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Earlier in the year we booked in the decorators to paint the house exterior during July and with this in mind have made the most of our free time in May and June, travelling back to Spain, touring Tuscany and Umbria in Italy for the first time, and more recently returning to The Lakes.
One evening in particular the parents were particularly active and I wondered if they were getting fed up of this digital camera that kept appearing from behind the curtain as I tried to get the babies all to 'look this way and smile!' We returned half an hour later for a latest progress report only to find all 5 birds had flown their nest. At least all seemed to have made their maiden flight safely as none had fallen on the duvet we'd placed beneath the basket. Anyway now I could water the basket and revive the wilting flowers! Meanwhile, the starlings were just as busy in the nest they'd returned to from the year before in the eaves above Dennis's bedroom. The swallows were also madly swooping all over the place, and there was a very unusual crested bird patiently searching the lawns for insects. With the general dawn chorus starting up sometime before 5 a.m. each morning, we've decided the supposed peace and quiet of the countryside is a bit of a fallacy! Meanwhile, the moles, who created an intricate network of burrows beneath the bottom lawn last year, decided to return even though our battery operated vibrating mole deterrents are fully operational. The explosive devises sounded impressive but couldn't have shell-shocked them too much, though they have this week decamped to the field. Anyway, apart from the occasional soily mound, the gardens are looking O.K. For the first time ever we decided to have a look at the famous Chelsea Flower Show in May, our only reluctance in attending being that we'd pick up some grandois ideas and come home and want to flatten everything and commence a major new landscaping project! We took off to London on a hot and sultry day. The city was muggy and parking was a bit of a nuisance, but we were looking forward to lunch at a restaurant in the original Michelin building in Chelsea, whose Manager is also associated with our favourite pub here in The Cotswolds. Called .Bibendum', the open entrance on the ground floor has a fish stall which then leads to an informal café and restaurant. The main restaurant in this art deco building is on the first floor, where the colourful original Michelin logo stained glass windows add a bright blue backdrop to the fresh white clean lines to the room. The Terence Conran studio is housed next door within this building that he owns. The food, principally fish, was really good, and for London, very reasonably priced, so we enjoyed our usual G & T's before a tasty lunch of cod chips and peas, and haddock. We didn't relish the queues waiting to enter the Flower Show in the afternoon heat, but we were soon wandering around with the hoards of people, studying the modern artistic displays within the themed purpose built gardens on display. Walls of curved stainless steel awash with water, sprouting above manicured velvet lawns and exact box hedging seemed to be the order of the day until we came across the garden of the Chelsea Pensioners, depicting the quintessential English country scene; a quaint thatched pub beside an overgrown pond, a tatty fence, worn shaled path and grassy banks with wild poppies. Designed to depict a comforting image of England in the minds of the soldiers as they fought in the First World War, this garden won 'Best of Show' which perhaps says something for the other contemporary entries. As we returned home to the weeds around our pond and rickety fence between the lawns and open countryside, suddenly our garden looked a lot better, and any ideas of an adventurous landscaping project have since been forgotten! Historically our newsletters seem to always end up on the subject of cars so this month I'll try and limit it to our day out at Millbrook with Aston Martin, doing an advanced driver's course. With rain forecast, the DB9 remained fully valeted and snugly garaged whilst we drove across country in the diesel Mercedes. Sharing the course, we chose to drive a similar DB9 but specified the new manual gearbox version as we were keen to compare it to our paddle shift semi automatic version, and also the new Vantage that we've ordered comes strictly with manual box and clutch. It took a while to get in to the flow of the clutch pickup and precise gear selection with 6 forward gears close together, and selecting third gear rather than first didn't help our fast getaways! Millbrook covers hundreds of acres and serves as the test ground to many new car models undergoing