Wednesday, 29 March 2017

Bitten by the Travel Bug

 

As I have said many times in my blogs, it is not always the famous landmarks and attractions that I enjoy when visiting other places, although they are all worth it.  The everyday and even mundane attributes can so inform a place such as a quirky sign, a door knocker, the angle of a plaid cap on a farmer walking to the pub, an imperfect bloom in a perfect garden, the lilt of various lilt of accents as Moms wait outside the Grammar School, the subtle scent of wild cherry along a footpath or  a hand embroidered patch on a teenager’s backpack.  The nearby garden centre was such a delight with its English flowers and hedges for sale, unique garden stones and fish for outdoor ponds or indoor aquariums.  We also sampled some British favourites there for lunch, fragrant pork pie, sausage rolls  cucumber salad and tea.

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One evening we had a great dinner with Marilyn and Mike’s daughter Sam, husband Duncan and children Eve, Edward and Harry.  The restaurant had a great concept based on the Greek tradition of tapas only it was Italian so we were able to try and share a variety of delectable items and enjoy a family visit. 

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We spent the following day touring Calke Abbey which will be featured in the next blog.  On April 27, we sadly packed our bags and caught the train from Leicester to Gatwick.  The train was great as we passed some gorgeous countryside, funky backyards and many familiar sites in London.  We stayed the night with Dave and Amy in Crawley and they kindly dropped us at Gatwick Airport for our flight home April 28.

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Changed trains at the gorgeous St. Pancras Station.

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Captain “Dave”, Marilyn and Mike’s son is a pilot for EasyJet.

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Beautiful views over Greenland look like huge etchings.

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