going to tunisia sept 2010..we love swimming in the sea and the beach plays a big part in our hols..what are the beaches like in port el kantoie, we are staying at the royal kenz..

The beaches are lovely in both PEK and Sousse, with miles of golden sand, and won't be too crowded, particularly in September. They don't shelve steeply so you don't have a problem with children suddenly getting 0ut of their depth. You can get buckets, spades and inflatables in a lot of places so don't need to pack them if you're short of space.

Hi Patricia

Yes I know that Hotel. Looks very good and very well located. None of our frinds have stayed there though.
We looked this year at the EL Hana Hannibal Palace and that looks absolutely lovely and is equally well positioned for the Harbour and the beach. Be careful if you look at it because there are 2 El Hana hotels in the Port so make sure that it is the one with Hannibal in it's name as that is 4/5 star where the other one is only 3 star.
Can't pull my friends away from our group of Hotels unfortunately. I would like to have stayed by the Port.
As my friends come out from Luton Airport they can only get packages with a flight on Sunday,
so at the moment we are looking at the 19th or 26th September. I will probably book mine before they book theirs so I hope to persuade them that the 19th is late enough.

Nice to hear from you again.Keep well.Love
Anthony

Patricia....... i have recently returned from The Marhaba Palace Hotel and thoroughly enjoyed our stay , it is very close to the port no more than a 5 minute stroll, we loved the friendliness of the staff especially one particular door man , he was quite funny and witty , we were on the 5th floor over looking the pool area and sea view . The room was massive compared to any other hotel i have stayed in in Spain , the grounds are beautiful both front and back . The food caters for every taste , it would be hard to say you couldn't eat anything . We also took a walk up to the golf course very impressive. you wont have to walk more than a few minutes to get to the beach walk through the pool area and wow there it is, the sand is really soft plenty o sunbeds aswell . you will have a great time

Hi 4timesanan

As aslemma say the beaches in PEK are beautiful, soft sand shelving gently in to the warm sea.

All very quiet here what is everybody doing?

I presume the festive season is keeping everybody busy with all the organising, planning and buying remember to come on to HT and take a stress free break and have a chat.

Has anybody put their tree up yet? what presents are you thinking of giving? are you having a traditional turkey or going for something more unusual?

Are you going away for Christmas or the New Year (Hogmanay)?

Do you like a cup of hot Bovril or OXO to keep out the cold?

What tipple do you like

Did Rudolph really have a red nose?

What is it like in Tunisia at this time of year? is it camels that pull a sleigh there? do they have red noses

You get the idea, this topic is for anything

Hi Graham, I too was wondering where everyone is! I'm terribly behind with Christmas, even though I don't personally have to do too much apart from buy presents and cards, make puddings and a cake and put up some decorations, as I always go to one or other of my children on Christmas Day so my daughter or one of my sons always does the cooking and I can sit back and enjoy it. Yes, you did read that right, no disrespect to my d-i-l's, who are absolutely lovely girls and perfectly good cooks, but my sons love cooking and always take over for special occasions.

I never put up the Christmas Tree until at least the middle of December and in the old days used to do it on 23rd December, in honour of my eldest son's birthday on Christmas Eve.

I've never spent Christmas in Tunisia but I've seen photos of guests in the pool at the El Hana Residence in Sousse on Christmas Day with Santa on a camel beside it. Tunisians love an excuse for a celebration and even in February you can still see Christmas decorations in evidence. I've always said if I thought it had got to the stage where the family were saying "who's got to have mum this year" I'd be quite happy to go away, but so far it hasn't got to that. Last year my youngest grand-daughter Isabel was rather too young for Christmas to make much of an impact on her but this year she will be 17 months and a real delight. We are taking her to see Santa at the local garden centre on Friday and just hope it is the same Santa as last year as he was a wonderful man, really looked the part, spent time talking to everyone and the first thing he said to my d.i.l. was "I hope you've got your camera" - as she's a professional photographer in her spare time it was a foregone conclusion.

Now come on the rest of you, find a few minutes to tell us your plans! xx

Hi Aslemma great to know that you are up and about again...you always sound so cheerful...your enthusiasm will encourage me to make time and write something which will cheer people up as you do...
Today I have spent a great deal of time writing to politicians...about social and economic issues...that affect people who don't have my luck; which is to live above the poverty line. Which is what drives me to make them accountable; especially towards pensioners who struggle to live on a £100.00 a week...something they don't have to think about...serious issues I know.
I will be more cheerful in my next...time...I write..I.. promise...