evaluation. Offering a speed bowl for flat out driving, cross country undulating tracks with demanding corners, city driving course, skid pan, standing mile and varying road surfaces, it's all designed not only to test the car, but driver too. We were surprised at just how much the technology incorporated in to cars to help stability and control under speed and on poor road surfaces helps the driver to maintain control. Braking hard from high speeds on wet or icy tarmac, and the Aston stuck to it's line and stopped perfectly, but take out the traction control and the same manoeuvre saw us, particularly on the skid pan, out of control and losing the back end completely. The car felt safe and stable at 150 m.p.h. on the speed bowl, though I must admit I didn't see or recognise the unusual blue sports car come up behind me at the time until the instructor told me to pull over! Returning to the paddle shift on our car, I must admit I do prefer the easier gear change, though I was using the revs to the max through each gear on the manual box. The beauty of the semi auto DB9 is it's relaxed driving in heavy city traffic when I simply press the 'D' button and let the car choose the gears, yet when I want more spirited driving on the open road I drop a gear, use the paddles to do the instant shifting up and down (you can play a tune with the exhaust tone of the V12 engine whilst flicking through the gears!) and extract the tremendous reserve of power by keeping the revs up. We look forward to getting our hands on the new model Vantage, which is by design more of an out and out sports car in comparison to the refinement of the DB9, a true cross country Grand Tourer. We repeated our Spring holiday to Spain in late May, again flying to The Costa Blanca where we lived for many years. The weather was set fair and the sun hot enough to enjoy and sunbathe in without the oppressive heat that July and August brings. Sea swimming was fresh but delightful, we lazily passed away days exploring the coast and on the beach, and dined at our favourite restaurants each night.
You can always rely on good colourful photos when over there. The Costa Blanca has always been famous for it's natural clear light, particularly during the Winter months when we remember we'd sometimes spot Ibiza and even Majorca across the sea from the mainland. In the photo top right, Dennis is sitting above the Moraira Marina where we always had our boat moored, with our former villa on the cliff behind him. He's actually sporting his new haircut care of 'Juan y Fina' in the village and even now only has it done when we're over there! Meanwhile, we also stocked up on our Summer shirts from the 'Merino' boutique, also in the village, as worn by me outside our hotel, the Melia Altea Hills, above left, and talking of old habits dying hard, there's good old Harry at his place 'Las Ruinas' in the Lleus valley, ready to wine and dine us with the typically Spanish fare of steak and kidney pie! After a hard day's relaxing and slightly smarting as our suntans begin to redden, we always look forward to a long cool G & T in the gardens at Harry's, overlooking the terraces of vines and olive trees, before dinner. The photos below illustrate the scene.
We've always said 'It'll be nice here when it's finished!', referring to the amount of building that has continued along the coast of Spain since we first turned up there late June 1987 (18 years ago to the day!) Even now there seems no end in sight, and we've long since seen the vineyards that used to stretch down to Moraira beach replaced by a lattice of roads bordered by apartments. However, as Don Quixote disappears on his donkey down a dusty Spanish dirt track there's something else that the Spanish have taken to heart and adopted in to their modern culture…Yes, it's The Roundabout. Wherever one drives, there is sure to be a roundabout looming, sometimes for no apparent reason, around the next bend. Since joining the E.E.C. the sometimes lacking local roads have well and truly been upgraded to shiny new autoroutes, by passes, over passes and under passes, all linked by roundabout after roundabout. However, they aren't just circles of tarmac with a bland centre. Each Town Hall has decided that their roundabout is going to be better than any neighbouring villages', particularly if located at the entrance to their domain. Hence, for each, we now have truly magnificent water features, modern art and sculpture, manicured gardens and mood setting illumination. Road signs have become all important too, together of course with Formula One style crash barriers, Oh, and the latest fashion accessory is a luminous yellow safety jacket to wear when out on the road, supplied as standard with each rental car, and should