Natalie Lamb and the travel post: Rotterdam and Gouda

I had been traveling to London a lot for my day job and whenever I do so, my train takes me into London St Pancras Train Station. The platform I arrive on has a very low barrier separating my train’s arrival with the Eurostar’s departure. I watch, with great jealousy, at the travellers getting to go on their holidays while I am heading for a day in the office. After two years of watching with jealousy, I finally joined them! I decided to go to Rotterdam because I had never been before and because I wanted to visit Gouda to eat some gouda! Here is my blog post for things to do on a day trip.

The Trains

I had to arrive at St Pancras at 5:01am to make the 6:16am train (3h16). I took the Eurostar 21 January London St Pancras 6:16am-10:32am Rotterdam Central. I feel like the early time was not necessary but maybe I felt that because, due to me arriving so early, I was able to escape any large security queues.

The Eurostar itself was very comfortable. The WiFi/signal was very bad and unreliable. While AI told me there would be USB chargers available, there were not and it was UK plug and EU plug sockets. The charging power was good enough for fast charging though.

On arrival at Rotterdam, I went just across the platform (no barriers etc) to immediately take the train Rotterdam Central to Gouda 10:35am-11:08am (very impressive, considering the Eurostar arrived at 10:32am!). I had pre-paid for my anytime return ticket using the NS app. Just a warning that my ticket was checked on the train and that there are barriers to leave the station in Gouda so make sure you have bought a ticket!

Gouda

I really recommend a trip to Gouda. Especially midweek in January, the only people I met were Dutch and everyone was speaking to me in Dutch, which was nice, as a tourist. It was very quaint, with a lot of beautiful Dutch architecture. Everything was in walking distance. Everywhere seemed to be a lot cheaper than in Rotterdam. I much preferred Gouda to Rotterdam.

Markus Stroopwafels

On my walk from Gouda to the train station, I saw my first ever stroopwafel vending machine, which I thought was very cool! It was very cheap for gifts, with a standard pack of stroopwafel costing only £2.62.

Gouda Cheese Experience

My next stop was the Gouda Cheese Experience, where I browsed the gift shop. Unfortunately, due to Foot and Mouth disease, there is currently a £1000 fine for any cheese brought back to the UK so anything I bought, I had to eat on my extreme day trip. 

De Goudse Waag

Top on my Gouda agenda was eating cheese! I headed straight to the Gouda Cheese Weigh House, De Goudse Waag. Unfortunately, due to it being off season, they were not running any cheese tasting sessions that day. They instead recommend I go to the Gouda Cheese Experience for a tasting but I had other plans for my cheese-filled stop.

Stadhuis

I took a quick photo of the beautiful Stadhuis (the town hall with red flags), still pretty despite the ongoing construction works.

Berg’s Bakery

Then it was time for the most important stop on my Gouda trip, the gouda! I headed to Berg’s Bakery because I was hoping to join a make your own stroopwaffel workshop (for less than €10!). However, due to it being off season, they were not running them. The café was full of local people though, which is always a good sign, so I went ahead and took a seat. I ended up ordering a warm and gooey stroopwaffel as big as my head for around €3, as well as “Gouds Momentje”, a giant cheese platter of 3 different types of cheeses, cheese soup, cheese bread and a cheese croquette for around €13. The menu was just in Dutch so I recommend having a translator app. Also the toilet situation was a bit odd? I think customers were supposed to pay €1 to visit the toilet but I didn’t have any change? I also can’t confirm this because the sign was in Dutch.

Cheese Shops

I then had a wander around some cheese shops on my list. Some shops I visited included: Kaaswinkeltje Gouda, Gouda Cheese House, Say Cheese Gouda and Jeruzalemstraat. They were all located just a short walk away from one another.

De Roode Leeuw

I ended my trip to Gouda by locating the windmill De Roode Leeuw. I took some photos and then took the picturesque walk from the windmill and along the river back to the train station, leaving for Rotterdam about 2pm.

Rotterdam

Instagrammable Spot #1

On arrival into Rotterdam, I headed straight for some pretty views. It was around 30 minutes walk (but not a very beautiful walk- I recommend taking public transport instead!) to the bridge Lage Erfbrug. There were some views of some really nice buildings across the water “Historisch bedrijfsvaartuig Spes. Rivierenklipper Gebouwd In 1906” on Google Maps.

