Back in SA

We are now back in SA and had a wonderful holiday :-)

For further updates, please go to scrappywalker.blogspot.com

UK – Day 7 - Marlow

Got up to see Chris and the children off to work and school, then got our things packed.  We headed off to Henley on Thames where they were preparing for their canoe race.

We then drove through the Chiltern Hills to a quaint English village called Turville, where the TV series “The Vicar of Dibley” was shot.

 

We had lunch at a pub called “the Bull and Butcher”.  Dereck had fish, chips and mushy peas and I had cottage pie and vegetables – delicious

We then headed back to Chris and Karin’s place to collect our bags and drove to Heathrow.

UK – Day 6 – Leaving Cardiff to go to England

After making sure all our things were packed, we drove Leanne to work.  It was nice to see where she worked, but it was not nice for me to be saying goodbye to her.  We have both so enjoyed being with her and seeing how she has been living and what she has accomplished since arriving in the UK.  From there we drove over to England to a town called Marlow where our friends Chris and Karin live.  They had left a key for us, so we unpacked our luggage and then headed off to see the town.

We had a cup of coffee (me hot chocolate of course, but this time with hazelnut flavour!) and then headed back to their house.  We both managed to doze for a while until Chris arrived home at about 6pm.  He took us to a pub for a drink and we got home at about 7:15pm by which time Karin and her children Tyla and Dean had arrived home.  We had a lovely braai for dinner, sat chatting for a while and then went off to bed.

The English signing off ….

UK – Day 5 – Cardiff, Wales

Got up to another overcast day and headed off to town to make a few last minute purchases.  While we were there it started to drizzle a little.  Had brunch at Burger King and then headed off to the Cardiff Castle.  This was very interesting as we had an audio guide so were able to listen to the history at certain points.  

They also had some Falcons there which I managed to photograph 

We then had something to drink and then headed off to the Panarth pier.  It was freezing cold due to the wind.  

Then we went to the Cardiff Barrage.  

We then went to Asda to do some last minute grocery shopping and went back to Leanne flat to off load whereafter we went to Bart’s place for supper.  He cooked us a really yummy spaghetti with cheese sauce – as good as mine!!  Then we played Uno which was a lot of fun.  Leanne won overall and I again came last – but like they say it is all in the fun!!

Headed off home to start packing.

Castle viewers signing off ….

UK – Day 4 – Cardiff, Wales

The weather here has been about 12 degrees C and today was not exception except that it was very windy and looked like it would rain.

Leanne had some training to attend at the Leisure Centre and had to be there at 7:30am, so we were up super early.  While she did her training we waited in the pub.

We drove off to Caerphilly castle in Caerphilly.  This is the biggest castle in Wales and the second biggest in Europe.  It was started in 1268 by the powerful Lord of Glamorgan but was never finished in his lifetime and from the 15^th century was allowed to decay.  Most of what is seen today is restoration work from the 1930’s, carried out by the 4^th marquess of Bute, who then owned the castle. 

From there we drove to Brecon Beacons National Park to see the Glun-Gwyn waterfalls. The weather was freezing cold, the wind was blowing and it was raining, so we only managed to walk down to see one of these waterfalls.  On our way down, the rain stopped, but the wind was still blowing! This was spectacular and Bart decided to get closer and walked almost to the edge to take pictures.  We were rather concerned and shouting for him to move, but with all the water falling, he could not hear us!!  

On our way back to the car we spotted some sheep with their lambs who walked away from us when we came towards them but then when we stopped, they came closer.  They were really cute.  All in all we walked about 2km down, then up a wet and rocky pathway. 

We then went to Pizza Hut for some lunch.  Dereck and Leanne had eat as much pizza, Bart had eat as much pizza and salad and I had eat as much salad – delicious!

We then drove back to Cardiff and went to the main street and looked around at the shops.  I must say I find them rather interesting and found some nice brads at a book shop that also stocked a few craft items.

We headed off home atabout 6:00pm and we made toasted sandwiches for supper and just sorted out photos and watched TV.

It was a long day and we eventually got to bed at 10:30pm.

Sheepwatchers signing off ….

UK – Day 3 – Cardiff, Wales

We only woke up rather late and Dereck and Leanne made a yummy breakfast of bacon, eggs and cheese on bagels.

We went to Cardiff Bay to go on a boat cruise round the bay.  This was rather interesting as the skipper was telling us interesting information about the various buildings and what was going on in the Bay area.  Stopped in at Starbucks for something to drink and shared a choc chip cookie.  There was a flea market there and we wondered around for a while.

We then went to Roath Park. There is a large lake with loads of ducks and geese there as well as paddle and peddle boats that you can go on.  It was far too cold for us to do that!  It started to drizzle a bit and it was freezing cold (coming from me, you must know how cold it was!!).  We bought some food and fed the ducks and geese.  The geese bite your hand when they take the food out, but the ducks actually eat out of your hand. 

We got home at about 5:30pm and a bit later, Leanne and Bart made supper consisting of chicken cordon bleu with mash and salad and finished off with a cupcake – nice being served by someone else!!

Cruisers signing off ….

UK – Day 2 – Cardiff, Wales

UK – Day 2 – Cardiff, Wales

After a yummy breakfast of bacon, sausages, rolls and cereal made by Claire (thanks Claire!) we sat chatting for a while.  Richard and Emma (Mark and Claire’s son) brought their children, Emily and Chloe around for us to see.  They are so cute!

We left their house at about 12, after seeing off Gigs (Mark took her to the airport).  For me it was sad to be saying good bye, but it had been great seeing her for the short while I did.

