Friendly chat

One of my most memorable holidays was in my late teens. My friend and I booked a package holiday to Austria, cheap because we were still on junior wages. We started off flying from Southend to Luxembourg. Nearing the south coast my friend said one of the propellers had stopped going round. ( you can tell how far back I am going ) so we had to land at Bognor Regis Airport and wait some time for things to be sorted out, we weren't able to go into the airport building as we had been cleared through customs so we had to sit in a sort of shed. We eventually got going again and arrived in Luxembourg. Arriving at the hotel late they had stopped serving meals so we had to go and find something to eat in strange streets. As we were travelling by coach the next morning we had to be ready for the coach for 6am. Got on the coach nd it wouldn't start for a bit so we were late leaving there. We travelled mostly on the Aoutobahn with 1 stop, no loo on board of course. Arrived at Myrehofen late again to find we weren't actually staying in a hotel but many of us were dropped off at various residences. We had the bedroom in an old ladies flat but we never saw her, breakfast was layed out when we got up but she had gone out. We had vouchers for Lunch and dinner meals at various hotels in the town. Fortunately the rest if the holiday went well apart from going up in the ski lift and waiting to come down at lunch time they shut it down so they could have their lunch so we had to wait another hour and then be rushing round to find a hotel we could get a meal at. Yes, a memorable holiday but not for all the right reasons.

Hi Helen I used to find the same sort of response on long air flights between Australia and the UK. I'd look for the worst or least interesting movie on offer, play it, and in no time I'd nod off. Worked every time. At the other end of the scale, I remember Qantas put on an episode of Mr Bean as we were gliding down to Heathrow - I turned to look at the passengers behind me to find the whole panoply of humankind - every possible colour and creed laughing together. If only we could get Mr Bean to some of these warmongering political "leaders"!

Hello, Thank you for your holiday stories. Please keep them coming. Fancy holidays or simple. I'm all for simple, you know me. I remember a group from Coventry traders guild, being on holiday in Eastbourne, where they joined a mystery coach tour, that came to Coventry. You ave' to laugh!

Hello, Thinking of that mystery tour event, that may have had quite an effect on me, a twelve year old at the time. I was on holiday with my mum & dad at the same hotel in Eastbourne. Mum & dad weren't much for traveling far on hols & boring me spent most of my time trainspotting. At evening dinner, the mystery tour group were full of their enjoyment. Having had lunch at the Leofric hotel, then tea in the Cotswolds. That's when I realised that other than rail routes, I hardly knew anything about where I lived. We travel hundreds, possibly thousands of miles, to various resorts, when I didn't know my own back yard. My current volunteering takes me all over the Midlands, so I'm able to make the most of it.

Very true Philip. I found driving into Coventry so stressful that when I lived there, I only ventured into the centre a few times a year. For a brief period I went to evening classes at the Poly but for the life of me, I've no idea where I parked or how I got there. I just remember massively tall lamps over the street level carpark. I'm afraid to say that I knew almost nothing about the city's history, buildings or people. I thought Godiva was a myth.

My volunteering took me to Shirley yesterday, which when completed, I boarded the following train, to the boundary limit of my Westmidand bus pass. It's nothing more than a park & ride, yet in the middle of the day it was so pleasent, even with a few spots of rain. It started to brighten up, so I went back to Shirley, bought a meal deal from the local Sainsbury's, then returned to Whitlocks End & relax in middle of nowhere.

