EIRE.. Ireland ... The land of the leprachaun and much more

We arrive at 3.00 ready to pick up our 2 person camper... At 7.00pm we left with a humungous camper... sleeps four and is 3.5 metres high.  Something that was going to cause us headaches later in the evening!

We cruise down the motorway - no problems.  Nicky my nephew sending messages the whole way.  Finally reached junction 11...phew!  Felt bad that we were so late and Nicky and Lynda had cooked dinner for us, but thankfully the sat nav told us we would be there in 10 minutes.

Then for some reason the sat nav started to go crazy...navigating from Oz... from 10 Birkley Rd Manly. in fact   It was having all sorts of problems finding an unnamed road in Ireland.  Tired after singing at the RAH the night before and then flying to Dublin we tried to navigate our way!  Finally when we reached a low bridge we gave up....We could not fit through.  10 minutes to destination said the sat nav cheerfully.

We gave up and called Nick.  Where are you he asked?   MMM I think we are at Milinavat.  We sent him a photo.  Can you drop a pin he said.... well actually our sat nav thinks we are in manly and is having difficulties!

Finally he worked out where we were and said.  "Hang on there we will come and bring you"  While we were waiting 2 cars pulled up.  "Are ye all right in there?"  they asked.  When we explained they said. "Well don't you be stuck now" and gave us directions to where they lived in case we needed to stay.

Nick and Lynda arrived and soon we were sitting in their gorgeous house eating a beautiful meal... Thanks Nick and Lynda!

Carmina Burana, Brian Kay & The Royal Albert Hall

It is always so exciting to arrive at the Albert Hall and to see the Memorial once more.  We are hot to rehearse.  Really happy this year as Brian Kay is a fabulous conductor and Carmina Burana is a fabulous piece of music.  The percussionists were fantastic even if during rehearsals they had their iPhone on  to watch the cricket...You know the match - the one the English sort of won but celebrated anyway.. (oooh!)

We quickly get back into our stride... rehearsing, dinner at the Spanish Tapas Bar and then into the performance finishing with drinks at Beit Hall!   Good stuff.

Great to have Vicky with us.. a tenor in our midst.  Also we got star billing as the "Noteworthies" 

from NSW!

Roger took himself off down the Thames while we slaved away perfecting our art!





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Pele Mele and Lehman Trilogy

Back in London, met with Jane and Vicky - dinner at Pele & Mele before going to see the best thing I've seen in theatre for years.

Sheer Brilliance in writing, directing and acting!

Signs of the times

Time to pack up and to... Royal Albert Hall and Carmina Burana call...

Just a few of the signs I loved!

PUGIN

It's a Deal

We loved Deal with its beautiful pier, colourful houses, great cafes and restaurants.

Spent the day ambling around town... until travel weariness caught up with us and we decided to head back home..... to...

Flooding lounge room... the people in the apartment above had let the bath overflow.   Our hosts were fantastic and got onto the problem straight away.  

Found out that Warwick was a music producer and Antonio a conductor... Oh that reminded me - time to practice for Royal Albert Hall!!!

Maarrvelllous Margate

And so to Margate... Sandy beaches and "sunbathers" 

Saw the Turner Art Gallery that didn't have a Turner.  The building so awful I couldn't take  picture.  Best part was these Year 10 deckchairs... photo exhibition inside
just SO ordinary... ah well!

I did like this sculpture though... a man in post Brexit times looking enviously at France!  Sadly he could no longer afford clothes.

Also a beautiful 15th Century building crumbling through lack of funds.... sad.  

Luckily the street art was great.

From Smack Boys to Vikings

 Decided to walk along the cliff tops from Ramsgate to Pegwell Bay on the outskirts of Sandwich... We set off past grand buildings now transformed into apartments or small hotels.  Some immaculate and some well - rather the worst for wear!  We came across this beautiful building which housed the young sailors from the fishing boats.

The church was so simple and had great feel.  I loved the names and histories on the plaques.  The smack boys were apprenticed from a very young age.  They formed the crew of the small ships with the skipper often being the only adult aboad.

Eventually the home was used to house sailors that had been rescued, mostly from wrecks on the Goodwin Sands. Later some 3,300 survivors of the First World War were fed, clothed, sheltered and medically treated there. 

We left the harbour and the blue plaques behind and set off across the headland... spectacular views. 

