Needless to say this didn’t stop us making the most of our trip so I thought I would share some of my favourite photos here. On the first day we toured Bratislava in the pouring rain, an excellent excuse to dive into every open bar, sit back and order an ice cold Slovakian brew.

On day two we decided to take a train across the border to Austria. Every building we saw in Vienna was more ornate than the last and the attention to architectural detail was extraordinary. We stumbled across a festival outside the town hall, bought a beer, sat down and soaked up the atmosphere.

On the third day we managed to speak with Ryanair but the earliest flight home was not for over a week. It would have meant spending another 8 days in Slovakia providing there was no more volcanic activity! We all agreed that this would cost far too much so on our sixth day we managed to book seats on a bus that ran from Bratislava to London Victoria bus station the following day.

On Tuesday, two days later than expected we departed on an epic journey home. It took us over 26 hours, travelling over 1570km using 2 buses, 2 trains, 1 ferry, 1 car and no planes through 6 countries including Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, France and England. It’s certainly one trip I will never forget.

The tour lasted about an hour and included access to the Manchester United museum that is also on site. The museum hosts a huge array of Manchester United memorabilia from the clubs 132 years of football.

To break up the journey north we drove through Warick to do some sight seeing. Originally we had planned to visit Warick Castle but in the end decided it was getting too late in the day so found a quaint, old fashioned tea room instead and had a late lunch that included homemade sandwiches, traditional lemonade and a huge slice of cake. Delicious!

I booked our tickets to Cadbury World on the Intenet in advance and was glad I did. It was very busy when we got there and even busier when we left! The tour began with some historical facts about the origins of cocoa beans, the history of John Cadbury himself and how he founded the business which has remained in the family ever since! An interactive show on the chocolate making process followed and then a walk through the packing plant gave an insight into the technology they use to cut, wrap and box their chocolate bars. It was fascinating to watch the chocolate whizzing around different conveyor belts in various stages of the packing process.  

It was a very enjoyable experience if not a little disjointed. The actual attraction is housed at the Cadbury factory and many of the areas are not designed for purpose but rather, cobbled together to fit the need. I was also a little disappointed by the lack of tasters, I think it would make for a more enjoyable experience if you could try different chocolates on your journey around the factory.

On our final day we headed back south and stopped off in Milton Keynes to take a look round the MK Centre, a huge shopping complex. Gemma was in her element and spent plenty of her hard earned cash on shoes, clothes and accessories!

We had an excellent time relaxing, eating and drinking but for me the most enjoyable part of our time away was simply being together with no worries and no interruptions, after all the best things in life really are free.

On our first outing we were a little disappointed at the lack of ‘local’ restaurants, that was until we walked to the ‘old town’ which turned out to be the crown jewel of the area. Although heavily focused on tourism, Albufeira old town was teeming with life during the day and a hot spot of activity, street performers and a real feel good feeling at night.

During the week we stumbled on a pair of artists who had constructed an entire Asterix and Obelix cartoon scene out of sand. I’ve added a couple of pictures but I don’t think they really do it justice as the detail was quite extraordinary. At night, the mojitos flowed and the food was excellent in every restaurant we visited. Everybody we met was extremely friendly and having the freedom of a self catering holiday was far better than being tied down to a specific breakfast, lunch and dinner routine.   

Although Albufeira as a whole has become a huge tourist destination, there are regulations in place that prevent any new buildings from being more than three stories high, so at no point do you have to put up with muti-storey hotel complexes ruining the view as you do in many other mediterranean countries. I would definitely recommend this as a destination for any young couple looking to get away to scorching hot weather and a busy night life. ‘Excelente‘

The weather on the day couldn’t have been better, it was hot and sunny yet the zoo was relatively quiet which meant we could take our time to watch the fantastic array of different animals. It didn’t feel like a traditional zoo, the animals had acres of space and if zoos and conservation parks are a necessity then Whipsande should set the standard.

All of the animals were a pleasure to watch and we had an excellent time. Aside from the usual overpriced food and drink, a hurdle we side stepped by taking our own, I would certainly recommend you visit Whipsnade Zoo if you are anywhere near Dunstable.