Are you sitting comfortably ? Then I'll begin . It's 1983 . I booked a villa holiday in Menorca several months in advance for myself , wife and son .I chose this particular villa because it was on a golf course and I was mad keen on the game and because it had a pool and was near a lovely little bay with a sandy beach - perfect. A week before we were due to fly I got a letter saying my holiday was cancelled and offering me my money back , minus admin charges etc .Apparently the villa had not actually been built .We were disappointed and pretty annoyed . I phoned the company and asked what the very realistic photos in the brochure were all about .Artistic impressions they said . I got very shirty and threatened them with Sale of Goods Act , Trading Standards , Solicitors and so on and told them to find me another holiday PDQ . I didn't really know what I was talking about but it sounded pretty good to me. They offered another villa in another part of Menorca .I said "What about the golf ? " They offered free car rental . OK , I can live with that . We were flying with DanAir from Manchester at 0700 .We arrived at the airport just before 0500. Very long queue for check in. We were almost last in the queue , just a family of four behind us . Got to the desk only to be told "The flight's full ." " Can't be , our seat numbers are on our tickets ." "We must have made a mistake ." "Well unmake it , shift them from our seat and let us on ." "Can't do that , go to the DanAir counter and they will sort something out ." DanAir people said to take a seat and they would find out what the problem was .Couple of hours later watched our plane take off. About 1130 girl on the deck told the seven of us to go to the restaurant ( remember them ?) have a lunch on DanAir and they would carry on sorting out. Waiter very solicitous and attentive , lots of sirs and madams etc .We were so mad we had little appetite anyway . He eventually presented me with the bill and I told him DanAir were paying . "Oh , it's a freebie is it mate ?" We were told to get a taxi to Stockport station and travel by train to Birmingham where we were due to fly at 1900 that evening . On the train the steward spilt scalding hot coffee on my thigh , beautiful blister . I described his dubious parentage. Back then passengers waited in individual flight lounges , sort of large glass sided rooms . Our flight was delayed returning from Greece , new ETD about 2200. Saw our plane land and reps came around telling us to be quick getting ready for boarding so the plane wouldn't miss its slot . Another problem .Two passengers had checked in , their luggage was loaded but they were missing .Eventually they were found , all alone in another lounge . Off we go , getting the safety briefing on fast forward as we were taking off. Arrived in Mahon and met by a couple of reps with "You're the group who missed their flight are you ?" I told them they were mistaken . Taxi to our villa , pitch dark but seemed OK . Next day , actually seven in the b***** morning , another rep turned up to take me to pick up the car. We had a chance now to see the villa properly .It was beautiful , four bedrooms , roof solarium , massive gardens . Unfortunately no pool but we could share with the property next door .OK , no problem. We had a wonderful holiday , beautiful beach at Son Bou ,long afternoons splashing around the pool . There was a lovely elderly German lady who swam for an hour or so every day .She always said "Hello , Guten Tag ." Our last morning arrived and the rep turned up for the car and then asked us to take our luggage next door where a minibus would collect ourselves and the people from there . "I'll give you a hand ." The rep offered and picked up a case. She took the case and started walking to the villa on the other side ! We'd been using the wrong pool. We had been swimming in a private pool with the owner there and she never said a word . Both DanAir and the villa company are , not surprisingly , long gone.

I feel a few grey hairs coming on just reading that! Glad it had a happy ending. We flew Dan Dair quite a few times to Bern in Switzerland. It was one of those airports that was really too short for jets, so landing was always a bit dodgy. I swear some of the flats on the landing path had skid marks on the roof. The terminal was literally a wooden hut but you were out of passport control in about a minute. The only real drama was one time it was too hot for the plane to take on fuel and we had to stop off on the way back. A curious sight to see the pilot have his credit card go through the carbon copy device before we could take off again.

A Weymouth Holiday I'd like to tell a story from way back in my youth. My memories might have faded, but most of it is truth. These days, a holiday might mean an airline trip or cruise, But way back then these options weren't among those you could choose. I guess I was nearly five years' old; my sister only three. And Mum and Dad decided it was time we saw the sea. For Coventry kids that used to mean a tortuous six-hour drive In grandad's jet-black Austin 10, which only seated five. But with gran and grandad in the front, and mum and dad in the back, We kids were nice and comfortable, sat on our parents' laps. Young uncle Tony had to follow on his motorbike; Fianc

In the 1960's my wife and I went to Mallorca. We stayed in a nice new hotel near a beach.What we didn't know was that they had not finished building it. after a couple of days my wife had a shower and said there was someone watching her through a hole in the wall. After inspecting the hole we shrugged it off as imagination. At a later date there was a storm and water cascaded down the stairs as a waterfall. That was when we realised that the buiders were still there and hadn't finished the roof. Later still we were in the bar when the ceiling started to bulge in one spot. The manager removed one of the bamboo poles from a decorative display and punctured the bulge to release the water then casually replaced the pole and moved away. On one occasion we were at dinner in the dining room and water began to spurt out of the middle of one of the support pillars near us, so we had to move. We arranged a day trip to the other side of the island and the hotel provided us with a packed lunch. I carried this with me when sightseeing with the rest of the coach party and began to notice that we were surrounded by a cloud of flies but ho other passengers were. At an opportune moment I chucked the lunch behind some rocks and that solved the problem Depite these problems we did enjoy the holiday.

I think I have seen that Hotel on one if the Carry in films ! Sounds horrific.

Anne , I don't think that experience was unique in the early1960;s that is probbly where the idea for the film came from. Believe me the events I described are authemtic

Exactly right, the film was Carry on Abroad. The Pinewood Studios car-park was covered in sand to portray the Spanish resort of Elsbels.

I think it was films like that that put my Dad off foreign holidays but you didn't have to go abroad to find dodgy hotels. We stayed in one in Cambridge one winter where there was a hole in the ceiling through which I could see stars. The mattress was mouldy, made of horse hair and so dusty I had a massive asthma attack. Thankfully we were only there for one night but I still remember the name of the hotel all these years later... and it's still there.

We came home for Christmas when we were living in Luxembourg. There was a lot of snow so we decided to travel the day before and stay over night so we would not miss the ferry. We were crossing from Boulogne. I swear Basil Fawlty was running the hotel. The radiator started to leak so the chef came up and stuck a bowl under it.