We arrived in Munich on Friday 17th July in the middle of a heat wave. The best way to start summer in Europe was at the beer garden at the Chinese Tower until closing. Thanks Pat for organizing. Homer went in for a service but didn't pass the TUV ( Roadworthy ) so the week pretty much involved us schlepping to the garage daily. Thanks Peggy and Gary for offering us a guest suite with free wi-fi for a few days respite as the heatwave continued. We delayed our departure but we did have a wonderful week of dinners and parties; thanks everyone. Our journey to Calais was quick, with stops in Stuttgart for the Porche Museum and France for a sombre visit to the Somme Battlefields and Delville Wood. After stocking up on French wine and cheese, we made it onto a ferry in Calais, bound for Good Old Blighty. And it's been pretty much raining ever since we first glimpsed the White Cliffs. Well, sorry, we have had a few sunny mornings or afternoons but no heatwave here. Even the guidebooks say you don't come to the UK for the weather and by golly they are right.
From Dover we travelled West along the coast, through Hastings and Brighton and West Sussex; our old neighbourhood. ( It's been 15 years since we arrived in the UK, unpacking our few personal belongings into a huge, fully furnished 16th century barn of a house on 23 acres, not yet realizing how amazing that was for accommodation in the UK and never guessing how that move would have catapulted us into this amazing and continuing journey.) In Chichester it's drizzling, the cream tea is palatable, the waiter indifferent and my seat is right next to the firedoor leading to the loos. On the upside, the assistant in the EE store does seem to know what he's doing and we have phone and data sorted. Traffic anywhere on a Friday afternoon in the Summer Holidays is awful and at Weymouth we give up and peel off into a field with a toilet block( pop-up campsite.)
Things deteriorate further at the Sun Ray Pub when we realize that the only food we are likely to be served in the next hour is the dry, cold carvery; pay in advance at the counter, collect a token, 2 meats only please, not all three, slopped onto the plate by a cook who is probably going to get fired at the end of the evening. I am happy to report that a few weeks in, we are enjoying ourselves despite the weather and everything.
From Dover we travelled West along the coast, through Hastings and Brighton and West Sussex; our old neighbourhood. ( It's been 15 years since we arrived in the UK, unpacking our few personal belongings into a huge, fully furnished 16th century barn of a house on 23 acres, not yet realizing how amazing that was for accommodation in the UK and never guessing how that move would have catapulted us into this amazing and continuing journey.) In Chichester it's drizzling, the cream tea is palatable, the waiter indifferent and my seat is right next to the firedoor leading to the loos. On the upside, the assistant in the EE store does seem to know what he's doing and we have phone and data sorted. Traffic anywhere on a Friday afternoon in the Summer Holidays is awful and at Weymouth we give up and peel off into a field with a toilet block( pop-up campsite.)
Things deteriorate further at the Sun Ray Pub when we realize that the only food we are likely to be served in the next hour is the dry, cold carvery; pay in advance at the counter, collect a token, 2 meats only please, not all three, slopped onto the plate by a cook who is probably going to get fired at the end of the evening. I am happy to report that a few weeks in, we are enjoying ourselves despite the weather and everything.
.JPG)
