Sooooo we cannot rave enough about the Novotel at LHR. Great sleep in a lovely room with 3 little beds in a row.

We woke about 4 am of course and filled in time chatting with NZ, until the coffee was brewed at reception.

After coffee we trundled our cases along the Bath Rd to the bus stop 5 minutes away and got the free bus to the airport to meet the other half of the team. Once we were 6, we headed to the coach to Gatwick.

After an hour through the countryside between airports we were at Gatwick and joining a ” holy moly ” queue to check in.

Boarding passes issues and suitcases checked and we were off to the gate, but not before I was embarrassingly stopped by Avsec with a perfume I had forgotten to put in my LAGS😐 The guy was lovely, funny and sent me on my way.

We flew Thomas Cook airlines on an Airbus A 321. The crew were friendly, while at times a bit lacksidasical.

Landing into Skiathos and seeing the runway, water at both ends, reminded me of landing in Wellington. It was a short runway and handled well by our flight crew. We were bused to the terminal ( really just a shed ) and then picked up and dropped at Pension Eliza. Really happy with the accommodation, views from the balcony and plenty of space.

We soon headed out and made our way down cobblestone streets to a local place to eat … Taverna Cuba. What a setting …… outside tables, 2 beautiful bougainvillea trees and pretty lights.

We started with Ouzo and I had forgotten how good (and strong 😂) it is.

I chose fried zucchini, tzatziki and sardines. The sardines were fresh, whole and delicious and I wasn’t the only one who ate them. I’ll let you guess from the photos who shared my sardines. 😂

The waiter was incredible and eager to learn what 6 ladies were up to on this trip. That conversation led to quite a few laughs.

After dinner we wandered further down the cobblestone road, just like Dorothy, and found cute allies, friendly people and more cats. I stopped in at a local ice cream/ bakery and bought a Praline chocolate mousse which was a little bit of heaven.

We found the port and the place our ferry leaves from and headed back to the villa for some sleep. Stopping at a little store to buy water, we noticed he sold coffee and asked what time he would be open in the morning. After a wee chat, he gave us a bag of coffee to take with us ….. for free !!! What a place, friendly, beautiful and ……. cats ❤️

Night xx

No, I didn’t eat it but we ate at the Pheasant Inn tonight. It was only 10 mins walk from the hotel and well worth the walk.

Broccoli and Stilton soup, breaded mushrooms, avocado and shrimps were all delicious. When I ordered all 3, the guy asked if it was all for me? My answer….. of course, I’m hungry 😋

The atmosphere was great, low ceilings, cool little windows and friendly staff.

Recommend the food 100% 😊.

We made it. Just checked in to the Novotel at Heathrow and the staff could not be friendlier. Had a wee issue and they sorted …. talk about a can do attitude 😊

The flights were great. To LAX, had a colleague who I flew with “back in the day” look after us well. Thanks Stuart x Watched the obligatory couple movies, including a hilarious Aussie one …..Swinging Safari 😂

As usual the immigration process in LAX made you feel like you were a risk to the Trump country, even though you knew you were a good person 😂 lots of the staff like to yell at the queues, makes you scared to put a foot wrong. A quick march back to the gate for the next sector and round two. Picked up Arran on the way so now we are 3, tomorrow we will be 6 😊

Nice wee display in the terminal at LAX

The flight to LHR seemed to go pretty fast, watched a great movie/doco on The Dance Exponents. Really good.

That shower after 2 long flights feels amazing, so now that we smell great, we are off to the local … The Pheasant Inn……

Finally, the girls trip is here, 6 single woman, one beautiful island, and lots of hours till we are there !! Leg one …. get to London, where we will all meet up.

As usual, a great start to a trip, check in and head to lounge for a celebratory bubbles and nibbles, but not before I had surprised us both by losing my boarding pass !! Not my usual modus operandi 😂

It was located among the fragrances as I was carefully choosing my new “signature”, Dolce and Gabbana…. The One. ( where are you ? ) 😂😂

Route March to gate 18 and navigate some extra “security” to ensure we meet the criteria to enter Trump Territory.

About to board and hand over the home made brownie to the fabulous crew who are kind enough to look after us for the next 12 hours. LA here we come 😊

So there is a park in Oslo, Frogner Park, which in the summer would have a bit of a Hyde Park feel to it with its rows of large trees. The similarities end there as this park is full of statues of ……. naked bodies!

The park is also known as Sculpture Park. All of the statues are by the same man, Gustav Vigeland. The most famous of them …… the Angry Baby.

There are many other statues as the Park covers a large area and is open at all times, attracting visitors all year round.

The tall “monument” in the photo is made up of naked bodies too.

A nice park to wander through.

Today we walked around the forest and lake area of Sognsvann. It was absolutely stunning. The lake was frozen so we were able to walk out onto it. A lady was drilling a hole in the lake and fishing. We chatted to her and she let us have a “fish”.

The area is very popular for the people of Oslo to walk, run and in the summer, swim.

Such a different experience, walking onto a frozen expanse of water, it took a few minutes to tell myself that it was safe, it wouldn’t crack ! I sat on the edge of a pier, no water to pop feet in….

Today we trekked out to Holmenkollen, the ski jump used in many of skiings’ big comps.

The view from the top is stunning and I wonder if those amazing athletes ever pause to take it in ?

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You could see all the way to the Oslo Fiord, which was very still today.

This jump opened in 1892!

This morning we had a wander around the Folk History Museum. It was awesome, we saw various decades and history of houses and farms, tasted freshly baked Lefse and saw the beautiful Stave Church, medieval and wooden.

It was all the more beautiful covered in snow 😊

The sunset tonight was stunning after a day of mostly fog!