Instagrammable Spot #2

From there, I recommend walking a short distance down the water to the next bridge (at 51°54'30.3"N 4°26'54.6"E), where you can see a windmill in the distance across the water. From there, you can cross over and continue along the narrow island of the historic Delfshaven back to the bridge Lage Erfbrug. This is by far the most beautiful spot in Rotterdam, although I would say that Gouda is nicer.

Gnome Statue

I then walked 30 minutes to (again, I recommend taking the public transport and not walking) the Santa Claus gnome statue for a quick photo. From this point, the sights were a lot closer together.

Instagrammable Spot #3

Instagrammable Spot #3 was found in the form of Spanjaards Bridge, where there is a pretty, big, white hotel.

Cube Houses

Just around the corner from Spanjaards Bridge was the Cube Houses, which I had seen everywhere in photos of Rotterdam. I actually found them less impressive in person though, because they are a lot higher in the sky than I had expected.

Markthal

One place I definitely would recommend is Markthal, not only is it a great and diverse food hall but the building is very impressive too. As a peanut butter lover, I was really happy to see De Pindakaaswinkel there, a place on my Amsterdam list which I could instead cross off while I was in Rotterdam.

Bram Ladage

Talking of peanut butter, one thing I was really keen to try while in Markthal was Bram Ladage. This fries-by-the-cone fast food stall has the Dutch classic of mayo, peanut sauce and chips. I’m not a mayo fan though so just opted for patat pinda (fries and peanut sauce). If you’re wanting to avoid the peanut butter, pindasaus means peanut sauce. It reminded me of a satay sauce, rather than peanut butter, it was thick, goopy and peanutty but there was a very very mild spice to it.

The Trains – Round 2

I walked from Markthal back to Rotterdam Central Station for my train back to London St Pancras, ending my extreme day trip. I arrived a bit early actually- I probably could have gotten away with taking the train before the one I took. I had to arrive at the station for 6:43pm for my 7:28pm to 9:57pm (3h29) Eurostar. One thing to note is the barriers did not open for me at Rotterdam to let me through to the Eurostar. But there is an info box to the right of the barriers. I pressed the button to use the intercom and the people let me through. I do not know why it didn’t work? I did book my Eurostar ticket through Uber so it could be that or it could be because I was a little early.

I also found it a bit confusing at Rotterdam Central Eurostar Station. You arrive on the station platform where the train arrives but you got into a small room for security and passport control. From there, you go up some stairs to a holding area. You stay in the holding area until they make an announcement on the speakers. Staff will then escort everyone in the holding area back down the same stairs (that you have just only gone up) to go back to the station platform (the one before security and passport control). What I am trying to say is stay in the holding area until you are told differently- there is no need to rush downstairs before the announcement.

And so ended my extreme day trip to both Rotterdam and Gouda in a day!

Spend

• Eurostar £58 (Black Friday sale)
• Return train Rotterdam to Gouda £11.55
• Bergs Bakery (food) £19.19 
• Bergs Bakery (gift) £4.47 
• Markus and Markus Strrop (gift) £2.62
• Peanut butter £17.44
• Bram Ladage chips £4.37
• Total £117.64

 What would I do next time?

• Euromast for nice views of the city. It was closed at the time of my visit (again, not the best place to go to off season!)
• Kinderdijk for many pretty windmills. You take Waterbus Number 21 (again, not operating due to the off season) from Rotterdam – Erasmus Waterbus Stop to Kinderdijk, Molenkade for ~25 minutes
• 25 minutes by boat from Rotterdam – Erasmus Waterbus stop. To get to Kinderdijk, Molenkade you’ll need to take waterbus number 21.
• If still hungry, even after Markthal, I would go to Fenix Food Factory or the Foodhallen Rotterdam .

Natalie Lamb and the Cunliffe Review

What is the Cunliffe Review?