Hi Jasmine, thanks for that as I sometimes wonder if I witter on rather too much on here. I finally got round to making my Christmas cake yesterday (all the puddings were made a week ago which is really far later than I like to do them). On 14th December I'm going to have a cataract removed, after which I may be depressed as it will enable me to see all my lines. I always say God is good, because as you get older and your looks fade so does your eyesight so you can sometimes persuade yourself that you don't look too bad.

I sometimes wonder if I witter on rather too much on here

Never, you are the life and soul of the party here

Aw, bless you!! I'm feeling very happy at present as I've just changed my gas and electricity suppliers and am due a rebate of over £250 from my previous supplier, Scottish Power! Let's hope the cheques turn up soon. It does go to show however that they often take far too much each month!!

Hi,all. I'm sure I am not the only one who comes on this site every day to see if there is any news. I even come on to check the weather at the top of the page. Why do I do this when I am not going on holiday? Well, Christmas is nearly here and I am not very organised this year. Have a problem buying for grandchildren who seem to have every toy under the sun. I asked my son what I should buy the kids and his response was that they themselves didn't have a clue what to get them! Managed to get the Christmas cake made on Monday night. The tree does not go up until I force my husband to take it down from the loft! This year we are going to our daughter's house on the day, but I plan buying the turkey for her if she will let me. Aslemma, I will be so interested in your op as I am on the waiting list to have both eyes done. Had a detatched retina 10 years ago and it seems cateracts very often occur after that. One of my eyes is really bad, perhaps if my eyesight had been perfect I might not have gone on that camel he may have been taller than I thought! Good to hear you are getting on fine now.

Hi Digby, I'll certainly update you on my op when I've had it. My date has now been confirmed so presumably they have finally found my notes. The hospital insist I am taken and collected by the same person, who they will ring when I am ready for collection. This is a bit of a nuisance as it will only apparently take a few hours and it would have been easier for a couple of my family to share the job rather than my daughter take the day of work. I actually saw no reason why I can't go in on the bus.

Mrs. Kiltie is away on a course for a couple of days so I took the opportunity to go and buy a real Christmas tree Mrs. Kiltie doesn't like the mess they make plus she says that I always get one that is too big, wait until she sees this 8ft monster, I fear there could be words spoken

It is good to see that all the Tunisian walking (well hobbling) wounded are getting better, nice to hear from you again digby, have you fully recovered?

I actually saw no reason why I can't go in on the bus

aslemma I think the hospital has probably heard what happens to you when you are allowed out on your own
A friend of ours has just had both his eyes done and he was amazed at the difference, he hadn't realised just how bad his eyesight had been.

8 weeks and we are back in Tunisia so that will be a nice wee break in the new year.

A friend of ours has just had both his eyes done and he was amazed at the difference

That's what's worrying me Graham, not only will I be able to see the dust, but also all my wrinkles
I think I may get a new artificial tree this year. I had a lovely real one last year, not very big, but unfortunately, although it's certainly not dead, it's not looking its best. I got it at Tescos and my d.i.l. picked me up from there - she nearly passed out when she saw what was going in her Jag!!!

Oh, the wrinkles. Hadn't thought of that!! Mrs Kiltie will have a fit, Kiltman. I know what it's like, hubby holding each tree upright while I stand back to see if it's the right shape and size. Well, last year he was having none of it, bought a big artificial tree. I wasn't that keen but since the grandkids were not going to be with us I thought it would just do. Best of it was that I didn't have to pluck any needles off the carpet all this year so it's allowed to stay. Bet you got lalldy when she got back. Thanks but just about back to normal healthwise,and after seeing the Sahara camels on the news 30 minutes ago, made me really want to be back in Tunisia. You are so lucky going there so soon. Maybe we will try a different resort next holiday.

Bet you got lalldy when she got back

The countdown is on, she isn't back until later this afternoon, this could be on of my last posts on HT

Don't worry Graham, I'm sure she'll calm down eventually. A real tree does smell so much nicer than an artificial tree that I think it's worth a bit of extra work with the vaccuum cleaner in the New Year. If she gives you grief just come on here for a bit of sympathy.

I'm definitely pro real trees. They may drop needles everywhere but on the positive side you don't need to store them away somewhere till next year. I wouldn't have a clue where to keep an artificial tree - every bit of spare space (and a lot that isn't really spare) is taken up with stuff!

So - good luck Graham! And you could always add the above to your defence if necessary! Let us know how you get on - if you're still alive that is!

A.