In Anno Itinerantur - X is for eXtra Special

In the past year since  travel opened up for Australians Robert and I have taken several journeys at home and overseas. While I posted many photos of these adventures on Facebook I want to leave a more permanent record of some of our adventures. This challenge provides me with opportunities to share my photos and stories while recording some personal history. 

I plan to share photos and stories from our travels between April 2022 and March 2023.  My theme this year is In Anno Itinerantur. 

There are some places that are eXtra special. Some of these we planned to visit  and some were complete surprises. 

We especially like sites that are unique, quirky or rare. This is my list of the places that have been extra special to me this past year. Several of these were surprises while others were planned visits from my Bucket List. On a different day this list might differ and Robert's would likely too, it's super subjective.

Abbotsbury Swannery I had visited this site with some of our children in the 1990s and we thoroughly enjoyed its uniqueness. When I saw it as a tour option on our June cruise I signed up for Robert and me. He and the other 20 something people in our tour group were similarly impressed. My camera was busy that day and when back on board I shared some snaps in a post Swannery.

Feeding time at Abbbotsbury

Bletchley Park Having read several WW2 novels set at Bletchley Park I was keen to visit. It was a fantastic experience made even better because I could put some fictional characters in their places. See my post 20 Something Snaps - Secret Business .

The Duke On a hot day in London we were heading to the Charles Dickens Museum and found this Art Deco pub around the corner. What a find - read about it in my post The Duke.

Highclere Castle As a Downton Abbey tragic visiting the site where the series was filmed had been high on my bucket list. When Covid struck we had to cancel our tickets for a 2020 visit. The generous bods at the Castle honoured those tickets when I enquired about visiting in 2022. How good was that!

While it wasn't the best historic home I have visited Highclere was special to me because of its relationship to Downton Abbey. 

Highclere - removed from the Bucket List

Melissani Lake We weren't too excited by the tours available from our port, Argostoli, in Kefalonia so we opted for one that went to Melissani Lake. Wow, wow, wow did we make a very lucky uninformed decision. The Melissani Cave in Kefalonia Greece has a spectacular underground lake with an opening to the sky above that, at certain times of the day, illuminates the water. After walking down a tunnel with several steps one finds the lake and from a little wharf can join a tour in a rowboat across the lake and into the cave. See some of my photos here Underground Adventure.

Mail Rail I can't understand why the powers that be stopped using the system of small underground trains that used to move mail under London. I was delighted that is was repurposed as a unique tourist attraction so that I could have a ride under London and learn a bit about the UK postal system. Ever since I read about it several years ago I was hankering to have a ride. To ensure that it happened I booked online before leaving Australia. See my story Riding on the Mail Train.

Riding under London on the Mail Rail

Phoenix Park Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden In all our visits to Dublin we had never visited Phoenix Park. We were pleasantly surprised when a tour from our cruise ship took us to visit this delightful small garden which I mentioned in my post G is for Gardens.

In a happy place - The Victorian Kitchen Garden in Phoenix Park, Dublin

Port Sunlight, was a tour we chose because we had done the others on offer on previous visits to Liverpool in England. It was another surprise and a fantastic example of a model village and a wealthy family's generosity and care for workers. I blogged previously about our visit to Soapy Town.

Portmeirion I didn't know what to expect at Portmeirion in Wales, I wanted to visit because I had heard that it was unique and was it ever. Definitely worth a visit. See my post Magical Mystery Tour.

Anyone for chess - at Portmeirion, Wales

Priest's House In this blog post, Priest's House on Norfolk Island,  I tell of my family connection to a priest's home in the World Heritage convict site on Norfolk Island. Finding it was a spine-tingling moment for an avid family historian.

Royal Standard of England Towards the end of our UK holiday I was messaging a friend telling her we were staying at Gerrards Cross. She thought we would be close to the oldest (reputed) pub in England, The Royal Standard of England. It was close as the crow flies so we planned a visit for our last night in the UK. Our GPS took us on a circuitous route along some very dark narrow roads but we eventually found this gem and had a beaut meal to celebrate the end of yet another amazing holiday. Of course there are some photos on my blog here The Royal Standard of England.

Satisfied after a fab experience at the Royal Standard of England

Spike Island Two of my convict ancestors were transported from Cork Ireland to Australia and were probably incarcerated in Cork Gaol or a hulk in the Harbour prior to transportation. A couple of years ago I heard about Spike Island that had been used as a fort and gaol in Cork Harbour. As I am a sucker for a gaol I put this site on my Bucket List. Although it was chilly and windy on the day of our visit I am so pleased that we took this tour in preference to some of those offered on our cruise ship. I posted some photos after our visit here Spike Island.

Villa Adriana  This site was an inclusion on our tour to Villa D'Este and I am so pleased it was. Villa Adriana (Hadrian's Villa) was actually a planned city, a magnificent site over many acres that had statues, pools, fountains, buildings, baths, temples and gardens from Roman times.. Any visit to Rome should include an excursion to this site. See some photos from our visit here Villa Adriana.