In October 2024, the UK Government and the Welsh Government commissioned the Cunliffe Review – an independent assessment of how the water system in England and Wales is run, regulated and held to account. It has been described as the most comprehensive review of the water sector since privatisation and is named after its chair, Sir John Cunliffe.

At first glance, the Cunliffe Review may look like another technical examination of a heavily regulated industry. In reality, it represents a pivotal moment for how essential public services are governed. The Cunliffe Review makes 88 recommendations aimed at reforming the system. The Government has already indicated support for several of the Cunliffe Review’s directions of travel and has committed to publishing a White Paper and introducing a Water Reform Bill. In the meantime, water companies and regulators are beginning to prepare for potentially significant change.

What did the Cunliffe Review say?

The Cunliffe Review examined why the water system has struggled to deliver clean rivers, resilient infrastructure and affordable bills at the same time. Its central conclusion was not that a single organisation or group had failed, but that the system as a whole is fragmented and poorly aligned.

Over decades, responsibility for water has been divided between multiple regulators, government departments and public bodies, each setting their own priorities. The result is a system that often demands everything at once (for example lower bills, cleaner rivers, net-zero emissions, drought resilience and rapid housing growth), without clearly deciding what should take precedence when those goals inevitably conflict.

While the Cunliffe Review contains many detailed proposals, its core message is simple- complex public services need clearer leadership, better coordination and more honest choices about trade-offs.

What will change in the water sector?

If the Cunliffe Review’s recommendations are implemented, several practical changes are likely to follow. Below are 5 key changes which may happen in water:

1. A single water regulator. Instead of four separate regulators (Ofwat, the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Drinking Water Inspectorate) with overlapping and sometimes conflicting responsibilities, water related regulatory functions would be brought together into one integrated regulator for England, with a separate regulator for Wales.

2. A more forward-looking approach to price regulation. Five-yearly price reviews would continue, but with a shift away from a heavily data-driven, desk-based process towards a more supervisory and forward-looking approach, focused on long term company resilience and investment planning.

3. Open, real-time monitoring of wastewater. Rather than relying primarily on samples taken by companies and reported to regulators, the Cunliffe Review recommends open monitoring, real-time monitoring of the wastewater system, with data made publicly available online to improve transparency and rebuild trust.

4. A new statutory Water Ombudsman. The Cunliffe Review proposes replacing the existing Consumer Council for Water with a statutory Water Ombudsman, providing stronger, more independent oversight of customer complaints and redress.

5. A long-term National Water Strategy. Finally, the Cunliffe Review recommends a government-produced, 25-year National Water Strategy for both England and Wales. This would be cross-sectoral and systems-focused, intended to align water policy with wider objectives such as environmental protection, climate adaptation and economic growth.

Natalie Lamb and the history of the water sector

Water supply and sewerage services used to be provided on a local basis by a mixture of local authorities (e.g. Wrexham Rural District Council) and joint organisations with multiple local authorities (e.g. Doncaster and District Joint Water Board). This set up was quite fragmented and there was no “source to tap” or “source to source” thinking. In the late 1960s and early 1970s there were problems with meeting the future demands for these services, prompting a restructure.

The Water Act 1973 established 10 new regional water authorities. These authorities were responsible for managing water resources and supplying water and sewerage services on a fully integrated basis. The regional water authorities took control of the services that local authorities had previously been supplying. Central government set financial constraints, and performance aims for each authority.

The European Union introduced stricter legislation on river, bathing, coastal, and drinking water quality, which the regional water authorities were struggling to meet in 1985. Estimates of the capital expenditure required to achieve EU standards and meet the existing backlog in infrastructure maintenance ranged from £24 to £30 billion, a sum not possible to achieve with government funding.

The 10 new regional water authorities were sold (“privatised”) from being government-owned to being privately owned in 1989. This was done because privatised companies are able to access different funding routes (e.g. they can raise finance through the stock market , they can access private capital etc) so they had more money to invest in infrastructure to achieve the new EU standards. 

