Day 24 - London (last day)

Distance walked: 13km, Alcohol consumed: 1 large glass wine

We started the day with a visit to the Tower of London. It isn't just a tower, although the original White Tower built on the orders of William the Conqueror in 1066 (!) is still there in the centre, but a whole complex. We could have spent all day here easily but just had run out of time. The place is fabulous. We had wanted to do a 2 hour guided walk of the Tower with London Walks but they didn't offer them on any of the days we were in London, so we just got ourselves an audio guide instead. We only toured a little bit of the complex, mainly the White Tower with its museum of armoury, the medieval part including Traitor's Gate and the Bloody Tower.

We also scampered quickly past the Crown Jewels. These are not so much impressive as gaudy and rather ugly. The "please make a donation" box at the exit is a little out of place. You could lever off one or two of the thousands of diamonds on all that bling, replace them with cubic zirconia and sell the originals without anyone being the wiser. Crying poor when you have just displayed millions of pounds worth of jewellery doesn't really work.

My favourite part of the Tower are the ravens. They are big and haughty and look a little mean. They are very smart apparently and some of them like to play tricks on visiting tourists. One of them likes to steal hair ribbons from girls who dare to drink from a water fountain on a nearby lawn. Sadly there were no such girls there when were visited. I wanted to buy a raven souvenir but the gift shops were full of royal family nicknacks and had very few raven-themed items. A missed opportunity.

After spending about 4 hours at the Tower, we left and headed off to the British Museum. This was an important stop as Mary had promised to buy me a birthday present from their special gift shop which has replicas of pieces in their collection. Here I wanted something Roman-inspired but again missed out. I settled for a beautiful necklace inspired by a gold collar from (New York's!) Metropolitan Museum of Art's Greek collection.

We then did a quick scamper through some of the galleries we hadn't visited before. We went through the Assyrian and Mesopotamian sections.  We also looked for their Fayum mummy portraits but they didn't have my picture on display which was disappointing.

We stayed until closing time. They were very polite as they firmly herded us to the exit. It must be a nightmare to clear the museum as it has so many floors and so many rooms, not to mention so many tourists.

We then went back to the flat and checked in. Singapore Airlines had been sending me text messages and emails telling me I could check in online for some time now but I had been ignoring them. However, I had to accept the holiday was over and took the plunge. We also packed. Even with the extra (small) suitcase, all our bags are full to bursting.

For dinner we went back to In Parma.  This time Mary had the tortelli and I had the anolini. Again, both were Not Bad. I had the zabaglione for dessert. A tricky but tasty dish to make but they'd done a good job - Not Bad. The service was a little slow as they were short staffed. Our table was near the servery so we got to overhear the sole waitress talking with the maitre d'. It was all in Italian but we could get the odd word. Even allowing for the more demonstrative way Italians talk, it was clear they were getting a little frazzled. About halfway through our meal an additional waitress appeared. She clearly had never worked there before as she had to have all the processes and dishes explained to her, so the stress levels remained high. The maitre d' was very apologetic to us for the service, but we found our evening very entertaining. Also, it wasn't as if we were in a hurry for the evening to end.

Day 23 - London

Distance walked: 14.5km, Alcohol consumed: 1 mini bottle of wine, 1 taster of cider, 1 taster of beer

We started today with a food tour run by Eating London. Not as daft an idea as it might sound. We did their East End food tour - so food from all the immigrant communities.

We started off with a bacon sarnie (hangover cure food) from Fergus Henderson's St John Bread and Wine.  They make both the bacon, from a particular rare breed of pig, and the bread. You Could Eat It.

The next stop was imaginatively called The English Restaurant. I had seen it the day before and dismissed it as a tourist trap but it isn't. The building is old and the inside is made from various reclaimed items. The bar from an old pub, the seating the pews from an old church and the floorboards from somewhere and such like. We had a bread and butter pudding with vanilla custard. They put sultanas in theirs. I don't but I do spread my bread with Seville orange marmalade. I like mine better but You Could Eat theirs.

Then we went to the House Of Androuet which is a French cheese monger, where we ate English cheeses - a cheddar and a stilton. They were both excellent examples of those types of cheese but neither thrilled me.

Next stop was Poppies Fish and Chips where we had fish (cod) and chips with mushy peas.  This place is regularly rated as providing the best fish and chips in London. The fish was very good - the batter was crispy and the fish moist. The mushy peas were made in-house, not from a tin, and again where very good (I believe cream was involved which always helps). Sadly the chips were a disappointment. Not crispy at all. Just your standard suburban chips. My gran made much better chips.

Then was a traditional local pub with a resident cat, the Pride of Spitalfields. The cat, Lenny, snubbed me. He didn't want me to pat him which rather put me off. We drank Sharp's Doom Bar (which is from Cornwall) as the local beer, from Truman's brewery, had run out. We also tried an apple cider from Sharp called Orchard. Our guide, Emily, called it farm yard-y in taste and she wasn't kidding. It didn't taste of apples at all but very faintly of the farmyard. She likes it, I didn't.

Then we wandered down Brick Lane in search of a curry. Almost all the curry houses along this stretch had banners declaring them the No. 1 curry house in London for the years 2016, 2017 and even 2018 according to different "regulatory" bodies. We went to Aladin which apparently is regularly rated as being in the top 10 places for a curry. We had a vegetable curry (no heat at all), a chicken tikka masala (spicy-ish but sweet) and a lamb curry (moderately spicy). I liked the lamb but the rest were merely Harmless.

Most of the Jewish immigrants have long since moved out of the Spitalfields area but there are two remaining bagel shops on Brick Lane. One was virtually deserted but the other had a queue out the door. We went to that one of course, Beigel Bake, which is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The service is brisk, to put it politely. You'd better know what you want and also, pronounce Beigel correctly. It isn't bay-gle it is buy-gull. We had a bagel with salt beef and a sweet pickle. It was Not Bad.

The last stop was Pizza East in Shoreditch, where all the hipster hang out, where we had a chocolate and salted caramel tart with a cup of tea. The tart tasted like a Mars bar and was very rich. I guess it was Harmless.

After four hours of walking and (mostly) eating we just wanted to have a nap but this is our second last day in London, so we had to keep sightseeing so we said good-bye to our excellent guide and tottered off to the Museum of London. This gives you the history of London through the ages from prehistoric time to now and is a fantastic museum. Did you know there used to be lions, elephants, hippos (!) and cave bears in the Thames Valley. It is very hard to imagine.

We stayed until closing time then braved the peak hour tube back to the flat. We weren't hungry but ventured out again at 8pm feeling we ought to eat something. We couldn't find any restaurant that tempted us so we bought cheese, wine, prosciutto and some little quiches from a supermarket and went home to watch trashy TV and snack.

Tomorrow is our last day. So sad.

Day 22 - London

Distance walked: 12km,  Alcohol consumed: none (!)

We met up with our cousins, Rachele and Vanessa, in the morning and headed off to Spitalfields Markets. Vanessa wanted to buy a coat. The very first stall we came to had beautiful, handmade overcoats in pure wool, with a very stylish cut. I had to try one on too as they were so elegant. We both ended up buying one, but I'll need to watch the video on the maker's Facebook site on how to tie the belt before I wear it.

We then wandered around the market some more. Mary and Rachele were looking to buy presents for their respective children. As we were doing this we came across another stall with very stylish coats. These were shorter and had a more casual cut, but again were very well made and looked great. Here, all four of us tried them on and this time, 3 of us bought coats - only Rachele missed out this time.

After this orgy of coat buying Mary and I had to make our farewells to our cousins and rush off as we had tickets to see a Shakespeare play at the Globe. This is a recreation of the Globe theatre as it was in Shakespeare's day. We saw Much Ado About Nothing and it was very entertaining. The actor playing Benedict was particularly good.

After the play we wandered along the Victoria Embankment until we got to Charing Cross. We had planned to stop somewhere for an afternoon tea as we'd only had a quick snack from the market for lunch.  However, by this time it was 5pm and all the coffee shops were shutting and the pubs were opening so we gave up and just went back to the flat. We stopped at a supermarket on the way home to buy essentials for the flat and also got a bun each from their bakery so we weren't too grumpy from hunger.

After eyeing off all our purchases once we got back to the flat, we've realised we are going to have to buy another suitcase for our return journey. Overcoats are bulky.

We went to Pizza Sofia again for dinner. This time we had a pizza each and we just inhaled them. For the first time on this holiday, I ate as quickly as Mary did. The pizza this time were excellent - better than last time.

Day 21 - London

Distance walked: 14km,  Alcohol consumed: 2 bottles of beer

We caught up with our cousin Rachele from Italy today and her daughter Vanessa. Vanessa stayed with me in Australia for 7 months when she came to Melbourne to improve her English. She now lives in Graz in Austria, having got there via Barcelona, Mallorca and 6 months in Rio. She puts my travel history to shame.

Vanessa's English is excellent but Rachele can only just get by. Also, they are only here in London for the weekend, so they don't have much time for sightseeing. Because of this they wanted to do one of the hop on-hop off bus tours with commentary in multiple languages so that is what we spent the day doing.

We hopped on our bus at King's Cross station and road it down through the city of London to the Tower where we hopped off. Mary and I wanted to visit the Tower but the others weren't so keen, so we just hopped on a river boat (included in our ticket) and sailed (motored?) up river to the London Eye. We got off there and wandered along their south bank - puts ours to shame. We stopped for lunch at a place called, imaginatively, The Wharf where we had fish & chips with mushy peas. The views were excellent.

