at the amount of stuff they sold, which people were lapping up. I’m not a shopper myself so I was a bit overwhelmed with the whole thing. We went to get water and were heading to an ABC store but I lost the girls who had gone to Target. I bought a bottle of water for £2.67 and waited for my friends to reappear. We went back to the hotel and got ready for our night out.

Purple Reign was on at the V Theater in the Miracle Mile area. We’d paid $55 (£41) each for the ticket and arrived early to collect them. The whole area is inside but has a roof designed to look like the sky which feels like you’re in The Truman show, I found it unnerving and a bit confusing – maybe it was just the menopause. Once inside, we couldn’t find a bar so just sat without drinks and an usher moved us in to ‘better’ seats which we didn’t like so we moved back.
The show was good but started late and could’ve lasted longer for the price. We had an entertaining night and the music was good.

Afterwards, we went to PF Chang’s for dinner. I wasn’t massively hungry so, while the others had the 3 course $39.99 special I just ordered a couple of starters and a pot of tea – it was 11pm so I didn’t want to have a bad stomach during the night. The steamed gyoza and edamame were really good, the green tea great, and my meal came to £31 ($42) in total – it made better sense to order the bigger special but I hate wasting things and knew I wouldn’t eat it all! When it came to dessert, which was included for my fellow diners, they had to take it back to the hotel as they were full. I didn’t pay for any taxis tonight, which helped with my quickly disappearing budget and I was really starting to feel awkward that I didn’t have the means to spend like the others could. It was coming up for 12 years since I was in a full time, decently paid job where I used to be quick to get the rounds in. Now I was nowhere near in the same league as Louisa and Briony who didn’t need to consider the price like I did. I was officially now the tight-arsed friend that people started to pity or dislike – and it didn’t feel good!
We were in bed by midnight and that was the weekend over. Jamie had booked the karaoke in for tomorrow night so I planned to get up early and get work done, as well as checking my customers had arrived in Toronto at 7.15am. I didn’t set an alarm as I didn’t want to disturb Briony and Louisa when they are on holiday but I knew I would wake up for a pee anyway.

Gratitude List
1. A nice lunch with Briony and Louisa at Bubba Gump
2. Seeing a show with the girls
3. Edamame beans – a favourite of mine.

Photo Credit – some photos by Louisa.

Las Vegas – 11th September

On Friday 11th September Briony and Louisa had arranged to do 2 nearby attractions; Bodies, The Exhibition and The Titanic Museum. The combined ticket price was $53 per person and it wasn’t something I was bothered about seeing (I’d seen Bodies in Germany a few years ago) so I was able to spend the morning catching up on work. I was finding it difficult to be on holiday and working at the same time because of the time difference and being so tired still. The lack of internet in the hotel room was a bit disappointing as there was a decent desk and chair I could’ve used there.

Instead, I tried various spots around Excalibur, the Luxor and the MGM but even the quiet spots, weren’t. There was a massage place which I really fancied just so I could feel more relaxed but at $50 for a 20 minute foot or back massage, I decided it wasn’t worth it for me. I didn’t have time for a proper meal so I grabbed a salted Pretzel from Aunty Anne’s for £8.50 and, while not at all healthy, it filled me up and didn’t give me a bad stomach! I also familiarised myself with the free shuttle, the paid monorail and where the bus stops were for later. I’d researched that taxis were expensive but public transport was cheap and reliable in Vegas to get about the strip – which is a long way to walk when it’s this hot. A Deuce bus ticket for 24 hours is $8 which isn’t bad if you’re going to be out and back more than once per day.
Tonight, Jamie had invited the 3 of us to her friend’s birthday party over in a hotel suite on Fremont Street. I’d seen that the Mob Museum was in that area and thought it might be a good idea to do that first then join Jamie and her friends. We didn’t do that as I think the girls had already had quite a busy day of attractions and shopping, so instead we had some drinks in the room. I had been paid today so I transferred £300 to Louisa for my share of the accommodation and a show. Louisa had spotted something that all 3 of us were interested in, a Prince tribute act at the V Theatre tomorrow, so she booked us tickets. I had a couple of wines and the girls had a couple of rum and cokes and I finally started to feel a bit more relaxed and had put my out of office on for tomorrow. The girls got ready in their lovely outfits and I wore my festival dress with good pockets. Rather than get buses the girls preferred to get a taxi straight to Fremont and I paid £38 including tip for the one-way journey.

We met Jamie, the theme for the birthday celebrations was wigs so we all popped them on. I thought Briony and Louisa looked stunning with the colours they had and we even suggested it would suit that colour on their real hair. I thought I looked more like my sister with a fringe! I had my wine bought for me, as I’d got the taxi so I wasn’t sure of the price but I know the size was large and it tasted pretty good – but all drinks are served in plastic cups!
Next we headed over to the party in a hotel room and it felt a bit like being in a film as we went up, following the noise.
Luckily, there was food on as I’d not eaten since the pretzel and I was getting drunk. I had a couple of slices of the Costco pizza and it was the best thing I’d had to eat so far! There were birthday buns which I avoided so that I didn’t get poorly but Louisa took one for the team. What looked like icing or butter cream was milk (which didn’t sit well) and she had to leave it – I was so glad I’d not had one as they looked so delicious but I would probably have been in a predicament. We all got given a little gift of a fan in the shape of a fruit which I thought was nice and then we went to watch some free live music. I loved this part and we all got right in to it, dancing up near the front to rock band Alter Ego. It was hot and by midnight Jamie had gone home and I was properly flagging! Louisa and Briony being considerably younger than me and definitely less of a lightweight than me, didn’t want to go back to the hotel yet and wanted to explore more of what Fremont Street had to offer. I asked one of the party people where to get a taxi and they didn’t know so I went back in to the hotel to ask. The guy working there told me to walk for about 10 minutes down the street then take a right to a taxi line. I did and found it ok, considering I was quite merry. It only cost me £30 with a tip to get back and I’d had a great night out but was so shattered. Total spend today was £377 (including hotel) proving that it was definitely impossible to do Vegas on a budget if you get taxis. I don’t recall the girls coming back as I was fast asleep.

Gratitude List
1. Getting caught up on urgent tasks
2. A night out on Fremont Street with great friends
3. Dancing to live rock music.

Photo Credit – some photos by Louisa and Jamie.

