Sunday in London with Denise

Sunday - back in London sporting the new leather.  It's fall so time to pull out the superhero boots.  But instead of saving the world, we went to China Town for lunch.

This was our table in the window.  

In case you are wondering, that orange thing hanging to the right of Denise is an octopus.  We ordered way too much food but Denise wanted to try Dim Sum and Bill and I each had dishes we wanted to suddenly we had a table of food for six people instead of three.

We ended the day at the National Portrait Gallery - - one of our favorites and the one museum that Denise wanted to see while she was in town.

Heading home for Downton Abbey! But it was not NPPS without Christin.  But it was nice to watch the show with a fellow devotee.  Bill hid himself away upstairs and let us bask in an hour of Brit soap.

Camden and Hawksmoor

We started the day leisurely - breakfast, a walk on the Thames behind the house and then the train ride into the city and a Mexican lunch on the water.  But we didn't even take a picture until we got to Camden Market.  It was as if, for a few hours, we didn't have a blog and 7 followers to update!  What were we thinking?  

Then punks behind me were the real subject but they were charging a pound per photo - as if no one has seen spiked mohawks and studded leather before.  Bill wasn't as stealth as he thought but we didn't pay the pound.  What I want to know is what is the woman in the striped shirt pointing at??

 Maybe I was inspired by the punks but I've been wanting a leather jacket and I found one at the market.  After the purchase we found out that the salesman was from Tunisia - the same town where Denise lived in Peace Corp.  Much Tunisian chit chat followed and he gladly posed with us. 

 Now that I'm on the street with leather I feel more "Camden"...

 Here I am again - - you'd hardly know I was out and about with Bill and Denise, would you?  Anyway, we stumbled into Hawksmoor near Covent Garden for a drink and decided to stay for dinner.  Big portions of beef, medium rare.  I was a little disappointed that there was absolutely no room left in my stomach for their Raspberry Eton Mess.  I'll have to remember next time to skip the meat and go right to the pudding.  ("How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?" - - Anyone?)

It's Denise Weekend!!

Denise is here!!  We started the weekend in the Horse and Groom with meat pies and fried brie.  London here we come!

PS good job on the Loo Ewe, Mum!  xox

This is the one where Bill golfs with sheep

While Jen immersed herself in her world of books I got to have two, yes two, golf dates with myself.

I would have liked to have a golf buddy with me and almost had a couple of locals commit to join me.  Dave, our B&B owner had to feed other customers (he could have left out some flakes and milk), the old oil safety guy we met was going to a two day week next week so he wasn't available, and an old guy with a cane said he would have joined but needs to heal his knee (that's what golf buggies are for, sir).  So off I went alone, which was completely fine.  Golf alone is the closest I come to meditating.  

This is the view, albeit foggy view, of the course at Kington.  It's the highest altitude course in the UK. Fascinating golf experience.

 Every hole is littered, literally, with poo.

 Here is why there is poo on every hole.  Hundreds of sheep roam the course freely.  The course steward said they often get hit with golf balls but brush it off casually.  I suppose they munch on the tall grass which saves on groundskeeping costs.  I scattered a few sheep with a stray drive.  Never found that ball.

Throughout the course there were these little huts.  They have stones lined inside so I can only assume they were little outhouses.  This sheep must be the bathroom monitor.  Mother Entwistle can think of a witty pun for the bathroom sheep name.  I thought of Sheep of the Shitter but I'm not happy with that one.

 Wish it wasn't so foggy so you could see the view.

I will tell you that this country course was poorly marked.  I was on a nice roll parring the first four holes, when I got lost finding the fifth hole.  I wandered around swearing under my breath and finally phoned the club house asking where the hole was.  It wasn't until I hung up that I realized I did not play the fourth hole, I played the 15th hole.  I had to go march all the way back and lost a spot in the flow to a twosome.

At the 7th I waited for the twosome to clear a hill before I teed off on a blind shot (can't see where you are suppose to hit it because the green is behind a hill).  I hit my best tee shot and only realized when I reached the top of the hill that the two guys were much closed than I thought.  I didn't find my ball, which was right down the middle of the fairway.  Which I took to mean that they took my ball because I hit down on them.  Never got to apologize to them so I guess their stealing my ball was fair.  The Welch are a sensitive lot apparently.

My other golf experience was at Tenby.  Tenby is a coastal links course (high grass, undulating fairways, many hills).  It was brutal.  I lost more balls than those sheep at Kington will lose.

 This is the Tenby version of the outhouse on the course.  No sheep to monitor it so you are left to go at it alone.  There was a sign that it was an eco toilet and everyone had to sit down to do their duty (doody if you are Diane).  I stood up and peed on their strange toilet.  Tenby has too many rules.

