We spent our final three weeks of our European trip back in England to catch up with friends and family we were not able to see when we were there at the beginning of the Summer. As such, we bounced around a bit to align with people's calendars. We flew from Switzerland to London and got a rental car for the entire time. While here, we spent our time in the following locations.
Portsmouth - Steve
We spent one night at Steve's house which is a cute three story home that he recently bought. He has two renters staying with him so he gave us his bedroom for the night while he slept on a twin mattress in another room. After we arrived, we went for a walk around town and along the beach so he can show us the hot spots. We then had dinner at Indian Cottage - after ten days of rosti and cheese dishes in Switzerland, we were quite ready for Indian. We shared a few dishes - all quite yummy.
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| Walking around Portsmouth with Steve |
The next morning, we went for another walk, this time going through the old part of town to see the fortress. We had breakfast inside the Hotwalls Barracks at The Canteen which had great breakfast options.
Romsey - Steve and His Parents
We drove to the Romsey area to have lunch with Steve's parents (Peter and Joyce), first stopping in the New Forest to walk a bit and to see the Rufus Stone which marks the death of King William II. We saw lots of sheep, horses, donkeys and pigs wondering around. We had lunch at The Bear and Ragged Staff, sharing a tasty trout dish with veggies. Keith had not seen Steve's parents since 1992 so was great to see them again. We said our goodbyes to Steve and headed out to our next destination.
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| Lunch at The Bear and Ragged Staff with Steve, Peter and Joyce |
Fleet / Guildford - Daphne and Dave
On our way to Daphne's house, we stopped at a National Trust site - The Vyne - to stretch our legs a bit. We walked around the grounds for about 45 minutes. There are some nice trails through the forest there but we did not have the time to do them. We stayed at Daphne and Dave's house for one night, which is a nice two story home. Keith knows Daphne from his time at Surrey. We sat outside in the backyard to catch up and then they made us a great dinner of meat and potato pie and lots of veggie dishes. We also had pie and cake for dessert.
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| Dinner at Daphne and Dave's House |
The next morning, they also made us a traditional English breakfast with eggs, sausage, bacon, and mushrooms. On our way to the next spot, we drove through the cute town of Farnham and then went to the University of Surrey so Keith could show Shawna his old stomping grounds - we walked around the campus and saw his dorm and the restaurant where he worked. We also stopped at another National Trust Site - Hindheld Commons and Devils Punch Bowl - to walk around for an hour.
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| In front of the restaurant Keith worked in at University of Surrey |
East Grinstead / Haywards Heath Area
This leg of the trip was organized around going to dinner at the place where Keith's parents got engaged and to see one of the homes they lived in together after they first got married. We were supposed to stay at the Cowdray Arms near Haywards Heath but on the way there, we noticed that the Google listing said it was permanently closed. When we arrived, we found out that they had gone bankrupt and closed a few weeks prior. Of course, we were never notified. There was the new owner there who had just taken over but of course the property was not open yet and he could not help us since we had booked through Expedia. So Shawna spent the next hour with Expedia getting our money back and also finding the next place to stay.
We ended up staying two nights at Ashdown Park Hotel, an old estate that was once a convent and is now a fancy old inn. We lucked out to get a decent last minute deal. Our room was nice and comfortable with a beautiful view of the chapel from our window. Breakfast was included which we had both mornings - great continental options with a choice of hot items as well. We had dinner at the hotel the first night - eating at the casual restaurant option - Forest Brasserie - which was quite good. We shared a mediterranean chicken dish and a mushroom ragout pasta. We spent the next day relaxing and catching up on admin stuff - taking a break to walk around the grounds of the hotel.
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| Ashdown Park Hotel |
The last night, we had dinner at Gravetye Manor which is the place where Keith's parents got engaged. Turns out it is also a Michelin star restaurant. We went early to walk around the grounds including the walled kitchen garden which was pretty cool. We then had a cocktail, sitting outside in the back courtyard. Dinner was fantastic and really exceeded our expectations. The dining room was really nice - very open with large glass windows overlooking the gardens. They offered a three course menu with choice of appetizer, main and dessert but then supplemented it with extra courses throughout - so in all it was more like a ten course meal. We each chose different dishes so we could try more things and loved it all. We also got a wine pairing which was three different glasses that were paired with each of our courses. During our dessert, we were surprised with a glass each of port and a card from Keith's parents - they had called ahead to order this for us which was so nice! Overall, a definite treat of an evening!
