San Sebastian

Thursday 25 July

We are currently on the ferry on our way back to Plymouth.  We embarked (sailing talk) last night at 8.15pm – the ferry set sail at 9.15pm.  We retired to our cabin at 10.30 pm and slept soundly till 8am this morning with the help of a Phenergan - I was feeling a bit queasy with the motion of the ship.  The water was calm enough but not as calm as the trip over.  It is still rolling a bit this morning.

Jim has been out on deck taking photos of a lighthouse.  It is sitting on a small cluster of islands – La Jument.  We are sailing alongside France.  Jim is having fun following our route on Google.

Our week with Lisa and Kenny in our suburbian (Aiete) apartment quickly found it’s routine.  Each morning we slept late and made our way to the local bar for OJ and café con leche (coffee with milk). 

The people of San Sebastian and surrounding villages live in high-density housing (apartment blocks).  Across the road from our apartment block, set around a courtyard there is a bakery; bars and delis come supermarkets (where we bought our supplies).  This area is known as Muntomar, Lisa liked it because it reminded her of her surname ‘Muntz’.  Munto was the name of the family who settled here many years ago and their house was named Munto hence the area being named after the family and house.

The first few afternoons we sat in the courtyard outside the bar in the sun enjoying the vino and cerveza while Kenny watched the Tour and explained the technical side of the race to Jim.  Lisa and I did what girls do best – talk.  We were chatting to a young local couple.  They gave us a few tips on restaurants in the area and a good day trip to do to Hondarribia near the French border.

San Sebastian has three beaches.  From our apartment they are a 2.5km walk downhill which was okay, it was the walk up that was a killer along with the afternoon sun.  We caught the bus a few times.  After spending the mornings walking around San Sebastian (old & new towns) we would head for the beach to cool off for a few hours.  The water was clear but had litter in the white wash.  Yuk!  The Spaniards love the sun, they love to sit in the sun and walk in droves on the shoreline.

One day we caught the funicular up Monte Igueldo (a half hour walk from our apartment) to the mini theme park.  The views were spectacular over San Sebastian.  We had two rides on the roller coaster.  It was very sedate by roller coaster standards but great fun with panoramic views over the ocean.  It is a theme park from the past.  Jim liked the place because he thought the name was like Gelder. 

Another day we took the bus to Hondarribia (45mins) suggested by the young local couple.  We had a yummy lunch of seafood and (more) vino – just what holidays are made of.  After lunch we wandered around the village eating ice cream – another daily habit for us whilst in San Sebastian.

Our last night we had dinner at La Vina in the old part town of San Sebastian, just down the road from the pension where we stayed the first part of our holiday.  It has a good reputation – infamous for it’s cheesecake.  The food was simple but tasty.  We all had seafood and shared a smooth bottle of red vino leaving enough room for the cheesecake.  Jim amazed us all by trying the wafer cornet filled with cream cheese and anchovies - the complimentary canape. The cheesecake was as good as they say.  Light but rich (with no base).  We  were given a DVD on how to cook the cheesecake and pintxos, shame it is in Spanish.  Dinner was a civilized way to end our time in San Sebastian.

Description of San Sebastian: relaxed, bocadillos (sandwich/breadsticks) even kids chewing on a chunk of bread everywhere, friendly people – helpful and smiley, people of all ages dressed in style and casual wear on scooters buzzing around the place, locals standing around drinking vino and enjoying life but it’s hard not to with great weather, yummy food and the beach all around.

PS. It is Sat 27 July & we are camping at Boswinger till Friday unfortunately we won't be able to post the photos on Flickr till we return to Karen and Dave's on Friday.  The Internet is operational here but not fast enough to load photos.  

Isle of Wight

Our 4 days on the island are up tomorrow.  We are catching the morning ferry back to Portsmouth then driving 3.5 hours to Karen and Dave's in Saltash for the night.  Our cruise (overnight ferry but we do have a cabin) leaves Plymouth Sunday afternoon for Santander.  From Santander we will catch a bus to San Sebastian for 10 days.  The forecast is for 38 degrees next week in Spain, it will be like being back on Kovalam Beach.  Now you know where we are headed for the next couple of weeks back to the present.

The Isle of Wight is rural and coastal (obviously, it is a small island) and very picture postcard.  I was here 25 years ago visiting Dave's Dad.  Most of you know Sharon &Dave.  Dave is married to Sharon (my good friend from Melbourne).  They met 25 years ago when Sharon and I were travelling in England.  Dave was born and grew up on the island till he went to uni in Manchester.  Dave's Dad no longer lives here, he lives in Newcastle (England not NSW). We found Dave's old house and took photos for him.  Sharon and Dave were married here so we went and looked at the church - another photo for them.

