I love holidays. We all do. Well in recent years, I've started to wonder.
Every year I'm faced with the same challenge that makes the whole thing a complete pain in the posterior : my wife's stratospherically high standards / expectations.
It's not enough to find somewhere expensive - the high price just drives up the expectation and the resentment if it doesn't turn out as she'd hoped. Believe me, driving a hire car around with an Olympic standard complainer in the passenger seat can make you yearn for an afternoon's peaceful photocopying.
It would be helpful if she knew exactly what sort of holiday destination / style etc she wanted. She doesn't - and it's up to me to make the running.
Can anyone suggest any particular location, ideally in southern Italy or the south of France that has perfect food, perfect hotels / B+Bs, stunning scenery etc? Aiming at 5-7 days (I can't take more) driving around the sights.
All suggestions gratefully received!
David
Oh man, I don't really have a suggestion, but your post made me sad for you.
How about Croatia? The Makarska Riviera (Dalmatian coast), is stunning. The food is excellent (and in Makarska there is a particular traditional restaurant which is one of the top 5 best places I've ever eaten at), and there are loads of boutique hotels and villas, etc. It won't be quite as glamorous as the south of France, but it will be hugely cheaper.
Regards,
Adi
Sorry David no suggestions other than show your wife some you tube clips of starving children, riots in London etc and tell her to start appreciating the fact that she is going away at all
Not much help I know but in the greater scheme of things I'm sorry but I would be having more than a quiet word.
You don't have to spend a fortune to have a great holiday which it sounds like you are fully aware of that particular fact just your wife isn't.
Not for me to judge but if it was the other way around I'll bet £50 your wife would be telling you to stop being a prick :lol: :D
At the end of the day it is your money and your relationship and I hope you find something suitable.......... I believe there are some lovely log cabins in the highlands of Scotland with fantastic scenery, great drives, great walks and good food available.
Maybe she needs a wake up call
I'm going now as I fear I have already over stepped the Mark
Paul
Seems like you need to dump your wife and go somewhere nice for some ME time! Take a good book and a couple of your favourite watches and chillax. :)
Try Sardinia - the most amazing beaches and turquoise blue water this side of the Seychelles - and no sharks! :)
Take a really shit holiday so she has a true comparison. Maybe benidorm.
"Bite my shiny metal ass."
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
Have separate holidays. :wink:
SWMBO & I do that sometimes (although we are quite happy with our 'joint holiday' choices) as there are some places she's keen on that I'm not - and vice versa.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Holidays can be hard work sometimes especially if you take them with extended family. I went on a trip earlier this year with my dad, his barking wife ( in the same category as your mrs in the fussiness dept) and two of my kids. It went surprisingly well, I only lost it once which I thought was a miracle. Holidays seem such hard work sometimes I wonder why we bother. Have you thought of just having a quiet chat with the wife and saying how you really feel about the impending prospect of having to organise mission impossible? I've often found a little tact combined with honesty in relationships can save acres of pain
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Tell her the truth: it doesn't exist. Only in her imagination is there some kind of arcadian paradise with perfect restaurants/cafes/hotels/sights/locals etc...etc...
You, and she, will be forever disappointed unless your wildly high expectations are readjusted. I think you need a little bit of child-like optimism when you go abroad. Instead it seems like your good lady might be stepping off the plane and saying, "impress me". No holiday destination can live up to that.
And even if you threw al the money in the world at it, it won't stop you thinking that perhaps there was somewhere better was just around the corner.
My advice would be this; change the agenda. Go somewhere completely different. Peru. The Scillies (just come back...lovely). Denmark. Moscow. A treehouse in Wales. Cycle the Loire Valley. Hang Glide across the USA.
Think different.
The holidays me and SWMBO have enjoyed most in recent years have been the ones which are just a touch different. I think the activity, be it driving, cooking, Sport just give an additional thing to talk about. Even when we did the tennis and my wife does not play, it allowed us a bit of "me" time each so we enjoyed the time together even more.
Touring Scotland
Tennis in Portugal
Independent Chateau in France
In contrast, everytime we go on a traditional sun and sea holiday (the other S is long gone :lol: ) we generally are bored after a couple of days and disenchanted with the lowest common denominator quality.
get her to book your holiday
Perhaps an ACTIVITY HOLIDAY?
Your lovely wife learns skydiving... You learn parachute packing..?
Mike.
On a more serious note, perhaps it is the whole flydrive & touring thing that's paled a bit, so why not try an activity holiday for a change?
