Loafing, lazing and lolling about

Yes, we have been unashamedly blobbing this last week as well! But we have doing it in excellent company.
We set off from Surrey before 6 am about ten days ago to avoid the horrid traffic on the M25 - my nightmare road!  The plan, although inconvenient, worked and we were in Southwold, Suffolk with the lovely Ant and Ben by about 9.30.  We had a quick restorative cuppa then went for a gorgeous walk along the seafront, past all the lovely little beach huts and on to the pier.  A great morning continued when we got back to Ant and Ben's and all worked together on their NZ trip plans.  They are heading over at the end of January and have a nice 5 week odyssey travelling in both islands.

 

Time then to be off up to Suzi and Mike's in South Walsham, Norwich.  We had an all too-quick three days with them, walking, talking, cooking together and trying to convince them to emigrate to NZ - didn't work!  Hopefully they'll come out for a visit before the girls (11, 9 and 5) get too much older.

Next on the agenda was Wales for about a day and a half - a real whistle-stop visit.  We wanted to go back to Hay-on-Wye, a lovely little spot known as the "town of books" just crammed full of the most interesting book shops we have ever seen.  That took up most of a day, just browsing and wandering around - a very pretty little town with a ruined castle overlooking it and in a very picturesque area.  We stayed the night at a B&B in Builth Wells, famous for its Monday nights!  The Builth Wells Male Voice Choir rehearses every Monday night at the Greyhound pub.  Seen it, done it, bought the CD!  (Well, they were actually so impressed that we had come to them all the way from NZ that they GAVE us the CD). A lovely night of entertainment and a first for both of us - listening to a very professional and experienced Welsh Male Choir.  Lovely men - friendly, welcoming, interested about NZ, delighted that we had enjoyed the music and very proud of what they do.  And free to boot!

On to Bristol where we had arranged to stay with my aunt who is now 82.  We hadn't seen each other for 41 years at which point I was 16.  We had never managed to be in the same country all these years although her daughter and I had met quite a few times and are in touch (another good reason why I am a Facebook fan).  We spent quite some time catching up on 41 years' worth of news, as you can imagine.  We had time also to have an explore around with 2 local, enthusiastic and free tour guides!  We had a good look at Bristol and took a great little river cruise - an excellent way to get a feel for what we think is a lovely city. It was amazing and we really didn't want to leave!

Now we are in Wantage, just outside Oxford, where we are staying with Claire, an old and very dear friend (she told me to put that in!) and an ex-colleague.  Already met up with Stephen and Lou and their three children, babies when we last saw them and now gorgeous, mature, intelligent and thoroughly nice people.  Tomorrow we meet up with Mandy, Gary and their children and the next day, the lovely Serge and Caroline - all lovely, old Oxford friends from 11 years ago.  These people were the ones who made Oxford and living there so special for us - we often talk about the Oxford days and having the opportunity to remember those days now with our friends is fabulous.
So, it's people time now, rather than places.  We are feeling rather  'placed' out (not to mention 'spaced out') and are beginning to look forward to coming home and staying in the same place for more than 5 days! Besides which, the weather is rapidly deteriorating now, we are wearing sweatshirts almost every day and the daffodils are up in Hagley Park (Christchurch).  NZ beckons!

A quiet week of R n R for R n R

After the excitements of the last couple of months, we have had a VERY quiet time this week. We drove down from Chris and Mike's to Chilham in Kent where we had rented a cottage.  It was a lovely tranquil spot right on the North Downs Way with lots of other walking opportunities around. It was only about 8 miles from Canterbury.  We had every intention of visiting the city and checking out the famous Cathedral, but found ourselves unable to shift out of the gorgeous village and surrounding countryside.  In the end we were more than happy just chillin' in Chilham and walking in a different direction each day.