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| Gravetye Manor |
The next morning, we packed up and drove by Keith's parents in Haywards Heath at 3 Ottafield Court. They lived there for a year before they moved to the States in the apartment downstairs. We then drove on to our next stop.
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| Jean and Dick's house in Haywards Heath |
Birmingham - Charlie and Lena
We had lunch just south of Birmingham at The Red Lion where we met up with Dave and Helen - Keith worked with Dave at Kandersteg in 1990 and had not seem them for 35 years. We had a nice long lunch with them and then drove to Charlie and Lena's house where we stayed for four nights.
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| Lunch with Dave and Helen at The Red Lion |
Charlie and Lena live in a wonderful, three story house in Moseley which is a suburb of Birmingham. We had our own room and bathroom above the kitchen. We met their two adorable kids - Felix and Rania, who were 5 and 3 respectively. Keith had met Felix just 10 days after he was born. And it turns out that Felix turned 5 while we were there so we were able to join in on the festivities.
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| Horsing around with Felix and Rania |
When we arrived, we had some champagne and then had dinner at their house - Lena made a wonderful lamb and egglant dish with salad. The next day, we went to the Moseley Folk Festival with the kids and then returned there in the evening without the kids (they got a babysitter). We listened to music, drank beer and ate some great festival food.
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| Moseley Folk Festival |
On Saturday, Felix had his birthday party where he had several of his friends and their parents come. We spent the day helping to prep for the party and then clean up afterwards. That evening, Charlie made more pizza with the leftover ingredients from the party and we chilled at the house.
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| Felix's Birthday Party |
On Sunday, we went to Sutton Park and walked around with some time for the kids to also play on the playground. We stopped at the grocery store and bought some cheese and crackers and then had a picnic at a nearby park, Moseley Bog. That evening, we had tasty salmon with rice and salad that was prepared by Charlie and Lena. We left Monday morning.
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| Picnic at Moseley Bog |
Gerrards Cross - Ian and Val
We drove to Ian and Val's apartment, located northwest of London, to have lunch with them. We first stopped to get them flowers. We had a great visit with them, catching them up on all of our travels. Val had several items for us to eat - salads, meats, cheeses, sausage rolls and trifle for dessert.
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| Lunch with Ian and Val |
On our way to our next stop, we stopped for an hour at the National Trust Watlington Hill site to stretch our legs. The walk was not the greatest but had a few spots of nice scenery.
Oxford Area / Wheatley - Susie
We stayed for two nights at Susie's apartment, located in Wheatley just outside of Oxford. Keith knows Susie from his time in Kandersteg at the Scout Center. She has a nice two bedroom apartment above a cafe in a cute village. We arrived early evening and she made us a delicious meal of chicken with prosciutto, roasted potatoes and stir fried zucchini.
The next day, we went to Blenheim Palace, birthplace of William Churchill. We toured the palace and then walked around the grounds. We also had lunch there, each having a yummy salad! The palace was very nice. When we got back to her apartment, we went for a walk around town. That evening, we had dinner at Cinnamons - an Indian restaurant a block away. We shared a few dishes for the table - all very good. We left the next morning.
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| Blenheim Palace |
Highclere Castle
We spent the day at Highclere Castle - the place where Downton Abby was filmed. We had bought tickets in advance which included a tour of the castle, walking the grounds and afternoon tea. We first went inside the castle which is a self-guided tour - we got to see rooms on three of the floors and in those rooms that were used for filming, they had displays indicating what the room was used for in the show. The best room was the main hall. Our ticket also got us into the Egyptian Exhibit which is where we learned at the the 4th Earl of the house funded the excavation that led to the discovery of King Tut! There were some artifacts (replicas) from the discovery. We then walked the grounds which are beautiful with rolling hills and huge trees. We ended our time with the afternoon tea which they served in the Coach House - it included a glass of champagne, coffee or tea and sandwiches, cakes and scones with clotted cream and jam. The food was better than we expected.