Mike.
as you mention S of F .
how about a tour to include, taking her to grasse(sp) to get her own perfume made?, a visit to bormes les mimosa in the eve, fantastic sunsets and they have a restraunt cut into the hillside, very romantic, and a day trip up and around the gorge de verdon (SP), fantastic place for a picnic
cheers
mike
Corsica has it all.
To the OP - you have my sympathy. Women tend to work on the basis that it's better to let you make the decisions, which they can then criticise, rather than make a decision themselves.
The very best of luck with whatever you decide on.
Regards
Ian
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
Go on holiday yourself with a pile of books and without your laptop or phone. I do this a couple of times a year to 'get away from it all', so to speak. Let her go wherever the hell she likes. Alone.
I've always thought that Sardinia is a bit of a dump, to be honest. The best thing about it is that it's a short ferry ride away from Corsica, which is fabulous.
Edit: Re-reading the OP, whilst I hesitate to be critical of another man's wife, that sort of attitude would irritate the buggery out of me.
take her to Disney Land - she obviously believes in fairy tales!
Challenge her to a one week game of International Hide and Seek. All your problems solved!
Sounds like you're marries to my ex-wife who I left in Bristol!....
I know a very good divorce lawyer.
Another vote for Corsica. Could also recommend Northern Cyprus.
Rob
Another vote for separate holidays.
It's just a matter of time...
Wow Er I guess your wife could do herself a favour and do something for you?
Tell her to book something you would enjoy as a couple?
Would be interesting to see the result.
Does she work?
Just came back from long weekend here. Glorious place with a fantastic restaurant. Lake, beach, mountains all superb. Weather was 30 plus every day.
http://www.schlossveldencapella.com
It's expensive mind.
How about Monaco?
Or, as other people have suggested, ask the wife to pick a place.
Another vote for Croatia's Dalmatian coast.
I've travelled all over the country and it is a magnificent place.
Dubrovnik, in the south, known as the pearl of the adriatic, is a 'fairy tale f***ing city'...much like Brugge, so I've heard :P
It really is beautiful and full of culture, as well as being very relaxed despite getting quite busy in the highs of summer.
I can't think of a better place to spend a week.
However, Split is also a very nice and intriguing city, and serves very well as a hub for visiting all of Croatia's islands like Bol and Hvar.
You can also take coaches up to the very famous Plitvice Lakes national park from Split, which is well worth a visit.
Croatia is slightly cheaper than Italy, but by no means less geared up for the tourist. Fine food and ice cream all over!
:)
Check out Antibes, Cote d'Azure.. Cannes and Monte Carlo are a train ride away, nice restaurants and beautiful scenery.. (edited since I forgot i'm in GnD)
Fas est ab hoste doceri
Can highly recommend Southern Tuscany, Montepulciano/Pienza area , loads to see, stunning countryside, easy access into Umbria, Lake Tresimeno etc, superb food, very drinkable wine, plus high standard hotels/agriturismo's.
Cheap flights into Pisa and an easy drive down.
Sorrento area in Italy is great (but not for driving). Excellent scenery, boat trips and trains. Also Rhodes (Greece). Old town is remarkable and new town has range of good shopping, restaurants, bars etc plus the island is easy to get round in a car and has some great villages and small places to visit.
This time last year i was in Croatia on a european tour, the best holiday ever. I was with my best mate mate, in a car which cost us £300, with £30 tent in the boot. We had a great time and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Perhaps you and swmbo should try it David ;)
Happy to report that this year's effort resulted in 5 days in Languedoc (near Pont du Gard and Nimes). Good weather saved a lot of complaining that would otherwise have been forthcoming.
I'd forgotten how civilised France can be - they still seem remarkably indulgent of waves of foreign immigration evey Summer. I'm sure the money helps, but the in the UK we don't seem quite so welcoming to tourists somehow.
I was a bit taken aback by the price of eating out - France seems a bit steep by comparison with Italy? Is this generally the case?
Many thanks for all the suggestions - much appreciated.
David
Sardinia or Corsica and lots of money can be winning combinations I have found. Really lovely islands.
Ignore
I love thread resurrections. What’s the record?
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
And how is it with the OP's holiday choices since 2011. I'm curious, I tell you!Originally Posted by Mr Curta
I'm wondering whether the good lady has moderated her expectations over time!
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
You're absolutely more eloquent than I am! Thanks for putting my exact thoughts in writing.
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