We got back to Surrey on Friday and have spent a nice weekend with Mike and Chris.  We had a lovely walk around Virginia Lake (part of the Windsor Great Park owned by the Queen) and Rich has helped Mike get ready for the builders' arrival tomorrow.  They are having a large kitchen/dining room/conservatory extension done which will not be finished until Christmas, so there is a lot of preparation to do.

Not only have we been chilling this week, but we have another week of down time planned.  So, no Blog next weekend - the camera is going to have a rest, so are my fingers and we will catch you in about 10 days or so, when we will have done something Blogworthy!

To V or not to V !

So...Verona or Venice?  We loved Venice when we visited 11 or 12 years ago and have always promised to go back, but then Verona was celebrating 100 years of its Opera Festival with a special guest artist, Placido Domingo.  OMG! What a choice!  In the end we decided on both and had a truly special 5 days.

We flew from Gatwick to Verona and it couldn't have been easier to get to our hotel, once the airport bus had deposited us in town.  Just a 10 minute stroll and we were in the middle of it all, with the Arena di Verona about 250 metres from the front door.  A quick snooze, a freshen-up and we were whizzing out of that very front door to the neighbouring pizzeria (In Italy? Of course!) for one of the most delicious pizzas we had had in a long time.  Pizza Hut and Domino's?  Fuggeddabouddit!
(Count the number of Zs in those last two sentences !)
The next day went by all too quickly as we explored the old part of the city on foot and had a lovely picnic by the river before heading back to the hotel to prepare for the evening ahead.

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The three of us (Richard, I and our cool bag full of drinkies and snacks) headed for the Arena at around 8.30 with most of Europe.  In our row alone there were Finns, Germans, Poms, French, Spaniards and Dutch. Oh, and us! Verdi's Nabucco was on the programme and, although we hadn't heard of any of the other performers, Domingo was singing the lead, Nabucco, King of the Egyptians.  From 9 pm until just after one in the morning we were enthralled, entranced, charmed, entertained and thoroughly spoilt! Oh, what a night (as the song says)!  Domingo at 72 still has it, not as he did when he was 42, mind you, but most of it, and in spades!  The others, particularly the women, were excellent and the chorus was wonderful.  In fact, so wonderful that the applause for the Slave Chorus went on until they agreed to do it again!  We had never seen this before anywhere in the world, an orchestra and chorus repeating itself.
Enough of the raving on  - look at some pictures!

The next day we were on the train for Venice well before lunch.  The tickets cost about $12NZ each for the two-hour trip.  Comfy seats, pleasant conductor and pretty scenery.  What good value compared to the grossly-overpriced French and Spanish trains.  Bravo, Italia!

And then there she was - La Serenissima.  Last time we were in Venice, we wandered, got lost, wandered some more, stopped for a coffee and a people-watch and then did it all again.  This time was exactly the same - F A N T A S T I C O !! We had three full days and made the most of each hour - we tried to go out at different times of the day to see the light and reflections on the water and the beauty of all the ancient, crumbling buildings and marvellous, character-filled bridges.  We had a lovely trip on the water and this time, instead of just cruising up and down the Grand Canal, we went right around the outside of the island and picked up a really good idea of how all the canals and the land work together.  Still didn't stop us from getting lost though! The  Opera, the canals, the train and boat trips, the friendliness of our hoteliers and the gorgeous weather made this a super way to spend 5 days.

Long may this non-stop spoiling last!

The Trouble With Norfolk ...

...is that it's just SO pretty !  It's going to be very hard to leave on Saturday, but we HAVE to go to Italy for this Opera Festival in Verona where Placido Domingo will be singing Nabucco, and then we HAVE to go to Venice as the accommodation is all booked and paid for.  Otherwise..

