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...