After lunch we wandered along the river bank stopping in a quirky gift shop called Suck, where I wanted to by a folding cardboard tank for Pete but they were sold out.  I settled for an umbrella that changes colour when it gets wet. We also stopped at a small flea market, where I bought a summer dress. That is the sort of sightseeing my cousins enjoy.

We then hopped back on the bus and road it to Buckingham Palace where we got off. It is a very unimpressive building. The most interesting thing to look at were the guards in their traditional uniforms doing silly walks back and forth. We wandered through Green Park before hopping on the bus again and riding it back to King's Cross.

When then broke to return to our respective hotels for a rest before dinner. We ate at a place called Tavistock Tandoori as Rachele has never eaten Indian food and we thought it was a traditional English thing to do. The food was Harmless but the waiters were very entertaining. They were very business like and bossy. At one point we got scolded for taking too long to make up our minds what to order as they were very busy. Vanessa got scolded for not liking her dessert (gulab jamun) as it was too sweet for her taste, on the grounds that it was supposed to be that sweet. We enjoyed our meal immensely.

Day 20 - London

Distance walked: 14km, Alcohol consumed: none (!)

Today the weather was lovely. Clear blue skies and mild weather - and it stayed that way all day. Unfortunately we were not a bright and perky as we could have been. I worked out that we went up and down the stairs to our 2nd floor flat 13 times yesterday. Eight of those trips were to or from the basement so that is an extra floor. Our legs were still very weary and made it clear they didn't like the idea of more stairs, but they just had to cope.

We started the day by taking the tube to Covent Garden and just puttering around, finding the location of the theatre we were going to tonight. We then took the tube to South Kensington to visit the V&A. This train was packed. I've only ever been so cramped in a Melbourne train when there have been cancellations and this was 10 in the morning! We met up with a tour guide from London Walks who took us on a 2 hour tour of the highlights of the V&A. She was an academic, lecturing in design or art, and was an interesting tour guide.  Some parts she gave excellent commentary, giving you a good idea of the significance of what you were seeing and pointing out things you would never had noticed. In other places, she wasn't so good, just pointing out an object without saying anything about why it was special. I'm guessing the difference was when something was when the object was in her area or not.

The V&A is fabulous. It is a museum of design and is a teaching tool, so it has many displays and information panels on how things are made or why they are important. The galleries are arranged around themes too so you can see how the particular art or craft has developed. After the tour, we went to Kensington Creperie for lunch, before heading back into the V&A for a closer look at the galleries we were particularly interested in.

For lunch we both had the galette with smoked salmon, capers and dill. These were more filling that we expected and I thought they were something You Could Eat. Mary was less keen.

By mid-afternoon we were flagging so we left the V&A and visited a nearby coffee shop for coffee & cake. It claimed to have coffee from Australia. That may have been true, but the barista certainly wasn't.

We then went to the Museum of Natural History. Mary wanted to see Darwin's finches. I expected to be bored but it was very entertaining. They had a fabulous exhibit on dinosaurs with displays asking questions, such as were they warm blooded and did they walk upright, and then examples of dinosaurs bones explaining how they came to their conclusions. The best bit was the animatronic dinosaur, something like a small velociraptor. It moved and growled and looked around. It was very life-like and seemed to respond to noise so it looked like it was looking at you. There was also a fun exhibition on human biology, with lots of interactive displays to entertain children. Fortunately, there weren't many children around so we got to play on them all.

We left at closing time and headed back to Covent Garden, passing a busker playing the harp. They have a higher class of busker in this part of town. The tube was crowded again. It is getting to be a theme. We picked up the tickets for the show we were seeing that night, Matilda, then headed off for a quick dinner. We settled on a nearby Thai place called, implausibly, Rosa's Thai Cafe. We had chicken pad thai and yum nuer yang. The dishes had only been moderately toned down for western tastes, so for essentially a suburban Thai place I'd rate the food as You Can Eat It. The service was speedy and cheap which was also a plus.

We then went to see Matilda. Given that is was based on a book by Roald Dahl and the music was by Tim Minchin it was never going to bad. However, musicals aren't my thing, so I felt it was fun but I could just as easily not have gone to see it. Mary is appalled.

Finally, we crammed back onto the tube and back to the flat. There must have been lots of plays ending around the same time as we physically couldn't get onto the first train that came. We only got onto the second by judicious use of elbows and tramping on toes. The tube system here is great, but perhaps there are a few too many people in London.

Day 19 - Getting to London

Distance walked: 16km, Alcohol consumed: 1 large glass wine

We were so concerned about the time the long uphill trek to the railway station would take we set off with buckets of time to spare. While it was hard work, it wasn't as bad as we had feared so we actually got to the station in time to take an earlier train to London. There were quite a few business travellers on our train, typing madly on their laptops. Not sure if they were commuters (not all the way from Brighton surely?) or just on business trips.

Once we got to London, we couldn't check into our apartment as it had been occupied the previous night and wasn't ready yet. We wheeled/dragged our cases to the apartment rental place's office and left them there, before heading off to the British Museum. Here you had to go through security and get your bags checked. I'd never experienced that before. They seemed to be checking specifically for knives or anything sharp you could cut with. I'm not sure if they are just more nervous than usual after the attempted bombing on the Tube last week or if there has been a specific threat.

The security queue moved briskly and we were soon inside. We browsed in the shop for a Roman statuette for my lararium but couldn't find anything! There we many Egyptian statues, and a shop nearby the museum selling replicas of Greek statues, but very little that was Roman. I was surprised. Perhaps it simply depends on what has been the focus of recent exhibitions. We then went to see the Lewis chessmen, the Sutton Hoo ship burial and the gallery on the Romans in ancient Britain before breaking for lunch.

For lunch we went to a small French bistro nearby called Savoir Faire which I had been to before. They were short on waiting staff and the maitre d' (also the owner I suspect) was a little frazzled. I had French onion soup to start which was made properly and which You Could Eat. For main I had ordered the cassoulet but it turns out the chef had miscounted the number of serves he had left and they were out. I settled for the liver with leeks and polenta & wild mushrooms. This was good too. Service wasn't very fast, for which the owner apologised several times.  A large group had ordered about the same time as us. She also apologised profusely about the mix up with my main order. How they handle mistakes is a sign of a good business. I like this place.

After lunch it was late enough to check in so we went back to the rental offices and picked up our keys. It was then another 10-15 minute walk, dragging the cases, to the apartment. It is right near the University of London and it is wall-to-wall students around here. Our apartment is spacious but not nearly as plush as the one in York. We have three single bedrooms but two bathrooms, so one each which is good. The bathrooms are more upmarket than the rest of the flat and the water pressure & temperature are good. They've spent money on the parts that matter.

After unpacking we went to a nearby supermarket to buy food for breakfast and toilet paper. They only supply us with one toilet roll per toilet. Any more you have to supply yourself!

Once we had put our groceries away, we headed off to the British Library via the Euston tube station to get Oyster cards. It was about 4pm now and the station was getting busy. It must be a nightmare in actual peak time. We spent about an hour at the library looking going through their gallery of treasures - including a Gutenberg bible, pages from Leonardo da Vinci's notebook and a letter from Michelangelo nagging his nephew to get married.

We were then planning to hop on the tube and go to Covent Garden just to wander around before walking back to the flat. However, we couldn't face the thought of the crowds and our legs were very tired. Our flat is on the 2nd floor and there is no lift. We had been up and down them several times already today and that, coupled with all the dragging of suitcases, has just worn us out. Instead, we went back to the flat, put on a load of laundry and just rested.

After we felt a bit more energetic we wandered around the Fitzrovia district looking for a place to have dinner. We settled on a tiny Italian place called In Parma. They are very proud of their authentic ingredients from the Parma region - mainly the charcuterie and the cheese. They just have these, plus pasta or polenta dishes on the menu. Their pasta is home made. They tried to get us to have a bowl of Lambrusco but I think it is revolting so we declined. We shared some bread, olives, cheese (taleggio) and salami to start. For main Mary had the anolini in brodo and I had the tortelli d'erbetta. We both rated our dishes Not Bad. The first meal we've had that has received the highest possible rating. I wanted to have the zabaglione for dessert.  However, it is made to order and takes 15 minutes and we were falling asleep at the table so I settled for taking their business card so we can book a table to eat there another time on this holiday.

So back to the flat and off to bed.

Day 18 - Brighton

Distance walked: 13km, Alcohol consumed: 1 large glass wine

Today it was overcast but very mild and the weather forecast predicted the probability of rain at 0% so we set off in cheerful spirits. We started by getting on the local Hop On-Hop Off tourist bus. Yes, it is very touristy and tacky, but it would take us all around Brighton and hopefully give us a good overview of the town. Sadly most of the time there was no commentary. Partly because they didn't do a very good job of setting up this tour, but partly because there wasn't always much to say. If you are young and into live music & clubbing then Brighton must be a fantastic place to visit. If you have a young family and want to take them to the beach for a summer holiday then Brighton is sensible destination. If you are a tourist who is interested in historical sites then there is the Royal Pavilion which is a must see, and then there is the Royal Pavilion and then the Royal Pavilion.

Anyway, we took the tourist bus to the top end of town and then hopped off, to walk another mile or so out of town to an Edwardian manor house, Preston Manor. This had originally been the manor house for a large estate outside of Brighton. Most of the land has since been sold off, but there is still a large (now public) garden as well as the grounds of the house itself. The last owner of the house died in the 1920s. As she had quarrelled bitterly to her only child she left the house to the Brighton council, not him. It is still full of her furniture and is much as it was when she lived there.

