How a Day at the English seaside put me off having a holiday in the UK
Many people, if we are to believe surveys, intend to spend their summer holidays in the UK. These people believe that they will save money and have a better time than they would do if they travelled abroad to a place where the sun always shines and you can be guaranteed to have a BBQ summer!
Now, don’t get me wrong, I think that the UK has much to offer, in fact I love the UK. But if you must spend a holiday in the UK please choose your destination wisely and don’t expect to have a cheap holiday. The reason I say this is because I have just been reminded why I prefer to spend my holidays somewhere warm and where I can get good food.I
needed to go to Cleethorpes to see my daughter who is working there for six months so I decided to spend a few hours there as I can’t remember having been there before. Cleethorpes is on the east coast, just south of the Humber Estuary. My first impression was that it was quite nice, even though it is a traditional English seaside town. I parked my car near to the derelict pier and walked along the reasonably pleasant promenade. I looked out across the Humber and I could see tankers heading out to sea and what appeared to be a gas platform so it wasn’t the best of sights.Just at that point 2 boy racers in clapped out cars with loud exhausts raced by as though they were F1 racers.
I walked onto the pier but soon retreated as the wooden boards looked a bit suspect and I didn’t fancy an unexpected swim in the North Sea.Finding somewhere decent to eat in Cleethorpes is nigh on impossible. I walked around Cleethorpes town centre but all I came across were fish and chip shops. If you like fish and chips then you will not be disappointed with Cleethorpes as there are many of them. I noticed that one in particular had queues out of the door so I am guessing that that particular one was special!
There was a KFC and a kebab takeaway but I was struggling to find anything that looked even half decent. In the end we settled for an Italian restaurant which was one of two right next door to each other. It looked pleasant enough but I began to get a bit suspicious by the small size of the tables and the fact that there were only two tables occupied.Nevertheless the menu looked ok and when we were told that there was a special offer of 3 courses for £5.95 I thought I had found the bargain of the century. In the back of my mind though was the fact that you always get what you pay for. It is something that I have learnt from life.
Whether its a cheap holiday abroad or an electrical item there is always a catch if the item appears too cheap and so this meal turned out to be just that!
The Minestrone soup was just about ok but then things deteriorated quickly as my next course arrived. The pizza was the only pizza that I have ever had in an Italian restaurant that had cheddar cheese or something similar rather than mozzarella and it had no taste but was more or less just a lump of saturated fat on a plate. The Tiramisu sounded good but it came on a plate smaller than a saucer. I feel sorry for the people of Cleethorpes if this is the best they have, but maybe I have been spoilt because Leeds has some of the best Italian restaurants you could wish for.So, if you are considering a staycation in the UK this summer rather than taking a holiday in the sun please think twice. I know there are plenty of seaside resorts like Cleethorpes but I also know there are much better places in the UK to visit too.
My advice is to visit places in the UK for a short break but when it comes to your annual holiday book a holiday to Spain or Greece instead. You will spend less, you will have hot sun and cloudless skies and you will have decent food too without spending a fortune.
It’s not too late to book your holiday in the sun.
Call Global Holidays, the travel agent for cheap holidays on 0845 299 4450
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