I can't believe I'm so far behind!!!!...

Thursday, 9th June

We are still here, but we haven't enjoyed the same level of internet access we thought we'd get. I did a couple of posts by doing them in word, and then copy/paste them, but I really prefer to try and do them spontaneously, even if they are late!

So, at least to bring you up to where we are physically, it is now Kent and we are at a place called Wateringbury, near Maidstone. Yet another Premier Inn, but we'd done what we wanted to do near London, and so cancelled one night and got another here. They are very good on cancellation if you let them know before midday.

This one tonight at least has a different option for dinner, and one we haven't had in a Pr. Inn before, so we are looking forward to the change in menu.

Today's trivia:

1. in getting here today we have driven over 3,600 miles ( 5799 kms) ish., since we picked up the car at the beginning of April!!!

2. we are still under budget!

3. all English ham is good

4. they still haven't got coffee down pat yet. Some places are good, but at most others, you may as well have a cuppa tea.

5. most cars are dark colours

Forest of Dean and Puzzlewood, and Gloucester...

Tuesday, 17th to Thursday, 19th May - (Big catch-up)

Lee had always wanted to see the forest of Dean, and we headed that way, but it was pretty complicated, and we had to do double backs and stuff to get on our way, like heading North to get to a roundabout to go South!!

Still, the roads aren't bad but they should definitely ban semi-trailers from these smaller roads!

The forest is lovely, and we decided to head for a place called Puzzlewood, which was used in the Harry Potter films, and it is an area of woodland of about 7 acres, and the most amazing/ strangely-weird/ spooky place we've ever seen. There are no arrows to guide you through, and so many ways you can go, with rickety little bridges and meandering paths, and very spooky little hollows and tree trunks. Just so different, and you can understand why they use it in movies.

 Our photo's won't do it justice, as Gordon's camera seems to compensate for darkness, and it is much darker and more sinister than it might look, but so much fun too that we were in there for an hour! 
The other part of the forest has all those close-together trees, and you can imagine Harry, Ron and Harmonium running through them.

On to Gloucester, and the Edward Hotel. I can't remember asking on-line for a ground floor room, but we got one, which was actually two bedrooms, so we were able to spread out a bit. It is on the main road, and about a 10 minute walk to the centre of the city, dominated by the cathedral, which seems to float ethereally above the town, and with the colour of the stone, looks like a painting.

Wednesday, 18th

Lee had arranged herself to go into the Records Office to do some research, and so we walked down and I left her there, and went to do some shopping and try for a haircut.
(Bad idea, as it turned out to be one of the worst haircuts I've had, and even a few weeks of new growth hasn't helped)

Managed to get some new trousers and some other bits and pieces, plus a small pair of binoculars to use on the cruise.

Thursday, 19th

Lee went back to do some more things and we met up at lunchtime and walked to the cathedral, and had some lunch in a place called The Comfy Pew. Nice tart of Gloucestershire cheese and red onion,with salad.

The cathedral is abs. beautiful, and some of the detail in the stonework is like filigree, and quite delicate. Inside is magnificent, and the East window is the size of a tennis court, and some beautiful fan-vaulting in the cloisters, also claimed to have been used in Harry Potter, but we've heard that in other places. I suppose it would be easy to check location filming on-line.

The city is a mix of periods, with some old and new, including some Tudor black and white.

 Gloucester is very nice, but to my mind is quite dirty and some parts badly neglected and tired looking. Not my favourite city by any means.

We used the bus a couple of times and the drivers are always very helpful, and cheery. But the rest is walking and I guess we aren't used to doing so much for such extended periods. Trouble is as I might have said, you cannot park anywhere near where you want to go, and so you simply have to walk. The English must have been used to it for all this time, and we are often amazed at the stamina of people much older than Lee and I!

 Dinner at the local pub down the road, and not a bad steak, but like so many places, served with enough chips to feed a family.

Noticing things...

It is probably the same for most countries, but I said to Lee at dinner tonight, that I had noticed more people in the UK who used WALKING STICKS, walking frames, motorised scooters, and/or who had some form of walking aid. I know there is a bigger population here, but every day you see so many.

DOGS. I have never seen so many dogs in my life. Everywhere you go there are people walking dogs, of every description!!! They are allowed on many forms of transport. Hotels and other accommodation places allow them into rooms and lobbies, and everywhere.  They ride on trains, buses, and ferries, and appear in every place we've been, from stately homes to grand gardens, to shopping centres, on most beaches, in all parks that we've seen.
Don't get me wrong, I love dogs, but they seem to dominate peoples lives in so many ways.
As for cats, I think I've seen three!! 
(Cats are OK in their place, they just haven't dug all the places yet!!!) Old joke.

Most small CHILDREN we've seen in hotels and restaurants are extremely well behaved, and when you watch some families, and the way they interact with their kids, it's lovely to see.

QUEUES are something else. Do not try and jump one, and get ahead of everyone else! If you do you will receive glares of the most horrendous kind, and you quietly get back in line. People expect to queue and that's that.

DRIVERS. Whilst the practice is not necessarily restricted to the UK, there are some drivers here who seem to cruise along, thinking that nobody else might be on the road. And when many of these roads are barely wide enough to accommodate one car comfortably, it makes for some pretty hairy situations! Then there are those "roads", which are really small one-lane tracks, through which you have to drive, and the only way you will get past the on-coming driver, is to stop and wait and hope he/she can squeeze past you, or use a passing place. These are no more than small areas to one side of the road into which you can pause, to let someone pass. 


When this country had no more traffic than horses and carts, it might have been enough, but with these tiny villages, you still get trucks driving through them!! 
I am totally surprised we haven't yet lost a side wing mirror.

Also, there is always someone on a bicycle, there is always a young mother pushing a child in a pram, and very sadly, (in most of the bigger towns and cities), there are people sitting around begging and/or drinking from bottles in brown paper bags.


More soon...