Apologies, apologies!! For those of you who are regular readers of our blog our apologies for this months late submission. My only excuse is that we have just been on holiday. Some months ago our elder daughter suggested that we join then on a Tuscan holiday. At the time, given that we were in the middle of a hectic summer season, the idea seemed seductive. So we booked a rural country retreat and the whole family (six in all) set off on the 23rd.
We finally arrived at 10.10 on Sunday night and rural it most certainly was, with the nearest "town" being Montaione, which was some 20 minutes drive.
Furthermore we had taken the "bookings book" so as to respond to possible accommodation enquiries and had to travel to San Gimignano (a 50 minute round trip) to access e-mails at an internet cafe.
Needless to say this was a bit on a bind. I say this for a few reasons. Firstly the road was narrow, scondly it seemed to have been designed with a view to causing as many accidents as possible and lastly the less said about the driving the better. It was like driving in South Africa with the added disadvantage of driving on the right hand side.
Of course the Tuscan hills are beautiful but not recommended is trying to view them while negotiating a hairpin bend with a ten ton truck bearing down on you.
Whilst we had the opportunity to taste some wonderful wines we found restaurant prices to be significantly higher than on our previous trip.
From Tuscany we moved on to Venice for three days and again found prices to over the top.
Our B and B cost us £75 per night and included a breakfast which comprised a small glass of juice, a tub of yoghurt, one sweet croissant and a cup of coffee. In fairness however the room, once one had climbed six flights of stairs was comfortable.
In fact in retrospect we felt we could have had as an enjoyable a break in the UK at a cheaper price. This is based on the fact that our self catering accommodation in Tuscany cost us £40 per person per night and that the average price for pretty ordinary meal was between £8.50 and £10.50. Even wine prices were much the same as those in the UK. This might sound like us touting for business and sure an overseas trip is fun, but next time you plan one do your sums and I am certain you will find that the UK offers great value for money.
During last month York was host to The Duke of York, Prince Andrew. He was here to attend a service at York Minster for the Duke of York's Regiment.
As fate would have it that same weekend we had Sarah Ferguson as a guest.
Breakfast on Sunday was a boisterous affair after I said to the other guests, "Who needs the Duke of York, when we have Sarah Ferguson staying at Feversham. In fact our Sarah mentioned that when she visits the doctor or dentist and the name Sarah Ferguson is announced there is an immediate reaction from the other patients as they turn to see where she is, followed by sheepish grins.
Finally this month sees the following happening in York.

1-12 October; York Minster Revealed. Over 100 paintings of the Minster dating from 17th century to present. York Minster
9-12 October; Opera; Hugh the Drover by Vaughan Williams at York Theatre Royal.
13-31 October; Halloween Festival; York Dungeon.
20-28 October; Triumphs and Tragedies; National Railway Museum. www.nrm.org.uk
26 Oct-3 Nov; The Keys to the Kingdom; Museum Gardens (Performances nightly at 7.00 and 8.00)
26-28 October; York Roman Festival. www.yorkromanfestival.com
26 Oct-3 Nov:Illuminating York, an innovative light display will open during which various York landmarks will be transformed at night. Further info can be gleaned from www.illuminatingyork.org.uk

Until next time look after yourselves.
David.
P.S. For those of your who have not been to YORK for a while or not previously visited our lovely city, you may be interested to know that YORK has just won the accolade EUROPEAN CITY OF THE YEAR 2007/08. In doing so it beat off strong competition from the other finalists Valencia and Gothenberg.