Las Vegas – 10th September

I was awake at 7am on Thursday 10th September, having had over 8 hours of sleep for the first time since Saturday! I really fancied a day of doing nothing but I also had work to do and in the UK it was already the afternoon and in Turkey it was already gone 5pm.
Briony was also awake and we didn’t want to disturb Louisa so we decided to go downstairs to the casino. We crept out in our pyjamas (me in a t-shirt as I didn’t have any) and it was the first time I’d taken in the Excalibur properly. It was huge, noisy and very bright. I was also surprised that smoking is allowed indoors. Briony got settled at a Craps machine while I logged on to my laptop to realise I’d already missed 4 more cruise training sessions and the Resort Experts’ team meeting. Briony showed me the rules of Craps, and I still didn’t really get it yet. She put $100 in to play with and then got stuck on the machine without it letting her cash out – she had to call her husband (an avid gambler) to get help. I still didn’t know if I would allow myself to ‘waste’ any money on gambling while I was in Vegas. I know it’s something everyone has to try once but, being in a situation where I didn’t have money to splurge, I could only think of all the other things I would prefer to spend the money on, but we would see.
I also needed to speak to Captain Caveman who had been to his mortgage appointment yesterday to look at buying the flat we’d seen. I’d not known the outcome yet so I was trying my best to speak to him. It was very hard to find a quiet corner and WiFi signal so I ended up leaning on a wall next to the ladies toilets. His appointment had gone well and he told me he was thinking he would put an offer in, if all went well he could be in a new home for Christmas. Louisa messaged to see where we were as we had woke her when the door closed and she thought it was just the bathroom door. She came down to join us and had to navigate the casino which is quite easy to get lost in.
Jamie, a friend I met in Phong Nha Vietnam, drove over to meet us at 9.30am so we could all discuss our plans for the coming week and decide when she could join us. I brought my copy of The Handy Travel Planner with me as it already had a few Must Dos, Sees and Eats that I had noted down, mainly from the internet and a friend back home. We went through my list crossing off stuff which wasn’t worth doing and adding in any other recommendations. Jamie already had in her diary that she would see us after work tonight, we were all joining her and her friends on a night out in Fremont Street tomorrow and there was talk of karaoke, ideally at the weekend. I fancied an all you can eat buffet and had noted the prices in this hotel, but it didn’t get great reviews. Briony was up for a buffet somewhere but it wasn’t on Louisa’s list. Briony fancied the Ice bar and a show, but Louisa and I didn’t fancy an ice bar, Louisa was perhaps up for a show. Jamie gave some recommendations for food places and also said she and her eldest child would join Louisa doing the rollercoasters, which neither Briony nor I are a fan of. All of us wanted to go out to the Vegas sign for a photo, see the fountains at the Bellagio and go to Caesar’s Palace and the Venetian. Briony and Louisa were keen to experience more of the casinos too. We still had 5 full days and nights together so there was plenty of time.
It was only 10.30am when Jamie got a round in at the bar of the hotel. It was on my list to sample the $3 (£2.24) margaritas so that’s what I ordered, Jamie had a Coke and Louisa had her Coke with a rum in. Briony had already brought a coffee with her. I’d checked the drinks menus to see that a spirit was about $10-20 per shot so I was going to avoid them and stick to the perfectly fine margaritas. I’d set my spending limit at £50 per day, although I was hoping I could do it in less as I’d not been paid yet. The margarita was strong, had a salty rim and ice but was served in a plastic cup with a plastic straw – something I really don’t like.
We decided today that it would be a relaxing day by the pool and we went to check it out. It was very hot and no shade so I figured I’d last about 10 minutes with my factor 50 on before I needed the shade. We all went to the bar and I offered to get the first round in. I ordered another $3 (£2.24) margarita and the girls decided to order the frozen raspberry daiquiris which comes with a refillable plastic cup with a lid and is massive. They are very sugary and probably have about 4 alcohol shots in almost a litre (32oz) of drink so I definitely didn’t fancy one. When I went to pay, I nearly fainted – the round was just over $103 (£77)in total!
Ironically I needed to stay fairly sober as I had to speak to one of the owners of Resort Experts about my pay this month. I know we were meant to be on holiday but I could not get over the price of the drinks, and I’d just spent 2 days of budget already!
I went to the room to get my swimmers on after my phone call and had a little swim, the girls had another drink and all was well at 12.30pm. I’m not a sunbathing person so I popped in to the hotel for a couple of hours, leaving the girls enjoying the delights of the pool scene. It’s certainly a sign I’m getting older as I didn’t want to spoil tonight’s plans to meet up with Jamie and see some sights. At 3pm I came back to have another $3 margarita. Louisa had to leave the pool and go for a lay down and Briony had turned down free tickets to a show from some big fella in the pool. No one had eaten anything so Briony suggested she order a pizza and chips from the hotel bar. I took my pills and managed a slice but it was just too stodgy for me, the chips were good though. At just after 4pm I decided to go check on Louisa and take her some food, while Briony carried on with her drink and got back in the pool, saying she would be up shortly. Jamie was meeting us in the bar at 5pm so there was still time for everyone to be ready for some sightseeing. Louisa was breathing but was out for the count so I left the pizza on the desk and I went to meet Jamie as arranged. Briony and Louisa didn’t make it to the bar – those daiquiris were not to be sniffed at! Jamie and I waited to see if anyone would come as Jamie had kindly offered to drive us and show us some of the famous places. Louisa messaged to ask where we were but then fell back asleep, then when she surfaced Briony was in bed asleep.

By 7pm, having waited 2 hours, I took the liberty to leave without them and off we went. I did message to say we were heading to the Venetian and if they wanted, they could meet us there. Jamie had given her contact details to Briony earlier so she could get in touch when they had rested up a bit.
By 8.30pm we had seen the fancy hotels including the fountains and decided to go for a drink at one of the places I had on my list.

The Tipsy Robot is a bit gimmicky as a robot makes your drink – you still need to get up from your seat and collect it though. We got a 2 for 1 discount and they let us keep the discount card to give to our friends, so I paid just £19 for this round of drinks.

We had still not heard from Louisa or Briony so we decided to go for some food. We chose Tacotarian which is a vegetarian taco cafe (do you see what they did there?) and ordered 4 tacos between us. It was great food and only £19 (again) so it is possible to get decent and healthy food in Vegas if you know where to look.
By 9.20pm I was flagging and needed sleep and Jamie needed to get back to the family – we both had a lot to do tomorrow. I took a couple of photos of places we might book for bottomless brunch this weekend and then Jamie drove me back to the hotel. I was in bed before 9.45pm but my roommates weren’t there, from the evidence in the room they had got ready and gone out. I updated my budget tracker, having spent a total of £115 today and was disappointed with myself for not being prepared. I got a message from Louisa 10 minutes later asking where I was as they were now at the Bellagio.

Gratitude List
1. $3 Margaritas
2. Cooling off in the hotel swimming pool
3. Surviving Day 1 of Las Vegas.

Heathrow to Las Vegas – 9th September

At 1.30am on Wednesday 9th September I had walked to most parts of Terminal 3 at Heathrow airport, during the Air Traffic Control outage. At 3am I decided to see what was happening at the check-in desks – nothing. There were just so many people sleeping on floors and I even saw a man wrapped in a foil blanket!
At 5.30am they opened the bag drop and Louisa was able to get rid of her suitcase and then it was a bit like groundhog day.

We were in Slim Chickens by 5.50am and this time we both ate. We decided to share 7 chicken tenders (Louisa insisted I have the spare one!) and 2 hash browns, an orange juice for Louisa and a tea for me. After not much sleep for Louisa and none for me, I was so happy to see they had Yorkshire tea! I was less impressed with having to fork out £23 for a fried chicken breakfast but they do have very good tables with booths and it was impressively clean.
Unfortunately, my stomach swelled up and I started to feel ill, that’s when I realised that the chicken is cooked with milk and my 2 lactase tablets had not been enough to stop me having a reaction.
I did some work on my laptop, knowing that we were scheduled to depart at 9.55am so I would not be available for the rest of today. Louisa had a lay down under her Virgin blanket and tried to have a nap.

Our seats on the plane this time were not as good but we were just glad to be going even if it was almost a day later. We were sat in a bulk head row, me in the middle, Louisa on my left in an aisle seat and a big bloke on my right. He also had one of those eye masks which velcros to the seat, the same as Louisa. Because of the time difference between UK and USA we were due to land at 1.10pm but the flight was about 11 hours. We then had exactly 2 hours until our flight departed to Las Vegas and would need to go through immigration, collect Louisa’s suitcase and recheck in, then go through security. We were due to arrive in Las Vegas at 4.30pm.
After 2 hours of being on our way, we got a meal and I quite enjoyed my veggie pasta and cheese and crackers. I didn’t finish the chocolate mousse as it was a bit sickly sweet but Louisa gave me her cheese and I ordered a red wine. It was served in a cold can which was a bit weird but it tasted ok, and didn’t stop me having more. I managed to watch 3 films, including one about Michael Jackson and one with Jason Statham in. I kept nodding off but I didn’t really get much sleep. I was a bit jealous of the eye masks my neighbours had as they barely moved.

When we arrived in Los Angeles it was a bit of a rush and Louisa was concerned if she’d have enough time to collect the suitcase and do what she needed to do. Once at the immigration desks, we agreed for her not to wait for me and to go get her case. I got asked about my return journey, as is normal, but as I’d not booked the flight I didn’t have a return ticket to show on my phone. Eventually the officer let me through and I caught Louisa up who had got her case and was stood waiting for me. We rushed to the check-in desks and dropped the bag, then through security where I had to take my laptop out of my bag.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Louisa walk so fast! We made it to our connection but we were knackered. Due to lack of sleep I had started to get a feeling like sea sickness. Our next flight with Delta was only 1 hour and 15 minutes so there was no refreshments on board and we finally landed in Vegas at 4.30pm. In the UK it was already 12.30am on Thursday and we had set off at 2.30am on Tuesday – I definitely needed a shower and a bed now!