 The most egregious of these rules is the new smoking ban on the course.  The old timer with the can told me it was because they had a drought years ago.  Wales has to be one of the wettest places in the world and their worried about brush fire.  I waited until I got out of sight and sparked up out of defiance.  As I said, Tenby has too many rules.

I'm the baaaahhhd boy of golf.  (get the sheep tie in?)

Book Porn

Our last night of the mini-break was spent in a town I've been dying to go to for many years:  Hay-on-Wye also known as the Town of Books.  There are over two dozen second hand and antique book shops in Hay and my goal was to see every one of them.  And since I did NOT achieve my goal on this trip - we have to go back!!

I actually brought my Kindle with me on this trip.  When Bill left me at the cafe table eating lunch so that he could make his tee time I contemplated reading at the table...and thought better of it!

I love all the honesty boxes  - - there were several outside stalls with no attendants, just boxes to put your payment.  And on the flip side, the shops have many rare and antique books worth hundreds (probably thousands even) of pounds.  Obviously my tastes are somewhere in between.  And while I was excited to make a few purchases, just being in the shops with the thrill of the hunt was a total joy.  Who wouldn't want to spend hours in these rooms?

 I'm a sucker for a good book cover.  And while I know so many people who love the old Penguins, I'm weirdly attracted to cheesy pulp fiction covers.  Granted, I'm too much of a Lit Snob to read most of those pulpy novels but I love how they look.  Poker Face was begging to be on my shelf but I resisted.

Most of the shops had very cool signs - either victorian book scenes of something related to their specific genre.  I spent many hours in town but there were still stores I missed, covers I didn't see, beloved authors I didn't buy.  All of this joy is only three hours away from Eton.  I hope Bill liked his golfing because I am determined to go back.

Tenby was a Ten!

Monday Bill and I went our separate ways - he went golfing while I hung around town.  First order of the day was a walk along the coastal path.  Heading up the hill gave me this view of town.

I love that the UK really takes their walking seriously.  So there are marked paths all over for walkers to go from town to town on foot.  I did a shorter trip through a tunnel of woods out to a little hidden beach and back into town.

Once Bill was back in town we hit the Esplanade for tea and a view of the ocean.

Considering we had no idea where we were going to go on this mini-break about a week ago, Tenby turned out to be a perfect little holiday.

A Night Out with Dave

Our B&B host, Dave, recommended his local pub for dinner so Bill and I headed out to the Coach and Horses.  Dave arrived only a short time later and decided to join us.  So this is where the evening started.

 This is where the evening ended - in Dave's kitchen after several drinks out on his Ledge of Death.  Clearly not an area for guests, Dave's back deck has no railings and is only a few feet deep  -  stride too briskly out the back door and you end up in a crumpled heap  below.  Leading down to the back garden are the Stairs of Death with missing steps.  Bill used them to really make himself feel at home by peeing behind Dave's garage.  We're sad to leave Tenby but at least we left our mark.

Thank you, Caffe Vista!

Internet issues this morning at the B&B means that this post is coming out a bit late...Bill is golfing and I'm having lunch at Caffe Vista, a lovely little cafe overlooking the Tenby Harbor with a guy plinking away at his guitar.  

We spent yesterday doing the cliff walk in Stackpole.  Right at the start of the walk is a sign warning you that "Cliffs kill!!"  We spent the rest of the afternoon creating death scenarios where we could use the defense that the cliffs did it.    I also enjoyed this sign posted at one of the intersections. They kinda make it look like fun!

The view at the start of the walk.  

This was the first beach we came to.  Love the ancient wall and staircase leading down.  

Bill, we warned you - CLIFFS KILL!!

I wonder how many people have died on these cliffs - or rather, falling off these cliffs either by accident or on purpose.  I'm glad the Welsh feel that the signage is enough since railings would really ruin the look.  This area in particular gave me that wobbly stomach feeling when I looked down.  I don't think I would have the nerve to throw myself off but I can easily picture myself falling due to clowning. 

And then we came to these two.  Hello, did you get the memo?  Cliffs kill!!

After a few miles of walking the post you come to an area with a pub - the perfect timing for lunch and a pint before heading back over the country side to the car park.  There were several of these narrow bridges with railings on one side - tricky when there are walkers coming from the other direction.

 We also ran into a herd of cows that were walking on their own to a new field.  One gave me a moo and a nasty look - can you see that I'm taken aback?  How rude.

 We ended the afternoon with a tea at a pub in Tenby where all the beautiful canines hang out.