It was a lovely house to visit as you could wander about basically all the rooms, including the servants quarters. You could also walk into to all the rooms, rather than peering into them. Many of these places have a rope across the doorway so you can just peer in. However, the contents here aren't so valuable or fragile so you got much better access. It was easy to imagine living here. They also had short recorded interviews that had been made with some of the old servants in the 1950s you could listen to. Their lives were very hard.

After visiting the house we went around the walled garden and into the medieval church next door. The house's owner had all her dogs buried in the garden, with gravestones for each one. We counted 20, although there may have been one or two gravestones hidden by bushes. While she died in her 80s and presumably had several dogs at a time, that still seems like she got through a lot of dogs.

By now it had started to drizzle. Apparently drizzle doesn't count as rain by English standards. While the garden was lovely, we were getting damper and damper so we gave up and headed back into town. We stopped at the first restaurant we came to that had hot food and free tables, a Greek place called Yefsis. This proved to be an excellent choice as the food was very tasty, almost all our dishes were rated You Can Eat It. Mary got complemented on her Greek accent when she ordered our food too.

After lunch, we finished walking back into town (why is the return journey always so much shorter?) and hopped back on the bus. We rode it out to the Brighton Marina. This was seriously ugly. All very modern, with blocks of apartments (mostly holiday lets) and two modern shopping malls - one for the outer marina and one for the more sheltered inner marina. The outer marina shopping mall was full of chain restaurants (low and mid-range) and a casino. The inner marina shopping mall had a bizarre mix of high end shops, including one that sold nothing but boats, and very low end places like $2 shops. Who went to the cheap places we couldn't decide. The marina is far from any regular housing and we couldn't imagine anyone who stays out here wanting to shop there. However, after looking at the prices of the boats perhaps that is all they can afford after buying (and maintaining the boat). A cheap boat costs around 200,000 pounds with many up in the 3/4 to 1 million mark available. The dearest was over 2 million pounds.

At the inner marina we stopped at a coffee shop for coffee and a piece of cake. Here we discovered the truth that just because a cake is home made doesn't mean it is well made. Finally, it had stopped raining/drizzling so we hopped back on the bus and road it back into town. The sun was out, so we wandered along the foreshore watching the sea gulls (they are huge here) and people watching too. Many of the original bathing boxes have been turned into shops, but one large(-ish) one has been turned into a small museum about Brighton and the sea so we popped in there. A lot about Brighton as a fishing port, but some about it as a seaside resort and also about the local life saving club. You'd have to be brave or crazy to swim here. The water looks cold - but we did see a few hardy souls swimming this afternoon.

Finally back to the hotel to pack. Tomorrow is London which is our last stop.

Dinner was at Casalingo. I started with figs wrapped in prosciutto and stuffed with goat's cheese. Next I had cannelloni stuffed with ricotta and spinach, finishing with house-made cassata. The cassata was the only thing that didn't rather You Can Eat It status, it was merely Harmless. While it had been made in-house, it had been made from cheap commercial ice cream. I should have had the affogato.

Day 17 - Brighton

Distance walked: 11.5km,  Alcohol consumed: 1 bottle of beer

Got up bright and early. After a somewhat disappointing breakfast, we headed out into a pleasant day. Clear skies, no wind or rain and mild temperatures - finally! We started out by wandering around some lanes near the seafront in an area known imaginatively as The Lanes. As we were bright and early, nothing was open so we settled for looking at the old buildings.

Our first official tourist activity was visiting the Royal Pavilion. It is described as an exotic blend of Indian and Chinese visual styles, as imagined by the English of the Regency period who had never visited. Garish, completely over the top, in poor taste, tacky are words than came to my mind when I saw it. Also, very impressive. I'm very glad we made the detour here to see it. It isn't like anything else. Also, as it was built for a King George, there were dragons everywhere. I was sorely tempted to buy a gorgeous red and gold dragon from the gift shop but, sadly, it was too big to fit into my suitcase. 

We then had lunch at a nearby Italian restaurant called Al Duomo. This was a mistake. We had been mislead by the Italian proprietor sitting at an outside table chatting to his mates in Italian. We believed it would be good food. However, the meals had been dumbed down for Anglo tastes and were dull.  We have developed our own food rating scheme, with ratings from worst to best. Given that we are in England, we have given each level a suitably understated name. They are Not Very Good, Dull, Harmless, You Can Eat It and Not Bad.  Al Duomo rated a Dull from me, although Mary thinks Harmless is more accurate.

After lunch we went to the Brighton Art Gallery & Museum. This has a very eclectic collection. There was a gallery of 20th century furniture, objects and paintings, two galleries on Ancient Egypt with many interactive displays for children (and consequently, many small children), one gallery of fashion through the ages and one on transgender people and their experiences. There was also a visiting exhibition on the painter Constable and his paintings of Brighton and the obligatory Jane Austen exhibition (which was a stretch as she had never visited and barely mentions Brighton in her novels). We had a very interesting time here. I was expecting to be bored.

We ended the day wandering through the lanes north of the city centre, known as the North Laines (not a typo) area. We were far too straight, white and middle-aged with far too few bits of metal in our bodies to fit in with the locals here. Again, an eclectic and very interesting mix of shops (and passersby) to look at here. 

Finally, we tottered back to our hotel via Brighton pier. We may not have covered a lot of ground, but it was very hilly walking and my calves are not happy with me. I'm not looking forward to walking back to the station when it is time to leave. Our hotel is on the seafront, while the station is at the very top of the town. Getting down here with the suitcases was easy, up is not going to be fun.

For dinner we went to the nearby Siam Siam restaurant and ate comfort food. We had a set menu which started with mixed entrees of chicken satay, spring rolls and fish cakes. The we had beef rendang curry, chilli chicken stir fry, pad thai noodles, a vegetable stir fry and jasmine rice. All dishes I've eaten many times before. They had been moderated somewhat for Anglo tastes but still had a decent amount of spice. We rated some dishes Harmless and some You Can Eat It.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and played a card game about the monarchs of England that I have bought from the souvenir shop at the Brighton Pavilion. It was somewhat similar to gin rummy. We modified the rules somewhat but Mary still managed to win hands down. Do we know how to have an exciting time or what?

Day 16 - Getting to Brighton

Distance walked: 11.5km,  Alcohol consumed: 1 large glass wine

We set off early for the railway station, which was fortunate as we had gone about 1km down the road when I realised I'd left one of my rings behind at the B&B and had to run back to get it. I do not understand people who run for pleasure.

The train trip to Brighton was a 1 1/2 hour journey to Southampton (waves to Grandma), 1/2 an hour wait, then another 1 1/2 hour journey to Brighton. It all went quickly somehow. We bought ourselves rolls with mozzarella and tomato at Southampton station for lunch. Surprisingly the bread was excellent and the price reasonable.

We were not thrilled when we got to Brighton. Our hotel is a good 20-30 minute walk from the railway station and all the roads and pavements were crowded and all the buildings modern with standard high street shops in them. Our hotel is right opposite the beach but the area seemed a little seedy.  The hotel is on a corner and is made up of two old buildings (Regency ?) joined together. One facing the sea and the other behind it facing the side street. The floor levels in the two buildings don't match so there are a lot of half flights of stairs going up and down. Fire safety regulations here mean there must be a fire door at the top and bottom of every staircase, no matter how short. Therefore, we have to go through 6 doors to get to the section of corridor with our rooms as we are in the side building (rooms with a sea view cost extra).

Our first stop after checking in was to go to the local launderette as there is only so much washing (rinsing?) that can be done in a bathroom sink. While our washing was spinning we wandered around our local neighbourhood. It turns out to we are on the western edge of Brighton, where it runs into the neighbouring town (now mostly absorbed) of Hove. This is more upmarket, and much prettier area, than where our hotel is. Many Regency era terraces and large squares with beautifully maintained gardens.

On the plus side for our hotel, the somewhat seedy seeming nearby street where the launderette is located is mostly wall-to-wall restaurants and cafes. It turns out that 3 of these are in the top 20 best restaurants in Brighton and a further 2 are in the top 50, out of about 800 reviewed on TripAdvisor. We seem to be staying in the local equivalent of Fitzroy. A good choice after all.

We went to one in the top 20 restaurants for dinner, Ephesus Turkish Restaurant. We shared a plate of mixed cold meze for entree and then a plate of mixed kebabs for main. These were all delicious. We also had a plate of vegetable moussaka which was sadly dull. For dessert we shared a dish of kunefe, which I had never heard of before. It is made of a soft white cheese, wrapped in shredded filo pastry, flavoured with orange syrup and topped with pistachios. Sounds rather odd but was very good, if rather rich. Must look up the recipe.

We are now back at the hotel, gently digesting like rather torpid snakes.

Day 15 - Bath

Distance walked: 14.5km,  Alcohol consumed: 1 large glass wine

We finally had decent weather today. Mostly clear skies, a bit cool but not windy and, most of all, no rain. It was a Sunday so, even though we got up late, when we sauntered out from our B&B the streets were largely deserted. We thought how pleasant and peaceful Bath is on a Sunday, until around 10am when the busloads of day-trippers showed up.

