Viggo's Blog: Hot Summer Nights

Hiya fans, Viggo here.
Did you know that my woman left me for a fortnight? I was shocked! But then again, that young guy looking after the house wasn't stingy with the crunchy nibbles, so me and the brat were okay, I guess.

Do not trust appearances!

I was on the bed first, and the brat plunked himself right in front of me, the nerve of that young tom!

Anyway, as I said, me and Bowie had the house to ourselves for a fortnight. We have a saying in my country: "when the cat is away, the mice have a party on the table". In our case: as our woman was away, us cats ruled the house. I got extra food out of our sitter by waking him up very early, so he gave us nibbles just to keep us quiet...hahahaha, sucker.

I would like to share a photo with you. My woman took it in Bath I believe.

See that? My hero is in that picture! Middle left. See him now?

It's The Cheshire Cat. You know, him of "We're all mad here" fame. In my country he is all but forgotten, so I was so chuffed to see half a shop window devoted to his adventures.

I tried to tell Bowie about him, but that silly youngster is too impatient to listen. All he cares about is running around outside and showing off to the other cats.

And I want to show you something else.

See that? A black cat! On top of that column. And what a handsome cat he is! It is in one of those stately homes, or manors, that my woman is so fond of visiting. She loved this one, it is called Anglesey Abbey, near Cambridge, and it was filled with wonderful stuff.She told me there were lots of animals there, in paintings and statues. The English have got class. They know our value.

Right, well, time for my nap.

Oh, by the way, what about his then? I want one!

Ta-rah!

Road Trip 2017 - 1 (Harwich to Richmond)

When the possibility arose that I would be able to go on holiday  after all this year (due to my caregiver responsibilities that was very uncertain for a long time), I realized I really wanted to take a trip to Wiltshire, England. So I did.
Please come along.

For 4 years in the Eighties England used to be my home, and London used to be my hometown. But when I lived and worked there, all I really did was work...there was no time to visit other parts of that wonderful and beautiful country. During the years following that period, I've compiled a list in my head of all the places I had wanted to visit, would I have had the money and time.
Wiltshire was one of those places.
So I worked out a road trip starting in Harwich, taking in a piece of London as my darling daughter was determined to visit Hampton Court, and then working our way down to Wiltshire.
This first installment will tell you about the first two days we spent in the UK.

The first night, straight off the ferry, I had decided to stay the night in a b&b in Colchester, as I didn't want to be driving in the dark, on the left, straight away.
As little said about that b&b (The Grey Inn) as possible...it was old and decrepit and had a second life as a shagging-by-the-hour place - we heard everything through the walls...
So, for the second night I decided to treat ourselves to a wonderful b&b in Richmond, called the Rose of York, overlooking the river.

The weather was wonderful, so the first day, after driving around the West route around London (I don't bite nails, but could've! But I did fine, really, and for the rest of the holiday the driving was a doddle) and checking in, we took a lovely walk along the Thames after descending the hill.

My daughter was amazed that the river water washed over the quay at high tide, making the walk very slippery. (In my country folk would have thrown up a dam!)
We walked all the way up to Teddington, and then back again and visited Ham House.

It being a lovely balmy night, the riverside was teeming with people having a drink, or pottering about in boats, or taking a walk, like us. For  a Dutch girl it was a very nice initiation into English after-work customs. She saw businessmen in their shirtsleeves, tie loose, proper coat tied to the back of their bikes, cycling home along the towpath at breakneck speed. But also how many people enjoyed each others company outside on a Tuesday evening.

The next morning we took a bus from Richmond Hill to Hampton Court.

Unfortunately the weather turned, and would not turn again...So the rest of our holiday was spent watching rainclouds gather, googling the dry spells and dodging the raindrops.

It was my fifth visit to Hampton Court, but my daughter lapped it all up and they practically had to evict her when it closed.

All in all it was a very good start to our road trip. We had a lovely vegetarian dinner in The Slug and Lettuce in Richmond, watched the now deserted towpath gleam in the rain, and were looking forward to driving West towards Jane Austen country the next day.

The sunset was amazing.

Next post: Jane Austen's village.

Long Time No See...

Morning folks!

You have been wondering where I've been...yeeesssss, you can admit it ;-)
Well, I have been on holiday. So there.
I need to get myself sorted out first, and every day there's the taking care of my Mum...so time is rather precious.
BUT.
New installments of my travel adventures will be posted VERY VERY SOON.
So keep your eyes peeled!