A Whirlwind of England

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Trip Start Aug 17, 2008 Previous
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  Wivenhoe, England, United Kingdom
Friday, August 29, 2008

Well hello there, my devoted fans.

As you know, I am in England. Yes, still.  But not for much longer.  Not for much longer at all.  Two more Engliash days, and on the third day God sent Gemma to France.  And, my word, did he see that that was good!

When I first arrived in England, the thought of leaving for France was not a very welcome one.  Having spent goodness knows how many hours on a plane, crossing the globe, I just wanted to say "I'm here!", not "I'm leaving in 2 weeks". 

But those two weeks... my word.  Fantastic!  Last time we spoke I was off the Arundel Castle for a concert, I believe...  What a concert! Three listed acts - two of which I loved so much, I bought the cds at the end

Gragon on Brighton Beach

.  Whoops, there goes my money.  Ahh, so worth it though. Look them up: Seth Lakeman and....wait for it, wait for it.... 3 Daft Monkeys.  They're from Cornwall!  No, honestly: Look. Them. Up. 

Next day, having gone all the way to Arundel, it was only fair we stick around and do Brighton.  We walked around the lanes and circumnavigated the Pavillion.  Then down to Brighton Pier we went - I great big Pier with rides and all sorts of fun fair stuff.  Check on the Wiki-link there - read the "cultural references" section: it's been in a Carry On Film! (And Sweeny Todd).

Then hot chips on Brighton beach (ooh, how decadent), and sunset at Devil's Dyke, where Debbie made me laugh so hard that I spat coke all over my shoes:
  
"My hands are all sticky from the food"
"I have some wipes in the car if you need them"
"Oh, right."
"Elephant scented".
"Oh, ok . . . *SPIT*"

Monday saw us heading down to Wivenhoe, where Debs' parents live, and we met them at a Craft fair, where Julie displays her decoupage

3 Daft Monkeys

.  Everything on sale was all hand made - wow.  But what's more, the whole fair was held in barns from the 13th century, built by the Templars.  What?  I mean, What?

Skimming over Tuesday, our lazy day, on Wednesday we wandered down to the township of Wivenhoe and... oops - I bought a book...  I rally shouldn't - I can't go taking mountains of books home.  Honestly.  But I did - 'Dubliners' by James Joyce.  It's not to heavy, in kilograms, and was only £1.50 ($3.20?).  We went down to the Colne River, and had lunch in The Black Bouy pub.  Spent quite a nice few hours out there, we did. 

Thursday saw us going to Colchester, whoich was a Roman town , what, around 2000 years ago?  I dtook photos of the old Roman wall that still stands in parts, and we had lunch in a cafe called 'Cameo', where lots of stage actors come and have their lunch when there are plays on at the theatre - I must admit - I didn't recognise half the faces in the photos plastered on the walls, or the names scrawled across them in marker.  But I did recognise two that we famous enough for me:  The chap who plays Granville in 'Open All Hours', and Stephanie Cole! (My favourite role of hers being as Diana, in 'Waiting for God').. 

The it was to Colchaster Castle, where Bert and Julie took mum and me 10 years ago

Arundel Castle by day

. Back then, we got our photo taken outside it.  This time, we went in.  A gorgeous museum.  Too much to see, though. My brain reached saturation point.  But I couldn't help but thinking of how I wished Ms Engle had been there - she would have loved it. (She was my ancient history teacher in high school).  The miniature terracotta warriors were there - the first time they have been out of China.  I wanted to buy a fake one from the gift shops for Ms Engle, but that would have been magnificently impracticle.  So I didn't. 

Today... ah, today.  Bert and Julie took me up to Deadham Church where we could go inside and look around.  Oh, how I loved it.  For those of you know know me, you will know that I love those old Churches.  Beautiful, they are.  And I very much loved going in the one at Deadham - gorgeous.  Then, back in the car to continue on our journey.  On the way we saw a gorgeous Church peeping out from behind the hedges that line the road, so we turned in and pulled over.  It was open and we went inside.  I'm not sure which church it was exactly, off the top of my head (my photos would tell me), but it was in Suffolk.

Then back in the car and on to our final destination: Lavenham.  Oh, how gorgeous!  Old tudor houses! All crooked and quaint. 

Arundel Castle in evening light

We had a lovely day exploring.  What more can I say about it, beisde the gorgeous houses - that is really all that was there, but it was to ... old. 1400s, I think they are from. 

Ahh, nayway.  I have had a lovely time staying with my Aunt and Uncle, and tomorrow I head back for Staines, to my cousins.

Then there's Sunday, and on Monday it's to France!  Allons-y!

p.s. Photos are coming, but probably not until am in France with interwebs on mine own putey. 

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Arundel Castle at night	Stage at Arundel Concert	Brighton houses	Gragon on Brighton Pier
Me on Brighton Pier	Debs and me on Brighton Beach	Gragon at Cressing Temple	Roman Wall at Colchester
If I were a Roman	Gragon & Colchester Castle	Lavenham	Uncle Bert and me in Tudor times.

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