We wandered around the streets for a bit. We had planned to visit the Abbey but, of course, there were services going on so we couldn't. At 10:30am we joined a big crowd waiting for a free, 2 hour walking tour of Bath, organised by the local tourist bureau. There must have been almost 100 people in the crowd. Fortunately, 4 guides showed up and each took their own group in their own particular direction. It was a shame we didn't do this on the first day as, while it was very interesting, it covered a lot of ground we'd already been over. Still, the guide told us details that were new to us so it wasn't a waste of time.

After the walking tour we went back to Dough for lunch. We shared an antipasto platter to start with, which was very good. We then shared a pizza made with turmeric dough and an eggplant parmigiana. The pizza was tasty but I can't help feeling the various unusual doughs are just a gimmick. Regular dough would have been just as good.

After lunch we visited the local art gallery. The permanent collection was rather small and dull, but they had a special exhibition of drawings and paintings of dragons from various books for children. Mary and I were the only visitors to this exhibition without a least one small child in tow to justify our presence. I still think we enjoyed it more than the various parents did. No Tolkien or Le Guin dragons, but still some that were very good.

Next we got on the hop on-hop off bus that tours around inside the city. A terrible tourist trap but still fun to do as it took us to some places we hadn't been too before. Still, we sat up the top, and the best bit was watching how the driver manoeuvred a double-decker bus around the sharp turns and narrow streets in Bath. A Ferrari very nearly got crumpled.

One of the highlights of our Bath trip came next when, on a whim, we bought Koiugnettes from Maison Georges. These are spirals of rich, buttery pastry with a filling coated with syrup. I had the orange cointreau and Mary had the pistachio. They were divine.

We then went back to our B&B to pack as we are leaving for Brighton early tomorrow. After packing we headed out for an early dinner. We went to the tourist trap that is the Sally Lunn tea shop. We planned to have a light dinner so we each had a Sally Lunn bun (basically a brioche roll) with a topping. Mushrooms on toast for me and something with chicken for Mary. We then spoilt our good intentions by having dessert. Ginger pudding for Mary and apple & pear crumble with custard for me.

Finally we went on the Bizarre Bath comedy walk. It is a mix of stand-up comedy and magic tricks. At one point our guide blind folded himself and lead us along streets, claiming he was following a ley line. Then, for no particular reason, a man rode past on a bicycle with a bag over his head, tooting his horn - following another ley line presumably. Steward (or Stew for short) the toy rabbit also was wrapped in chains, then put in a bag and thrown in the river. However, he was a trained escape artist and bobbed back up to the surface 10 seconds later (how did he do that trick?). The show culminated with a member of the audience been put in stocks, jeered at, having rotten fruit thrown at them (actually just a few rather limp carrots) before having their head cut off. Yours truly was the chosen victim. A hilarious evening.

Day 14 - Bath

Distance walked: 13km, Alcohol consumed: 1 glass wine

Woke to clear, blue skies but the forecast for today was cool with rain so our first stop was the local Edinburgh Woollen Mill outlet so I could buy a cardigan. I've been rotating my two warmest tops all this last week, washing them in the bathroom sink each night. It was time for a change.

Anyway, before setting out was breakfast. Here each group of guests is assigned individual tables in the dining room. The room was tiny, so it was quite cramped, but thankfully Mary did not feel obliged to make bright conversation when she was just eating with me.

Our first tourist stop today was the Roman Baths. These are spectacular. The complex is only partly uncovered but it is still impressively large. There are free audio guides with almost too much detail. Throughout the complex there are TV screens with short videos showing what the particular part you are in looked like with actors playing small scenes. Some rooms had multiple TVs and each showed the same scene but from the appropriate angle. Very clever. It gave you a good idea of what it must have been like. We tried the waters - dreadful.

After this we headed off to the Assembly Rooms. We got very lucky here. It is the end of a Jane Austen festival here. There are many people wandering around in Regency dress and lots of Jane Austen-themed events going on. There was going to be one at the Assembly Rooms this afternoon so they were closed to the public. However, we arrived just in time for a free tour of the rooms from the upstairs balconies so we got a better view of the rooms than if they had been open.

After touring the Assembly Rooms we visited the Fashion Museum which is downstairs. They only show 100 pieces from the collection at a time, with just key items from each era to give you an idea of how clothing styles have changed. We found this very interesting. Mens' clothing has just become progressively duller and duller. My only complaint about this museum is that clothes from the 1950s onwards were all from the catwalk rather than being typical of each relevant period.  The 50s, 60s and 80s had such distinct styles it was a shame they didn't show what real people actually wore in these decades (well, perhaps not the 80s).

We then headed off for lunch at a small French bistro called Cafe Rouge (which I have since discovered is a chain). I started with a terrine with watercress, chutney and brown bread. This began well until I discovered a small caterpillar in my watercress. They took it away and offered me a replacement but I had rather gone off the idea of eating watercress. They did tell me that that particular container of watercress had been thrown away and the other container washed again, which I thought was good customer service. They also took the cost of my starter off the bill. I think they handled the incident very well. My main was a quiche with salad. The quiche was topped with more watercress. It is the "in" garnish here it seems.

After lunch we walked through the Royal Victoria Park before visiting No 1 Royal Crescent which is a Georgian townhouse that has been furnished and decorated in the original style. Each room had a guide in period costume who was happy to talk (and talk) about each room. What I like the best about this period house is that you get to see the servant quarters too. You definitely wanted to be upper class back then.

We then went to the  Jane Austen centre, but there was an entry fee and no description of what was inside so we just browsed in the shop before leaving for a Sicilian afternoon tea at Cafe Rosario. The coffee here was excellent - as good as Patricia's. We also had three small pastries. One made with almond meal with a black cherry filling (delicious), another which was a crescent of flaky pastry with a pistachio cream filling (good) and a cannoli with a chocolate cream filling (dull - both pastry and filling too thick).

After such a difficult afternoon we decided to be terribly touristy and get on one of those hop on-hop off buses. We took the Skyline tour at least, which took us around the outskirts of Bath so we could get a view of the city skyline and also the surrounding countryside. It takes all of 10 minutes to get back to farmland. Bath does not sprawl.

We headed back to the B&B for a quick wash and to drop off our souvenirs before heading out for dinner. This is when the weather got nasty. It had been clear and mostly sunny all day but it suddenly started to pour. Rain here is instantaneous. It is suddenly pouring and then it just as suddenly stops. Unfortunately it started to pour while we were searching for somewhere to eat so we had to stop at the first place with free tables - a downmarket pizza chain called Pizza Express. We shared some sun dried tomatoes with pizza "dough balls" and garlic butter to start. We then shared a pizza with black olives, buffalo mozzarella, rocket and salami. This should have been good. The topping was very tasty and the base was thin, but sadly it was also not crispy. We also ordered a side salad but our waiter, who assured us he didn't need to write anything down as he had an excellent memory, forgot about it. The service here was odd. At times it was excellent, while at other times it was dreadful. Often by the same waiter. We were going to have dessert but after 15 minutes nobody had taken our order so we just flagged down a passing wait-being and demanded the bill. We didn't leave a tip.

After dinner we went to a show called "More Pride & More Prejudice" at a small local theatre which was part of the Jane Austen festival. It was improvisational theatre and was about Jane Austen trying to think up follow on stories for Mr Bennett, Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Mary Bennett. Actors played each of these three characters as if they were figments of Jane's imagination who wouldn't stop complaining about how she had written about them. The audience was asked to provide suggestions and a couple of audience members were dragged up on stage to play minor parts (Mrs Bennett and Lady Anne). It was fun and the actor who played Jane was excellent, but it really requires the right people in the audience to really work well.

We then headed back to the B&B. It was late-ish on a Saturday night and there were groups of not entirely sober people wandering about. One advantage of being a middle-aged woman is you can walk past a group of drunken young men, secure in the knowledge you will be totally invisible to them.

Day 13 - Getting to Bath

Distance walked: 10.5km, Alcohol consumed: 1 glass wine

After breakfast, we paid Iris and headed off. I had thought she might give us a discount since she stuffed up our booking but she didn’t. She didn’t even remember how much to charge us. I had to tell her what she had quoted us. I suspect she wouldn’t even have remembered to charge us if I hadn’t reminded her.

Our first stop was Tetbury. Home to many antique shops and a shop full of Highgrove branded items. Highgrove is the home of the Prince of Wales. The antique shops were interesting to browse in. I would have been seriously tempted by several items, but fortunately the impossibility of shipping furniture back to Australia saved me. The Highgrove shop was interesting too. Not so much for the contents, which were just standard gift shop items, but the amount of money some people are prepared to pay for something connected to the royal family.

After Tetbury, we planned to stop at Malmsbury but it was market day and parking was impossible so we went on to Lacock. Iris had been rather scornful of this village, condemning it as a model village. It was a little like an English version of Sovereign Hill, but all the houses are original and people really live there. It is adorable. A lot of historic shows, plus some parts of the Harry Potter movies, have been filmed there. You can’t actually drive into the village. There is a large carpark on the outskirts run by the National Trust and then it is a 2 minute walk into the village centre. 

The manor house at Lacock is Lacock Abbey which was the home of a Mr Fox Talbot, who was the inventor of modern photography. I had always thought it was Daguerre but it turns out it wasn’t, according to the small museum on photography at Lacock.  Daguerre’s method just made a single, positive imagine.  Fox Talbot’s made negative, from which you could make multiple prints. All modern photography has been developed from his approach. He was a classic Victorian gentleman of scientific bent who explored many things, including spectrum analysis and was one of the first people to decipher Assyrian cuneiform. Just see what can be achieved if you don’t have to work for a living (and are a genius).

