holidays

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With love from Torquay (circa 2004)

with-love-from-torquay

Hi, Greetings from Devon. The site is well equipped but big (and lots of Sun reader types!). Weather has been good so far (apart from putting the tent up in the rain). Have done some lovely walks and tomorrow is a boat trip up the river Dart.  Hope you’re all well, love John Joanne A & P

With no date and an illegible postmark it’s impossible to say when this card was sent, so I am guessing 2004 or thereabouts.

Torquay is on the South Devon coast and is part of what is known as the ‘English Riviera‘ due to its generally sunny, warm weather, which makes it a very popular holiday destination.

This is a later card from my brother, John, who is enjoying a camping holiday with his wife and children.

 

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With love from Germany (1981)

with-love-from-holland

Dear Hilary, 11.00am Hope you are getting on OK in Norway as I’m sure you are. We have been in Germany 2 days and are really enjoying ourselfs. The weather is really hot – 90°, but as we are not near the sea-side we have to make do with 2 olympic size swimming pools on camp (Army Camp!) and at Winsen Aller there is a lovely lake where we can go wind surfing and water skiing. 12.30am Have been to Hannover tonight with Martin, Alan’s mate – Really nice at night. Will write properly soon Vanessa xx

This card is clearly postmarked ‘BAD HARZBURG 8.8.81’ and I received it shortly after arriving to live and work in Norway.

It sounds as though Vanessa would have preferred a beach holiday to an inland holiday, despite the lake and the swimming pools offered at the military base.

Sadly I have no recollection of Vanessa (or Martin and Alan mentioned in the text)… which is a shame as her writing is plentiful, informative and descriptive 🙂

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With love from Val d’Isère (1991)

with-love-from-val-disere

Dear Hilary & Simon, sorry you are not here, skiing and resort are absolutely 1st class, Only bad part so far was a 9 hour coach transfer. chalet idea is really good, food excellent. Andy & Kevin both wish you could have made it, but who knows, next year? Hope things are under control with you. Take care, love John.

Another card from Val d’Isère and John, together with Kevin and Andy, is obviously enjoying the resort.  The text here indicates that we should have been with them on the trip.

The card is postmarked 1991 and carries the 1989 Marianne de Briat definitive stamp.

John is my brother; we learnt to ski as children in the 1970’s with our forward thinking parents, who took us on several package trips to Austria, when ‘winter sports’ holidays were something of a novelty.  Simon and I were due to be on this trip to Val d’Isère, but the UK was in the midst of a recession at the time and our bank manager, more or less, forbade us to go.  We should have ignored him and gone anyway; the end result was the same! 

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with love from Bodrum (1987)

with love from Bodrum

Simon & Hiliary, Weather hotter than tenerife often over 100°F. Bacardi not so cheap but Raki (Like pernod) is. Lots of sailing and windsurfing done out here, Sailing holidays very reasonable. The sun is helping the cartlidge scar to fade quite nicely. Hope there are more IN’s than OUT’s. See you soon Andy & Kev

Lots of information in this status update – the weather features of course, since we Brits are always so fascinated by non-stop hot sunshine!  The price of various drinks is also something we tend to be interested in as well.

The picture is of the iconic Bodrum castle and the beautiful surrounding scenery ensures that the area continues to be a popular holiday destination.

Postmarked ‘BODRUM 30 VII 87’ the card carries a 150 Lira stamp; one of a set of three issued in April 1987 which highlighted road safety.

Andy (who has written the card) was at University with my husband; I got to know Andy soon after I met Simon, over 30 years ago; then, through Andy, we met Kevin. We all had several holidays together (one in Tenerife) and still see both of them and their respective families regularly.  Andy, Kevin and Simon all run their own businesses – hence the ‘more IN’s than OUT’s’ comment.

 

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with love from Stratford-upon-Avon (1976)

With love from Stratford-Upon-Avon 1976

Dear Hilary, I hope you are well – I am. We have just got back from the Cotswolds having had a super time. We went to Stratford theatre and saw one of Shakespeare’s plays called ‘The Winter’s Tale’. It was good. Enjoy yourself love Ida x

Post marked ‘Brighton & Hove East Sussex 23 Aug 1976’ this card was obviously posted after Ida’s return from Stratford-upon-Avon, as indicated in the text, which again is a quick ‘keep in touch’ status update.

The other post mark reads ‘Enjoy a day at Brighton Races August 3, 4, 5, 18, 19, 24’

The card carries a 6½p stamp; the cost for a small post card in 1976

 

This is another ‘school summer holiday’ card from from Ida, updating me on her travels; although the notes are always brief, I received a great many of them over the years.  I have now emailed the blog link to Ida, so I am hoping she is ok with it and that we can meet up again at some point.

 

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With love from Venice (1977)

With love from Venice 1977

Dear Hilary, Thanks for the letter, I will write as soon as we get home. As you’ve probably noticed we’re in Venice. So far we’ve seen St. Marks Square (and avoided the very low flying pigeons!) sailed up the grand canal and got lost in the back streets. Next week we are going to Pompei, Vesuvius and Herculaneum. We are staying at a very modern hotel with a swimming pool! love to everyone Jackie xx p.s. There’s loads of tall, dark, handsome Italian boys!

Post marked ‘SIENA 14 LUG 1977’ (14th July 1977) this card was obviously posted once they’d moved on from Venice. It carries stamps to the value of 130 Lire, the currency of Italy prior to the Euro.

From the text it sounds as though Jackie is having a thoroughly exciting time; showing particular enthusiasm for the ‘modern hotel’ WITH swimming pool! Being teenage girls our interest in boys was significant – mention of the ‘loads’ of eye candy in Italy would, no doubt, have made me quite jealous at the time 😉

I have lost touch with Jackie and, despite various internet searches, as yet I have been unable to reconnect with her.