We got a taxi from Harry Reid airport to the Excalibur Hotel & Casino, Louisa paid around $21 and it was a short journey. The hotel room had cost £489 (£163 each) and then there would be resort fees on top of that at $408.16 (about £100 each). Louisa had already paid for the room and I said I’d pay for the resort fees. Briony was bringing dollars to pay her share to both of us. I’d already set up a Facebook group chat and put the amounts in there so we could sort it out once we were able to.
When we arrived at room 243, Briony had already settled in and she was patiently waiting for us to arrive. The room had a fridge, air con and there were 2 Queen beds. Louisa and I had already agreed she could have one bed to herself and I would share with Briony. Louisa and Briony do know each other but it made sense as I’d been good friends with her since the Aviva days.
Briony was hungry as she had been waiting for us to arrive all day. Our friend Jamie, who lives in Vegas, was also on standby to come over once she had the kids in bed. That sleep both Louisa and I were so desperately wanting didn’t happen immediately, despite us having now been on the go for 48 hours.

We had showers and went out in search of food, I cancelled on Jamie until tomorrow morning. Luckily, Briony, who moved form the UK to America about 10 years ago, is a frequent visitor to Vegas so she knew her way about a bit. I was barely functioning at this point and just remember being at an Irish pub which I think was called Nine Fine Irish Men and is located at New York New York. We sat outside and waited to be served but no one came for ages. Eventually we got served and Briony ordered a Clam Chowder, Louisa had a Chicken Burger with fries and I had some chicken wings. The service was slow and the food was ok, Briony enjoyed hers but my chicken wings, although a big portion, had far too much BBQ sauce on and I paid £20 for a starter. Briony walked us to Target so I could buy a bottle of water and a bottle of wine for the room, it was surprisingly good value at £8 but I didn’t have any ID with me so I had to get Briony over to provide her’s at the till. At the ripe old age of 53 it felt very strange to be asked for ID for a bottle of wine. I was so tired that we just went back to the room after and I’m sure Briony was disappointed that we weren’t out out. I was begging for mercy so much and only realised when we got back to the room that the internet didn’t really work. I was meant to have added a USA package to my GiffGaff but had not got round to it and now it was too late as I didn’t have the app.
I finally got in bed and I don’t even think I said goodnight. I didn’t set an alarm for tomorrow as I didn’t even know what time it was.

Gratitude List
1. Having a new flight so we could still get to Vegas
2. Making it to Las Vegas at last and seeing Briony
3. Pillows and a duvet.

Sheffield to Heathrow – 8th September

After just 4 hours of sleep, the alarm went off at 2am on Tuesday 8th September. I was off on a trip to Las Vegas with the girls! Captain Caveman had agreed to accompany me to the Sheffield bus station to get my Flixbus at 3am. I had to be there at 2.45am and the plan had been to walk the 20 minutes with Captain Caveman carrying one of my bags, however, he was still very much in pain and had to drive me. He dropped me off and it was so cold, I don’t have a coat in the UK so I had made do with a hoodie. The bus was punctual and there were no issues with putting Pauline, my petite pink underseat suitcase, in the bottom of the bus and taking my rucksack (with my food and water in) on with me. The flixbus had cost just £27 return and allowed 2 pieces of luggage; 1 hold of 20kg and 1 hand at 7kg – I’d booked row 2 seats.
Louisa got on at Meadowhall, about 15 minutes later, and we got settled for a long journey. We’d took the decision to get the earlier bus as the later one only arrived 2 hours before the flight departure. So, although our flight was at 2.30pm, we were due to arrive at Heathrow airport at 8.40am. I didn’t mind so much as it meant I could attempt a good morning’s work if I could find somewhere quiet enough. The bus ride was ok but there was no WiFi as advertised and the first driver had the temperature on at 18°C so I had to ask for it to be made warmer. The second driver had it back down to 21°C and drove quite erratically. There were no stops at a services, as I had experienced before, so no chance for anyone who hadn’t brought food and drink to get anything until we reached the destination.
Once at Heathrow airport and the Virgin check-in area, we were able to print off a boarding pass at the machines and I sat near the door while Louisa dropped off her case. We had so much time to spare so I tried to catch up on some work. I still had 6 cruise training webinars to complete, emails to respond to and a hotel in Georgia with a query. It was extremely busy in the airport and we went through security with just me having to have my bag checked. At Duty Free we had a browse and decided to pick up a bottle of spiced rum for our hotel room. I liked this idea as I was going to try my best not to blow my budget on alcohol.
I really needed a place to sit and get my laptop out and Louisa needed something to eat so she spotted a place called Slim Chickens. I’d already had some of my food from home and needed to work so I didn’t have any food. I’d never heard of the place before but it did chicken (as you’d expect) and other fried fast food.
We’d already had changes to the flight prior to our journey, which Louisa wasn’t particularly happy with, and meant she’d felt forced to splash out on a hotel in Los Angeles because of an extended layover that wasn’t planned for, when Virgin or Delta wouldn’t accommodate her complaint. The hotel in Vegas was already booked from today so we had let them know we were checking in early tomorrow and had arranged to meet our friend, Briony, at Vegas airport at 8.45am tomorrow morning. We knew today would be a long day but we were prepared and were even looking forward to watching some films on the plane. I rarely take any time to watch a film or read a book these days so that was a real treat for me. Louisa had also bought a pretty cool eye mask that secures your head to the headrest of the seat so she was hoping to get some sleep too.
We boarded at 1.30pm and we both had an aisle seat across from each other, towards the back of the plane. It was probably one of the nicest airlines I’d been on for a while so I was happy with my seat. There was also a spare middle seat between me and the man in the window seat – bonus.
What we didn’t know was that an hour earlier something had happend with the Air Traffic Control systems and the airport was about to come to a standstill. After 5.5 hours on the plane and a couple of films watched, we were told by the pilot that the flight was cancelled and we were the 57th plane in line to disembark. Virgin were unable to offer any idea of when we would be flying and they said there would not be any hotel accommodation available. All flights today were cancelled and they didn’t have an ETA or reason. Louisa and I tried to contact our other half’s and get on the internet to find out what was going on but the phone lines were down.
We got off the plane and were told to go find any hold luggage and a member of staff would give us instructions on what to do. It was complete chaos; the cases were all in the airport next to the luggage belts and in no obvious order, there were no compensation for food/drink and people had been told to leave the airport if they could. While Louisa found her suitcase I started to think of all the people I knew who lived in London and if we might be able to ask them to take us in for the night.
The airport was very crowded but we did find a couple of seats, we’d taken the blankets from the plane and I was so grateful for that as it got very cold. Louisa managed to get us rebooked on a flight tomorrow morning so we just had to work out what we were going to do tonight. Louisa went to get something from M&S and when she got back she said the shelves were getting empty. When I went, there was nothing left that I could eat but I did still have more snacks in my bag. I walked to the hotel at the end and asked about rooms, of course there were none available and people were apparently paying £3,000 per night. If we were going to stay with a friend we would need to get the underground or train and Louisa pointed out that this would not be easy for her with a suitcase and we could check in again tomorrow around 6am so it wasn’t worth leaving the airport.
I did a bit of blog writing and Louisa had a bit of a nod off but I was weirdly still not able to sleep so around midnight I took myself off for a walk, just to keep warm. Passengers were sleeping on the floor and I felt very sorry for the elderly, families and less mobile – there was nothing we could do, though.

Gratitude List
1. Cheap buses
2. Watching a couple of films
3. Taking my own food.

Manchester to Sheffield – 7th September

Monday 7th September was quite hectic and stressful for me and it didn’t go as planned. Neither Captain Caveman nor I could remember what caused the argument last night, it was probably because of his pain and me being hangry! I had a face on that he needed food to take ibuprofen but we didn’t eat anything after 1pm so he was in more pain than he needed be. In my world I would have gone to a doctor or A&E today but, of course, Captain Caveman would not consider that as an option. I had a very busy schedule as well as a Boot Camp of training sessions to dial in to today and a train journey back to Sheffield to get ready for my next holiday which started tomorrow. It was cold and wet in Manchester as Captain Caveman and I walked to his van, I walked to Cafe Nero and ordered 2 croissants for our breakfast while Captain Caveman limped to the car park. I couldn’t pay for the croissants as I had forgotten I’d bent my bank card yesterday and had put it between my diary and The Handy Travel Planner to straighten it out, so it was still in the hotel room. This really cheesed me off as I didn’t have time to go back for it and had to just get my clothes and shoes from the van, and give Captain Caveman anything I didn’t need, to drive back with later this afternoon. It also meant he couldn’t take his morning tablets before work because he also hadn’t eaten any breakfast.
We said goodbye and I walked back to The Tribe hotel in the rain. Once in the room I logged on to the first cruise training session and tried to forget how hungry I was. The first session was just the intro then there was a further 5 to attend throughout the day. I wrote a quick to do list of all things I had to make sure I’d done before I went to sleep tonight, plus a few tasks I would like to get done if I could. I rushed off for my train to Sheffield and had to change in Manchester Piccadilly where I paid £3 for a croissant and I took my tablets so I didn’t get a belly ache – result!