In addition to the museum you can also go through parts of the Talbots house, which has been furnished as it was in Fox Talbot’s time. You can also wander through the ruins of the Abbey’s cloister (usually - it was closed for filming something) and saunter through the gardens. We went through the house then stopped for lunch, planning to come back to see the gardens afterwards. 

We wandered around the village, before stopping at converted stables for a light lunch. I had pate on brown toast with a salad. Mary just had a ham sandwich.

We then tried to re-enter the grounds of the Talbot’s house. When then discovered that we had been supposed to pay an entry fee of 12 pounds each. For some reason, we weren’t charged the first time we went in, in spite of chatting to the woman at the entrance. Her replacement wasn’t so obliging and we weren’t sufficiently interested in gardens to pay up.  This proved to be lucky as it suddenly started to pour with rain.

Finally we set off for Bath. We had thought to stop by our B&B to drop off the bags before returning the car. However, the drive into Bath took longer than we expected so we just returned the car first. This proved to be a wise move as there was nowhere to park near our B&B. Cars are not as convenient as you might think. What is really convenient is a car and driver, as parking is a nightmare. Driving can also be exciting. The English approach to road design is “when in doubt, add a roundabout”. They even like to nest them so instead of a circle they are ore like a figure 8 - insanity. It took us 1 1/2 hours to drive the 20 miles from Lacock to the car hire depot.

We then got a taxi (car & driver!) to our B&B which is lovely. We both have good, big rooms (mine is the biggest) with big comfy beds and spacious bathrooms. The only drawback is that it is about a 10 minute walk from the centre of town.

After settling in we went into the town centre to pick up a bunch of pre-booked tickets from tourist information centre. After this we just roamed around, getting our bearings before stopping for an early dinner. It was a Friday night and we didn’t have bookings. It also suddenly came on to rain so we stopped at the first likely looking place - a very hip pizza joint called Dough. The make pizza and also pasta from a variety of different grains, including hemp, as well as just wheat. Mary had gnocchi made with turmeric in a paprika dough basket. The gnocchi was very good, the basket was just odd. I had tagliatelle made with chestnut flour with a duck ragu. The pasta was clearly made with something other than wheat but I wouldn’t known it was chestnuts if I did read it on the menu. The waiters were suitably Italian and flirty, which we both appreciated.

Day 12 - Around Painswick

Distance walked: 14km, Alcohol consumed: 2 large glasses wine

We all congregated in the dining room for breakfast - myself, Mary and the poachers of my four poster room plus another couple. Both of the other couples, 1 American and 1 Australian, were walking the Cotswold Way. We breakfasted on lumpy porridge and rather decent coffee.  We also had toast from freshly made bread - which is impossible to slice when it is straight out of the oven. We had doorstops rather than slices. Mary insisted on making bright conversation. Morning people are evil.

After breakfast, the hikers set off and Mary and I drove up to the Painswick Beacon, which is an Iron Age hill fort nestled in the middle of a golf course. We had some trouble finding it as it is just earth ramparts and Mary kept looking for stone towers and the like.

After (finding and) exploring the hill fort we set of for the Roman villa at Great Whitcombe. Driving there was rather exciting as a long part of the journey was along country lanes, barely a car wide, and through a farmer’s yard at one point. Mary was convinced we had come at it by the back entrance but it turned out it is the only way to get to it. It is an unstaffed site with a single information board but we had an interesting time clambering around the ruins and trying to work out what each room was used for.

After this we set out for the Roman villa at Chedworth. We started off barrelling down a motorway before abruptly turning off down country lanes again. This time it was me who was convinced the GPS was sending us down a subsidiary path but I was wrong. The villa here must have been huge when it was intact and there was plenty still to see, including mosaics in the dining room and the bathing area. We arrived just in time for a free tour which was very interesting and also entertaining. This took about an hour and then we wandered about on our own for about another hour.

Finally we set off for Nailsworth for lunch. However, this is a village at the bottom of a narrow valley. We successfully negotiated the switchback roads down to the village but found ourselves through the village and heading up the other side before we could find anywhere to park. Cars aren’t always convenient. We decided to head to Stroud for lunch instead.

Stroud is bigger and we had no trouble finding a park. We set off to find somewhere that would still serve us lunch as it was getting close to 2pm by this stage. We stopped at the first bistro we came to - Dinner at 6 - which turned out to be excellent. We shared a basket of various fresh breads with olives and olive oil & balsamic vinegar. I then had a 3 cheese omelette with a salad. Comfort food and tasty.

After lunch we started to do an historical trail around Stroud, using notice boards set up by the local tourist bureau. However, halfway through it started to pour with rain so we gave up and ran back to the car, to head back to Painswick. When we got back the rain had stopped, so we went to the Painswick Rococo gardens which are just fabulous. Rococco gardens are meant to impressive with follies and random statues and even mazes. They are meant as outdoor entertaining spaces. If I ever have a garden (with the requisite army of gardens) I want a roccco garden.

After a wash and a rest, we wandered around Painswick, following its local tourist bureaus trail. We came across an old (15th century) house that was up for sale. We were curious until we saw the price in a shop window - 1,365,000 pounds - and it was virtually derelict.

We decided to try a different pub for dinner - The Falcon. This proved to be a mistake. They were advertising for restaurant staff. Never eat at a restaurant that is looking to hire a chef. Our meal had all the hallmarks of being cooked by an apprentice who was out of his depth. We both had the French onion soup to start. The onions had clearly been cooked just long enough to soften, but not colour, them. They had then been pureed (why?) and some stock added. Before serving some balsamic vinegar had been drizzled on top (again why?). The soup had the colour and consistency of pureed apple and no flavour.

For main I had pork belly with cabbage and sweet potato. The pork belly had a layer of fat 2-3cm thick and rubbery skin. The sweet potato was harmless, but the cabbage had been fried briefly with random chunks (different sizes and shapes) of bacon. Disappointing.

Back to the B&B to pack for an early departure. Iris is sweet but I would really like to sleep in a comfortable bed one night soon.

Day 11 - Getting to Painswick

Distance walked: 16km,  Alcohol consumed: 1 1/2 pints of beer

We took a taxi from the centre of Oxford to the car hire depot on the outskirts just after 9am this morning. It was pleasant watching people rushing to work when you are sauntering off to the next stop on your holiday. Our hire car is a hybrid, which is a bit startling when the engine just stops when you expect to be idling at the lights.

Mary had programmed her GPS to find the shortest route, which meant highways and motorways. I reprogrammed it for scenic routes which took not much longer but were much prettier. I'm trying to convince Mary that the journey is as much a part of the holiday as the destination. She is not entirely sure.

Our first stop on our drive through the Cotswolds was Stow-on-the-Wold. It was a bit of a disappointment because, while it is very pretty, it is also very twee. Every second shop was a tea shop and the ones in-between were antique shops. We stopped at one of the tea shops for some decent coffee, lowering the average age of the customers considerably.

We then went on to Lower Slaughter. It's main claim to fame is the pretty, but short walk, to the village of Upper Slaughter. Lower Slaughter is tiny. Besides houses it has a pub, the old manor house which has been converted into a restaurant and the old mill which has been converted into a gift shop. Mary wasn't convinced we had arrived. She kept looking around for the main street with the shops. It took some work to convince her we were standing on the main street - all 100m of it.

We then set off on the walk to Upper Slaughter which is part of a waymarked trail know as the Warden's Way. We first went pass many paddocks with horses, but then across a main road and through a housing estate. This didn't seem to be the pretty walk we had been promised so we headed back to Lower Slaughter and went in the opposite direction (once we found the cunningly hidden sign). This was the right way and it was pretty. It was also supposed to take around 30 minutes to walk. However, we measured the distance and it is only 1km between the two villages and along the river bank so dead level. Perhaps if you crawled it would take 30 minutes.

Upper Slaughter was even tinier than Lower Slaughter, finally convincing Mary that some things are about the journey, not the destination. We then headed back to Lower Slaughter and the pub for lunch. This was a strange experience. The pub was very old, with many odd shaped rooms with low beams. We went in, helped ourselves to some menus and found ourselves a table. After making up our minds I went to the bar to order. However, it is trying to be a gastro pub with table service so we had confused the system. I had also confused the barman. The staff seems to consist of two Eastern Europeans - one man and one woman, which was not nearly enough for the size (and shape) of the place. The woman seemed terrified of doing anything with a customer - taking an order or taking their payments. She just wanted to clear tables. The man, the barman, was happy serving customers drinks but didn't want to take orders. Eventually an Englishman showed up to take our order.

I had wild garlic arancini with grilled zucchini, roasted tomatoes and peas with feta. The arancini were crispy but otherwise dull. The accompaniments were tasty. I think I had a 1/2 pint of a local beer, but I couldn't tell you what it was. That was stretching the barman's abilities too far.

After lunch we headed off for Chipping Campden. Our timing was perfect as it began to rain just as we were leaving. We were lucky all day, as while it was cool, it was generally sunny. The only times it rained where when we were in the car driving somewhere. Chipping Campden was everything Mary was hoping for in a Cotswold village. It is very pretty but has real shops for real locals too. It also has a few things to look at - an amazing church, Market hall and tiny museum dedicated to the local arts & crafts movement.