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| Highclere Castle |
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| Afternoon Tea at Highclere |
Aston Clinton - John and Peggy
We arrived at John and Peggy's house late afternoon, a nice two story home located in a small village, and spent one night there. We chatted with them for a while and had a glass of wine before Nikki picked us all up to go to dinner. We went to The Artisan where we met with Nathan (Nikki's husband), Giles and his girlfriend and Nikki's two daughters who we had not yet met. The food was quite good - we each got the lamb skewers. It was a very nice evening. We left early the next morning after chatting with them over a cup of coffee.
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| Dinner with John and Peggy and family at The Artisan |
Cambridge
We spent one night in Cambridge at the University Arms hotel which is a Marriott hotel (we got it for free). We got there early and the room was not ready so we walked around town, stopping by to see Emmanuel College (where Ewan went), Peterhouse College (where Ian went) and King and Trinity Colleges. We had a light lunch of salads at the Copper Kettle and then walked for two hours along the River Cam. For dinner, we had yummy Indian at The Tiffin Truck which was just across the street from our hotel.
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| Peterhouse College |
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| King College |
Stratford St Mary (Colchester, Essex) - Rachel and Oliver
We arrived mid-day at Rachel and Oliver's house - a nice two story home in a small village outside of Colchester. That afternoon, we went kayaking on the river which is across the street from their house. We paddled upstream for about 45 minutes and then stopped to have a picnic lunch of cheese and bread along the bank of the river. We then paddled back and popped into their local pub, The Swan, (which was very nice) to have a beer. That evening, we had dinner at their house - a tasty chicken curry - joined by Emma and her friend.
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| Kayaking |
The next day, we saw both of the girls (Amy and Emma) in the morning, albeit briefly. We drove to Orford, stopping first at Honey & Harvey in Melton to have brunch. We sat outside and had a yummy avocado toast. In Orford, we took a nice, one hour, narrated boat trip up the River Alde with Suffolk River Trips - we saw the nearby preserve along with birds and some WWII buildings. We then walked around town, stopping to see the Orford Castle and St Bartholomew's Church. We stopped at The Kings Head to have a beer before driving back to their house. That evening, we had dinner at The Crown, a really nice pub and inn that is owned by the company at which Oliver works. The meal was fantastic - we shared a few apps for the table and then the two of us shared a fish dish.
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| Boat trip on River Alde in Orford |
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| Brown family - Oliver, Amy, Emma and Rachel |
We left the next morning after chatting over coffee.
Ledbury
We stayed two nights in a cottage in a tiny village, Aylton, which is near the town of Ledbury. We booked the cottage (we stayed in Long Barn - part of White House Holiday Cottages) on AirBnB but you can also book direct. The place was really cute - it was a two bedroom with a great bathroom and a nice sized kitchen/living room. We would definitely stay here again. It took us about 4 hours to get there from Rachel and Oliver's - we stopped along the way to stock up on groceries and then arrived around 3pm. We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening relaxing and catching up. That night, Shawna made lamb and roasted potatoes (pre-made from Waitrose grocery) - it was very good.
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| Our cabin |
The next day, we did a 11 mile, 2.3K elevation gain hike in the Malvern Hills that took us a bit over 4 hours. The first half of the hike was really nice - crossing the ridges of the hills. The first part of the return was also nice - forested and shaded on a well groomed path. It was only the last 2-3 miles that were not as great. That said, we really enjoyed it. That evening, Shawna made salad with salmon - she was happy to be cooking again!
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| Hike - Malvern Hills |
The following morning, we had breakfast and then drove into Ledbury just to check out the town. It's quite cute with Tudor style buildings. We then went to Hereford to check out the cathedral - it's a beautiful place. There is an exhibit where we saw the chain book library - they used to chain all of the important books so that they would not go missing. There was also the Mappa Mundi, a very old map of the world that dates back to medieval times - claims to be the oldest map of the world that was drawn on sheeps skin. We also walked around the National Trust - Weir Gardens for about 40 minutes - pretty grounds.