Back in Sheffield I had things I needed to get done in the town but I had a heavy bag with all the laundry in so I hadn’t time to go then. I got the tram to Captain Caveman’s flat for £2.50 and put the washing on straight away. I needed to wash and dry it ready to repack it – the joy of travelling light meant I didn’t have many other clothes in England. I’d done another cruise training session before lunch but missed the P&O one, even though I had a customer who had just been on a 2 week P&O cruise.
I was pegging the washing out when Vanessa arrived to see me before her 60th birthday cruise and she was really excited to be setting off on her special trip. We would both be in the same time zone so I’d assured her that I would still be available while on my next holiday, should she need anything. I’d turned my phone on to silent because of all the stuff I needed to concentrate on and, when Captain Caveman came home earlier than planned, he was not impressed that I’d not answered my phone. I was still with Vanessa and he’d needed help carrying the Aldi shop upstairs, which is why he had called. He’d driven back from Manchester after his work meeting and called at Aldi in his lunch hour. Here’s what he had bought, with prices in pounds;

Ibuprofen 0.35
Paracetamol 0.35
Moroccan seasoning 0.55
Spring onions 0.69
Bleach 0.69
Lettuce 0.75
2 Garlic 0.78
Carrots 0.79
Ketchup 0.87
Red cabbage 0.89
Mouthwash 0.89
BBQ sauce 0.89
2 Cannelloni beans 0.90
6 Bananas 0.96
Wholemeal loaf 0.99
1 cucumber 0.99
Brown Sauce 0.99
Lactose free milk 0.99
3 packet mixes 1.05
2 packs muffins 1.30
2 avocado 1.39
4 Baked beans 1.49
120g sliced ham 1.49
Orange Juice 1.59
2 Pesto 1.88
2 packs of wraps 1.98
2 packs of crackers 1.98
Mozzarella cheese 1.99
Toothpaste 2.09
6 Red peppers 2.10
2 packs of zip lock bags 2.30
Tomatoes 2.49
2t0g raspberries 2.65
500g Butter 2.70
Parmesan cheese 2.85
12 eggs 2.89
6 onions 2.98
Frozen berries 2.99
Mini Cheddars 3.19
Pork & leek sausages 3.29
2 packs Fish fingers 3.30
900g chicken thighs 5.39
Duck & pancakes 6.49
750g Lean Beef mince 7.09
1kg Beef Brisket 13.35
Total spent £99.49

We ate bacon muffins and then I got a lift with Vanessa in to town.
I missed the Marella & Celestyal Cruise training as I was busy with important errands. I would catch up on them tomorrow in the airport. I spent a massive £32.23 in Holland & Barrett stocking up on very much needed 3 for 2 Lactase pills for me and Black Cherry extract for Captain Caveman. I also treated myself to 2 cherry Bakewell flapjacks to take with me on the flight, just in case I needed a bit of sustenance. Captain Caveman needed more coffee so he asked me to get some from Marks & Spencer’s which I did for £3.75 and then I picked up some new potatoes for £1.85 and one of my favourite salads for £3, which I could eat at the airport.

I rushed back to finish off my work stuff, check-in for my flight, try but fail to finish off the internal pages of The Handy Travel Diary 2027 and then repack my bags.
This time I was taking Pauline, my petite pink underseat case, as well as my waterproof rucksack as a cabin bag. I didn’t have a suitcase to check in, though, as we didn’t have one in England and I didn’t have enough stuff to fill a case anyway. Captain Caveman was cooking us the crispy duck he’d bought at Aldi when he spotted online that someone nearby was getting rid of some free furniture. I was trying to get all my jobs done but of course, Captain Caveman couldn’t walk quickly, so he sent me. I really could’ve done without that but I met a man in a lockup with a climbing wall, where we acquired 4 pieces of furniture; a small desk, a shoe rack, a cupboard with a drawer and a book shelf. Captain Caveman came with the van and then we had to carry them to the lift and along to his flat. I was a sweaty mess and it was very hard work, he struggled with some of it too. We left it in the spare room and rescued the crispy duck from the oven.
It was already 7.30pm and I’d hoped to have everything finished and be getting some rest. The alarm was set for 2am tomorrow morning and I already knew I was going to be knackered. With hindsight, it would have been so much easier for me to have gone straight from Manchester airport to London, instead of coming back to Sheffield just to do the washing, but it had all been arranged and paid for.

Gratitude List
1. Free cruise training
2. Seeing Vanessa before we both went away
3. Free furniture for Captain Caveman’s (new?) flat.

Brussels to Manchester – 6th September

There were waffles for breakfast in The Sprouts’ home on Sunday 6th September so Captain Caveman tucked in. I just had a cup of tea and decided not to risk waffles – we were flying back to Manchester later today and I didn’t need to be turnstile hopping in the loos again! We’d been having such a lovely time that I’d not taken many photos. The family one on the patio had to be taken with some still in dressing gowns. Captain Caveman was in pain and I could tell all he wanted to do was to lay on a sofa and play Bridge on his phone but there was no resting for us today. Instead, we decided to navigate the bus replacement service on a Sunday to go in to town to see the last of the Beer Festival celebrations – a parade or something at midday, and to say farewell to Louisa. I messaged Louisa with our proposed plan and to see if she wanted to leave her luggage at the hotel and meet us at noon, when she checked out. Louisa didn’t want to risk leaving an unlocked case at the hotel and preferred to have her luggage with her so said she would meet us after the procession for some lunch. She had found a restaurant she fancied for her last meal in Brussels with a memorable name.

Our buses and trams took ages and we had to change then walk a fair bit so we ended up missing any of the festival frivolities and went straight to meet Louisa at Fanny Thai. Captain Caveman wasn’t hungry, as he’d had waffles for breakfast, and I was reluctant to eat much in case I was ill (again). While Louisa ordered a starter and a main, Captain Caveman and I decided to share a couple of Vietnamese style starters; spring rolls and dim sum, both £8.28 each and tasted nice. I had a Hoegaarden for £4.60 and Captain Caveman had a Coke for £3.26. Louisa had a lovely looking chicken stir-fry with steamed rice and a Coke. The whole meal came to around £50 total and, when we tried to get separate bills, the waitress was told she wasn’t allowed to do that. She went and checked at our insistence as we wanted to pay separately and she said the owners wouldn’t allow it, which was strange.

Louisa still had an hour to kill before she needed to set off to get her bus to Charleroi airport so we went to an Irish pub nearby and sat in the sun. Captain Caveman must’ve been in agony as he ordered a very pricey alcohol free Guinness. Here’s what we had for our final farewell drinks:

O’Reilly’s Irish pub
1 Coke 4.00
1 white wine Spritzer 6.50
1 Alcohol free Guinness 9.00
Total €19.50 (£16.31)

I said farewell to our friend and would see her again very early on Tuesday morning for our next holiday. Captain Caveman went with Louisa to the underground to show her which way to go to get her bus while I finished my drink and I had a little rest with my feet up.

We went back to the vintage shop for Captain Caveman to buy the football top but it didn’t fit and then it took us ages to get back home because of the Sunday replacement buses. This meant we didn’t have much time to spend with The Sprouts before rushing to the bus stop again. We did squeeze a little bit of time having some photos with Felix, the youngest nephew, who was sad that his uncle was leaving. Simon and Anna walked us to the bus stop and we all hugged goodbye, I’d really enjoyed the Brussels weekend and felt like I would have liked it to have been longer with more time to relax. Our transport today cost more than we’d been spending on the train and I spent £14.57 on just my buses.