After this successful stop we headed off to Broadway to climb their tower and get a view of the countryside - which is picture postcard beautiful. Unfortunately we had programmed the GPS for the village of Broadway and it turns out the tower is a few kilometres away. By this stage it was 5pm and we couldn't be bothered searching for it so we headed for our destination for the night - Painswick.

I had high hopes for our B&B here, St Anne's. I had booked the blue room - to be converted from a twin into a double - for Mary and the red room - with its four poster bed for me. When we arrived we were told by a slightly sheepish landlady, Iris, that she had set the blue room up as a twin for us as she had noted the booking was for two people. It was only when she double-checked our booking the day before that she saw we had asked for two rooms. Sadly she had rented out the (my!) red room already to someone else. I'm staying here - in the blue, twin bedded room, while Mary is staying next door with some friends of the landlady who used to run a B&B and still have some spare rooms. All very awkward for Mary. Apparently, this is not the first time Iris has stuffed up and overbooked, requiring her friends to come to the rescue. In fact, I walked the Costwold Way around 10 years ago and I remember when I got to Painswick, my sheepish, ditzy landlady bumped me to a neighbouring property. I wonder if it was Iris?

After settling in at our respective B&Bs we headed out for dinner. Mary initially said she refused to eat at anywhere Iris recommended. We then discovered that the 5 places Iris told us about are the only places to eat in Painswick of an evening. We ended up at the Royal Oak which was a good, local pub with decent local pub grub. I had a chicken & leek pie with mashed potatoes and some fried cabbage. The first leafy greens I've eaten all holiday.

Then back to our respective B&Bs for the night. My room here is quaint with oddly sloping floors. The bed is OK, but I have the choice of opening a window and being cold or keeping it closed and having the room be very stuffy. All the houses here are so well insulated it is really rather inconvenient.

Day 10 - Oxford

Distance walked: 13km,  Alcohol consumed: 1 large glass wine

Woke to clear, blue skies which, heaven be praised, stayed that way all day. After breakfast, we headed to the Botanic Gardens for a stroll as most things here don't open until 10am. However, it turns out that the Gardens don't open until 9am so we went to a nearby coffee shop as the coffee in the college is dire. The first place we tried was the oldest coffee shop in England but it doesn't open until 9am either! What coffee shop doesn't open in the morning to provide coffee to worker bees on their way to work?! We went across the road to another cafe that claimed to be the oldest established coffee shop in all of Europe, which opens at 7:30am. The coffee was drinkable.

After obtaining caffeine, we went back to the Botanic Gardens but it turned out they had a 5 pound entry fee and neither of us are sufficiently keen gardeners. Instead we went for a walk around Christ Church meadow down to the point where the Cherwell river meets the Thames. We then visited Christ Church college. We had pre-purchased tickets to enter as recommended. We queued up in the appropriate queue. They first let in a large tour group of Chinese. The attendant then got into a long conversation with a teacher with a group of students who was behind us in the queue. Meanwhile, the non-pre-booked queue was moving briskly. After standing and waiting patiently for 5 minutes and not even having our existence acknowledged, we just walked right on in. Nobody seemed to notice.

Christ Church college is very grand. The Hall is fabulous. It is where they filmed the Harry Potter dining room scenes and you can see why. Not very friendly though so I wouldn't want to stay here. Magdalen is still my favourite.

After visiting the college, we then went to the Museum of Oxford. This is in one corner of the town hall and is about the town, not the university.  I enjoyed it and would have stayed longer, looking at every single thing but Mary was impatient to keep moving. She likes to do things quickly. We next climbed to the top of Carfax Tower to admire the view over Oxford. I do like climbing towers to see the view. You get such a better idea of a town that way.

We then went up to North Oxford to have lunch at the Pierre Victoire again. They didn't recognise us. It was packed this time but the service was still friendly and efficient. This time I had a salmon timbale with couscous for entree and duck leg in a cherry sauce for main. The salmon was tasty, if a little light on salmon. The duck was good too but rather rich. It needed a green salad or something to go with it. I skipped dessert this time.

The next stop was the Ashmolean Museum where we spent all the afternoon. I must confess I got a little bored at times. There are only so many broken pottery bowls and bronze pins from various civilisations I can be bothered looking at. The best parts were the special exhibits in the basement which were specific to a topic rather than a place & time. There was one on money and another on writing and a third on textiles. There was also a picture gallery on the top floor.  I wasn't expecting to like it but Mary and I were philistines together and just looked at the portraits and the landscapes, ignoring all the religious art which I find dull. Our favourites were the Renaissance portraits.

We stayed until closing time and then headed back to college for a rest and a wash. When we headed out for dinner at 7pm the weather had changed. It was now windy and drizzling again. We tried three different pubs close to college but they were all packed. There are advantages from eating ridiculously early. We settled on an Italian chain restaurant called ASK Italian. It was bright, spacious and had plenty of free tables so it suited Mary better than a pub. Also Italian food is comfort food for us. I had a pizza with proscuitto and salami while Mary had a baked rigatoni dish with meatballs. We swapped halfway. We both agreed the pasta was best but both were fine. I had a slice of pistachio cake for dessert.

Well, we've "done" Oxford now. Off the the Cotswolds tomorrow - and more drizzly overcast days. Sigh.

Day 9 - Oxford

Distance walked: 14km (perhaps this FitBit is telling the truth), Alcohol consumed: 1 large glass wine

Cool and overcast today but no rain, and also very few other tourists. The hordes for  Open Oxford weekend have all gone home. So has my bathroom-mate but unfortunately she has been replaced by a tall, dark haired man who leaves the toilet seat up, leaves hair all over the sink when he shaves and bathes in aftershave. Most of the disadvantages of living with a man but none of the benefits.

After breakfast we went to the Bodleian library to book a 10:30am tour. You can't visit any of it unless on a tour. After getting our tickets we went shopping. Mary had to buy presents for her family while I needed new shoes. I have discovered why I had pushed my old walking shoes to the back of my wardrobe. Most of the time they are fine, but they do rub against my ankle bones, which starts to hurt after a few days.

Shopping completed it was off to the Bodleian for our tour. It is just superb. We started off with Duke Humprey's library which is where it all began (and they filmed the library scenes in Harry Potter). Our guide told us all sorts of details about how books were shelved (chains, no chains, where to put the chain, lying down, upright), how to lay out a library and how the cataloguing and book retrieval system works. As children of a librarian, Mary & I were fascinated. We then visited the University council chamber which is on the ground floor and the University court room. The ability to try university members (staff & students) in their own court only ended in the 1960s. My favourite sight was the benefactors board with everyone listed in Latin, including current day donors. Any guesses to what the Fundamentum Rockefellus is?

Afterwards we headed to the Oxford Museum of Natural History which Mary wanted to see. I expected to be bored but it as fun. An old fashioned museum with dinosaur skeletons and two stuffed bears (1 black, 1 brown) that you could pat.

We then went to a little French bistro called Pierre Victoire for their prix fixe lunch - plus wine, mineral water and, in my case, dessert. It was all delicious. I started with the pate and then had pork loin in a mustard & cornichon sauce with potatoes dauphinois.  For dessert I had cherry claufoutis. All very yum. We must go back.

Feeling slightly tipsy we went back to the museum, via St Giles Church, walking the labyrinth in the graveyard. Our next museum was the Pitt Rivers Museum which was rather overwhelming. General Pitt Rivers was just a hoarder. Each display case (or collection of cases) had a theme such as "Flutes" and was stuffed full of such objects, with tiny handwritten labels that you couldn't read in the dim lights. There were cases of musical instruments, model ships, weaving, lace making, lamps, writing material, clothing, how the dead are treated, how dead enemies are treated (lots of shrunken heads), weapons of all sorts - each in its own collection, armour, jewellery, beads, make-up, ... It just went on and on over three floors. But all from want we would call developing countries these days so really terribly patronising.

Feeling rather museum-ed out we wandered back to college for a rest and a wash. It is a shame the weather in Oxford has been so unpleasant as it would be nice to sit in a park and soak up the sun, people watch and read a book but it is just too cool and damp.  Instead we went on some walks described in my book City Walks Oxford, walking briskly to keep warm, before heading off to an early dinner.

We ate at Turl Street Kitchen which was very earnest. Mary liked her food but mine was bland. I had beef & red wine pie which desperately needed salt. It was accompanied by chips - more stodge - when it should have come with peas or some other vegetable.

Day 8 - Oxford

Distance walked: 17km (really don't believe this FitBit), Alcohol consumed: 1 glass wine

Woke this morning to clear, blue skies but the weather was just teasing. By the time breakfast was served (9am) it was overcast and threatening rain. It stayed that way the rest of the day, except when it actually was raining. It was also very windy so fairly miserable. The weather in York was actually better than here. Even there, when it was drizzling, it was never very cold or windy so it was quite mild. Mild is not a word for the weather today.

In any case, we dressed up warmly and headed out. This weekend is Open Oxford which means places that are often closed to the public are open, while others that usually charge a fee to visit are free so we packed in as much as we could.

We started out visiting Merton College where JRR Tolkien was a fellow (small, cosy & pretty) then headed out to North Oxford to visit Somerville College where Dorothy L Sayers was a student (ugly & dull). Then we visited the Radcliffe Observatory (lovely) and took a quick peek at St Sepulchre's Cemetery. We then stopped at Mezzeto for lunch, which is the first place where I'd happily go back to. It serves Middle Eastern food. We had chermoula aubergine with bulgar wheat and greek yoghurt (no sign of aubergine), broad beans with sundried tomatoes & artichokes & goat's cheese (delicious), fried vegetables with garlic mayonnaise (yum) and romesco sauce, and chickpeas & chorizo (tasty). We finished with coffee which was sadly horrible.

