Just enjoyed a two week break in the Greek Cyclades, taking in the islands of Mykonos, Tinos, Delos, Paros and Naxos. a lot of sightseeing plus still time for relaxing on the many good beaches, oh and lets not forget the photographic opportunities! I’m currently editing down some 1600 pictures, wonderful landscapes, architecture, street scenes and architecture to name a few subjects. The streets of Mykomos are lovely both by day and night, Delos is an archaeological gem of an island, Tinos has beautiful white villages and Paros and Naxos are more laid back resorts being off the normal tourist trail. In time full travel report can be found on our VirtualTourist page but below are a few pics as a taster.

Mykonos View

street view, Mykonos

street view, Mykonos

Ouzo

Paros Doors in Lefkes village

Naxos

Delos

Tinos

Had a day off on Saturday so we drove ove  to Castleton in the  Peak distick .  It was forecasted to be sunny and it was.  It was a lovely trip, somewhere we hadn’t been for ages.  Took a while to get parked, tourists and hikers abound here.  We ambled around the town and found a path leading up to Cavedale, a spectacular narrow limestone valley, which was a route I had read about and decided to do, as it was just a shortish scenic hike.  Wonderful scenery as we ascended the stony path up the gorge.  We had a picnic and then headed over towards Perevil Castle, perched high on the rocks amidst the grazing sheep.  You can’t visit the castle from this route – there used to be a drawbridge but ow there is a fence to guard the steep drop in the gully below, so don’t be tempted to cross it!
At this point you are virtually on top of Peak  Cavern – this area is riddled with limestone caves which you can visit.  The path descends steeply down the moorside to meet a path at the bottom,  leading back into the village.

who you looking at?

ascending the gorge

Pathway down

Castleton Pastures

After some more refreshments we headed over to Buxton where we ambled through the Pavillion gardens – surprise surprise a wedding had just taken place in the bandstand there, the Don Redfern Memorial Bandstand,  and was now having some formals taken.  The Bandstand is licensed for civil ceremonies, a lovely setting in the Pavillion Gardens.

To end the day a stop at the famous Cat and Fiddle pub -  some claim the highest, in England some second highest.  In truth a bit disappointing, not much there but the hot chocolate and cointreau was delicious!  All in all a lovely day trip out.

Buxton Bride

Buxton and a Bride

Whilst celebrating our silver wedding in St Lucia we saw several weddings taking place at the Sandals Halcyon Beach Resort - the most intimate of all the Sandals resorts, being the smallest and friendliest..  Thought it might be an idea to share our views of weddings here in case it appeals to you as a venue for a destination wedding.

Its certainly a beautiful setting with the sparkling turquoise Caribbean Sea in front of you. and the colourful gardens around. Two gazebos are available for weddings,  carefully prepared with tables, linens, flowers and cake etc..  They are fairly small so only suitable for small groups and bear in mind that the officiant, photographer and videographer are also present! Hence more suited to small wedding parties. The ones we saw were mainly just the bride and groom and their witnesses (can be provided by Sandals).

There can be several weddings a day – our last day there were 4 – 11am, noon, 3pm and 4pm    The ceremony takes about 10-15 minutes, cake is cut and a champagne toast made by the couple for the photographers.  A  small canape buffet was then often served in the gazebo to the wedding part – larger groups were set up on a lawned area.  The happy couples often had a dance in the garden afterward. It was It was funny to see newly weds in their just married T-Shirts the next day too.

wedding gazebo.

Weddings also took place on the beach, with sunbathers and swimmers around it seemed a bit surreal! Either way you are probably going to use the services of  a Sandals  photographer. It would be too expensive to fly out a photographer and accommodate them, besides which a work permit is required here if  not a local.  They all seemed good at posing couples and taking the pictures efficiently.  We had a few chats with Gavin the main photographer – he used the same camera as us and we exchanged a few ideas about settings, positions and albums.  As a side note we had Gavin do a photo shoot for us on our anniversary and it made a change for us to be on the other side of the camera and be posed.  Gave us a new perspective on that!.  15 min Complimentary photo shoots were available – prints were obviously extra, packages for 10 prints on a CD and  7 x 5 print for $99 were available.  Single prints $20 but the more you have the better value it was. Albums can also be purchased and pictures can even be viewed on-line when back home in case you change your mind about which ones to choose.

We saw couples of all ages getting married here, it was lovely to see them.   Sandals being a couples only resort its not possible to have family children present so these weddings suit those who want to enjoy a wedding in beautiful surroundings. either by themselves or just a few family present.Its hot and humid out here so Brides cool dresses and shoes that are beach friendly are recommended!  Several brides wore pretty flip flops – esp if they wanted pics on the beach afterward.

Sandals were great at organising the bridal preparations.  All the couples we spoke to had a great day.

snapshots and pixsmiths comparing cameras and settings

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Had an amazing time on  the Caribbean island of Lucia, celebrating our silver wedding at the Sandals Halcyon Beach Resort.  A couples only resort its ideal as a honeymoon destination or any romantic celebration.  Halcyon is the smallest and most intimate of all the Sandals resorts and this makes its atmosphere unique.  Truly the most friendliest staff I have ever known, nothing is too much trouble whatever category/ suite level booked..  The manager invites you to a cocktail party and introduces his staff to the guests, he’s a well respected and practical manager.   Just before a wedding he noticed two sunbeds nearby which had not been cleaned – he was on his phone straight away to the team responsible to sort it out.

Two other Sandals resorts are a short courtesy bus ride away.- The Regency and The Grand, so you can stay at one but play at three and enjoy all the restaurants and amenities at your disposal. The food was fantastic, gourmet dining every night in lovely settings. – plenty of choice with French, Japanese, Italian and of course Carri bean.. Our favourites were the Pier and Mario’s at the Halcyon. You could even have a private dinner on the beach

The Pier Restaurant, Halcyon Beach

Many people here were on honeymoon, getting married or celebrating a special occasion – it truly is the perfect destination for a romantic holiday and the staff and service were second to none. We saw several weddings here but I’ll keep that info for another blog.

Business in Salford for Mrs Pixsmith meant that Mr Pixsmith enjoyed the sunshine and quiet of Salford Quays yesterday. The water was calm and afforded the chance of some lovely reflections from around the Salford Quays. If you go here make sure you take the lift up in the Imperial War Museum (small charge) as the aerial views are great.

[View with PicLens]

Almost forgotten hadn’t mentioned our travels back in early December. La Palm was a lovely weeks break back in Nov/Dec – seems a while off now we are in an icy grip. This small Canary Island has its own micro-climate.  We discovered that its “tunnel of surprises” was true – travelling from the cloudier rainy east through the tunnel we arrived to see blue skies and sunshine.We found a car invaluable for exploring the national park and coastal towns at our own leisure.
A full report can be found at  virtualtourist page.