At Brussels airport it seemed to take us a long time to get through passport control and Captain Caveman was now really struggling to walk, so much so that he told me to go to the gate without him. I bent down to fasten my bag and accidentally bent my bank card with my big stomach, which was not ideal. Captain Caveman made it in time to board and this time we were seated together on Brussels Airlines, flying out at 9.30pm.
Captain Caveman slept for most of the flight, I rarely sleep on a plane so I caught up with editing my blog which I’d not had time to do this last week. We arrived in to Manchester just before 10pm and we went straight to The Tribe hotel. Captain Caveman was working in Manchester the next day so it didn’t make any sense for him to go back to Sheffield to have to set off early and not have had much sleep so we had paid £60 for a double room. When we got to the hotel Captain Caveman was in lots more pain and in a terrible mood. I went to the bar to get him some ice and propped his foot up on all the pillows and did more blogging. I’d only eaten the small meal at lunch and was hungry but there was nowhere to get any food by this time. We finished the day having spent about £56 which was more than we probably should have. Our spending, not including the flights had cost £220 (£55 per day) for both Captain Caveman and I for the 4 days. I personally had spent less than £60 per day over the last 9 days of holiday for both of us. I knew I could’ve been more frugal but we had consumed a lot of alcohol on this trip. We were both very tired and had very busy Mondays planned so we did what any couple would do in a hotel on the last night of a holiday – had an argument and went to sleep, both in a mood!

Gratitude List
1. Eating less so that my stomach remained fine (all day)
2. Getting to spend time with Captain Caveman, Louisa and family in Brussels
3. Having a hotel at Manchester airport to get to bed earlier.

Brussels – 5th September

On Saturday 5th September Captain Caveman was still in pain with his gout and was a bit reluctant to go anywhere that involved walking, but that didn’t work out that well for him. I said I would go in to Brussels to meet Louisa for lunch so he made the effort to come. The journey turned into a bit of a fiasco as the transport company had decided to do some maintenance and had put replacement buses on so it took us ages to get into town, as well as more walking for Captain Caveman than he’d expected. We met at Wolf Food Market where Captain Caveman and I had been before. He chose it because it’s a bit like Cambridge Street Collective and Cutlery Works which has lots of different food outlets from around the world which means there’s lots of choice and everyone can have something different if they want. The tables were busy but we managed to find a seat and it’s one of those places where you order via a QR code, pick up your drinks and a buzzer at the bar then wait for the buzz to then find the appropriate outlet and pick up your food. It’s not really my thing as it’s a bit of a faff but the dim sum I had was tasty. Captain Caveman and Louisa had something spicy like tacos, if I remember correctly. Captain Caveman paid for for ours as he knew how to work the online payment, whereas I don’t use virtual card payments on my phone. It filled a hole and then we did a bit of shopping. I bought a t-shirt from Uniqlo for £6.81 in the sale, an ideal top for travelling back in I thought. Louisa bought a nice jumper and Captain Caveman looked for a bag but didn’t find one. I knew Captain Caveman liked pistachio ice-cream and I thought Louisa might fancy one too so I suggested they might want to find a place for ice-cream. I can’t eat it because of my stomach so we strolled about but then both said they didn’t want any ice-cream when we got to a shop so I must’ve misunderstood. We went in to a Belgian chocolate shop where I took my Lactase pills to be able to sample some – it was so good. We bought some to take back for The Sprouts (aptly named as they are the family from Brussels). That’s when we realised we were going to be late for the rugby match so we had to rush off. Louisa had politely declined Anna’s kind offer to join the family BBQ as she’d have to get a taxi or public transport back afterwards so she was going to continue having a look round Brussels. She was hoping to get a bit more sleep tonight as the hotel hadn’t been quiet last night.

We rushed off to get numerous trams and buses to the rugby pitch and were late but luckily hadn’t missed the eldest nephew coming on to the pitch. It was a lovely sunny day by this point and I made friends with a very cute dog who gave me kisses. William played very well and we were impressed at the level – I even enjoyed the sporting event more than I thought I would. I got a message from Louisa with a photo of her ice-cream which looked very impressive, so I was pleased she had found a good one.

The Sprouts went back home by car and we got the bus to the big supermarket, Delhaize. We had said we would get the BBQ shop in as a thank you for letting us stay so we did that and Simon picked us up. By this time it was obvious to me that Captain Caveman was in a lot more pain and he had to push the trolley just to be able to walk better. He still insisted that he didn’t think it was the beer. I found it very interesting to compare prices of groceries and wine to both the UK and Türkiye and there was some really good wine for decent prices.
Captain Caveman paid for the shopping and here’s what we paid in Euros;

Red peppers 1.44
Potatoes 1.99
Apples 2.19
Burger buns 2.58
700g tomatoes 4.49
Cheese slices 4.61
Charcoal 4.69
1 bottle white wine 7.99
1 bottle rosé wine 8.99
500g Halloumi 9.18
3 litres of apple juice 9.85
Chicken 14.54
Burgers 19.80
Total spent €92.34 (£77.28)

I think it compared favourably with the UK and we got everything on the list, which would not have happened in Dalyan.

While Anna kept the wine flowing and Simon cooked the meat, we had a few games of sticks where Captain Caveman managed to teach his youngest nephew, Felix, the art of not winning every time. I confessed to William and Thomas about me having to jump the toilet barrier in Poland which we all had a laugh about.
The BBQ was an absolute triumph and Captain Caveman snaffled down far more than his fair share of the burgers. It was really good to have another family meal and my stomach was fine all day and night!
Tomorrow would be our last day as we were heading back to Manchester, I felt like the weekend had gone far too fast and we hadn’t managed to fit as much in as we could have.

Gratitude List
1. A new top from Uniqlo
2. More family time in Brussels
3. A better stomach!

Brussels – 4th September

Friday 4th September was all about the Belgian Beer Festival in Brussels – one of the main reasons for our trip. Captain Caveman and I have been several times and we always enjoy it, this year Louisa was joining us too and she’d not been before. I woke up early and made sure I’d posted some social media content for the weekend and checked yesterday’s spending which was under budget by a lot, at less than £16. Captain Caveman’s brother, Simon, had invited us to join him for the blessing of the beer at the cathedral first, so we left around 9am and got the train in to town. Louisa was off to the Banksy museum so we arranged to meet her at noon to go for the infamous Lebanese kebabs. I had an unfortunate incident with a water bottle leaking in my bag as I’d not put the top on properly and my waterproof bag was now wet – my 2 phones and power bank got wet so I was a bit stressed incase I’d ruined them. Luckily, they were ok!

The blessing of the beer is a lengthy and historic process but still interesting to witness. It finished around 11.45am and we joined the procession to the Grand Place. Captain Caveman and I headed off to meet Louisa at the building with the golden horse on top. We were the first people in L’Express, the Lebanese kebab place, as it opens at noon. Captain Caveman and I come to this place whenever we are in Brussels as it’s one of our favourite places. I don’t recall what Captain Caveman ordered as he snaffled it that quickly I didn’t see but his was cheaper than mine at £6.90 (including a beer), my chicken kebab came to £10.77 with a beer. I enjoyed it and it wasn’t too garlicky and not too much sauce and grease.

The beer festival opened at 3pm for VIP guests so we took some time to browse some shops first. Captain Caveman and I never go shopping but given that Louisa was with us we thought she might like a walk round. Captain Caveman was in pain and struggling to walk so we didn’t go too far. Usually we would sit drinking beer and eating cheese with sticks in a bar like Poechenellekelder, but instead we walked past it and showed Louisa the Manneken Pis. I bought us a pen each for work. We also went in Trucafrip, a cool vintage shop, where Captain Caveman saw a football shirt he liked but didn’t try it on and said he’d come back another time.
Captain Caveman’s gout was really playing up so he had to buy some voltarol gel and put it on in the street before we went to meet Simon and his colleagues at the beer festival.

By 3.15pm we were in the beer festival drinking our first beer of the day. Less than half an hour later it started to rain. As the rain eased off Captain Caveman’s sister-in-law, Anna, joined us having had to bribe the older boys to babysit. We had a really fun time and I loved trying lots of different beers. At the end of the night we tried a breathalyser machine where it tells you how over the limit you are. It was no surprise that Simon, Anna, Captain Caveman and I were all quite inebriated while Louisa passed the test as she’d only had a couple of fruit beers and one of the coconut beers which comes in a coconut shell. My new favourite of the ones I had was the rosé beer at Brasserie Lefebvre.
It was around 8pm and we were hungry again, I’d got Fin de Siecle on my list of places to go as they do the most amazing pork knuckle. Anna told us a story about a visit there where one of the kids was sick so it didn’t get chosen and we headed back (you guessed it) to the Lebanese kebab place for another kebab. It was very nice (again) and of course a lot cheaper than going out for a ‘proper dinner’. While there, Anna mentioned that they were thinking of having a family BBQ tomorrow as well as watching the eldest son play rugby in his debut game and all 3 of us were invited.