you decided to vacate your vehicle by the roadside, the luminous red triangle must be erected and displayed, hazard warning lights flashing, and always carry Proof of Identity and passport with you just to remind yourself who you are! Yes, it seems Spain has also embraced all the red tape bureaucracy that's sent South from Brussels. Our five days there soon passed and we now have a very convenient set-up regarding future trips out there, which we hope to do on a regular basis. With several airports within 90 mins from home, all with flights to Alicante on a daily basis, and fares from as little as £9 in the Winter and £39 in Summer, we can easily hop on a plane as a last minute decision. The Altea Hills hotel is a very conveniently situated 5 star complex complete with pools, gardens, gym etc, and since enrolling on their customer loyalty scheme, we are offered large junior suites at the reduced rate of 70 euros per night when their official charge is 250! Put it this way, apart from our daily spends (which can amount to anything!) our 5 day package cost the same as one night at our favourite hotel in The Lake District, which you'll surely know is Sharrow Bay, if you've kept up with previous newsletters. Barely back home for one week, and just enough time to get the grass cut, washing done and time out to recover from the holiday, (Yes! We've always said travelling is tiring!) we were off again, this time heading for Italy, and in particular Florence, followed by a tour of Tuscany and Umbria. Apart from a brief trip to Milan, we've never got around to exploring the country but on hearing about the beauty of the Tuscan countryside, together with the selection of lovely country palaces, and of course the fresh Italian food, we thought a visit in early June would be a good choice. We took the midday flight to Pisa from Gatwick, were met at the airport by an Italian lady chauffeur with an American accent, and driven East down the autostrada to the city of Florence. Our hotel, The Grand, stood on the banks of The River Arno, with the ancient town centre and it's maze of narrow car-free streets just a short walk away. Looking across Florence from our balcony, the terracotta tiled roofs, church domes and towers seemingly fought for space and position, hemmed in either side of the river by the surrounding hilly green countryside of vineyards and wheat fields.
Tourism is inevitably the major industry within the old town which offers so much in the way of historical buildings, palaces, art galleries and museums, and not forgetting it's endless numbers of trattorias and restaurants gracing the pavements and squares of the quaint cobbled streets and alleys. We dined in the hotel on the first evening, and planned to do the bare essentials regarding the sightseeing the following day, our only full day in the town. Even so, with the old city being traffic free apart from ordered taxis, this still involved plenty of walking, though we did manage to commandeer a local guide with horse and carriage when taking in the sights around the centre. Our first call was to be the Uffizi gallery as we had pre-booked entrance tickets for an early morning visit (well, we call 10.00 a.m. early!) We were glad that we'd reserved in advance when we saw the queues already stretching around the plaza to gain access. Before this trip I'd purchased The AA Guide to Florence and Tuscany, no less than two inches thick with pages of useful and informative info, with a whole chapter dedicated to the fabulous priceless paintings and sculptures on display here at The Uffizi. Needless to say, we hadn't read a word and so arrived pretty ignorant to the splendours before us. For an enthusiastic historian of Da Vinci, Botticelli or Michelangelo, this would be their Shangri-La or Mecca, but after viewing the first 100 paintings of Christ from cradle to cross, and the endless rows of Michelangelo's marble statues of naked men, invariably with their most private of parts snapped off (no doubt due to years of mishandling!) the impact and importance of each piece was somehow lost, and so we retreated to a nearby café for a rest before tackling the next tourist 'must do' on our agenda. The old town was very atmospheric and so historic. It was interesting just to amble along the tiny back streets where each doorway led to some tiny shop front where perhaps a skilled tradesman was creating or renovating a violin in his workshop, whilst every few yards a trattoria would be busily setting up a few tables on the pavement in preparation for the lunchtime trade. We headed to the famous bridge Ponte Vecchio, popular for its jewellery shops which cling to and overhang each side of the bridge. We headed further down to the Palazzo Pitti, Florence's