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| Hereford Cathedral |
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| Mappa Mundi at Hereford Cathedral |
Hay-on-Wye (Wales) - Steve, Al and Meg
We met up with Steve, Al, Meg and Meg's friend Holly at Brobury House and Gardens for lunch. We had a pretty good tart and a soda bread with cheese. We walked around the grounds which were pretty. We then went into town, walked around and got settled into our AirBnB - a three story town house right in town. The place was great. That evening, we hung out at the house and then went to dinner at Red Indigo, an Indian restaurant in town. We shared several entrees for the table - all tasty.
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| Hanging out in the living room of our AirBnB |
The next day, we did a 4.3 miles, 1.6K elevation gain hike up the tallest mountain in Southern Wales, Pen Y Fan. The hike took us 1 hour and 45 minutes. It was very windy and raining so it was quite cold going up but then it started to clear on the way down and got to see some nice views. We stopped for lunch at The Old Barn Inn, a pub about 10 minutes outside of town. We each had a burger which was just OK. We then went on a two hour kayak down the canal - it rained for a bit of it but it was still very pretty. We had intended on doing the kayaks down the river but it was too high so we did the canal instead. We had wine/cheese/crackers at the house and played around of Monopoly deal before dinner. And for dinner, we went to the Old Black Lion, a nice pub in town, where we shared a tasty fish dish.
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| Hike up Pen Y Fan |
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| Kayaking |
The following day, the rest of the gang with horse back riding while Keith and Shawna walked around the market in town, picking up snacks to have later on and then did a 4.5 mile, 1.5 hour walk outside of town in the foothills and across farmland. The walk was nice, with views of the town and surrounding area - although, the path was not always obvious, we had our trusty All Trails app to guide us. Shawna had an EYC board meeting in the afternoon which she did from the house and then we joined the group for a drink at the Hay Distillery - not the best drinks. We 'pre-gamed' again at the house with wine/cheese/crackers and Monopoly deal and then had dinner at Tomatitos, a tapas place in town, where we shared a bunch of dishes for the table - some were tasty but not all.
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| View from our hike |
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| The gang at Hay Distillery |
We all left the next morning.
Corhampton - Rachel and Quentin
Our original plan was to stay at Rachel and Quentin's house for one night but she had surgery on her neck a couple of weeks prior and was still not able to talk very well. So, instead, we met them at their house and then walked to a nearby pub, The Bucks Head, to have lunch. We shared a pizza which was very tasty. We then walked back to their place and drove to our next destination. The visit was short but nice to see them both.
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| Lunch with Rachel and Quentin at Bucks Head |
London Heathrow
We got to our hotel, Courtyard Marriott, near Heathrow early evening on Friday. We stayed here three nights - comfortable, clean room. We returned the car and walked back to the hotel and had dinner at their rooftop Indian restaurant which was pretty good for a hotel restaurant.
The next day, we caught up on admin, went to the gym and then had dinner at The Fat Duck, a three Michelin star restaurant located about 30 minutes from our hotel. Graham had recommended this place as they make really good triple cooked fries but also the chef is well known for making very creative dishes. We went early to walk around the town which is very small and cute. We had the Journey tasting menu which was a tribute to the chef's famous dishes over the years (they were celebrating their 30th anniversary) and we also got the wine tasting. Dinner was weird to say the least - for example, we had to wear headphones during one course listening to the sound of waves while eating and in another course we had to put on eye masks while someone whispered to us! The food was equally weird - there is probably complexity to the dishes that we did not fully appreciate. That said, a few of the dishes were quite good! Overall, we are glad we went but don't need to rush back!
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| Dinner at Fat Duck |
Our final day, we did more admin and went to the gym. We then headed into London via bus/train to meet up with Ewan, Sharon, Madeline and Lewis. We first met at Booking Office 1869 for drinks where we had a few bottles of champagne. We then had dinner at Bao Kings Cross, an Asian restaurant where we shared several dishes for the table.
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| Dinner at Bao Kings Cross with Ewan, Sharon and the kids |
