Cheap flights

Continuing in the holiday vein, I've also got a few words to say about budget airlines...

Actually, it's not all bad. We've regularly flown with easyJet in the past and had positive experiences most of the time. Flights on time. Friendly staff. No one trying to charge you extra at every possible opportunity. And, of course, cheap flights.

However, I do have one beef -- and that's with the speedy boarding service. Having children, we always pay for this service because it means we can get on the plane first and actually finds seats together. Two problems, though.

First up: it's nearly always a scrummage. It's rarely clear where you need to stand for the speedy boarding queue, which means that you really have to assert yourself to make sure that you're in it. Not good for the British personality.

And second: there are some unscrupulous individuals who swing this scrummage to their advantage. I've actually seen someone trying to tag along behind a family, in the hope of boarding the plane first -- even though they hadn't paid for the privilege. Luckily, a member of the ground crew caught them.

As for the 'other' cheap airline, try listening to Fascinating Aida's wonderful song, 'Cheap Flights'. Need I say more?

A Matter of Degree now 77 pence

My novel, "A Matter of Degree", is now available on Amazon for just 77 pence (99 cents in the US) for a limited period only. So buy it at this price while you can!

It's a fun, light story, ideal for reading on holiday or on the beach.

Here's the blurb... Enjoy!

***

Like a bit of romance? Like a bit of mystery? Then "A Matter of Degree" is for you!

When Katherine Valletta starts her new job at Deerhampton University, it’s clear that this is no normal workplace. Why has someone left an anonymous letter on her desk? Who is the arrogant woman who almost runs her down in that flashy sports car? And, most importantly, what is the story behind the handsome man whose arms she falls into on her way home?

As Katherine attempts to unravel these puzzles, her confidence and her self-knowledge grow, along with her relationships. She builds an unlikely friendship with Diana Woolf, Deerhampton’s tough new Professor of History. Fred Morris, the Admissions Tutor with a penchant for gaudy ties and knitted tank tops, seems like a useful ally. While in the midst of all the mayhem, Maddie Rose is a voice of reason, supporting her colleague Katherine all the way.

And in the background hovers sultry Biology Lecturer Chris Burberry. The more Katherine sees him, the more she likes him. But what does he want? What’s in his past? In fact, what does Katherine really know about him at all?

This witty, light-hearted novel is a great holiday read. Written in bite-sized chunks, it is also ideal for devouring on the move—while travelling to work, or when waiting for your kids to finish their swimming/piano/karate lessons, for example...

Holidays and the internet

Continuing the theme of my last post—I’ve been doing more looking into family holidays and realised that there are actually far more factors at play than those my kids generate. The internet, for example, is a great enabler but also a great inhibitor.

So, I’ve found some holiday apartments that actually fit our requirements—more or less—in terms of price, location, swimming possibilities, etc. The next stage is to check out the guest reviews, which usually involves going to TripAdvisor, and therein lies another problem. These days there is just so much information out there. So many reviews—often conflicting. So many candid photos—nowhere looks great one hundred per cent of the time, does it?

And once again I’m left scratching my head in despair. How can I be sure of making the right choice when faced with so much detail and so many opinions?

In the bad old pre-internet days we faced no such dilemma, of course. We picked our accommodation from the glossy brochures in total ignorance. There were no guest reviews and the photos bore no resemblance to reality—they were air brushed to perfection.

But there was some comfort in being at the mercy of the travel companies in this way. We set our expectations far lower, for a start. And it was so much easier (and quicker) to make a decision. After that, we simply crossed our fingers and hoped.

On reflection, perhaps those were the good old days...

Holidays with kids

OK, so I’m in festive booking spirit at the moment. This time it’s booking a holiday.

I’ve been looking at where we might go for our family break this summer and I suddenly realised how restricted we’ve become in our choices since having kids.
When my husband and I used to go on holiday before kids we really had no restrictions at all—though we didn’t realise it back then, of course. We were happy to fly at any time of the day or night and from any airport. All we needed was a hotel room to flop in at the end of the day. And we didn’t really care if the main attractions were an hour or so away from our accommodation because, Hell, we could always travel. So, the idea of backpacking round Greece with no fixed itinerary and not knowing where we would sleep from night to night was a positive attraction.