• Anglian Water (previously Anglian Water Authority)
• Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water (previously Welsh Water Authority)
• North West Water (previously North West Water Authority)
• Northumbrian Water (previously Northumbrian Water Authority)
• Severn Trent Water (previously Severn Trent Water Authority)
• Southern Water (previously Southern Water Authority)
• South West Water (previously South West Water Authority)
• Thames Water (previously Thames Water Authority)
• Wessex Water (previously Wessex Water Authority)
• Yorkshire Water (previously Yorkshire Water Authority)

Also established were some regulators: 

• The National Rivers Authority – the environmental regulator
• The Drinking Water Inspectorate – the drinking water quality regulator
• The Director General of Water Services supported by the Office of Water Services (Ofwat) –the economic regulator 

The 10 new regional water authorities. Source: Sun, Jingrui. (2021). Connectivity restoration for fishes in post-industrial rivers of North East England. 

Natalie Lamb and the IWA journey to Toronto

I was fortunate enough to obtain a travel grant to attend the 2024 IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition in Toronto, Canada, due to my position of Chair of the IWA YWP UK and the voluntary efforts I have put into IWA over the last 6 years (you can read more about my work with IWA here). 

Rather than using the grant to book direct flights from the UK to Toronto and a hotel while at the conference, I decided to make the trip an adventure and, fingers crossed, reduce my emissions at the same time. I used that same amount of money (and actually, quite a bit less) to go on a little overland East Canada road trip.

In the end, I travelled Manchester to Dublin to Halifax to Québec City to Montréal to Ottawa to Toronto to Niagara Falls to Halifax to London for a grand total of <£800. I travelled over 2500 km overland using 3 trains, 3 coaches, countless underground trains and a replacement bus service from 3 to 20 August 2024. I slept in University Halls, 3 x 6 bed hostel dorms, 1 x 10 bed hostel dorm, 1 x 12 bed hostel dorm, one >20 hour sleeper train, an old prison and had more than one nap on a Megabus!

My efforts were greatly rewarded! During my adventure I got to have a pint of Guinness at Temple Bar, ate my own body weight in poutine, hiked waterfalls even bigger than Niagara, enjoyed a solo rooftop spa, had a sleepover in an old prison (after just doing a ghost walk around it), shot a puck (badly) at the Hockey Hall of Fame, rolled my own maple taffy on ice and caught a rainbow at Niagara Falls. 

When I finally arrived in Toronto, my colleagues were bemused at me walking into the welcome ceremony on Day One of the conference with my giant hiking backpack. But I had a smile on my face, bigger even than my backpack!

This opportunity would not have been possible, had it not been for the kindness and generosity of the IWA UK and for my efforts working with the IWA YWP UK. I cannot thank the IWA UK enough and I strongly recommend volunteering with them! I am going to do all I can to ensure that similar opportunities are provided to other young water professionals. 

If you are nosey and want to check out my other blog posts, I have one of the whole trip here and then separate posts for each location I visited, including: Halifax, Québec City, Montréal, Ottawa and Toronto.

#IWA #Glasgow #WorldWaterCongress #roadtoglasgow #glasgow2026

Natalie Lamb and the IWA Journey

The IWA has provided me with many development opportunities to date. The first ever conference I presented at was the IWA UK Young Water Professional Conference in 2017. I was fortunate to receive the prize of “Best Presenter 2017”, the prize for which being an opportunity to present at the IWA YWP Eastern European Conference 2018 in Zagreb, my first international presentation. I was so impressed with the focused specialism of the event, as well as the opportunities it gave me as a young water professional, that I decided that the IWA is an organisation I should be a part of. I have used this membership since for a multitude of opportunities, from improving my mental resilience to helping the environment through beach cleans.

I first began volunteering with the IWA in 2018, helping to organise two IWA UK Online Twitter Competitions for the IWA UK Young Water Professional Conference. I formally joined the IWA UK Committee in 2020, with the intention of helping the IWA UK help to build on its online presence. During the ongoing pandemic, social media was of increasing importance to help connect people. I was so happy it worked well and that we were able to work together to give researchers the opportunity to share their work, despite the ongoing pandemic. I was also heavily involved with the Water Industry Film Shorts competition. This video competition aimed to build awareness about the challenges facing the world’s water systems ahead of COP26, tell water stories, help propel the water industry into the digital age, and show how the research community drives us towards solutions. The finalist’s video were shown in an award ceremony, which I co-hosted, at the 2021 IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition. I also Chaired the IWA YWP UK Conference 2022, recruiting a group of 15 volunteers who I led to organise the conference, held in South Wales.

