Holidays abroad

Our first holiday abroad was spent in Majorca in 1965. We were travelling with another family and I remember the excitement of running up to their house at 5am so that we could travel to the airport together. Vivid memories of the holiday include Mum sterlilising the water in the bedrooms with tablets to make it drinkable, learning Spanish dancing in the evening and drinking "lacos"-coco-cola with ice-cream in it! I also remember all the children buying straw hats that we called Beatle caps as they reminded us of what our heroes were wearing at the time. My mother had never learnt to swim as she had had problems with her ears as a child so my brother, Robin, and sister, Lesley and I had the fun of teaching her something new-in the lovely warm water of the Med.

We spent the next eight years or so visiting the same hotel in Scotland, meeting up with the same families. Our days were spent swimming, horseriding, golfing, playing badminton and tennis. In the evening there was Scottish dancing for everyone-I remember my crowd trying to do the steps at double the speed just for fun-much to the annoyance of some of the other residents!

Our next venture abroad was a Meditteranean cruise in 1973. My sister had left home by this time so it was just Mum, Dad, my brother and I in a very small cabin! My mother did not enjoy it very much as she likes to go exploring and felt rather confined on the ship. My most vivid memories are going to the disco each night and dancing to the "When will I see you again" and "Don't Rock the Boat"