At the end of the walk we came upon a replica of a Viking ship which sailed from Denmark to Thanet in 1949, to celebrate the 1500th anniversary of the invasion of Britain, the traditional landing of Hengist and Horsa and the betrothal of Hengist's daughter, Rowena, to King Vortigen of Kent.

Viking conditions were faithfully observed and the only instrument carried was a sextant. 

The mad Morris Dancers of Sandwich

Sandwich was such a hoot! We were off to hear Opera - the Magic Flute BUT when we arrived we found it was the Ale and Folk festival... fantastic.  So many interpretations of what it is to be a Morris dancer ha! ha!  I'm having a few problems uploading videos but I will.   Here are a few stills to be getting on with!

Now if Roger went out looking like that...

Oh Ladies you really should be wearing bells!

I knew nothing about Sandwich apart from the fact that the Earl of Sandwich invented the sandwich.  Why?   He loved Bridge and couldn't be bothered to pause to eat SO he asked his cook to come up with a dish that players could eat while they played.. hence the sandwich!

But Sandwich has amazing wooden houses... more than York or anywhere else.We even found the Thrum house  and I sent a photo to Carolyn Thrum in one of my writing groups.  Lots of Viking history here.

I loved the street names and their history.  Travelling with Roger is fab because he can always tell me the facts... So Hog's Corner.  A bell rang at 8.00 pm each night and all animals were shooed out into the streets so they could eat up all the food scraps and rubbish but they had to be back in their pens by 6.00am - if not they were impounded at ... you got it... Hog's Corner.

Pillory Gate was where thieves were nailed by the ear  and never released.  The only way (EEEEK!)  was to tear their ear from the nail to escape.  Marking them for life as a thief!

Great food everywhere and surprisingly a Punch and Judy Show... really?  Let's punch the baby, punch Judy, punch them again and feed them to the crocodile...MMM... not a fan!

Nothing for it but to head to the pub for a few sea shanties... again should be a video here.

Just loved it.. two women sang the most haunting song.. have to go to Deal folk club one day!

Finished the day with pub rock group... hey! Go the Stones.. Bopped and sang until we hopped back on the train to... Ramsgate!

Beautiful Broadstairs

We had the cliff walk to ourselves.  The path curved along the white sandstone cliffs while the sea churned against the rocks ..Magnificent.

Often we don’t have a clue where we are going or what we will see… I kind of like it that we never know what is around the next corner.  This was the case when we came to the end of our walk to Broadstairs.  Before us was the Italianate Greenhouse.   It was originally located in Bretton Hall in Yorkshire (Ey up!)  It was one of the first curved greenhouses designed to capture maximum light.  So let’s hear it for Yorkshire!

We walked into Broadstairs, past the beach huts and the ice cream sellers and into the quirky town.  

Charles Dickens House was of course first on the list.

An old thin, bent guy who looks like a Dickensian character himself,  took our money .  Ebenezer Fumbler maybe.  He checks our 5 pound note, drops it, tries to tear off a ticket,  botches it, and it flutters to the floor. Luckily a cool and collected Guide steers us into the exhibition.  She is so good.  We get a picture of Dickens, his father in the workhouse, Dickens himself a child living on the street. 

I loved seeing how he worked...  the original copies of the books in their serial form  were on display-, as well as copies of the illustrations by  Phiz.  Oh so well worth a visit ... or even two!

We tear ourselves away and head off for the bus... total confusion as to where the bus stop is.  I ask a guy wearing, what we come to think of,  as "Ramsgate Gear" - bright yellow and purple streaked top with orange shorts.  He can't show us the bus stop but he says "come on hop in" and takes us back to Ramsgate.  Yay!  We would have invited him back in for a drink but then we think he might not be so keen on the "neighbourhood" 

What good news.. bad news

We trained it from Heathrow to Paddington.  And then because we didn’t want to lump our cases up and down the underground booked an UBER to Victoria.  

Bad news was that we got a surly driver who harangued us the whole way about booking “UBER pool” (Did we?) "No one in their right mind would book a pool if they wanted to make it on time to an appointment"… on and on he went.  

I switched him off and scrambled to cancel our train tickets and book new ones.  We use Trainsplit which is a fantastic system with huge discounts but usually there is no allowance for missing your train - which we did by 2hrs!  

Good news was because we tried to print our tickets out at Paddington, and they were rejected we got a full refund.   Hey! Great train trip down to Ramsgate.

