I went on a little holiday (part 1)

We have just returned from a holiday.

It was quite a big holiday for us. We even left the kids behind. Aren't we terrible! 

It was actually our first real holiday away together.

I borrowed Sonofagun No.1's giant suitcase which he purchased a few months ago for a trip to Japan. I wanted to buy a cheap slipcover to protect it and to help it stand out on the baggage trolley.

The Bear told me that as I had so many leftover granny squares and remnants that I should sew them together into a band or 'something' so it would stand out on the luggage belt at the airport.  

Challenge accepted.

We all have these collections, don't we?

A band? Puh-lease.

Over course I went over the top. 

I don't think this was what he meant. But I did have alot of remnants from unfinished and finished projects. Bags of them. 

And it can't be confused with anyone else's luggage.

Even though it was supposed to also protect the bag, it was pointed out to me on the Facebook & Instagram community that a crocheted, cotton cover may not withstand luggage conveyer belts and bag handlers. Which is an accurate assessment. So I bought a cover for the cover. Hmm. 

And both survived their destination.  In style. 

All the way to here.

Bucking Huge Palace

There was a bit of action happening around Bucking Huge Palace as it was preparing for Charlie to be Kinged.

London was dressed up to the nines and tens.

Spring flowers were flowering and flags were flagging.

The flowers were very awesome to see because we left Melbourne in the grips of Autumn. Temperatures and leaves were dropping.

As a side note, I must say I love visiting supermarkets in other countries and perusing their shelves for all sorts of exotic and wonderous foods!

Many people mustn't have been able to get an airbnb booking because they were camped on the streets. They seemed to be having a marvelous time though. 

Kidding. These hearty and enthusiastic souls were camped out on the Mall for the Coronation Procession. 

The Bear and I put on our comfy shoes and walked thousands of steps seeing all the sights.

We were walking from London Bridge along the Thames when we came across this sobering sight.

Each heart representing someone lost to Covid. 

We went up Tower Bridge. It's one thing to see such things on the telly, and quite another to visit them in person. Every time a police car siren went off, we felt like we were in a Bond film. Or an episode of The Bill.

I do love a nation with a sense of humour.

We wandered up and down Portobello Road and found heaps of groovy objects. The stall owner of a stall filled with police, fire and military uniforms told me I could get arrested for trying on a police helmet. Challenge accepted...

This shop was so small, it was crowded with only one person. Somehow 6 of us managed to cram in. In order to move around we had to shuffle around each other like a tile puzzle.

London was so wonderful but I do have one complaint. 

The coffee. It's so crap.

We only had one good coffee and it was such a shock to the system, I had to take a photo of it. And these equally delicious pastries. This was at a cafe on Portobello Road

We loved all the street art.

Did the neighbourhood get together and discuss which shade on the Pantone colour chart they would represent? Delightful!

We became super clever at getting around on trains and buses.

This was probably the most we saw of the coronation. But it's ok. We can say we were briefly amongst the masses at Hyde Park. Until I got bored and we took off to try and get near the Mall.

Ha! We were classicly 'kettled'. A term we had never heard of until it happened to us.  We weren't kept in a small space. There were literally hundreds and thousands of us. The fine members of the London Constabulary simply kept the foolish masses moving around the OUTSIDE of the fenced-in Mall by moving us around with the expectation we were moving towards a point where we could enter or go near.

Personally I think it was awfully clever of them and enjoyed the whole experience of what a massive population of Londoners experienced of the coronation. Being herded around like sheep for zero outcome or reward. Hilarious! 

After a few days in London, we leased a little Fiat 500 and left the city limits.

Our first stop was to meet up with some wonderful friends. 

I'm going to insert this here:

My best, bloggy buddy Vicki from Off the Hook For You.

We have been online bloggy pals for about 8 or 9 years now. We were lucky enough to meet in real life for the first time in 2018 when Vicki and her lovely family came to Australia to stay with family.

Now was our turn to drop in on them.

Vicki, Tom and the kiddos took us to some gorgeous antique shops in Hitchin where they got to experience first hand what happens when Louise is in any antique or op shop. 

I get lost and ultra absorbed in looking at every single item and exploring every single orifice.

Soz guys!  By the way I had never seen Jay birds in real life so was quite amazed at these poor stuffed little buggers at how big they are. 

I also got my first viewing of real life English squirrels in this cemetery in Hitchin. 

It was the Bears first squirrel sighting and he finally understood my obsession!

We then all drove to Cambridge for some good old fashioned punting.

Vicki's son did an admirable job trying to punt a boat filled with 4 fully grown adults and his little sister while his father provided emotional support from the front.

We had a wonderful time getting a thorough tour of the banks of the river Cam as we zigzagged up and down, from shore to shore. We didn't fall in at all!

Both the Bear and Vicki's lovely daughter also attempted to punt, however even a fully grown bloke failed to make much progress in pushing the boat along.

We said a fond farewell to Vicki, Tom & the kiddos and finally made our way to spend the night at a sweet little airbnb thatched cottage just outside of Cambridge.

To access it, we had to walk over a little bridge from the road.

O.K. So there are a number of ways to describe the houses in this village. Here's my description:

"I just can't even.... it's like freakin' adorbs. I'd totally buy this if it was a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle."

Amiright???

Much twee. Very thatchness.

And that dear friends is Part 1 of our little jaunt to a place far, far away.  How many parts are there? I'm not sure yet. I've dropped 40 photos and 1 video in this post. In reality by this stage I had taken 340 photos and 10 short videos (some accidental video clips of the back of my ear) so I think I've been pretty ruthless. I could have added at less 20 more cute squirrel photos...

Stay tuned....

Louise

🐿 Red Haired Amazona 🐿