Arrived Italy

 After meeting Kerry in Birmingham another train took us to Jake and John. We had a great few days with them - swimming, walking, shopping, visiting interesting places and eating!!

I did harvest my first crop from my seed planting which happened last October!

My onions and garlic are growing we'll!

Pictures of places visited:

Why am I always placed in the stocks!!

Our next adventure was getting to Italy. Once again our trusty drivers took us to the station. Being ' seasoned ' travellers we got to the airport easily. The whole check in etc at Birmingham was painful. Staff were openly bitching about co workers, they were walking away from their positions with no concern about passengers! It was very busy which was strange as schools had just gone back after their half term holidays.  This all led to a late departure. 

I suppose when you are on a cheap airline - Ryan air, which Kerry calls Scare air - we should have expected it! 

A taxi ride took us to our accomodation and we then set out to look for dinner. The first place was just closing at 9pm - that puzzled until I realise I hadn't moved my watch forward an hour! We were then directed to a pizza place. It was a warm  so we opted to sit outside. After taking our order we were given a glass of Prosecco this was to welcome us to Bergamo! We were also given limonchello and a melon flavoured drink at the end of the meal - we were definately liking Bergamo!

The morning saw us walking to see where the station was and the we just followed our noses wandering around the different streets. Found the funicular and Took a ride to the upper town. Great views. 

With our feet sore and aching we returned to our accommodation and with our bags once again headed to the station. Two trains later we arrived in Verona!

 

Here we go again!

 You've heard the saying "it's about the journey not the destination" we'll I can tell you mine was long and boring! 

This was my journey in order  - Walk to bus stop, bus to station, two trains to airport, walk around airport, QF1 to Singapore, walk around airport, QF1 to London, walk to train, underground to Euston, train to Manchester, walk to tram, tram to what I thought was final destination but no! I had gone too far so I had a further long walk to my hotel. I had finally arrived 39 hours after setting out!

My feet were burning and legs were weary - only a maximum of 4 hours sleep from leaving home didn't help! 

After a shower and reviving cuppa I headed back out - no peace for the wicked! I had another longish walk to get to the gallery to see the work of Lowry. Luckily it was a lovely afternoon as I walked around Salford Quays - this area used to be part of Manchester docks and when operations ceased to exist in 1982 it was redeveloped. 

I like the work of Lowry and as this was a special exhibition, ending in a few weeks it was an ideal time to visit. One of his most we'll known works is 'Going to the match'.

By now my feet had really had it so I hopped on the tram, 2 stops to my hotel. I was now waging a war with myself not to fall asleep as it was only 5pm! A G&T, some food plus a glass of red kept me going until 7pm and then I gave in. As you can guess I slept until 11pm - typical of me! A few hours tossing, turning and reading eventually sent me back to sleep for a couple more hours!  I head back into Manchester this morning and will work hard on retail therapy - we'll my case only weighed 9.9kg! I then catch a train to Birmingham where I meet Kerry and we catch another train to Kidderminster where hopefully sister Jake will be there to pick us up! 

Back to the grey!

 After our 'dash' away from the storm we finally cruised into Haugesund.

We passed numerous oil rigs  - size I'd daunting! It was a Sunday - why bring a cruise ship into a town on Sunday when everywhere is closed?! The Norwegians aren't worried as the get plenty of money from the oil. 

I had wanted to go to see some sculptures while we were here. It was cold and raining when we left the ship and the 7km walk didn't appeal! Luckily taxis were working on a Sunday! After some negotiating we made a deal for a round trip and tour lasting an hour - we actually needed to get rid of the Kroner we had left! 

The sculptures didn't disappoint!

These sculptures symbolise the shift from natural to fossil fuel. While two riders represent greed and a bleak future, the younger riders offer hope for ecological hope for the future!

A wander through the town followed and finally a coffee. The coffee shop was heaving, with passengers from the ship, and wasn't helped by the two workers having an argument about who was working the hardest - no, I don't know any Norwegian but I pretend to be a body language expert!!

The ship sailed from Haugesund late afternoon. 

Another day of doing the rounds of all the activities oonboard plus packing. Arrived in Southamton early morning.

Disembarked easily and were soon on our way back to Jake's. Stopped half way and had coffee with my niece.

We had a coup,e of days working in the garden. The onions and garlic I had planted before the cruise were growing well - luckily! Autumn sees the garden looking dead so there's plenty of leaf raking, dead heading and dead plant removal! There was enough material for a bonfire - slightly before 5th November!

A visit to a National Trust house, Charleston Park, Warwick, gave our gardening backs a rest. It was a beautiful Autumn day in lovely surroundings.

Members of the Lucy family have been living in the house since 12th century. Their history is interesting, with among other things, a visit from Queen Elizabeth 1.

The volunteers looking after the house were full of interesting stories about the place. Unfortunately the dining room was in a mess as there had been a leak. The old silk wallpaper was carefully taken down so that the damage could be repaired - it will be placed back again. There was damage to some of the timbers so we were unable to visit the upper rooms. 

We even had an early Christmas dinner complete with turkey, Christmas pud, crackers and paper hats!

Unfortunately my stay came to an end. We reflected on the laughs and all the fun we'd had - always sad to say goodbye but there's always next year!

Now in London. Arrived mid afternoon and after dropping off luggage set out to find where the theatre was - I was seeing MJ The Musical. Luckily it was an easy 10 minute walk from my hotel.

The show was fabulous and charted his life growing up so there were young versions of Michael. The show was dedicated to Quincy Jones.

5/11

I started the day on the underground travelling to Oxford Circus. I always like to walk down Oxford Street to see if it's retained the old memories I have of it. There's a definite change- fewer of the big name shops and people. Luckily the big Marks and Sparks is there and it's a great place for the with a bacon sarnie!! Looks like the Christmas lights have been put up but no Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square- it arrives in the first week of December. They are building the little wooden huts for a Christmas market so Trafalgar Square is looking rather messy. 

I always try to find the best route to the theatre that I'm going to in the daylight - don't want to be wandering down any strange alleys! My phone took me all over the place but I finally found the theatre and I have a straight forward path from my hotel! I headed back to Trafalgar Square for a visit to the National Gallery.

One of the paintings, by John Constable, was of Willy Lott's Cottage - a place I stayed at when at school, we were on a school trip!

So many famous art works are on display here that my feet were aching wandering through the different rooms. Was good to get back to the hotel to put my feet up!

Another trip to the theatre

This was a musical telling a version of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.The music, singing and movement was terrific.

With a late flight I have tried to keep busy. I had a wander along the Embankment. It was a  very grey misty scene! I had hoped to see a National Trust site - a Roman bath - Found the place easily but, contrary to their on line site, it was closed. I then had a little wander around Somerset House - very poor signage and information! The old building was nice and the were setting up an ice rink for the public - it opens in December. The Portrait Gallery was next on the list - it was very interesting with some great portraits but by the end my feet were killing me! I think I need new trainers!!

A cuppa was the order of the day - it's much colder today.

Will be heading out the the airport shortly so until the next time, Bye!