Over the last two and a bit weeks I have been to the following:
Southampton, Durham, East London, Clapham, Bath, Bristol, Swansea, back to Southampton, Amsterdam and the Hague. Phew.
We started in Durham, after flying over to Southampton for one night. Nick was all jet laggy from the China expedition so I was the designated driver for the Durham run. Well, after months of Guernsey roads and crippling speed limits I didn't mind at all and we made the trip in just under 7 hours. Bob & Miles had their wedding in Durham castle, which was a truly epic location. Epic. A lovely wedding. We saw a lot of Nick's mates from Uni and Southampton. Durham is really gorgeous, in a sort of Winchester/Salisbury type of way. Lots of cobbled streets and beautiful old buildings and Cathedral type stuff.
After a couple of days there we headed back down the motorway to London, to stay with James & Donna in Snaresbrook, Essex. We went shopping in Covent Garden, to the Bristish Museum and rowing on Regents Park lake. It was all lovely. Donna makes a mean risotto. After two days we drove across London to Clapham to stay with Arantxa & David at their flat. We only had one night there so had a few beers at their local and a great takeaway pizza.
The next day we drove to Bath, but not before we stopped off at Kew Gardens for some serious plant action. Verdict: Kew is a lovely place to stroll around and have a picnic but unless you're very into botany then I wouldn't bother - at £5 to park and £12,50 entrance it is a bit of a rip off!
Bath was very cool, a lovely city and our lovely friends Alex & Jess cooked us a brilliant meal. We stayed there one night and the next day found a beautiful hilltop and stopped for a picnic that ended up lasting all afternoon. In the evening, we rocked up at Clifton, Bristol to meet up with Gabi, Marc, Kate H-D, Rew, Ben Laidlow & James Richmond. We all went out for a pizza and partied in Clifton into the wee hours. Gabs & Marc put us up at their amazing flat which was very comfortable!
After one night there we headed over the Severn Bridge to Dunvant, Swansea to stay in a holiday cottage in the grounds of a farm close to my sister and Simon. We explored the Gower Peninsula and the Mumbles, which is all very picturesque. It is a bit of a cross between Cornwall and the New Forest, the beaches are stunning. We had a tour of the New House, and had a meal out with Si's Mum & Dad which was lovely. I tried laverbread which is basically seaweed but it's very tasty with cheese and cockles. And Joe's icecream, which is made with condensed milk - yummmmm!
Anyhoo, that was our last stop in the UK so we headed back to Souhtampton to catch out flight to Schipol. We spent two nights in Amsterdam, walking, eating, smoking, sleeping (that was because of the smoking) and generally taking it easy. Spent far too much time in the Bulldog Lounge and other coffee shops, but did manage to make it to the Van Gogh museum for some culture. We then got on a train down to the Hague, which I discovered is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. I completely fell in love with the place, with its wide, tree lined roads, fantastic beaches and fairyland Castles and architecture. I would happily move there tomorrow. We hired bikes which didn't have brakes on the handlebars - you had to back-pedal which was quite tricky!! I fell off many times. We stayed with Katy G & Jan, her fiance, in their flat. I love love loved the Hague.
So that was my fortnight. We got back to the rock last night and are both back in work today. I fetched Molly in my lunch hour just now. She is molting like crazy. And now I'm back at work, which is OK as I am having a nice, catch-up sort of day.
1 comment:
Wow - that all sounds such a whirlwind!
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