Yesterday Greyrocks passed very close to Strasbourg- a key site of a united Europe, but we have recently escaped from our land of birth with its suicidal determination on divorce! It's time to document our tour, and this first (southern) section turned out to be full of surprises. Themes emerged: Art, Ale and the Anti-Establishment.
1. Broadstairs (3 nights)
A quick run from Dover and chosen mainly to get Yvette her annual service and MOT certification! We had a booking at a Travelodge near to the chosen garage, which looked as if it would be handy for shops. In fact it was in a brilliant location within a nearly-new shopping centre with all the chain stores, a cinema, free parking, a bus interchange and a
Marstons pub. Completely without character - of course - but all very handy, so Bob took in the car and cycled back to base so we could do sensible shopping for the rest of that day and plan for a day out next one. This involved a very cheap day ticket to take us round the towns of
The Isle of Thanet. We started in Margate, but much of it was closed! At the Turner Contemporary the main galleries were being re-fitted so we enjoyed just the foyer installation - the
Three Graces - and the collection of Turner sketches and etchings. We wanted to see what has been done to
Dreamland, having heard of its renaissance in US retro style, but it was closed that day,as was a gallery selling images of Margate past and present that interested us. So we took a long cold walk to see the Winter Gardens and then returned to the Old Town, where we found a delightful old pub with a good selection of ales, and by the time we had warmed up, and chatted to staff and customers there was no time for either Broadstairs or Ramsgate so we took the bus back! During the stay we also availed ourselves of the on-site cinema and enjoyed
"Their Finest" in a near-empty venue.
2. Rotherfield (2 nights)
Next we went to visit J and A in the depths of the
Weald. There were enough dry spells to enjoy their garden and go for a cold walk in the bluebell-rich woods, and we had a fairly good Sunday roast in a local pub.
3. Brighton ( 3 nights)
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| New at the West Pier site: i360 |
There were disgusting weather forecasts for this period, but it began well with glorious sunshine and we had a great time throughout based in a well-chosen hotel in Hove, where Yvette could rest undisturbed whilst we used the excellent bus service (or in Bob's case - in one dry spell - the bike). We had a number of unexciting shopping, laundry, hair and health missions to complete, but we also walked a lot, re-visiting old haunts and seeing the new features. One of these is the
i360, and a trip up it was a "high point" of the stay for Ruth. (Bob stayed on
terra firma and R left her money with him so could not have an over-priced English fizz on board!)
"Doing" the North Laines we dropped into a favoured pub and the bar-person spoke of a recent treat - which set Greyrocks off to book for the coming weekend!
4. South London (6 nights)
Maggie and newly-retired Neil once again put us up (or put up with us). We made a wet trip round Bromley on the way and feared the next day's Balham job would be a repeat of last year's soggy stressful one, but we got away with it:- the purpose being to extricate nineteen years' worth of photo albums from the loft for transport to Bristol and digitising prior to disposal. With help from Pete "next door" and Colin the gardener we manged to speedily get the boxes down the ladder and into the emptied Yvette then take the boys for a few pints in the Moon Under Water (now even more sordid than we remembered!) Next day was free of tasks and we wallowed in it by following up the Brighton discussion. We did the
Pink Floyd exhibition at the V and A museum! This was a mind-blowing experience. Even with timed tickets it was very crowded but the organisation, technical wizardry and evocation of decades of genius made this couple of hours unforgettable. It was cold and wet outside but we got two buses each way for next to nothing adding some South London sight-seeing to the pleasure. That evening we took N and M out for a fine Sardinian meal.
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| Kitsch or what? |
Sunday saw Neil announce we were off on a crawl of three Catford establishments - and what an interesting trio they were! First - possibly in response to the recent gentrification of the area - the pub at the station has had an overhaul and serves some good ale, then to the unlikely place of the old
Constitutional (Tory) Club,and then to the Theatre foyer where
Little Nan's has opened an outpost of their famous Deptford place.
There was teapotful of an exotic Eastenders-named cocktail served in china teacups (and free cake!)
Then it was a return to the starkest of reality as we made a visit to see our mutual friend Paul and his wife. He has recently returned to be cared for at home after months in hospital seriously ill. Using his communicator he told us he was lucky to be alive (and that he had a nightmare in which he was in the USA and would have to pay for it all!) We are all wishing them strength through a difficult time.
On our final full day we once again used the buses to get "up town" and visited the Imperial War Museum, This wouldn't normally be on our radar but there is a temporary exhibition on Peace Movements over 100 years. It is a cleverly composed record ranging through from pacifism in the two world Wars, CND and Stop The War. Ruth added a ribbon to the symbolic Greenham fence.
It has become clear as this post gets written piecemeal in difficult IT conditions and complicated travel regime that Bristol will have to have its own! Sometime soonish!!
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