I obtained a bursary to attend 2022 IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition in Denmark, through the first physical World Water Camp, a unique opportunity for students with an interest in current water challenges to meet and network with other students from around the globe in a strong learning community. This “conference within a conference” opportunity selected 50 students from around the globe to participate in lectures, field trips and extracurricular tasks during the congress, as well as a three month online course around the conference. At the camp, I was grateful to win a prize for Best Engagement. I was also fortunate to be selected to attend 2024 IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition in Canada, through World Water Camp. This was a global opportunity for young water professionals aged 35 and under to build an international network among students sharing an interest in future water and to obtain an international perspective on water themes and the needs of different water stakeholders. I was also only able to travel to attend the camp and the 2024 IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition in Toronto, Canada, due to my kindness of the IWA UK, my position of Chair of the IWA YWP UK and the voluntary efforts I have put into IWA over the last 6 years.

I became Chair of the IWA YWP UK in 2024 and was elected to become Global YWP Chapter Coordinator of the IWA Young Water Professionals Steering Committee 2024-2026. Through these roles I plan to enhance the integration of young people at the 2026 IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition in Glasgow. To achieve this aim, I have written and refined a Terms of Reference for IWA YWP UK and will be holding interviews to recruit for YWP to join this committee. With this new committee, I intend to run my own World Water Camp, to sponsor and enable future young water professionals to attend the Glasgow IWA World Congress, as I myself have benefitted from this programme. 

#IWA #Glasgow #WorldWaterCongress #roadtoglasgow #glasgow2026

Natalie Lamb and the travel post: Canada road trip

I was fortunate enough to obtain a grant to attend a conference in Toronto, Canada. Instead of booking direct flights and a hotel, I used that same amount of money (and actually, quite a bit less) to go on a little overland East Canada road trip. I travelled Halifax to Québec City to Montréal to Ottawa to Toronto to Halifax. I have this blog post about the road trip experience itself but if you want further details on each location, I recommend you checking out the individual blog posts I have for each travel stop.

 

Short Version

• 02/08/24 1h flight Manchester to Dublin £60.76
• 03/08/24 6h8 flight Dublin to Halifax £395.99 return
• 04/08/25 19h43 train Halifax to Québec £121.89
• 08/08/24 3h8 train Québec to Montreal £31.64
• 08/08/24 2h1 train Montreal to Ottawa £41.07
• 11/08/24 5h50 bus Ottawa to Toronto £21.35
• 17/08/24 1h30 bus to and from Toronto and Niagra Falls £52.90
• 18/08/24 2h08 flight Toronto to Halifax £60.99
• 19/08/24 6h flight Halifax to London Gatwick £395.99 return
• Total £786.69

 

Long Version

Location 1 Dublin, Ireland

I started my road trip by flying 1h from Manchester to Dublin. In Dublin I had just enough time to visit the Guiness Factory Tour, have a pint of Guinness at Temple Bar and eat some soda bread before going to sleep in time for my 6h flight Dublin to Halifax. I really liked Dublin as a city, it had old-town charm but also so much vibrancy and life, with live music pouring out of every venue. I definitely made a strong plan to return.

• Travel:
• 02/08/24 12:10-1:10pm 1h Flight Manchester to Dublin £60.76
• 02/08/24 1:35pm-2:19pm Dublin Express bus to Dublin City Centre £8.80
• 03/08/24 5:40am-6:21am Dublin Express bus to Airport £8.80
• 03/08/24 9:30am to 11:38am (in local times) 6h8 Flight Dublin to Halifax £395.99 return
• Accommodation: 1 x night at Generator Dublin £50.70
• What I did: Guinness Factory Tour, Temple Bar

 

Location 2 Halifax, Nova Scotia

Next up was the official start of my Canadian adventure, as I arrived into Halifax. It was almost like a seaside, just without the beach! There were the nice colourful buildings by the water, everyone was chilling on the waterfront with a coffee or going for a run by the water. It was pretty chilled out. There were much rougher areas outside of the harbourfront but it’s generally a great place to go if you fancy a chill few days.

