Blog 13 - London II, the British Empire Strikes Back
Hi all. Here we are at N19, having already stayed at NW10, E17, E8, N8 and SE13 and then doing a lazy lap around the United Kingdom. We hired a car leaving Lewisham early in the New Year and I dropped it off yesterday with an extra 2700 miles on its speedo.
So N19 is Islington, home of London Mayor Boris Johnson and what seems like a million young families. Makes Yarraville look like its just not trying. Rows and rows and rows of white apartments symmetrically running along wide streets, differing only slightly by the colour of their doors, their blinds/curtains/shutters, and what is going on in their basements. Honestly, it's a voyeur's paradise. Looking out of the kitchen window is like a scene from Rear Window - so many windows, so much stuff going on. Pull up a chair and enjoy the show.
We are here for a few days, minding the house and dog for a family who are off to Paris for the weekend. We got the accommodation (our...gulp...51st of the trip) through a house sitting website and were punching the air that we have a few days without paying a gazillion pounds for good central London accommodation.
We have had, for the last week or so, in the middle of winter, with floods and chaos through the UK, some of the best weather we've had so far. All the bad stuff seemed to miss the Yorkshire Dales and Suffolk. Renae and I have managed to get quite a few runs in. People keep saying how unseasonably mild the winter is. Truth is, we are to thank for that. The Carolin-Vandenbergs are remarkably good at taking the weather with them. So, you're welcome Britain! Though the kids are pissed that they haven't had any snow.
First, as promised, a few more gratuitous photos of our trip to North Scotland as wittily and insightfully described in the last blog.
(Smoo Cave, in and out)
(Orkneys - Standing Stones of Stenness. Most alliterative place in the world?)
(Orkneys - Highland Park Distillery, Billie turning the malt)
Following Settle, in the Dales, which definitely had its charm, we spent a fairly magical week with friends of my Dads partner. (Tia, we have a lot to thank you for!). They live in a little hamlet called Fressingfield in Suffolk, where the air was clean and crisp, the fields were green (those that weren't ploughed or waterlogged) and the phone and wifi reception was terrible. In a way, that was a blessing as we had a great chance to just enjoy the countryside and each other...actually it was part blessing and part curse!
David and Carole live in a wonderful 14th century cottage with its own vineyard, big bounding dog Tizer, and Granary (which is where we stayed). Its a house with a lot of history, in fact the whole town was dotted with thatched roofs, the church had wonderfully wonky gravestones. There was a general store, a pub (good drinks, good food, and Jessie is a gun pool player - whod've thunk it?) and a (practically) Michelin starred restaurant where I ate one of the best meals I think I've had...ever. Not even just on this trip.
They took on us Aussie freeloaders and we had a fantastic time getting to know them. They are in the middle of building and renovating what will be their new home (next door) which looks amazing. I tried to walk around with a suitable level of Kevin McCloud-esque contemplative patronising condescension when shown through it, but its going to be a dream house that's for sure when it's finished.
Trouble was that it wasn't finished, and every morning we were woken to the dulcet tones of cement mixers, hammering, diggers, nail guns. It actually got kind of fun trying to identify the sounds. Like industrial bird watching.
We spent a day at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, home of incredible falcons, eagles and owls. We loved it, and not just because it was open, though that helped. We were still being confounded by things Closed For Winter, Opening Easter, and Open Weekends Only. It was frustrating, and not only because the weather was SO BLOODY GOOD...generally.
(Fressingfield, the back yard)
(Just two of owls, but I've got a million of 'em)
We visited Framlingham Castle on a Saturday (Open Weekends Only), where Mary I was crowned Queen of England, and which has an interesting history of being run by Lords and wealthy landowners as well as the Crown, over its long history. Now it's mainly just the outer wall and a few inner buildings. The girls did a kids audio tour that was so funny that Renae and I swapped our dryer dialogue one over to their Horrible History-esque one (I've used -esque twice. I'll stop saying that now). Framlingham itself was really pretty too.
(Framlingham Castle)
(Orford Castle)
We also went to Orford Castle. Best design of a castle I've ever seen. Basically round, central "space" and rooms and staircases lined around the outer walls. Repeat for four floors. Okay, I know I've not done that justice, but for what its worth we've decided to design our next house around that concept. When it's done and you all visit, you will finally understand. And you too can then walk around and make Kevin McCloud-esque (d'oh) supercilious observations. Or you could just Google Orford Castle. That may be faster.
Whew, what else? Visited Norwich. Was exactly what I expected a medium sized English town to be like. Though the Castle and Keep (now a museum) was interesting. How impressed I am by a museum is directly proportional to how whiny the kids get...and they were pretty quiet in Norwich its fair to say.
Spent a day on the east coast in Southwold. It had a pier with an amazingly kitsch arcade parlour, as well as a lighthouse smack bang in the middle of town. Wandered further on to Covehithe, where Renae bravely and somewhat regretfully put her feet in the English Channel. It was a beautiful spot - even the mud and pigs**t looked slightly magical.
(Renae: frostbite 101)
(Jess probably not contemplating a swim)
Introduced the kids to the vital, wonderful British works that are Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. (Well it can't all be castles and museums can it?)
Of course there is homework (which we have renamed, appropriately, schoolwork). Renae checked the syllabus and we were pleased to see that we are keeping the kids on track, if not slightly ahead, on a lot of their curriculum. Maths particularly. We are doing a lot of creative writing together and that's a brilliant chance to see where their minds are at. We spend a lot of time worrying that we are breaking them. Turns out kids are fairly malleable and robust. That's a relief.
Well it's 10.30pm. The streets are empty apart from men taking their dogs out for one last poo before bed. (It's Islington. Plenty of dogs, no backyards). I wrote more than I thought I would. In-laws in three days, kids are ecstatic. Pray for me. (Only kidding :) )
Keep well, safe, happy. Lots of love, as always, from the Carolin-Vandenbergs
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