But now it’s a totally different story. For a start, we’re limited to school holidays when the prices sky rocket. We never pay less than £1,000 for flights and accommodation these days, which is scandalous, when you think about it. And we’re restricted to daytime flights from Heathrow in order to avoid overtired, grumpy kids, which inflates the price even more.

Then there’s the issue of space. With kids we tend to spend more time in our accommodation and we need to be able to cook on site (in order to avoid the cost of dinner out for four every night). So, we’re looking at a two-bedroom apartment—with swimming pool, of course, so that the kids can cool down in the heat.

And location has become all important. If we travel too far in a hire car in the heat, the kids throw up. So, our apartment needs to be (a) not too far from the airport (b) not too far from the local attractions (c) with swimming pool (d) clean (e) affordable...

And I’m left scratching my head in despair because it’s nigh impossible to satisfy all these requirements and go to somewhere that you actually want to visit.

Oh for the days of carefree Greek backpacking...

Olympic road signs

In an earlier post, I talked about the weird messages that you sometimes see displayed on overhead road signs.

We encountered another such sign yesterday, when travelling along the A34. It said: 'For Olympic events: Plan your journey. Arrive on time.'

Good message. Aiming to minimise traffic congestion, accidents and all that. But isn't it a wee bit early to start thinking about planning your journey for the Olympics? They don't start until July, after all...

Globe Theatre tickets

I recently attempted to book tickets for the Globe Theatre’s 2012 summer season and it was a nightmare.

Booking opened on 13 February and a few of days later I duly tried to book two adult and two child tickets for ‘The Taming of the Shrew’. I thought it best to avoid the opening rush of booking, hence the few days’ delay.

I encountered two irritating problems. First, it transpires that you can’t book child tickets (or any concessions, for that matter) on line. You have to do it by phone instead. Don’t ask me why—it’s not as if you have to prove age when you ring the box office.

So, I had to resort to ringing up to book tickets—and here I encountered the second problem. I tried to call I don’t know how many times over two days and the phone was never answered. It simply rang off the hook. Meanwhile, on line, I could see the seats being booked and, literally, disappearing before my very eyes.

In the end I was forced to book four full price tickets on line, even though two of those tickets will be taken by children who should eligible for the concessionary rate.

Something’s not right here. The Globe must know how busy their phone lines are likely to get. Why don’t they put mechanisms in place to deal with the volume of calls? It’s surely reasonable to expect that your call will be answered at some point over a two-day period. And why on earth can’t child tickets be purchased on line?

Grump, grump, grump.

How it all Began

I recently finished reading a novel by Penelope Lively—How it all Began. It was an excellent read and I would thoroughly recommend it.

The book opens with an elderly lady being knocked down by a mugger, resulting in her breaking her hip and having to stay temporarily with her daughter until she is recovered. This one apparently small incident triggers all manner of other, much more major events that would not otherwise have happened. Things like a wife discovering that her husband is having an affair, a woman moving from London to the provinces and re-marrying, an Eastern European immigrant learning English sufficiently well that he is able to start a career in accountancy (his true profession) in the UK.

Lively loosely links this cascade effect to chaos theory via a quotation right at the beginning of the book. But, as always with Lively, it is the story that is paramount, and she really is a master storyteller. To read her prose is, I think, like listening to someone speak, with the plot unfolding apparently effortlessly through dialogue and sharp, witty observation.

If you are looking for a good holiday read, this book would be ideal. Alternatively you could read it (as I did) in snatched moments between work and childcare duties.

And, if you enjoy How it all Began, I would recommend another Penelope Lively novel—Making it Up—in which Lively takes significant decision points in her own life and considers what might have been had she made different decisions from the ones she actually did. This book is not so much about how it all began, but more about how it all continues—and ends.