• Travel: 03/08/24 4:15-5:03pm bus Halifax Airport to Halifax Downtown £4.80
• Accommodation: 1 x night at Halifax Backpackers Hostel £33.67
• What I did: ate out at the brightly coloured huts near Salt Yard Social, went to the Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market, had a "fairy latte", ate a donaire (a gyro/doner kebab but a very popular food in Halifax), went for an excursion to George’s Island, tasted beer at a local distillery

 

Location 3 Train

I took the sleeper train The Ocean, to get me all the way from Halifax to Québec at a journey time of over 20 hours! And I took it with just a seat (not a cabin) to save on expenses. I recommend checking the train before you even check the flights because there was only one every 6-7 days! It was so much nicer than trains in the UK though, with free drinking water available, plenty of leg room and I had no-one sitting next to me. I didn’t sleep so much but it was free accommodation as I needed to travel anyway. I even had a “bus replacement service” from SFOY to QBEC but it was a luxury-type shuttle bus (just make sure it is going to the station you intend to arrive at because there may be multiple!).

•  Travel: 04/08/25 – 05/08/25 11:30am to 7:10am (local time) 19h43 train Halifax to Québec £121.89
• Accommodation: 1 x night on the train

 

Location 4 Québec City, Québec

Québec City was stop number two for me in Canada. I found Québec City to be very Parisian, very European. The architecture was beautiful. Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, which is the giant castle in every picture of the city that you see, is like a real life fairy castle. There were cobbled streets, artists painting caricatures on the streets, artwork hanging left, right and centre. It was my favourite place I visited in Canada on my road trip and I cannot recommend a visit enough. The only drawback is that it was heaving with tourists in August! The beauty of Québec City is not at all a well kept secret!

• Travel: 08/08/24 5:29am-8:37am 3h8 train Québec Gare du Palais to Montreal Central Station £31.64
• Accommodation: 3 x nights at Auberge Internationale de Québec £96.98
• What I did: Old Town, various views of Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, explored some very Instagrammable streets, a long walk to see some beautiful views, seeing the fireworks, visiting an almost private rooftop spa at Sky Spa and a hike and cable car at Montmorency Falls.

 

Location 5 Montréal, Québec

Montréal was stop number three for me in Canada. The overall vibe for me in Montréal was that it seemed like a big city. The port area seemed almost add odds with the city. There seemed to be quite a clear divide to me between the touristy parts and the city parts. There was plenty to eat and do but it could sometimes be very far away so I would take public transport next time instead of just walking.

• Travel: 08/08/24 6:50pm-8:51pm 2h1 train Montreal to Ottawa £41.07
• Accommodation: None £0
• What I did: La Grande Roue de Montréal (the Ferris wheel), Mont Royal for some great views of the city, a walk around the Old Port, saw the beautiful rainbow coloured building that is The Montréal Convention Centre, Atwater Market, Jean-Talon Market, ate a maple sugar pie from Succeries de L’erable and ate a bagel at Fairmont Bagels  

 

Location 6 Ottawa, Ontario

Next up on the travel itinerary was Ottawa, the capital city of Canada. The overall feeling in Ottawa surprised me. I had previously visited Toronto so I (wrongly) assumed with Ottawa being the capital, that it would feel bigger and even more city-like than Toronto. Ottawa actually has the 6th greatest population (after Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton). Queen Victoria way back in 1857 actually chose Ottawa as Canada's capital because of its defensible location. I actually found Ottawa to be kind of cute and compact. I really liked the Bywater Market area and it was chock full of beautiful Victorian architecture. Many Canadian questioned my visit there and recommended I go elsewhere but I’m glad I stuck to my guns! If only for my amazing accommodation, the Ottawa Jail Hostel, which I can’t recommend enough for people who like a spooky museum. 

