G & J away from home

Monday, 4 July 2016

Just a quick note about missing blog posts.  I try to do the blog posts in the evening since by the next morning some of the little things I would like to have noted have already vanished from my memories of the day.  Because of this if I do miss some posts I always start working on the backlog with the current day and then work backwards, so at least I'll record the easy-to-forget things for that day, rather than always be writing for some days in the past.

If people are reading the blog online this means they may see gaps which are eventually filled but if the posts are arriving by email the order may appear quite haphazard.

This trip has been notable for having the worst wi fi connectivity of any of our recent trips despite picking accommodation primarily for the internet access advertised.  In Guernsey my phone was able to be used as a hotspot to go online via mobile data but the promised wi fi access was very intermittent.  In Switzerland and Austria the wi fi worked better for the phones than the iPads or laptops we had with us, though Gary eventually found that the laptop would pick up signal in the kitchen of the apartment of Hotel Post where it wouldn't in our room or in the living room.  In those countries there was no recourse to connecting via my phone since the roaming changes were horrendous.

I thought our troubles would be over in London but I could get neither wi fi nor cell phone signal in our room, though Beth could connect to the wi fi in her room on the other side of the next building. Churtsey was the start of improved connectivity but that was the evening I started to have problems with the gall bladder fairy and was quite distracted.

Then we went off to the lighthouse where we knew there would be no internet or phone, though I have previously described how I might have had access to my emails through my phone if the phone hadn't been giving me some trouble.  (Gary had good access but it was wasted on him as he doesn't use his phone for data.)

Finally we are back in the land of good access (staying at a Travelodge) and I have been able to catch up a few days worth of blog posts and hope to answer a few emails before we head off to Chester tomorrow.

While being connected to the internet is not something that everybody requires on their holidays we do like to have it since I enjoy writing the blog and Gary likes to post his photos on Flickr, and so we choose our accommodation to suit that.  Sadly some of the places we have stayed have advertised more connectivity that we have actually experienced and the poor blog has developed some large gaps as a result.

Fingers crossed for continued access to wi fi in Chester.

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