After fortifying ourselves with lunch we went back to the centre of Oxford and visited Balliol (Lord Peter Whimsey) and Trinity Colleges. Next we went to the History of Science Museum where we saw, among other things, a chalkboard with equations by Einstein (he left out a factor of 10 somewhere) and pieces of Babbage's Difference Engine. We also peered in the Divinity School (where they filmed the school infirmary scenes in the Harry Potter movies) and also the Sheldonian Theatre where the conferring of degrees ceremony is held. Next we went to All Souls but skipped the enormous queue to visit their library (not sure why it was so popular although it did look spectacular from the glimpse we got through the door). Finally we went to Magdalen College (C. S. Lewis & Oscar Wilde) which is the best of all the ones we visited. We liked it even better than Oriel where we are staying, although Oriel is definitely in a strong second place.

After all this culture we stopped at the Rose Tea Room for a cream tea. They do proper scones here - just plain not fruit ones. All the places I saw in York insisted on sticking sultanas in them - gack. When we left the tea room it decided to start raining heavily - none of this drizzle nonsense. We headed to the closest supermarket to buy some snacks for a light dinner and some toiletries as the offerings in the college are a little sparse.

We are now holed up in Mary's room as she has a couch as well as an arm chair so it is more comfortable for lounging in. We might go out for a beer later if we can be bothered.

Last night I had to share my bathroom with a Scandinavian woman. She got up bright and early (about 6:30am), showered, packed and left. I had high hopes that I might have my bathroom to myself now as I was expecting a lot of people were here for the Open Weekend and would go home. Sadly when I got back to my room the overpowering stench of aftershave proved me mistaken. If I had been in any doubt the toilet seat (left up) and hairs all over the bathroom sink from shaving would have made it clear I have a new (male) companion in the neighbouring room. Sigh.

Day 7 - Getting to Oxford

Distance walked: 11km (I really don't believe this FitBit), Alcohol consumed: 1 large glass wine

Woke to an overcast and drizzly sky - again.  We left the flat early and decided to have breakfast at a cafe on the way to the station.  In fact, we left so early the only cafe we came across wasn't actually open for another 10 minutes but they served us anyway.  I've found the service here in Yorkshire to be very good.  Not fawning, "hello my name is xxx and I am your waiter today" service but just helpful and friendly.  We've been served cheerfully in cafes 15 minutes before closing and now, in one 10 minutes before opening.

After breakfast we made our way to the railway station to catch a train to Oxford.  I guess this is the last time I will visit York - unless I go on a hiking trip in Yorkshire (which is entirely possible).

It rained off and on all through the journey, with occasional patches of blue sky just to tease. However, it was overcast and drizzly when we finally made it to Oxford. I'm sensing a theme with English weather.

We are staying at Oriel College as it is still the university holidays and it is just fabulous. Imagine every film or photo of an Oxford college you've seen and it is just like that.  We are on staircase 15. We booked late so only Mary got a room with an ensuite. I share my bathroom with my neighbour. Each room on this staircase is a different size and shape.  I seem to have got the smallest but it is entirely functional. The bathroom is cosy. Clearly only slim people need to be able to fit in the shower.

After checking in we headed out to do a two hour walking tour of Oxford run by Footprint Tours. All the guides are university students. Our guide, Luke, had just finished his law degree but claimed to miss doing the tours so he comes up to Oxford from London on weekends to keep doing them. I'm not sure if he is a solicitor or (training to be) a barrister but he certainly has the gift of the gab. He was very engaging and knew how to entertain a crowd.

After the tour we just wandered around on our own for a bit and also visited the Weston Library (a branch of the Bodleian apparently) and looked at their exhibition of rare books - including a page from the Magna Carta, and also an exhibition on Jane Austen until they threw us out at closing time.

We went back to the college for a rest and then headed out for  dinner. It appears that the vast majority of places to eat in Oxford are pubs. There aren't many restaurants - at least we couldn't find them. A pub would suit me but Mary wasn't keen so we settled on a place called Zizzi which is a chain of Italian restaurants. It was better than I expected. To start with I had Toscana soup - basically a vegetable soup but with quinoa rather than the more traditional pasta. For main I had pizza with wild (?) boar meatballs and smoked chorizo. Again, hardly traditional but tasty.

Back to the college and through the sally port in the main door. Such fun.

Day 6 - Harrogate

Distance walked: 13km (not sure I believe this), Alcohol consumed: 1 glass beer, 3 small G&Ts, 1 large glass wine

Today we woke to overcast skies with drizzle.  It is beginning to be a common theme.  We headed off for the day to Harrogate by train.  We arrived quite early and puttered around the small but pretty town before stopping for a quite decent coffee.  Surprisingly enough most of the coffee we've had has been decent.  Not good, but drinkable.  I've been pleasantly surprised.

At 11:15am we met up with Kay from Yorkshire Appetite food tour, for a 3 hour walking trip that combined the history of the town with the chance to try some local produce.  We started at the Starling Beer and Coffee House.  Sadly neither beer nor coffee was on the menu here.  Instead, we had a half sized serve of Eggs Benedict with bread from a local bakery, free range eggs from a nearby farm and bacon (free range?) from another local farm.  Tasty but would have preferred to try their coffee.

Next we went to Yorkshire Tapas which serves Northern "soul food" above a blues bar.  The building was fantastic.  We ate a Yorkshire pudding with brisket pull beef, creamy mashed potatoes (local again) and parsnip crisps.  Very tasty but a large serve for a tapas bar.  No info from the owner about why this is "soul food" for Northerns which was a bit of a missed opportunity.

The stop after this was a combination bike shop and coffee shop, Prologue.  Even though it was the middle of a workday, it was full of MAMALs.   Here we ate a small square of some health food slice, which seemed to be mainly oats, nuts and seeds held together with agave syrup.  I think it was more fibre than I've eaten the rest of this holiday.

The fourth stop was one of the best.  An ice cream/gelato parlour called Vanilli's, run by a good Yorkshireman called Alex.  I had lime & mascarpone which was a bit too heavy on the lime but otherwise quite tasty.   The reason this stop was such a good one was it was quiet so the owner stopped to chat with us about how he makes his ice creams and how he comes up with the various flavours.  He was keen that only the best quality ingredients should be used and that the flavours should be interesting - quality over quantity.  He kept rushing out the back to bring us samples of new flavours he was working on.  I had orange marmalade, rhubarb and forest fruit crumble, blueberry, carrot cake (made with crushed up carrot cake) and a watermelon sorbet.  I think he would have kept us there, trying more and more flavours but Kay hurried us on.

The next stop was a bit of a disappointment.  It was Hales Bar which is the oldest bar in Harrogate. The building is amazing but the landlady was unsociable.  Even though we were the only customers, beside one regular propping up the bar, she put our beer and food down in front of us and then disappeared back into the kitchen without saying a word.  The beer was a light local IPA - too hoppy for me.  The food was two local cheese - a blue cheese (not a fan) plus a Wensleydale studded with blueberries (why?).

Farrah's was the next stop, which is a local confectioner famous for their toffee which is flavoured with lemon.  Forgettable and we didn't even get to go into the shop.  We just stood outside and Kay bought us our snack.

The last stop cheered us up.  It was the Spirit of Harrogate which is home to the local Slingsby gin. Not only were we allowed inside, we were welcomed by one of their salesmen who was cheery, cheeky and passionate about his product.  We got to try their standard london dry gin (very good and very drinkable), their rhubarb gin (very tasty but better with ginger ale and ice on a hot day) and their navy strength gin (which puts hairs on your chest).  They also had a range of about 6-8 other gins that they are trialling, which are available to taste.  If they prove popular, they get put into production. There were all sorts of weird and wonderful flavours (gooseberry gin anyone?) plus three that had been mixed with cream (gack).  They are trying to sell their product in Australia.  I hope they get through all the red tape as their booze is delicious.

After bidding farewell to Kay, we went to the Royal Pump Room museum which had an odd collection of items.  I enjoy small museums has they have more character, if a more limited collection, than the big ones.  This one included a small display on a man who got himself mummified for science a couple of years back.

After this we wandered back to the railway station to go "home" to York, as the weather had beaten us down.  Melbourne might think it has changeable weather but Harrogate has it beat.  We would go into a shop wearing sunglasses and then leave 10 minutes later needing to don wet weather gear.  We went through this cycle half a dozen times.

Back in York, we had a farewell dinner at Piccolino which is the first place were I thought the food was good rather than just OK.  I had mozzarella, finocchio salami and figs to start and then penne with melanzane and ndjua for main.  Finally I tried their tiramisu which was just OK sadly.  For some reason they poured some custard around it and the custard had split.  The chef should never have allowed that dish out of the kitchen.

Finally, back to the flat to pack and get ready for our next stop - Oxford.

Day 5 - Castle Howard

Distance walked: 9km,  Alcohol consumed: 1 large glass wine

Today we took a local bus service to Castle Howard.  Over 90% of the people on the bus were tourists headed to the same destination.  The only exceptions for a handful of people who were going to the giant shopping mall we passed on the way.  While the bus took a long and winding route, which took the best part of an hour, it was interesting to see the suburbs and villages on the way rather than just heading up the main highway.