• Travel:
• 11/08/24 Uber to Ottawa bus stop because it was far away! £11.37
• 11/08/24 2:30pm-8:29pm 5h50 bus Ottawa to Toronto £21.35
• Accommodation: 3 x nights at Ottawa Jail Hostel £68.13
• What I did: Ottawa Jail Hostel tour, Bywater Market, ate a butter tart from Rocky Mountain Chocolate, photographed the Ottawa sign, saw the spider at the National Gallery of Canada, wandered around the beautiful different buildings at Parliament Hill and saw more fireworks

 

Location 7 Toronto, Ontario

Toronto feels like the real capital, like a giant sprawling city. I feel like Toronto is properly lived in, with most people seeming like they were there for work, rather than for tourism. I feel like there is not so much to do there as a tourist because of that though. It’s really cool that there is the underground PATH system- I feel like you could totally miss it if you have not heard of it. It is a great system for when the city is both incredibly hot and incredibly cold.

• Travel: 17/08/24 bus from Toronto to Niagara Falls £29.44
• Accommodation: 6 x nights at Toronto University £230.35
• What I did: Mostly just visited my conference!, took photos with the Canada sign, visited Toronto Island, Hockey Hall of Fame, went on a Tour Guys free graffiti walking tour, scuba dived in Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, visited a Harry Potter bar, explored the Historic Distillery District, read at the beach at Sugar Beach Park, saw the Canadian Walk of Fame and ate a Peameal Bacon Sandwich at Carousal Bakery at St. Lawrence Market.

 

Location 8 Niagara Falls, Ontario

After my conference was over, I had a spare day before my flight back to Halifax but I felt like I had explored a lot of Toronto and was ready for something different. I booked a bus from Toronto Train Station to Niagara Falls for the day and a second bus that would drop me off straight at the airport, avoiding the Toronto traffic. Niagara Falls is such a beautiful place. I was so happy to see it with a rainbow! And I felt lucky but also very surprised to be able to roll my own maple taffy on ice (in August!) within Fallsview Casino Resort! This is for certain somewhere I would visit again and again, despite the tourism and tackiness.

•  Travel: 17/08/24 bus from Niagara Falls to Toronto Airport £23.46
• Accommodation: None £0
• What I did: viewed the falls, visited a vineyard (Tawse Winery) to try ice wine, the Hornblower Boat Tour, rolled my own maple taffy on ice in Fallsview Casino Resort, The Skylon Tower, Journey Beneath The Falls

 

Location 9 Halifax, Nova Scotia

I flew back to Halifax for the last couple of days on my Canadian adventure before then flying to London.

• Travel:
• 18/08/24 11:15pm-2:23am (local time) 2h08 flight Toronto to Halifax £60.99
• 18/08/24 taxi from Halifax airport to Halifax Downtown £24.84
• 19/08/24-20/08/24 11pm-9am (local time) 6h flight Halifax to London Gatwick £395.99 return
• Accommodation: 2 x nights at Atlantica Hotel Halifax £284.47

Natalie Lamb and the travel post: Málaga

I took a long weekend trip for the wedding of a friend who is from Alhama de Granada, a rural town in the mountains of the province of Granada in the South of Spain. This is the little road trip journey that I took, using public transport, around the dates of the wedding from Málaga  to Alhama de Granda to Torre del Mar and then back to Málaga.

Day One – Three: 2 nights in Málaga

First off was a flight from East Midlands Airport to Costa del Sol 5:40am-8:35am. A 13 minute walk later and we were waiting for the C1 train (which run every 20 minutes) to take us the 13 minutes and 4 stops to Málaga CA. You could pay for the train on the Renfe Cercanias app (tickets valid for up to 2h after purchase) or by using a contactless card, both for a cost of €1.80. I had plenty of time to take the train because the trains run until 12:54 at night (and they start up again at 6:44am). 

I stayed at Coeo Pod Hostel for two nights (€153.97). The hotel was the perfect location, right in the middle of town, although the air con did not work and, as the name implies, the rooms (or pods) were very small. The breakfast though was delicious and well worth the price. Every day we got included a hot drink, a juice, a small pot of fruit, yogurt or honey, muesli and a giant toasties serino ham pesto sandwich with all the trimmings. 

Four things I recommend doing in Málaga:

1. Visit Málaga Roman Theatre, a beautiful ancient Roman theatre. It is right in the centre of town and is completely free to visit. A great place to have a sit and do some serious people watching. It is closed Mondays though. 

