Bags packed, everything in but god knows if I’ll pass the weight test…always my anxiety. So sad do I feel when I have to say goodbye to family and launch forth once again. It is always the way and I know it won’t take long to get on with it but it always happens and I’ll miss Ham and Ariane hugely until I see them again. A chat with Rosa this morning helped put me back on track. I then pottered about and then went out for my morning coffee. My other sadness at the moment is that I have an awful feeling that this could be my last time in London with H&A leaving this year. I love the city and hate the thought of not seeing her again! But off to Prague I will head and I’m sure that very soon I’ll be back in exploring mode.
Now for the birthday weekend. Last blog ended with the amazing meal on Friday night that was definitely a highlight. Saturday morning after a massive English Breakfast we set off to explore the coastal towns. First to Margate where we went to the Turner Contemporary Art Gallery which had a very interesting exhibition that had been the British Exhibition at the 2013 Art Biennale in Venice. It was very interesting. we then drove around the town of Margate which is very pretty but not conducive to too much walking with the wind howling ferociously. They are in the very early stages of restoring the old fun park Dreamland. It will be amazing if they achieve their goal of bringing it all back to life circa 1960 but it seems to be a massive task.
Then on to Ramsgate…again we mainly drove around as time was short and we wanted to go to Dover Castle which we thought closed at 4pm. We found a nice cosy pub for lunch in Ramsgate and had Beef and Stilton Pie (could you be more English??) and Fish and Chips!! That was nice…Hammy particularly loves to try all the different beers he can. Then off we went to Dover Castle only to be exceedingly disappointed to find it closed. It looked good from the outside!!! We walked along the cliff top to get a good look at the White Cliffs…that was nice, then back to the hotel for down time before dinner at the pub. I went and sat in the bar for a while soaking it all up and was joined by H&A before dinner. Dinner was nice and it was good to just be able to trundle up to our rooms after the meal. The pub was nice but guess who got the disabled room…with a but disabled sign over the door and a ‘wet’ area for showering i.e. bristling with rails, a shower chair, and a massive ‘wet’ area….all of this when you are feeling sensitive on your birthday anyway. I wasn’t amused but it gave Hammy a laugh!!
Sunday…another massive breakfast and a late start. This time we headed off to enjoy some English country villages and take in Leeds Castle where there was also a Falconry display. We had lunch booked for 2pm but put the booking back to 2.30 in an attempt to fit everything in. We found a very pretty little village called Lenham that had a lovely little sunday market in the main square. It was very enjoyable pottering around there and buying food for Sunday night’s tea. Then we set off for Leed’s Castle but already the time looked very much as if it was running out. When we got to the castle there was a big debate whether to pay to go in because it was very expensive. But we did in the end but it was quite a walk from the entrance to the castle itself and another walk to where the Falconry display was so we had to ditch lunch at that point. Anyway, the castle was really brilliant and we loved walking around it. The Falconry display was a bit weak but interesting for me.
So then we headed home. I had the inspiration to buy some takeaway salad from Ottolenghi for tea with our Pheasant and white wine pie and our Ham and Turkey Pie bought at Lenham. So we came home and had a nice tea before bed. Last night on the blow up mattress I’d grown to know and love…not to mention my spritely moves to get out of bed!!
Nest missive will hopefully come from Prague.