Once we got to Castle Howard we took a tour around the outside of the house with a volunteer who told us about the history and the architecture.  As she was an enthusiastic amateur she provided just the right amount of detail.  After this we went inside, which I found to be a disappointment.  It is a baroque building so not at all too my taste.  Too ornate and just too much going on so I found it more overwhelming rather than impressive.  Also, only two rooms on display were set up as actual rooms as they would have been used (the bedrooms of the original Earl & Countess).  The rest were just stuffed with precious furniture and every inch of wall covered with valuable paintings.  Perhaps that is how the rooms who have looked when they were in use, but it felt more like a rather cluttered museum.

We spent the rest of the day wandering the grounds, which we just spectacular and much more interesting to me.  I love gardens, when someone else does the gardening.  Sadly, it started to rain about mid-afternoon so we had to cut our visit short and head back to York.

There were hoards of Chinese tourists at Castle Howard and plenty around York also, which we found a little surprising.  It turns out that the Chinese equivalent of Justin Timberlake had his 10 million pound wedding reception at Castle Howard, putting it and York on the map.  It sounded like an amazing affair, with 60 guests and 180 staff to look after them.  There were jugglers, acrobats and minstrels and, of course, fireworks over the lake.

Back in York we whiled away some time in a bookshop.  We found a shop with a collection of Ladybird Books for Adults with titles including "How it Works: The Husband" and "The Ladybird Book of the Hangover".  However, my personal favourites were the Famous Five books such as "Five Forget Mother's Day" and "Five Go on a Strategy Away Day".  After awhile we were annoying the staff with our giggling and had to leave.

We had dinner at Prezzo which was nearby.  This is basically all it had to recommend it.  We had a antipasto platter to start which wasn't bad, but then all they had to do way lay out some salamis and olives and bread.  I was going to say it is hard to get that wrong, but I remember places that have done it very badly so perhaps I should refrain.  For main we shared two pizzas - mushroom & proscuitto (good) and goat's cheese & red pepper (bad).  There were two thin slices of yellow capsicum on the second pizza.  To make up for that stinginess, they doubled the quantity of goat's cheese which made it just too goaty.

Back to the flat and blessed be, no 3am wake-up call at nightclub closing time this once.

Day 4 - York

Distance walked: 10km,  Alcohol consumed: 1 beer (1/2 pint), 1 wine (1 large glass)

Woke today to clear skies but it was a bit crisp.  Fortunately, as we are on holiday we don't have to venture out-of-doors bright and early.  By the time we did leave it had started to warm up and we had a pleasant, mild day.

First stop was the York Castle Museum which had been recommended to us by Ben, our guide from yesterday.  It was well worth a visit.  It is actually housed across two buildings - the old Womens' Prison and Mens' Prison.  It was organised by themes rather than display case after display case of items.  It had recreations of rooms from various periods - Georgian, Victorian and two rooms from earlier periods.  It also had a recreation of a Victorian street that you could walk down and go into some of the shops and living spaces behind them.  Some of the shops had museum staff dressed up in period costume who could tell you about that particular shop and life in Victorian times in general. There was also a display of clothing through the ages, with the opportunity to try some things on (we didn't).

That was the Womens' Prison.  The Mens' Prison had had an exhibition on the First World War. Again, lots of recreations - including a trench you could clamber around in and a train you could sit in and watch out the window as it took you from your home to army.  It was well done but we didn't spend long here.  The last part was in some of the original cells with short videos of actors dressed up in period costume, telling you about how they came to be locked up in prison and what became of them.  Very interesting and very grim.  

After the museum we climbed up Clifford's Tower to admire the view over York and surrounds.  I like heights, Mary is not so keen.

We then went to Duke of York pub for lunch.  Another recommendation by Ben and another winner. Good pub grub and good, local (-ish  - from Leeds) beer.

After lunch we visited the Holy Trinity Church on Goodramgate which dates from the 12th century. It had box pews, which I had never seen before. These date from after Henry VIII and each box could be rented by a individual family.  It had high walls (about chest height - on me) and seats all around facing inwards.  The idea was you just listened to the pastor who was giving the sermon rather than having to watch him, as in the Church of England you don't need a priest to communicate with God on your behalf.

We then walked along the city walls to the Museum Gardens where we came across an Owl & Raptor sanctuary which had a visiting zoo set up in the gardens.  There were half a dozen owls which are just amazing creatures, plus a falcon and a hawk.  For the princely sum of 3 pounds you could get your photo taken with one of the birds.  I chose the falcon of course.  Her name was Lady and she reminded me a lot of Pete.  Greedy and demanding and surprisingly heavy.

We then had a remarkably good coffee at a nearby tea shop before tackling our last museum for the day -  the Yorkshire Museum.   This had displays on Roman and Viking settlement in York.  Again, along with the standard display cases full of stuff, there were short videos from experts talking about particular items and things to try on or handle.  But the absolutely best bit was the VR display of a Viking camp.  We almost walked out of that room as we didn't understand what we were supposed to do.  They had these big wooden masks on stands.  We poked at the various button-like spots on the front and were about to leave when Mary had the idea (who knows from where) of picking one up and putting it in front of her face.  It was amazing.  You got a 360 degree view of a particular spot in the camp.  You could also look up and down and see different things.  There were sounds of people talking, horses walking about and birds calling.  Just fabulous.

They do good museums here.

After all that culture we repaired back to our apartment for a wash and a rest before heading out to dinner.  We planned to go to an Italian restaurant specialising in Sardinian cuisine that was a little bit out of the centre. When we got there were discovered they were on holiday so had to tramp back.  We had our hearts (stomachs?) set on Italian food and after a bit of searching stumbled across Marzano Italian Grill.  I had goat's cheese and caramelised onion bruschetta to start and then penne with spring vegetables for main.  It was adequate.

Back to the apartment for bed and our nightly 3am wake-up call when the local nightclub closes it doors.

Day 3 - York

Distance walked:  8km,   Alcohol consumed: 1 beer (1/2 pint), 1 wine (large glass)

We woke to the sound of rain pattering down, which was a shame.  After a leisurely breakfast we wandered off to the Jorvik Viking Centre.  We had pre-booked a 10am visit, so queued up in the fast track lane rather than the general admission queue - which moved faster than our queue.  Our queue was full of a large group of Danes from some historical society.  They take an annual holiday to a destination "visited" by their ancestors.  The viking centre is a spectacular museum.  The tour through the actual remains of the viking village was the best.  Everyone was in their own amusement car and you were driven through the village with an audio tour at a set pace.    The museum section was not so good.  The displays were fascinating too, but it was so crowded you had to elbow your way to the front to peer into each display case.  They had a museum staffer, dressed in traditional clothing, talking about various items, which was interesting too - until we were elbowed out of the way to make room for later visitors.

We next went to Fairfax House which is a restored Georgian townhouse.  Sadly, the back half of the house had been demolished in the 60s, but miraculously the front of the house was left largely intact, included the elaborate plaster ceilings.  Each of the 6 remaining rooms had a guide who would tell you all about the room and the contents.  None of the contents were original to the house.  Instead they were all on permanent loan from a mad-keen collector of Georgian furniture - whose wife had put her foot down and insisted he stop cluttering up their own house!

We went to the Three Tuns pub for lunch as it is one of the oldest in York and had good reviews. Sadly, it was a disappointment.  The building is lovely and they had real ales on tap, but after that it begins to go down hill.  None of the beers were local and the food was dull.  Soggy chips and bland food.

After lunch we wandered around for a bit.  We stopped in at craft shop, where the building was more interesting than the contents.  It was tiny, with sloping floors and narrow, steep staircases.  When doing renovations they uncovered a Victorian fireplace, a single medieval wall panel and the original vaulted beam ceiling.  As one guide said to us, you can't do any work in York without uncovering something historical.  They have more history than they know what to do with - as evidenced by the use of some old Roman stone coffins as planters in the Museum gardens.

We also visited a shop selling antiques.  The was more of a bazaar as it was a very large building (tall and thin as everything is inside the city walls) full of glass cabinets.  Each cabinet was stocked by a different antique dealer.  It had everything from Bronze Age arrowheads (with a certificate of authentication), items from ancient Rome & Greece, all the way up to the modern age.  Mainly jewellery and bric a brac.  There was so much stuff it was just overwhelming.

We ended up at York Minster and went into their shop, where I bought a pattern for knitting your own gargoyle.  I never realised how much I needed one before.

Finally, we went on a 3 hour walking tour of York lead by Ben from White Rose York tours.  It was the highlight of our trip so far.  Ben was knowledgeable and funny and charming and all of only 23. Had studied history at university but also dabbled in performing arts, which showed as he not only knew his topic but how to present it in an interesting and entertaining fashion.

We rested our feet briefly after the walking tour before heading out to dinner at 7:30pm. The first restaurant we tried claimed to be fully booked and couldn't get us out the door fast enough. Apparently we were lowering their tone.  The second one we tried was more up-market but more friendly so we ate there (31 Castlegate).  It specialised in "European fine dining" and had good reviews.  It was certainly better than the place we went last night, but Melbourne still has nothing to worry about.

We were given two (small) pieces of bread, with balsamic vinegar and olive oil to nibble on for free. Fresh bread tonight, rather than stale like last night.  For entree I had roasted beetroot and red onion tart with goat's cheese and rocket which was very good.  For main I had pigeon ballotine stuffed with black pudding with a chorizo&potato croquette  and fresh peas, which wasn't as successful.  The pigeon was tough and its taste totally overpowered by the black pudding.  We were smart enough to skip dessert this time.