Captain Caveman was struggling a bit to walk so instead of us all walking Louisa back to her hotel, as I thought we were going to, we said bye at the Grand Place. I felt bad as she had to walk back on her own and she’s not used to the city of Brussels. It was only 800m so it wasn’t far enough to get a taxi, which was one of the reasons we chose to stay there before. We had to walk in the opposite direction to the train station and Louisa made it back to her hotel safely, before we’d even got on our train just after 9pm.

When we got off the train in Uccle we still had the hill to face but Simon decided to do a race with Captain Caveman with us 3 taking a short cut up a steeper but shorter hill. I nearly keeled over at the top and Captain Caveman still won – even if he was limping quite badly!
It had been a lovely day and night and I’d really enjoyed seeing Captain Caveman’s family again. The total spend for today had been less than £45 which was pretty reasonable.

Gratitude List

1. The Belgian Beer Festival with family and Louisa
2. Kebabs at L’Express (twice)!
3. Lots of beer and laughs.

Katowice to Brussels – 3rd September

The alarm went off far too early on Thursday 3rd September and I’d had hardly any sleep. Captain Caveman was still in pain with his gout and I had spent so much time in the bathroom that I’d started seeing faces in the wall and floor tiles.
Our bus to the airport was at about 7am so there was no time for faffing about even though I did have to do a little repack. Our flight wasn’t until 9.55am and we were flying with Ryanair to Charleroi airport in Brussels, ready for the beer festival weekend.
My stomach was still very dodgy and it was evident it was due to chillies, without going in to more detail! We walked to the bus station, all the way I was clenching, sweating and hoping my imodium breakfast would save me. It didn’t and when I got to the bus station I gave my bank card to Captain Caveman to buy the bus tickets while I went off to find the toilets. They were in the train station and they charged to enter but I didn’t have any money or my bank card. I had to jump the barrier and rush in before the need to unpack spare pants became necessary. I was in pain and sweating so took my hoody off, which helped me dodge security on the way back out.
The bus from Katowice to the airport cost just over £2 each and seemed a lot longer than it probably was. I was just relieved I didn’t shit myself on the bus or walking to departures. At the airport Captain Caveman was struggling to walk so I went to get him something to eat with what cash he had left and had to try not to puke at the egg sandwich which cost a whopping £6.60 – I even moved out of the way while he ate it.
Louisa had booked priority boarding so she was in the queue before us and they were checking every single bag so I put most of my stuff in Captain Caveman’s cabin bag just in case they thought mine was too heavy. I wasn’t checked as I went through to the boarding section last and they had already stopped checking by then.
I was assigned a middle seat in row 7 but there were spare seats so I moved to the aisle. Captain Caveman was in a window seat at the back and Louisa was nearer the front in a window seat too. There was a small child with a harmonica which he played badly throughout the flight and even noise cancelling headphones could not dim the sound of it. I used the toilet several times and was actually starting to feel a bit better by the time we landed.
On my list of things to do in Brussels I had written on my planner to revisit The Spiders Web restaurant which has the best potato croquettes and steak sandwich. Unfortunately, we didn’t go as Captain Caveman’s foot was hurting and we needed to go somewhere near to the train station instead. I found a nicely reviewed restaurant called Brasserie Hop & Go but, knowing I had to get to Captain Caveman’s family, where we were staying, I decided to order safely.
Captain Caveman ordered a pint of Hoegaarden and a Croque Madame for €20.80, I just had a portion of chips and a camomile tea for €8.20 and Louisa ordered a ham and mushroom pizza with a coke for €18.40. While everyone enjoyed their food, I thought it was pricey at around £40 for the 3 of us as we were used to Poland prices.
It was nearing 2.30pm so we decided to head off to our respective accommodations. We had recommended Louisa stay at an old favourite hotel that we’ve stayed at on previous visits. The Citidines St Catherine hotel is right in the heart of Brussels, walking distance to the Grand Place and one of the more budget friendly options, considering how busy the beer festival weekend gets. Captain Caveman and I had been lucky enough to have been invited to stay with his brother and family. The youngest boy was giving up his bedroom for us and we really appreciated it, plus we hadn’t seen them all for 9 months so we were looking forward to seeing them. We said farewell to Louisa with plans to message later to arrange tomorrow’s plans once I knew them. At the train station, I needed the loo again so I left Captain Caveman looking at watches – this time I took coins and it was 30 cents!
When I got back, Captain Caveman had treated himself to a G Shock watch which was very nice and a bit of a bargain.
We took the train from Brussels Midi to Uccle for less than £5 for the 2 of us and then we had a steep walk up the big hill to Simon & Anna’s house. Captain Caveman was struggling to walk and in a lot of pain while I moaned on that we were turning up empty handed as Captain Caveman had not stopped to pick up any treats or a bottle of wine. It took us a good 20 minutes to walk what would normally be much quicker, but we did have our bags too.
I caught up with the family while Captain Caveman tried to get his new watch working and then I went up to the room to check my emails and pop on my out of office for the weekend.
That evening we had a lovely family dinner and I even managed a glass of wine. My stomach was fine and I enjoyed having home cooked food for a nice change.

Gratitude List
1. Not shitting my pants
2. Staying with Captain Caveman’s family
3. Starting to feel better again.

Photo Credit – some photos by Louisa and Captain Caveman.

Katowice – 2nd September

On Wednesday 2nd September, despite being away from Fat Club and not knowing what I weighed, I took my measurements. With all the eating and drinking lately, I was surprised to find my bust and waist were the same as last week but I had put 2cm on my hips.
I’d planned to work in the morning so I got up quite early to fit it in. I didn’t get much done though and by 10am Louisa, Captain Caveman and I were out in the town in search of breakfast. I wasn’t too hungry and was still concerned about my bad stomach so I didn’t want to have anything too stodgy before our last day of sightseeing in Katowice.
We finally found a place where Captain Caveman went ahead and ordered his as he was in pain with gout and needed to eat to take painkillers, so he wasn’t faffing about. Louisa looked less thrilled with the choices available at Lajonik House Bakery as a lot of the premade sandwiches on show had cheese in. I ordered mine which was more like a lunch than a breakfast and left Louisa still deciding. Here’s what Captain Caveman and I had;
1 Toastie
1 camembert sandwich
1 water
1 coffee
1 mint tea
Total spent £8.66

By 10.15am we were eating breakfast and deciding whether Captain Caveman’s foot was good enough to walk to the Silesian Museum. He said it was and off we went, having already been near it on Monday when it was closed. On the way, Louisa and I popped in to the NOSPR (Orchestra Hall) as I wanted to have a look inside the auditorium. Unfortunately, it was locked and we could only walk around the foyer and stairs.

The Silesian Museum cost just £9 for 2 people on a normal ticket, Louisa paid the extra to go up the tower. I’m not keen on open structures with metal stairs so it wasn’t for me, Captain Caveman was now limping so he didn’t bother. Louisa enjoyed it but it looked pretty scary from the photos and a video she showed me on her phone.
The normal sections of the museum were pretty amazing for the price but, if you go, allow plenty of time. I had an urgent work call that I needed to sort out around 1pm but Captain Caveman was still in the museum. He had no phone signal and I was getting a bit worried as to where he was. We waited for almost an hour for him to follow us out, none of the staff knew where he was and it was quite a big museum, some of it quite far underground. The art gallery section was also very impressive and worth a wander round.

