The Grand Finale of our 3013 trip

London, Fri.11^th Oct.  We’re killing time now before our flight leaves for home.  As it’s raining, we chose to while away some time in the hotel sitting room, watching the passers by pass by.  Spending a couple of hours in the local cinema helped pass the time and we saw ‘le Weekend’ starring Jim Broadbent, Lindsay Duncan and Jeff Goldblum…not the film we thought we were going to see, the program changed today so we missed out on ‘Blue Jasmine’ with Cate Blanchett. 

On Monday 7^th  we drove to Blue Anchor with Marion and Mike and enjoyed an excellent lunch at the Smuggled Retreat Hotel.  The retreat is one of many throughout England housing returned/injured soldiers and assisting them to readjust to civilian life. 

Rather than completing our meals with dessert at the hotel, we drove back a little way to Watchett, bought yummy ‘Styles’ ice creams and devoured them whilst admiring the harbour view. 

A most enjoyable day out and as none of us was hungry enough for an evening meal, we indulged in a snack of a few superb local cheeses from the farm shop at Nether Stowey, breads and biscuits.

Tuesday 8^th saw our departure from Taunton, sad farewells to good friends Marion and Mike and a relaxing, smooth and comfortable train journey through lovely countryside to London.

For the last three days we have enjoyed an easy visit to our favourite big city and in that time have visited Covent Garden, the War Cabinet Rooms, Apsley House (home of the Dukes of Wellington), Wellington Arch…climbing 62 steps to the top as the lift was not working, the Australian War Memorial, Emirates Air Line Cable Car 

followed by a river trip back into the city, the theatre twice, for a repeat performance of “We Will Rock You” which we saw on our last trip and a comedy “Barking in Essex” starring Sheila Hancock and Lee Evans.  As we’ve been staying in Notting Hill, we’re close to Portobello Road so have wandered through the markets there a couple of times and are a little sad that the journey is almost over.

BUT…we’ll be back!!

Last Days in Somerset

Monday : 7^th Sept.  Our last day in Somerset…tomorrow we will ‘train’ from Taunton to London for the final four days of our ‘big trip’.

On Thursday 3^rd, Mike M drove us the 13 miles through the misty though still gorgeous Quantock Hills to Taunton where we collected a hire car.  We then went into the city for a wander, but it was a very wet wander as the rain which started as a mere drizzle, became heavier and heavier and we got a bit damp before ducking into a shop to buy a couple of umbrellas…we’d neglected to take our rain jackets with us which wasn’t very bright!  As it really wasn’t a great deal of fun walking about in the rain, we cancelled our little jaunt and headed back ‘home’ through the hills again.

Friday 4^th saw the two Mikes take up the offer from a friend of Mike M’s to take part in a cider press, an offer which they felt they couldn’t possibly refuse, so accepted and participated with great enthusiasm.

For the last few days here we have enjoyed glorious blue skies, sunshine and warm temperatures and we took advantage of the excellent weather on Sat.5^th to go for a drive through this lovely county…or at least part of it.  Our first stop was at Cleeve Abbey in nearby Washford, a Cistercian abbey boasting the most impressively complete set of monastic cloister buildings in England as well as the floor of a refectory decked from end to end with 13^th century heraldic tiles. 

Then it was on to Minehead, though we didn’t stop there as the population had grown to an enormous level (all taking advantage of the wonderful weather) and we don’t ‘do’ crowds so it was back then through Dunster to Luxborough, where we stopped at the Royal Oak Inn for a light lunch.  We’d been there before on a couple of occasions but were a little disappointed on this visit to find that the inn is now a bit run-down.  Still, the soup and sandwich were enjoyable, the sunshine was welcome and it was a lovely drive. 

A stop for a stroll around Watchett harbour completed our day out.

I must mention here that Mike and Marion are both excellent cooks and we’ve been treated to some lovely, lovely meals in the last week.  Mike’s fish pie, beef stew with dumplings, moussaka, spicy chicken/pasta dish and salmon with dill sauce were all winners and Marion’s Sunday roast yesterday, eaten outdoors in the sunshine, was delicious. 

I have a lot to live up to when we return home!  We are taking them out to lunch today, to a place we haven’t been before so all will be revealed in a few hours’ time.  As they say in the ‘classics’…you never, never know if you never, never go!

Footnote :  Boris entered his winter home in a storage facility on a farm/caravan park on Friday afternoon, a sad occasion as he treated us well for 21 weeks of travel through Europe, England and Scotland.  We did tell him we will be back in 2014 so he now feels a little better.


Somerset

Wednesday, 2^nd Oct.  On the way to Wiltshire on Saturday, we called in to see the remains of the large and luxurious Great Witcombe Roman Villa in Gloucestershire, built circa AD 250, with a bathhouse complex and with magnificent views of the valley below.

Our arrival at our friends’ home in Wiltshire was greeted with great enthusiasm by 10 year old Alfie, anxious to investigate every nook and cranny of Boris’, giving the drop down bed a try out and quickly discovering how everything worked.  Following a lovely meal cooked by Jo, we were escorted by Si and the tall and willowy teenaged Alice to the nearby village hall where we enjoyed a lively musical version of The Three Musketeers, performed by 4 talented and professional members of Barbershopera, an a cappella group which has toured the U.K. since 2007 and has a YouTube hit ‘I Could Have Married Kate’ among its credits. 

It was to be our last night sleeping in Boris the motorhome for this trip, as after breakfast and a drive round the village for Alice and Alfie, we set off for Somerset.  It was a pleasant, sunny drive and another warm welcome was awaiting us.  We are now enjoying the company of our friends Marion and Mike while preparing Boris for his winter hibernation…he has served us well and deserves a rest…Friday is the day he’ll go into his temporary home and Friday week is the day we’ll head for home.