There is a chairlift on the island, at The Needles so of course we went there for a visit and a chair ride.  The Needles are rock pinnacles jutting out of the sea.  It is a tourist park but good fun never the less.  We also went  on a boat ride to have a closer look at the lighthouse and pinnacles.

From The Needles we drove inland to visit Carisbrooke Castle, a historic castle with an interesting history.  Charles 1 was imprisoned and died there.  We watched the donkey well display. Jimbo the donkey was a lazy thing but adorable.

Yesterday we drove round the eastern side of the island to Bembridge driving back through Sandown and Shanklin.  The island is similar to Cornwall with narrow roads and rural country side surrounding the villages.

Today we walked to Steephill Cove - what a cute little beach.  The Crab Shed had the yummiest crab pasties.  I do love the deck chairs on the beach for rent both here and in Brighton. 2 pounds a day - a bargain.  The chairs have a little sun shade - what a great idea!

I can't load all the photos for the Isle of Wight as the internet is slow here and after three attempts I have given up.  It may be a while before I can get to do it now but here a few for you to look at.

Looking down onto Ventnor Beach

Chairlift at The Needles

The beach at The Needles

Looking down into Carisbrooke from the wall

Jim enjoying a crab pastie at The Crab Shed

Self portrait(s) at The Crab Shed

Brighton

We seem to get stuck in stand still traffic when we hit the motorways.  Ipswich to Brighton was meant to take 3 hours but the journey turned into a 5-hour drive.

When we finally arrived in Brighton our hotel was easy enough to find (with the Sat Nav guiding us of course).  The hotel is in a great location across from the esplanade but the parking was a nightmare.  The hotel’s website said it had parking for 12 pounds per day, what they didn’t say was it was 2 blocks away.  We eventually got the car parked after sitting in more stand still traffic to go round the 2 blocks and waiting for cars to leave the car park before more cars were let in.  Needless to say it was another time when we both just had to be quiet and not react to each other’s anxiety.

OMG! The crowds on Brighton beach.  Londoners had invaded Brighton for the weekend because summer has been declared at least the next 2 weeks as the weather reports keep saying proudly.  Brighton Pier - what fun with lots of rides, amusement games, ice-creams, fish & chips, rock candy all the normal English sea side resort stuff.

Our second day in Brighton we jumped on the double-decker bus tour (45 minutes for the full trip) – great fun, we went round twice.  The history of the place was interesting and seeing all the buildings from up high adds to the tour. 

We went to the beach in the afternoon.  We walked in the water and straight out again.  The water was freezing even though it was a warm sunny day.  We sat on the pebbles near the waters edge for the next hour and watched people.  Most people ducked under the water really quickly or stood in the water for a few minutes squealing as hypothermia set in.

It is one of my phobias to be stuck in a public toilet and yes – it finally happened in the ladies toilet at the IOW ferry terminal.  Jim was waiting in the car in the queue to drive onto the ferry (we had a half hour wait) so I said I am off to the toilet.  When I realized the lock was stuck my first thought was ‘See,  I knew this would happen one day so don’t panic’.  I banged on the door a few times and yelled ‘Hello, hello, I’m stuck in the toilet’.  No answer.  I couldn’t crawl under the door the gap was only 8cm (if that) and I couldn’t climb over the wall into the next cubicle it was too high.  What to do????  I took a few deep breaths and starting banging and yelling again.  After a few minutes a ferry terminal worker came in and said hello.  I explained what had happened, he laughed and then he turned the lock from his side of the door to let me out.  When I got back to the car Jim said where have you been.  I had to breathe deeply for a few minutes to relax before I explained.  While I was stuck, which was probably ten minutes all up I didn’t really panic because I thought eventually (hopefully) Jim will come looking for me as the time came closer to having to board the ferry.  The man that let me out said your husband has probably driven off – I said I’m sure he thinks about it often enough!

The ferry ride was only a half hour and what a beautiful half hour.  The water and sky were perfect. 

Brighton Beach - what we saw on our arrival

Brighton view

Oh! we do love a double-decker bus

On the ferry crossing

Last day in Bramford

Today, Saturday 6 July is our last day in Bramford and summer has arrived.

It was a beautiful sunny warm day - all day.  Rumor has it that it will be summer for at least the next two weeks.  Yahoo!  The beaches of Brighton and Isle of Wight here we come.