We hurried back, where Captain Caveman and Louisa went to Lorneta Z Meduza bar while I went back to the hotel to make the work phone call and then bring my laptop to join them. It was our last day today so I was conscious I needed to get all my jobs done as soon as possible as we would be travelling tomorrow and then busy at the weekend. It was quite tricky fitting work and holiday in as I’m used to silence when I work but I carried on.
Captain Caveman and Louisa were hungry and Captain Caveman had to put his foot up on a spare chair then needed more food to take more painkillers. It was my job to take a photo of the snacks advertised in Polish on the wall and ask the lady behind the bar what they all were. The first round consisted of 1 pilsner, 2 prosecco and some nuts for just short of £10 and went down rather well. There were promo sunglasses on the bar so we all got a free pair.
While I finished off my tasks for the day, Captain Caveman decided he was ordering food so another round was had; 1 pilsner,
2 prosecco and 1 sausage plate came to a bargain £12. The Prosecco was very nice and was on draft so we definitely enjoyed that a bit too much. For the same price as the last round I ordered a cheese plate (remembered to take the tablets) and Louisa had to settle for Doritos as there was nothing on the menu to suit. I did fancy the soup but didn’t really want to be slurping soup over my laptop. We had seen a Nepalese restaurant nearby so we decided to eat there for dinner. My stomach seemed fine after the cheese plate and I checked the dish I ordered didn’t have any chillies in. We had an early start tomorrow so I didn’t need to have stomach issues! It was less than £11 each for our meal and Captain Caveman said he thought mine was the spiciest even though my fellow diners love spicy food. On the way home we called back to Lorneta where our last round of 1 pilsner and 1 prosecco came to just over a fiver!
We got back to the hotel and, as is typical, I was quite ill and up a lot of the night with a bad stomach.
On the plus side, it meant I was able to update my budget tracker in The Handy Travel Planner and was pleased that we’d had a very full day out at £65 for the both of us. Without the cost of the flights and hotel, we had spent £302 (£60.33 per day) on our trip to Poland, between Captain Caveman and I. There were still things we hadn’t seen, done or eaten but they were all on the list for another visit. Tomorrow we were off to Belgium but I was definitely going to miss Poland and wanted to see more of it.

Gratitude List
1. The Silesian Museum was fantastic
2. Prosecco in Poland
3. Being able to work remotely during my 5 days in Poland.

Photo Credit – some photos by Captain Caveman and Louisa.

Katowice – 1st September

I was awake early on Tuesday 1st September, totting up the August budget against spending. It wasn’t good news. In the last 3 days I’d gone through £305.75, compared to just £19.99 for the whole week prior to being on holiday. For August, I’d set the budget at £25 per day but had gone way over at £1,197 spent in the whole month (£38.61 per day). This did included mine and Captain Caveman’s flights for Türkiye next month. Without splashing out on those, though, it would still have been over at £27.22! When I mentioned it to Captain Caveman he thought it wasn’t too bad and I decided to up the budget for September. I wanted to double it to £50 per day but I knew I didn’t have that available. I decided to keep it at £30 per day and hope for the best. By 8am I had checked my emails, walked to the bakery and bought salami and cheese sandwiches for breakfast at £6.16 for 2, then gone back to my laptop to try to squeeze some work in. Captain Caveman had got agreement to attend the Bridge event (the main reason we were in Katowice) so he’d set off early too, taking his sandwich with him.

Around midday Louisa and I met up to go to the Museum of History of Katowice. It was free to go in on a Tuesday and we even got a private tour for just the two of us. Our expectations were exceeded and I really enjoyed this museum, and not just because it was free. While walking, we spotted that a road/bridge had collapsed and it was being rebuilt. On the way back we stopped at Opal cafe for a drink, it took a while to get served and I decided to have a hot chocolate and see if the lactase pills worked on it – hot chocolate is usually a no go for me but I do like it and this time I wasn’t too ill. Louisa hadn’t had any breakfast so she ordered some chips for lunch but I still had half of my breakfast sandwich in the hotel room fridge, along with that neverending pork rope. Louisa treated us and it was a nice spot to get a drink and a snack, just next to the statue of the bull. The Charging Bull statue represents financial optimism, economic resilience, and the unstoppable energy of a bull market, according to Google.

Back at the hotel I had a busy time at my temporary desk. Captain Caveman returned back from the Bridge event with a gout flare up which I was convinced was down to the beer but he said it wasn’t. Louisa had gone to her room to read or watch a film. We arranged to all meet at 5pm to go to a craft beer place which Captain Caveman had on his list. I’d been too busy to take note of the location so Captain Caveman was a bit cheesed off that Browariat was closed due to the maintainance of the road/bridge we had been past earlier. I suggested the nearby pork cutlet restaurant for dinner but it wasn’t open yet and the others preferred to try Statca Bejrut, a Lebanese kebab place. I was less up for it, given that I had a Lebanese kebab shop on my list for Brussels at the weekend, but I was outnumbered and peckish – so when in Rome (or Katowice). Louisa, like me, is not a fan of yoghurt so she managed to order hers without the garlic sauce, Captain Caveman got one that was extra spicy and I just went for a regular chicken shish which had the sauce on. It was messy, greasy and gave me a bad stomach but it tasted quite good. It was also a cheap dinner at £18 for 2 kebabs, 1 ayran, 1 tea and 2 free pieces of baklava.

Next, we went to a bar called Biata Matpa which also sold Mexican food. Captain Caveman and I had a beer each at a reasonable £8 and we only stayed for 1 drink as everyone was full and tired. Despite me taking my pills and checking there were no chillies in my kebab I made full use of the facilities and then we walked back to the hotel before 8.30pm.

Gratitude List
1. The Museum of History of Katowice
2. Captain Caveman being allowed in to the Bridge event
3. Spending just £32.16 for both of us today, so being under budget.

Katowice – 31st August

I was meant to be working from the Katowice hotel room on Monday 31st August. I did just about manage to log on, check emails and post some content but then Captain Caveman was ready for us to go for breakfast and have a proper look around Katowice. We had left it a little bit late which worked out better for Louisa as she’s not a breakfast person. The place we chose was more from what was open than checking out it’s 5 star reviews. Kromka was a nice little cafe but they didn’t have much left so we had an eclectic mix of dishes for our brunch. Captain Caveman chose a shakshuka type of dish, Louisa ended up with a smash burger without cheese and I had a Rubens sandwich with sauce on the side.
Before the food came, the lovely waiter explained that the workman who had just arrived needed to turn the electricity off so we sat in the semi-darkness for a while. When the food came the lights were still off so the photos weren’t great. Captain Caveman enjoyed his, my sandwich was good but filling Louisa didn’t enjoy her burger as it had too much ketchup on.
When we came to pay, the electric had come back on but the card machine wasn’t working so we had to pay cash. Captain Caveman and my breakfast with a drink came to £22 in total so it wasn’t the cheapest place in town and a croissant probably would’ve sufficed, however I wasn’t sure what the Polish locals ate for breakfast. I later noted it was mainly bread (rye), eggs, cheeses and cold cuts of meat.

We left around noon and went for a walk to do a bit of free sightseeing. The town of Katowice is industrial and had some very interesting architecture. Captain Caveman took some great pictures which were much better than mine. It was also a bit cooler than I’d expected and then it started to rain a little. Captain Caveman popped in to the building where the Bridge event was and was told he couldn’t enter as he needed to pre-register via email and I could tell he was disappointed.

By 1.30pm we were back at the hotel and arranged to meet at Lorneta Z Meduza bar at 5pm for drinks before going out for dinner. Captain Caveman and I had 5 drinks in there which came to a total of £30.
For dinner Captain Caveman chose a pizza place called Pizzatopia. I was quite merry by this point so didn’t care too much what I ate. Our 2 pizzas, a beer and a wine came to £26. It was ok but the BBQ sauce squirted on the top was overly sweet so I didn’t manage to eat all of mine.
We hadn’t done any paid trips or attractions but had managed to spend £78 between the 2 of us on 2 meals out and alcohol, which was over budget again. Tomorrow we needed to take it easier on the booze! I also thought it would be better to eat what the locals eat and I was looking forward to eating some traditional pork dishes.

Gratitude List
1. Free sightseeing in Katowice
2. Drinking in Lorneta Z Meduza (again) with cheap drinks
3. Spending time with Captain Caveman and Louisa in Katowice.