The day began with a short safety briefing and a few pointers on how best to drive around the track. The weather couldn’t have been better, it was bright and sunny for the entire day. The first car I drove was a Subaru Impreza WRX STI. It was excellent fun, you very rarely get a passenger sitting beside you urging you to accelerate harder and drive faster.

After the Subaru drive there was a short minibus ride to another track. I then had the opportunity to power slide a rally style Peugeot 106 around a gravel track performing handbrake turns at every corner.

Then it got serious. The next car up was a Ferrari 360 Spider. It was amazing driving such a powerful car around a track with a professional driver telling you when to turn in, when to turn out and more importantly when to put the pedal to the metal and floor it.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little scared on the final straight when the instructor was shouting at me to give it more power when fast approaching in the distance I could see a Lamborghini Gallardo, Aston Martin DB9, Audi R8 and numerous other supercars parked up and ready to be taken on the track. Still, I paid the insurance waiver so I needn’t have worried!

I had an absolutely fantastic day and would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants fast, fun fuelled adrenaline and most of all, speed!

We went on at half seven when the sun was beginning to set and as a result saw some spectacular views. You get an awesome 360 degree panoramic view of the entire capital and can see many of Londons famous landmarks including the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, BT Tower and the Gherkin.

We had an excellent day made even more memorable by our trip back to Covent Garden where we ate pizza, drank cocktails in the open air of the market square and, enjoyed live music played by a brilliant street performer who had set up directly opposite our table! Perfect.

The blackjack tables were very busy so I decided to play some three card poker. A short while in and I hit a full house, three 8‘s! A nice payout at 33-1. I left the table shortly after and headed to the roulette where I placed smallish bets for around an hour. It had gone four in the morning when we decided to place one final bet and cash out.

A small stack appeared on 8 so I followed suit. I also had the urge to cover all possible wins on 8 putting a stake on the 1st twelve, centre line, even number and black. Eight rolled in… we cleared up! Maybe this should be my new lucky number, after all have you noticed the date? It’s the 8th…

I stayed at the Mandalay Bay adjacent to Las Vegas airport at the end of the ‘strip’. As with everything in Vegas the hotel was huge. It took ten minutes to walk from the hotel suite through the casino, past numerous restaurants, through a shopping mall to the conference centre without stopping to get the ID badge I needed for the consumer electronics show, the primary reason for my trip.

Having worked my way round CES in a single day I was free for a further six to explore ‘sin city’. One of the most noticeable things about this place is that it lives up to one of many nicknames, ‘the city that never sleeps’. Every casino is pumped with fresh, oxygen rich air to keep you awake for as long as possible. Once inside, time stands still, there are no windows and no clocks. One of my nights began with a meal followed by a trip to the Excalibur where I unknowingly began a mammoth 10 hour blackjack session culminating at the Mandalay Bay when I reached my hotel bed at 7:00AM the following day!

Everywhere you look there are structures under development.  The most impressive, ’City Centre’, commenced building work a little over two years ago. It will be finished by November 2009 offering tens of thousands of hotels rooms, huge shopping malls and casinos to the masses. This development covers an area capable of housing a small town in the UK, it is huge!

The attractions were breathtaking and the shopping exuberant, Las Vegas really is an amazing place to visit, so if you like to gamble, shop, and revel all day and all night this really is the place for you!

Unfortunately we were both a little disappointed with the park. It is geared towards very young children even more than I initially thought and the lack of Lego in many of the ‘lands’ was a bit of a let down. Needless to say we made the most of our visit and went on a few of the rides before grabbing some lunch and then sitting down to a pretty cool 4D short film in the ‘Imagination Theatre’.

A few words of advice in case you are considering going:

• Make sure you take some children! – I don’t mean kidnap any random children, your own children!
• Look out for special offers! Quite often you can get buy one get one free tickets – a single adult ticket isn’t cheap at £35!
• Take your own food unless you feel the need to spend £5 on a hot dog!

As per usual I took plenty of photos, below are some of my favourites:

Oh and one last thing, check the website before you go, they quite often have special extravaganzas on certain days which may make your visit that little bit more exciting!