Yesterday I told you that today is the Bramford Fun Day.  I was keen to see the teddy bear parachuting.       It was a popular event with many entrants.  It was entertaining watching the teddies being pushed off the end of pole from the top of the church tower.  Some sailed but most plummeted.  The kids were waiting at the bottom to check the teddies heart beats with (toy) stethoscopes.  Who ever thought of the idea - it is a winner.

The other major attraction (aside from the teddy bear parachuting contest) was meeting The Stig.  We didn't see him, he wasn't amongst the motorcycles and vintage car display.  Oh well, he probably really wasn't going to be The Stig anyway.

Aside from the fun day we spent the day getting organised to leave tomorrow, tidying up and soaking up the sun.

Visit our Flickr site for more photos of The Bramford Fun Day.

Virgin who???

Teddy bear parachuting competiton

Week 3 our final week at Bridge House

Is the weather balmy (pleasantly warm) or balmy (eccentric) or is it muggy?

People the world over are obsessed with the weather and the English are no different.  It is so funny to hear people say ‘Isn’t it balmy?’ or “Isn’t it muggy?’

Just the other day I heard a lady say to her friend ‘Oh, it is muggy today’ in her cute English accent.  Jim and I just looked at each other and shook our heads.  Maybe they use the word ‘muggy’ in a different context to us because Jim and I were wearing three layers.

One thing people the world over all agree on is, that the weather is balmy (eccentric) and not as we know it.  We have heard it so many times since we have been here that England use to have a summer (a decade ago).  Where did it go????

This week our outings were Felixstowe, Southwold and Cambridge.  We drove to Felixstowe on Sunday morning for a walk along the beachfront.  It is a typical English seaside resort with the pier and amusement centre, fun park and beach huts. 

On Wednesday we went to Southwold, the home of Adnams Brewery.  We took the brewery tour.  It was easy to get Jim to pose and smile for the camera on this outing.  I can’t remember a single fact about the beer making process but the history of the brewery and the yeast used was fascinating.  Southwold is on the coast and the beachfront is similar to Felixstowe, which is just up the road. 

Yesterday, Thursday we visited Cambridge, another beautiful city with amazing old buildings.  We had lunch at a pub overlooking the River Cam.  Then we took a punt up the ‘backs’.  It is called the ‘backs’ because the sights along the river are the backs of the colleges.  The colleges were having open days so the city was very busy. 

In the middle of Cambridge City the market place was busy with the usual stalls we have seen at other village markets except here a few stood out - scarves (an essential English piece of clothing all year round, a poetry stall (after all we were in Cambridge), and a barber.  The barber caught our eye.  It was time again for Jim to have a trim so we decided to wait.  She was quite busy.  It was worth it for the entertainment value and the haircut was not bad.  She was a punk turned yogini (female yogi).  She has been back in England for 2 years after living in Cali (California) for the past 20 years where she found yoga and before that she had been a punk growing up in England. 

Lilian has been here (at her house) for the past few days with us.  Kentwell did not have many mid week school tours this week and she wasn’t feeling so well so has spent the days resting.  We said goodbye to her this afternoon as she drove back to Kentwell for the weekend.  It is the final weekend for the season.  When we went back in the house she had left us a thank you card and gift of cheeses, beer and cider.  It is nice to be appreciated. 

Tomorrow the Bramford Fun Day is being held in the church grounds at the end of the street.  I can’t wait.  It should be a ‘fun day’ with the teddy bear parachuting (out of the church tower) competition and meet The Stig not to mention homemade cakes.  I must admit we have been eating a lot of home made cakes these past six weeks since our arrival in England.  Jim is set to watch the final of the Lions Tour tomorrow night on You Tube.  He says it is a better picture than streaming live.

We leave Bramford on Sunday, that is the end of our house sit.  It has been so enjoyable to be in the one place and all our sight seeing has been within an hours drive. 

Next stop Brighton 2 nights, Isle of Wight 4 nights and Saltash 1 night with Karen, Dave and the kids.  We board our cruise (aka overnight ferry) from Plymouth to Santander, Spain on Sunday afternoon.  From Santander we catch a bus (2 hours) to San Sebastian for 10 nights.

Please visit our Flickr site and view the sets Felixstowe, Adnams Brewery and Cambridge 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimhappy/

Felixstowe beachfront with beach huts

Sun bathing????

A happy Jim at beer tasting at Adnam's Brewery

The Wren Library at Cambridge

Punting on the River Cam