We have been having a fantastic time here.  Suzi and Mike's house is just lovely and the water is about ten minutes walk.  We have been exploring in all directions on foot with the dog and also quite a bit  by car.  We went over the border to Suffolk on the weekend to visit Suzi's aunt and uncle, whom we met and just loved 12 years ago.  It was lovely to be with them again in their gorgeous part of the world.  Apart from the fact that we HAD to play cricket on the Village Green with the grandchildren (LOL), we had a marvellous day and weren't the least bit interested in leaving. They will be in NZ early next year and will hopefully come and stay so we can reciprocate their lovely hospitality

We've borrowed walking brochures and books and we've been going through them, crossing off our achievements.  Luckily, rather a lot of the walks begin and end in a pub carpark, so it's easy to get going and move along fairly swiftly with the promise of a nice lunch at the end.  We've found several lovely little spots along the rivers and on the Broads, so Richard's lust for water and boats has been easily satisfied.

Earlier this week we had a gorgeous walk which, due to road works over the years and an out of date booklet, turned out to be over 9 kilometres - pretty good for us!  We WERE a bit knackered by the time we got back to the ...you guessed it, pub, for lunch.

On Wednesday we went out on one of the restored old Broads motor boats.  It was built in 1937 and has been lovingly brought back to its former glory by Paul, a great bloke that Richard instantly bonded with.  He even let Rich have a go at the wheel, so he was in his element. I have to say, we had THE most gorgeous day for a jolly on the water; warm and sunny without a breath of wind - just glorious. Went fruit picking again on the way home - last week was raspberries and blackcurrants, today there were strawberries and raspberries - the treats and the treasures just keep coming!

 

Yesterday was a walk with Gerry and Joy, (Suzi's parents) around the estate of a National Trust house called Blickling Hall.  We didn't bother with the visit to the Hall, as there was rather a nice ... again, pub for lunch at the end of the walk!
A short blog, but really the pictures say it all.  Have a look and see if you agree.

The green, green grass of Away

Well, Richard does call it 'Home' sometimes, when he is feeling nostalgic about pubs or pork pies or really old buildings, but it isn't.  We are definitely Kiwis now and although being here is wonderful and amazing and very beautiful, it's very evident there are an awful lot of people in this country!
That having been said, we have spent this week managing to avoid a high percentage of them, firstly by travelling on the canal with Sandra and Barry and then, by visiting Barbara in rural Yorkshire

We left for 'the boat' last Sunday and drove through some very lovely scenery and quite a few counties to get to 'aReandaRe', which is what Sandra and Barry's narrowboat is (hilariously, we think!) named. We had a great couple of days catching up with them, walking, talking, drinking, eating some yummy food, getting caught in a hailstorm together, and all too soon it was time to leave.  My lack of practical skills made itself obvious in a big way on the boat and Richard and I had a taste of what it might be like should we decide to emulate Sandra and Barry.  Not on your life!  Rich would have to do EVERYTHING - my issues around heights, balance, small spaces, walking over running water etc would mean I could just about manage the cooking, and even then, Richard would have to get out on the front of the boat (leaving it to steer itself, I suppose!) to turn the gas on.  So, lovely to see them, great that we were able to test out an idea that had been floating in Richard's head for a while, and good to know that we can now move on with no lingering 'what ifs'.

The boat was gorgeous, had everything you would need and Sandra and Barry have made it a real home.  They are loving it and it's everything they hoped it would be.

Barbara's next and an action-packed two days in Yorkshire.  York Minster, narrow laneways, some beautiful gardens and a great walk around the old walls of the city followed by a drive into the Dales and some of the most stunning scenery we have ever seen.  We walked a little bit of the Dales Way, had a nice lunch out and then it was all over - time with Barbara passed way too quickly.

 rdc

 

On to Norfolk next - a quick two days with Mike and Suzi, whom we hadn't seen for 11 years, and their 3 little girls. Then they were off - leaving us in charge of their house and The Hound of the Baskervilles who, to be fair, is not yet trained, but is mad. The house is on the edge of a Broad (a bit like a river, a bit like a lake) and we have already taken the Hound out wandering a few times - it's a very picturesque area, the house is big and sunny and we will be more than happy here for a fortnight.