Tuesday 10 June, via Ghent to Yorkshire, the worst hotel boss ever
This will be a somewhat strange travel report because we have lost a lot of pictures and also our notes when and where we have exactly been. It has to do with our cameras that were dragged into the sea in Greece by a mini-tsunami: one occasionally functions but in the end we can not read the memory card anymore. And that is a shame because it means we not only miss a lot of photos, but also the GPS-coordinates where they were made. That is why we have this travel report on only 4 pages with a limited number of photos that we have made with a rather simple camera. Of the last 10 days we do not even have 1 picture!


In the Middle Ages, Ghent was one of the largest trading cities in Europe that thanked its wealth to the flax, linen and wool industry. The city center is dominated by three tall towers, the Sint Niklaas church, the 95 meter high Belfry tower from the 13th century and the Sint Baafskathedraal.


We are here only a few hours so we can not see much but we put the city on our list to visit another time for somewhat longer. We always find it very pleasant to walk through such towns where history is still tangible. The large buildings are impressive but we often find the narrow alleys and old shops and houses even more fun.
What an unpleasant man and he keeps on going without listening to us. Our room is also not very clean, so we are happy that we will leave tomorrow. Actually, we are about to leave now but it is already late and then we have to search for another hotel.
The next morning we are suddenly woken up around 5 o'clock by the whining and penetrating smoke alarm. Sscreaming, the hotel boss runs through the corridors to drive everyone out and blames all sorts of people among them: that young couple will have smoked or maybe you have... But in the courtyard we see that there is smoke coming from the kitchen, the old boss just caused it himself. And we would not be surprised if he had done it on purpose. What a terrible place. We skip breakfast and quickly leave the hotel.
To warn everyone: this is the Clifton Bridge guest house at Water End, York and the owner is Ferraioli. First read the reviews carefully, maybe there is a new owner and it is now all better.
We drive around in the area and it is still early when we call Rachel who does not expect us. There we are warmly welcomed and even get a breakfast and we talk all morning because we have not seen each other for more than a year.
At the end of the afternoon we drive to Peebles in The Borders province in the south of Scotland where we booked a room for 2 nights at the Castle Venlaw hotel. It is a real castle and we have a beautiful four-poster bed. Whether the castle hotel is still open, we do not know because the site does not seem to exist anymore.