Photo Credit – some photos by Captain Caveman

Krakow & Katowice – 30th August

We hadn’t booked breakfast in the hotel on Sunday 30th August so I did a bit of work and Captain Caveman decided to take himself off to the Salt Mine. This was meant to have been an activity that he and Louisa were going to do together, as I am not a fan of being in underground situations like that and suffer quite badly from cleithrophobia. However, Louisa wasn’t departing Manchester until 11.20am today and was meeting us in Katowice tonight. The Salt Mine was nearer to Krakow than Katowice so it made sense to Captain Caveman to do it straight away and on his own. He left by 8am and got the SKA1 train from Krakow to Wieliczka for less than £1.60. The Salt Mine entry was £32.55 and he was in there just over 2 hours.
Meanwhile, I had decided to have a sightseeing morning in the delightful Krakow. I went to a shop and bought snacks to constitute breakfast; a bread which resembled a cheese rock cake and a pork rope. Both had dairy in but I took my tablets and all was fine. It was a bargain £1.83 for both, neither of which I would recommend or buy again, though.
I wandered around the town and took photos, it was a lovely sunny day and everyone I encountered seemed friendly. It was cheap, beautiful and seemed like a place we should’ve been staying in for longer. I was just about to find a cafe for some tea when I got the call that Captain Caveman was on his way back and would be at the hotel in 20 minutes, where we had both left our bags. I walked back to meet him, hoping he’d be willing to eat the leftover pork rope.

Captain Caveman enjoyed the Salt Mine but agreed there was no way I would have coped with it, given my previous underground meltdowns that he’s had experience of. He got the train back and met me in the cafe attached to our hotel for a hot beverage and to show me his photos (I’ve included some here). We paid £2.77 for a tea and a coffee and then had to leave as they were closing for the day. At the train station Captain Caveman bought a sandwich to eat on the train for £3.16 but I still had half a rock scone and the pork rope so had some of that. We filled up water bottles from taps on the platform which were very handy. The tap water in Krakow tastes good too.

We left Krakow a little disappointed that we weren’t there for long enough. Captain Caveman and I got the train to Katowice for £8.70 in total and it took less than 1 hour from door to door. We were staying in Hotel M23 for the next 4 nights, in Katowice centre. We put our bags in and I was impressed with the hotel, then we went to meet Louisa.

The venue had already been chosen ahead of time so that we all could find it easily and Louisa’s choice of Lorneta Z Meduza would turn out to be a regular bar to stop at for a drink. We ordered our drinks as we were 10 minutes early and waited for Louisa to join us. A beer was only £1.93 and a substantial size red wine just £2.70 so it was very reasonable to drink alcohol in Katowice. Louisa arrived and had a rum and coke which was £5 and then we all decided to go for food.
We had booked a table at Pierogi Swiata Robert Kukulski as we were all keen to try the local Pierogi dishes. Louisa doesn’t eat cheese so she chose ones without but both Captain Caveman and I chose ones with cheese in. When they came they were quite big portions at £7.40 per dish but tasted great. The alcoholic drinks here were slightly more expensive at £3 for a beer and £3.60 for wine but a coke was just less than £2. This meant our whole meal with drinks came to £30 so not bad for £10 each.
Our next drink of the evening was in a bar called Amnezja where wine and spirits were cheap but beer a little pricier. It was £4.60 for a rum and coke, £1.70 for a wine and £3.30 for a beer.
While we were in there we saw a bit of fighting outside so we decided to leave and go back to the hotel via Lorneta for a nightcap. I updated my budget tracker in The Handy Travel Planner before bed to find, we had spent £88 for both of us today so had gone over budget by £28 – but that included all the travel and sightseeing so it was not the end of the world.

Gratitude List
1. Captain Caveman and I each doing our own choice of sightseeing activity and enjoying it
2. Meeting up with Louisa in Katowice
3. Great Food and drinks in Katowice.

Sheffield to Krakow – 29th August

Saturday 29th August was the day Captain Caveman and I were leaving Sheffield for Manchester airport to have a 9 day holiday together, starting in Poland. Our friend, Louisa, was also joining us but, due to a miscommunication and flight availability when Captain Caveman and her were booking it, she would be meeting us there on Sunday evening. Captain Caveman was in charge of our arrangements as the reason for the trip was for him to attend the Bridge competition that was happening in Katowice, while I worked and got on with writing my book(s). Louisa had been to Poland before and had found herself at a loose end with holidays booked off work. Captain Caveman could see no reason for her to waste the holidays and had suggested we all go together. This was good as it meant those 2 could do all the adventurous/expensive things and I could prioritise other stuff.
This last week I had been so frugal that I’d only spent £19.99 and that was to buy my internal diary pages to change on Canva. I did need to spend money today though and Captain Caveman had transferred money for both of us so that I could use my Wise account while away. I used my copy of The Handy Travel Planner to knock up a budget plan and set it at £30 per day each, which was 3 times my allowance in Turkey.
I’d got up early and packed only to find my new glasses which had been tightened were now uncomfortable and I needed to go back to the opticians. We had already eaten everything in the fridge or cupboard and put stuff in the freezer so we didn’t have anything in for breakfast. I was going to pop and get us croissants from Baker’s Yard but Captain Caveman suggested we go out for breakfast at The Grind. It’s a lovely independent cafe in Kelham Island which I love but don’t go often as it’s not in my budget. Captain Caveman ordered a coffee and eggs on toast, I chose a pot of tea and a granola bowl. I took my Lactase pills so that I didn’t have a bad stomach for travelling and had been pleased with the effects of them – they had generally been great when I took them properly.
I couldn’t manage all of my breakfast as it was massive and I started to get a bit of a belly ache. I ended up with a bad stomach and feeling like I was going to puke which can sometimes happen when I have Greek yoghurt. We walked towards town so that I could go to the opticians and neither of us had a coat on. It was too cold so Captain Caveman decided to go back home and repack while I carried on to town. We had a small personal underseat item each and 1 cabin bag to share. Because we were flying with Ryanair I couldn’t take Pauline, my petite pink suitcase.
Where possible I walk it to town and back, rather than getting the tram as it saves almost £5 and I get some exercise.
I got my glasses sorted at Vision Express then went to Marks and Spencer for travel money and some food for our journey. When travelling, I often take food as it’s sometimes difficult to get food I like in the airport or on the plane, never mind choices which don’t make me ill. I was in a tangle already with my stomach and had to go to the toilet at least 3 times, plus I was trying not to puke.
Here’s what I spent, with prices in pounds;

M&S
Travel Money 100.22
2 smoothies 4.00
2 bags of crisps 2.10
1 pastrami sandwich 4.50
1 nutty salad 3.00
1 bag 0.80
Total spent £114.40

I was also shocked to see that the meal deals were no longer available in the shop in town so our lunch was more expensive than I’d expected. By the time I left, it was raining quite hard so I got wet walking back to Captain Caveman’s flat. He was waiting to set off for our trip, while I fannied about having a shower, putting the washing on and repacking to fit my food in!

Captain Caveman had decided we would drive to the airport this time as on our return he had a meeting in Manchester. I was still feeling ill but we set off according to Captain Caveman’s schedule. Our flight wasn’t until 6.05pm so we arrived early and ate half of our lunch in the car park before we went in to the airport.
I ate my salad once through security and then had to walk for a while to get our water bottles filled back up. Next, we decided to go to the bar where a wine and a beer were about £20.
The Ryanair flight was fine, I was sat in an aisle seat in row 5 while Captain Caveman was in a window seat at the back of the plane. We aren’t bothered about sitting together and we rarely pay extra on short flights to make sure we are.

We arrived in to Krakow airport early and were able to find the train easily. It cost just 20 zloty (£3.86) each for the train from the airport to the main station and took about 1 hour. I was impressed with trains for cleanliness, efficiency and prices in Poland already. We were staying within walking distance of the train station at Krakow Central Apartotel. It was so close that we actually walked past it and then returned. It was very nice and, as we were staying just the 1 night, we dropped out bags and went straight out.

We found nearby Polibuda pub but it was closing at 10pm so we just had a couple of pints of the local beer at just under £3 per pint.
For dinner we found Aleya Food Truck serving amazing Indian street food. We had a chicken pakora wrap for Captain Caveman and a chicken tikka wrap for me and it came to just under £11. It was amazing and I wanted to come back again tomorrow for lunch. Including the airport drinks and M&S picnic we’d still managed to spend under our daily budget (by 88p) for the first day of our holiday and had really enjoyed it. Back at the hotel we had a comfy bed and a very big bathroom.

Gratitude List
1. Getting ready for a week in Poland
2. Amazing food
3. Spending a day off with Captain Caveman.