London, Cambridge and York

We started our stay in London the traditional way – with a pub lunch and a bit too much to drink. Then a pub dinner and a bit too much more to drink and an early night. Great to catch up with our fantastic hosts Emlyn and James. Day 2 was a slightly hungover trip to Borough markets where Ben was in Foodie heaven and I got free cheese – so everyone was happy. Then a walk along the Thames, Tower Bridge and London Bridge before getting a little lost on the bus ride home.

Day 3 we went for a walk to Clapham junction through Clapham common and then around lunch time we headed out to Camden markets where we were tempted by a huge array of tattoo artists and very cheap peircing deals – we passed. The food stalls were amazing and while I had a morrocan curry, Ben had a pork roll cut straight from a pig on a spit... to say he was happy is an understatement. That night Ben cooked a delicious risotto for Emlyn and James to ensure we were invited back. It worked of course.

Day 4 was our last full day in London and we decided to do the tourist thing. We did an open top bus tour and then went and saw a play in the West End. We saw Agatha Christies “Mousetrap” – the longest running play in the world...EVER! We saw play number 24,036 and it was great. The ending was almost runied by the old man next to us who had seen it before – but luckily he forgot who dunnit and promptly after intermission and woke with a start when the clapping started at the end. Then another pub meal for dinner and an early night – apparently it was a “work night” – whatever that means?

Tourists

Excited about the show


The next day we caught the train out towards Heathrow and picked up our little Spaceship. His name is “Starbuck” and he is fantastic. As Ben lost his drivers licence in Beijing when his wallet was stolen, all the driving falls to me and we headed off towards Cambridge. The 2 lane roundabouts threw me at first – I could figure out how to get on them – but getting out of them was a different story. I had 3 attempts at the entrance for the motorway before I finally got it – more by luck and closing my eyes than skill.

We arrived in Cambridge around 4 and went to check in to our camping ground. It was a great little farm in a tiny village and the hosts were lovely. Lots of people seem intrigued as to why we are spending 5 weeks in a tarago but everyone is impressed when they see how nifty it is inside. The next day it was time to get supplies and we had lots of fun trying to think of fun things to buy – did we need 3 litres of red and 3 litres of white? Probably not – but we like to match our wines to our food.

Ben and "Starbuck" in Cambridge



Why am I in a field of wheat? Who knows.



We saw the sights in cambridge and headed back for a homecooked spag bol. The next day we drove to the seaside and had lunch overlooking Munsley beach. Ben’s observation that “no one has umbrellas, everyone has windbreaks,” pretty much says it all. Was very pretty though. We hadn’t anticipated trouble finding places to stay but as it was the middle weekend of the summer holidays most places were full so we headed inland to a little place called Barney to spend the night.


Beachside in Mundsley

Beachside in Mundsley

After one night in Barney we had seen all there was to see and set off for York. Our campground in York was in a nice spot and they had a ferry that took you right into the centre of town. We spent a day seeing the tourist sights and had a famous Sunday roast for lunch. Unfortunately the roast was the opposite of the weather – dry.

After York we drove up through the North Yorkshire Moors. I was really looking forward to it before we got there and it was even better than I expected. All the heather was in bloom so the mountains were covered in purple. The roads twisted and turned all over the mountains and were lots of fun to drive – although I think some of my erratic cornering left Ben (and the groceries in the back) looking a little worse for wear.

North Yorkshire Moors







We had planned on having lunch in Whitby but were once again foiled by the school holidays and we couldn’t find a park so continued on. We did however make a quick stop at the Abbey above town, but decided against paying the steep entrance fee (I did manage to get some long distance photos over the fence though- for free!). We continued on and lunch ended up being a rather desperate 3 o’clock stop at a Nandos in Middlesborough’s “entertainment quarter” – and not at all what we were hoping for.





Judging by Ben's outfit it must have been washing day

Great over fence photography


After one more stop to stock up on a thermos, an umbrella and a fleece jumper (ahhh English summer) we arrived at our stop for the night just outside the town of Durham. Of course the rain cleared up once we had an umbrella, and we are now sitting looking over the fields, sipping cider as the sun sets. When it rains it really rains – but when its sunny – it really is beautiful.

Ahhh Cider!!