En-route to Ely

One hour and forty-eight minutes from Southwold to Ely, our next self-catering destination, unless you go via St Albans , a city on the northern outskirts of London!
Why would you do that, I hear you ask. Basically a dinner date with John's second cousin. I know, but there we are.

We left Southwold in the morning, via the attractive town of Bury Saint Edmunds which houses the ruins of Bury St Edmunds Abbey which are merely rubble now but still incredibly impressive and date back to 633. Destruction of the Abbey complex thanks to Henry VIII. The original Abbey gate was destroyed and the existing one was built during the 14th century and still marks the entry to the cathedral and Abbey gardens today. The gardens are extensive and well kept and provide a peaceful haven for the folks of Bury to lunch and play.
Todays cathedral, St James is large by any standard but nothing compared with the complex that grew during the 15th century. I would like to come back here and further investigate.

The Gate House

The Gardens

St James Cathedral

Part of the Ruins

On we drive to Hartest and Brockley, 2 small villages where John's 2x Grandfather Edward and 3x Grandfather Joseph lived in or around. We visited 2 churches which may or may not have been the churches they were married in or may have attended being people of faith. Stepping back in time 170 - 200 years and walking in their footsteps was something not a lot of people get to do, but we did. Hartest in particular was very pretty indeed.

Village of Hartest



Brockley Green Church

How old is this church wall?



 
 
 












The Entrance

And then on to St Albans for dinner with cousin Liz and her band of merry friends. We dined and went on to visit the pub she owns in a nearby town, which had a lovely beer garden. This would have been perfect on a sunny afternoon, but it was a cold night and we all froze, but couldn't sit inside because they all smoked!
Next morning, up and back up the Motorway to Ely......parp, parp, parp.

More Oddities

Different shoe fashions of various musicians.....

 

UK version of The Dog on the Tuckerbox...

 

A wonderful outdoor table we saw.....

Aldeburgh Car Rally

A car rally with a difference.....

 

 

 

Suffolk with the Cousins and Friends

We have a week in Suffolk with John's cousin Elaine and her husband Alan along with 4 of their uni friends Tom and Sally and Graham and Lucie. Interesting, these couples go away together a lot and they thought it would be a good idea for us to join them. An honour we thinks....

Elaine, Graham, John, Alan & Lucie

Waiting for the Ferry

Sadly the weather has not greeted us with love. A walk on the pier will be a wet one.

We scored a terrific house in Southwold, a seaside town with a pier and a large brewery, (Adnams) where we all had our bedrooms and a bathroom each, a large accommodating kitchen with a fab outside sitting area...

Breakfast in the sun

We had a great time, walking, eating drinking and eating and lots of music. Tom plays the guitar, Graham and Lucie specialize in squeeze boxes, only cause Lucie couldn't bring her piano or brass and Alan plays a mean pair of wooden spoons. They all sing quite well and it was quite joyous.

Graham, Lucie & Tom

Tom

Graham & Lucie

We all took turns to cook a meal and the mandatory Fish n Chips of course.
It was also Tom's 65th birthday so we began on the first night with a nice dinner out, however, we missed the bubbles thanks to delays with Europcar.
We paid a visit to Aldeburgh another seaside town with a whole pile of fresh fish stalls and a smoked fish stall where we got some fabulous hot smoked salmon for our turn to cook.

Tom & Sally's Risotto

Alan & Elaine's Fish Bake

Hot Smoked Salmon

John's Jambalaya

We also included a little culture with a classical concert on the Tuesday night, with works from Ravel, Mozart and Schubert. Not really my bag but pleasant enough with an audience that makes the RSL look like a teen disco!

We hired a little run around and took turns to steer it up and down The Suffolk Broads. It was smelly with the fumes but relaxing none the less.

Our Captain

First Mate

Emoo's day out

Our Boat

A lovely week, and as you can see ......the sun finally did appear.

Back to Britain

Another visit to Heathrow, but passing and quick which is more than I can say for our return trip to Europcar. It took me over an hour to collect my pre-booked car. It's easy, you say, line up, collect keys and go. Well yes, I lined up and was told my car was ready. It's a Peugeot SUV, a diesel, big boot, and it will only cost me 15GBP per day more. T hank you but I don't wish to pay any more, just give me the car I ordered. That's where the fun began.....and continued for another hour. They also want to charge me for the second driver which I was told by my travel agent is included. Every time this happens with Europcar but I don't believe any of the others are better! I won't go into the further detail of the transaction because it is too tedious to do so, suffice to say I drove out in an upgrade for no further cost and will chat with my travel agent about the extra driver. My Nissan Qashqai is a very nice car.

Last Day in Lucca

Last day in Lucca and so it was 'What haven't we done?'

The Guinigi Tower is a must. Built in the late 13th century, it is the stand out tower in Lucca. It is topped with 7 oak trees and that makes it stand out over all the rest. It was proudly dressed in the national colours on Republic Day. The views from the top are unsurpassed.....

The Palazzo Pfanner gardens are also a must not miss. They are green and relaxing to sit and pass the time of day while the gardeners do the work! The running water is soothing on a hot day too.

A last walk on the walls to the station to buy tickets for Pisa tomorrow.

And so we say 'arrivederci' Lucca and 'grazie'. A last dinner out tonight and a Puccini concert on the walk home. But now to pack...........