When we got to Ramsgate…The bad news was it was really shabby.  Dirty streets, people begging,boarded up houses, empty shops and mobility scooters everywhere.  Why did we choose Ramsgate?  

At our apartment, we edged our way past the garbage bins to the front door. We kept our eye on the dodgy guys crowded around the entrance to the snooker hall across the road and let ourselves into a dingy hallway.  

Good news was that our apartment was lovely and by the time we left we actually enjoyed the stream of humanity that flowed by us everyday… or maybe it was effects of the passive smoking of clouds of dope that gave us such an incredible sense of wellbeing!

Ramsgate was the perfect spot for us.  We could walk everywhere and bus or train it back.  The harbour and cliff walks were lovely and the whole place was drenched in history.

Our first excursion was to walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs.  First stop the Ramsgate tunnels.  I was amused to see the Morrison Shelter… I want one.  Now!  I definitely need protection from Scomo! 

I also met Eric the warden…A scary figure if ever there was one! The tunnels really made me think about what it would be like to hear the sirens sound, to gather your children and your belongings together not knowing what you would see when you came out.  My mum always said that everyone made the most of it.  There was always music and singing, sometimes dancing.  At the entrance to the tunnels was this picture.  I loved it - reminded me of mum, her stories and her joie de vivre.

And so to Broadstairs...

Luz to Lisboa to London

One last yummy meal and then on the plane to London...Until the next time.

Luscious Luz

Oh my goodness so going to miss all of this delicious seafood.

Swimming in the pool

More eating ... This one is a traditional dish that I am still trying to get the recipe for....

It's a speciality of Petralva.    Baked bread filled with fish and vegetables..Yum!   Especially good after walking!

Our walk took us past cork trees, a huge mound of "donkey?" dung, an invite to swim in a gangrenous pool... and hey! We loved it!

Of course there was more eating, chatting and laughing!

Sue was training for this amazing triathlon in Nuremberg - which she did in under 12 hours!  Phew her personal best.   Can you believe swim 2.4 miles - Bike 112 miles... Marathon 26 miles...MILES note...  Amazing... Bravo Sue

Monchique

What a great little town this is...I always enjoy coming back.  I love how the steep stairs lead up from the town to reveal little potters workshops or art galleries.  Its incredible to  look back down through the valley with mountains rising either side... AND I love the central square with its restaurants and sculptures.  Definitely my kind of town!

Not much time to linger... time to catch up with Chris & Sue in Praia Da Luz

Mértola.

You know you are in Portugal when you see the storks and their huge nests.  We saw these on our way from Estremoz to Mértola.  The locals had built some poles for them to nest but they preferred the regular power pole.

Only in Mértola overnight but loved exploring the town with its magnificent entrance way.

You got it... hunting is the name of the game.

Estramoz

We can never quite remember what we booked or why we thought it was a good idea at the time but this place was a great idea.  A small farm outside of town and the 21 Century, whose owner Rui didn't speak a word of English or French.  We had a traditional blue and white cottage and courtyard.  Pick the fruit for breakfast he gesticulated... or I think that's what he said... pick the fruit we did... figs and oranges ... yum!

The temperature rose from 18 degrees to 38 and so we were glad of our cool cottage with its thick walls and soothing views over the cornfields ... oh and the olympic sized swimming pool!

Also loved how they had carved and painted the walls...zany eh?

I don't know why I am addicted to markets... but I am.   I don't know whether it is the people, the strange things for sale,  or simply the vibrancy of the fruits and food... but I love it.

This market was fantastic!  We spent an hour or two people watching and sampling the food.

Not so sure about the poor chicks though.   They were boxed up  and taken gleefully away - for a good life pecking the soil we hoped.

The plains around the town stretch out as far as the eye can see but the city itself rises up to dominate the landscape.  Our entrance was through the lower gate and our first sight the bullring.   I'm always so surprised to see this still happens!  The bull ring was only built in 1907!

The town is a mish mash of modern and medieval building with scatterings of  decrepit houses. Dominating the town is The Torre das Três Coroas (Tower of the Three Crowns)  an impressive marble keep which rises 3 metres.  This and  the 13 Century ramparts which circle the upper town give the town regal air and a sense of the strategic importance of this town has had over the years.   Soldiers still patrol the ramparts.

Dona Isabel lived here in the 13th century and is now revered as a saint.  Her palace is now a 5 star hotel!  Stunning views from the top of the tower, including one of the long road across the plains and through the mountains... the one we will be taking to Mértola.