2. A trip to Alcazaba (lower down the hill, a type of palace) and the Gibralfaro Castle (at the top of the hill). You might as well visit both because it is a cot of €5.50 to enter the two historic buildings. Entrance is free on Sunday after 2pm. They are open 9am-8pm. The castle is up a gigantic hill! But it does offer a beautiful viewpoint and is an especially great place to watch the sun set. 

3. Have some wine and tapas at Marcato Central de Atarazanas. If you arrive too early for tapas (the market is open 8am-3pm, with the fish market being shut on Mondays and the markets shut on Sundays), it is still worth a visit for the beautiful stained glass windows. If tapas are not your thing, the market is great for fish, meat and vegetables. 

4. If you have missed out on Marcato Central de Atarazanas, I instead recommend the waterfront market  Paseo del Muelle Uno. This market is very touristy, made up for the cruise ships, so are full of gifts and is quite expensive compared with other similar markets. It does make for a nice night market to wander around the bright lights, facing out to sea in the dark. While there, you can also see El Cubo, the rainbow cube, which is very pretty to see and actually hides an underground art museum, Centre Pompidou.

Day Three – Five: 2 nights in Alhama de Granada

On Friday I took a train from Málaga to Plaza Mayor, a shopping centre, were some very kind wedding guests were giving me a lift to Alhama de Granada. Once arrived, I checked into my hotel for the next two nights, Casa Rural La Seguiriya (€141.08). This was a really lovely hotel and I really recommend booking. If you book direct, you get breakfast included for free (coffee, orange juice, ham, cheese, toast, butter, jam, egg, tomato, cucumber and a muffin). It had a beautiful balcony/patio area with amazing views off the cliff face.

While in Alhama de Granada, I did a long walk around the Monumento Natural de los Tajos for some beautiful views.

Day Five - Six: 1 night in Torre Del Mar 

There was no direct bus from Alhama de Granada back to Málaga. You had to connect via Granada really to make the trip. It was also quite a long bus ride. Instead, I decided to break up the journey by travelling to somewhere new, Torre Del Mar for a little beach trip. A terrifying bus 2:50-4:25pm took me from Alhama de Granada to Torre Del Mar for €4.44. There was only one bus a day and they seem to operate on their own time but there were lots of people waiting so I knew I hadn’t already missed it. The mountain roads were very small and the mountains very tall! Not the best if you get travel sick! 

I stayed at Hotel Torremar, which was close to the beach (£75.27). The beaches were very nice and it was a cute little seaside area. I don’t think I would make this trip again though because Málaga itself has plentiful and equally as beautiful beaches. 

Day Six – Day Seven 1 night in Málaga

A bus 3:15-3:55pm back from Torre Del Mar to Málaga Port was quite difficult to work out (€2.62). I could not tell which bus stop it was leaving from and there were a lot of buses and confused people! I actually ended up getting on the wrong bus which was slower, but I was just happy it was going in the right direction! 

The capsule hotel this time was Futurotel Malagueta and I strongly recommend it for anyone who loves technology (£33.28). It had a very futuristic design and even a Japanese toilet! It was very cool to try out all the different facilities.

The next day, I took a Bolt taxi to the airport for my flight 5:45-7:40am. 

Costs

• Flights £48.23
• Public transport £10.88- I booked buses on the Alsa website
• Taxi from hotel to airport £19.32
• Food £77.11 – there was a lot of tapas, a lot of wine and a lot of croquetas! 
• Attractions £3.34
• Hotels £361.40 / 2 = £180.70pp
• Total £339.58

Future Visits

If I went again to this area of Spain, I would definitely head to a lot more museums in Málaga. They were so cheap and there was such a diversity of them. The Music Museum definitely caught my eye.

El Caminitio del Ray would be on my list too. This is a narrow hiking path known for it’s 2 mile stretch of man-made boardwalks and glass footbridges that hug the sides of sheer cliffs and hang over river gorges. There is a 3-hour hike which takes you on paths 350 feet above the Guadalhorce River, offering stunning views of the Gaitanes Canyon (Desfiladero de los Gaitanes), 8:30am-2pm Tuesday to Sunday.