We arrived in Cardiff at about 3pm and quickly made a detour stop to ASDA to get a few groceries, then we headed off to Leanne’s flat.  It was nice to see it in real life and it is really a lovely little place.  We had rolls with cold meat for lunch and it was great to be eating something “home-made”. Bart came over and we decided to go down to the Bay area for something to eat.  We ended up going to an Italian restaurant and Leanne had a pizza, Bart had penne spezzatino, Dereck had taglietelle cabonara and I had penne Verona – all very delicious.  From there we wondered around a bit (rather freezing!!) and then headed off to a mall where we decided to play a game of ten pin bowling.  While waiting to play we had ice-creams from Ben & Jerry’s.  I was hopeless and came last and Bart won, and we all had a lot of fun.

 Bowlers signing off ….

UK – Day 1 – Meeting up with friends

We left Denver airport at about 8:30pm (as we had to wait for a delayed flight in with passengers for our flight).  We had a fairly pleasant flight except for a baby that cried quite a lot. Got woken up at 3:30am to have breakfast!!  On landing at Heathrow, we had to move our clocks 6 hours forward, so the body was quite out of sync.

Leanne was waiting for us, and it was quite an emotional moment for us both.  It was soooo great to see her and I know the short time we have together is going to be really special.  We waited for my friend Gigs to arrive and again when she did, it was fantastic to see her again – I last saw her about 18 months ago and we have been friends since 1970!

We got onto a bus to take us to the car hire and packed all our things into the boot and then we were off to Southampton to a village called Whiteley where our good friends Mark and Claire live.  They have a lovely house and we had a good afternoon, catching up, chatting and drinking wine in the sun – brilliant.  Later that evening we went to the Tichfield Mill for dinner.  Gigs and I had piri piri chicken, Claire had scampi, Dereck had gammon, Leanne had a burger and Mark had fish.  Claire, Gigs and I shared an apple, gooseberry and honey crumble and Leanne had a chocolate brownie.  All very yummy!!

From there we had coffee at home and chatted for a bit before retiring.

Whiteley visitors signing off …

Colorado – Day 2– Still Leadville

We had a delicious homemade breakfast and then headed off to Vail which is a famous ski resort.  Temperature was round 46 degrees F and went up to about 66 degrees F.  The sights on the way were awesome and reminded me of our trips to Austria when we went skiing.

We arrived at Vail and wondered around the town square.  Most of the shops were shut – having closed 2 weeks ago and they only open again during June and July.  These are just a few pictures taken while walking. 

Had a yummy milkshake … 

From there we travelled up to Breckenridge which is a famous ski resort.  Oh, wow, this place was beautiful and again all the ski slopes were closed and most of the shops were closed as well.  We stopped at a parking stop and ate the remainder of last night’s pizza for lunch and this is the town below us. 

The next stop was in a village called Fair Play where they had a historic village, but we couldn’t go in as it was closed, but we took the pictures!! 

Dereck playing in the snow at one of our scenic stops!! 

We eventually got back to our cottage, having decided this morning that we were going to stay there another night.  We packed our suitcases and then went to the Silver Dollar Saloon for a drink before having dinner. 

At the recommendation of our cottage hostess we went to Zichittella’s Italian restaurant.  Dereck and I had Italian sausage pasta, Sue had lasagna and Doug had a pasta dish with chicken and broccoli.  All very yummy, but much too much and we could only manage about half of it. 

Walked back to our cottage with the temperature at 42 degrees F (which is about 5 degrees C).

Leadvillers signing off ….

Colorado – Day 1 – Leadville

After taking the last few photos of the Oldest Church – San Miguel Church, in Santa Fe, which was built in the 1600’s by the Tlaxcalan Indians and the original adobe walls can still be seen within its current structure, and the Oldest House in Santa Fe we set off on our way to Colorado.  

We travelled on highway 285 and eventually left New Mexico and entered Colorado and stopped in a town called Saguache where we found the Oasis Restaurant where we had lunch.  Dereck and Sue had a burger, I had chicken strips and Doug had a small portion of nachos (which was still enough to feed two!).  It was a good meal and thereafter we just took a few pictures of the nearby houses and the wonderful sight of snow covered mountains. 

We carried on along the highway passing through Beuna Vista and Granite and taking in the wonderful mountainous sights before we reached Leadville. 

We made enquiries about accommodation at the local information office and found a wonderful place called McGinnis Cottage.  What a wonderful place.  The owner, Donna was such a lovely person and gave us lots of tips of places to visit and to eat at.  After unpacking, we took a walk around the town. About a week ago Colorado had a really heavy snow fall and you can still see a lot of snow around the gardens and along the roadside. 

While Sue and I were popping into various shops, Dereck and Doug happened to ask the assistant in one of the shops where a good place to have a drink was and they were given directions to the Silver Dollar Saloon, which turned out to be a very enjoyable place to be.  Sue and I joined them after we had finished shopping. Apparently the bar counter, the mirror behind the bar and the floor are the originals from the 1800’s.

This is the spot where Doc Holliday shot the sheriff of Leadville over a $5 bet. Some shady looking characters – ha ha

We were having a great evening (with one of the locals chatting to us and telling us how he got kicked out of Leadville for digging up the judge’s garden one evening) and decided to order pizza to have in the saloon (suggested by the bartender).  Sue and I took a walk around the corner and ordered two pizzas.  They were HUGE, but we all agreed that they were the best pizzas we had ever eaten.  We couldn’t finish them, so we took what was left home. 

Walking home at about 9:00pm it was about 8 degrees C and rather chilly, but so worth it after such a great evening.

 

Silver dollars signing off …