Holiday

We took the gamble and booked a holiday to North Wales. We stayed in Conwy – in a brilliant cottage just on the edge of Conwy, facing the town walls.

We visited Conwy, Llandudno, Rhyl, Beaumaris, Benllech, Bango, Llanfair PG, Caernarfon, Colwyn Bay and Llanberis. It was so good to get a change of scenery. We all had a brilliant time – just what we needed. The absolute highlight of the year!

Due to Covid restrictions we weren’t allowed to go into our holiday home until 5pm. So we decided to book a trip to the Welsh Mountain Zoo for the day. This is a lovely zoo and we always love visiting. After arriving at the holiday home we went to do some shopping. Unfortunately I bumped my car slightly in the supermarket car park. How annoying. We bought chips for tea on the way back.

On the Saturday we went to Caenarfon and Bangor on the Saturday. Neither place was particularly special. Carnarfon was particularly rough. There was some sort of conspiracy rally going on where literally muppet who could hold a microphone was allowed to speak. Nightmare. We called at Penmaenmawr beach on the way back. That night my brother and I went out in Conwy. It was a bit weird with all of the Covid restrictions but we managed to get a drink at a secret beer garden behind a beer shop. It was great!

On the Sunday we stayed in Conwy. My other brother’s family came up to see us and spend the day in Conwy. We had a brilliant time. We went on a boat ride which was good and explored the town and did some crab fishing.

On Monday we went to Llandudno and had a brilliant day there. My third brother and his wife joined us for the day. It was great! We had chips back in Conwy which were great!

On Tuesday we went to meet our little boy’s friend and his family in Rhyl. It gave us something to do as it literally rained all day. We had a meal out, taking advantage of Eat Out To Help Out.

On Wednesday the weather was better. We went to Angelsey. We visited Llanfair PG, Benllech and Beaumaris. Some of our favourite places! That evening we went out for another drink – the pubs were harder to get into that night.

On Thursday we went to Llanberis. We visited the Slate Museum (normally a nice day out, but due to Covid changes it was rubbish this time). We went on a train ride around the lake afterwards which was great. That evening we went on a walk around the town walls which was amazing!

On The Friday it was rubbish weather again, but we spent the morning looking around some shops in Conwy. A nice, relaxed end to the holiday.

Here are some photos from the holiday.

Astbury Mere

Living in Cheshire means that we are never far from a beautiful place to go for a walk. Yesterday afternoon we went to Astbury Mere in Congleton.

Astbury Mere is a former sand quarry and is now a beautiful nature park. It is great for walks.

The car park was 50p (you need cash). There is a nice looking cafe to buy a drink from. There were loads of parking spaces. The park was well maintained and it felt really loved by everyone who was there.

Back To The Future: The Musical

Back To The Future has always been one of my favourite films! Of course, it’s full of pot holes and strange quirks, but it’s a classic! Over the years there has been talk of a reboot and I’ve not been sure about this. So when it was announced back in May 2019 that they were going to reboot it in the form of a musical, I was really excited. This would be something different!

It was either going to be incredibly brilliant, or incredibly bad. So when I managed to find bargain tickets for just £13 each it was worth a shot.

BTTF: The Musical opened at the Opera House in Manchester about a week ago. We went to watch it last night (what a way to remember the bonus day of 29th Feb!) and I am pleased to say that, not only was it incredibly brilliant, but it exceeded all of my expectations.

The show is more than just a musical. It’s an education in special effects. The things they managed to do with the Delorean were magical.

The show starred Olly Dobson as Marty McFly. He was so believable as the main character that you didn’t notice it was Michael J. Fox. He had the same voice traits as the actor! He was superb!

Roger Bart, who we recognised from loads of different things, was Doc Brown. He was hilarious! A knowing performance, he paid homage to the original performance whilst bringing something new to the character. He managed to include all of the silliness of the movie performance with great singing. He was sensational!

Hugh Coles as George McFly was phenomenal, as was Rosanna Hyland as Lorraine Baines. Aidan Cutler was great as the bully Biff Tannen. The character of Goldie Wilson was expanded for the musical and Cedric Neal was show stealing in the role!

The music was refreshing – funny, sentimental and catchy. But, for me, the best songs came at the end and were the classic songs from the movie – Earth Angel, Johnny B. Goode, The Power Of Love and Back In Time.

I don’t want to spoil the show by telling you what they manage to do with the time travelling car, but it is worth going to watch it just for the last twenty minutes alone!

There are some pictures and a review of the show here.

I sneaked a photo of the cast at the end!
Woah, this is heavy.