largest and most opulent palace, and once the main seat of Medici. (I'm quoting from the AA Guide now!). Again, as the Uffizi, the sheer opulence and abundance of important art was almost overpowering. The royal apartments of King Umberto were hard to beat in terms of extravagence with their gilded ceilings and stuccowork, vast chandeliers and period furnishings, paintings and sculptures. We continued the tour with a stroll through the terraced gardens which look over the roofline of the city. With aching feet after a day's walking, we decided to give the other 'must sees' a miss, but I'll quickly flick through the guide and mention the places we would have seen if we'd allowed more time in Florence. The Galleria dell Accademia is the home to Michelangelo's David, this famous statue showing 'David in meditative pose as he prepares to fight with Goliath'. We also missed the Museo Del Bargello, built in 1255 as the Palazzo del Popolo, also serving in its time as Police HQ and prison. Then there's Museo San Marco, a shrine to Fra Angelico, Palazzo Vecchio (the grand embodiment of Florentine civic purpose from the 14th century, no less) Piazza della Signoria, (a vast open air piazza traffic free sculpture gallery with elegant cafes and restaurants , so says this guide book. Come to think of it, I'm sure we passed through here on our horse drawn carriage!). We also passed by Florence's famous cathedral, the Duomo, with Brunelleschi's freestanding dome, which is 'a masterpiece of early engineering'.Actually I thought the green and white marble façade beneath the terracotta dome seemed rather ugly, but there again as I refer to my book I see they comment 'Compared to the outside, the interior of the cathedral is rather austere!' The churches were abundant and we also didn't see Santa Croce, San Lorenzo, Santa Maria Novella, etc, Oh well, maybe next time! One of our main reasons for the stop over in Florence before touring the countryside was to experience a particularly renowned restaurant, 'Enoteca Pinchiorri'. We made a reservation well in advance and were looking forward to our evening at this 'Relais & Chateaux' rated establishment, which this guide I have beside me (and never bothered to use until now!) states 'This French-influenced restaurant with exquisite nouvelle cuisine and wonderful wines is one of Italy's best'. Well, nowadays we tend not to be influenced by reputations and hype. Though 'The Fat Duck' in Bray is now regarded as literally the World's best, we weren't exactly in awe of their bright green Swarfega lookalike 'snail porridge' and tended to fill up on bread and butter whilst left waiting between courses. We sat in the elegant open courtyard and as usual ordered two gin & tonics as our preferred pre-dinner drinks, much to the disapproval of the wine waiter who wanted us to have a glass of wine. In fairness to the place, we didn't realise that an 'enoteca' specialises in good wines, which tend to take preference over the food. He returned with the list that could have taken all evening to read. Summarised on the opening pages were individual glasses of wine, with an appropriate glass proposed for each course. The waiter pointed to the selection he wanted us to have and we assumed he must be working on commission as we noticed the 1,000 euro charge per person discreetly at the bottom of the page. Pushing us for a decision, we told him to go away and give us some time to choose. Like an irritating bluebottle he was soon back and we purposely chose a cheap white Chianti, much to his disapproval. This condescending attitude that unfortunately pervades many of the supposedly top restaurants of the World has never gone down too well with us, and we've long since realised that silly high prices don't actually make a good wine any better. We remember having a bottle of 'Marques de Caceres' in The Connaught in London for £90 a bottle, (one of their cheaper bottles!) It was the same wine we bought in our local Spanish village for £4! Last week we had, as usual, a splendid meal at the 'Relais & Chateaux' Sharrow Bay hotel on Ullswater where their Sommalier sources superb wines from around the World and offers them at thoroughly sensible prices. We noticed one really good Italian red wine from a vineyard we passed in Tuscany, Brunello di Montecilano, which, on Sharrow's list, was less than a tenth the price the 'Enoteca Pichiorri' charged. So, let's return to the rose scented courtyard where our pushy wine waiter was coercing the predominately British tourist diners in to parting with as many euros as possible. The three ladies to our left managed to keep a straight face until he left, content with his order, but then huddled together, glanced disbelievingly at the list, and quickly decided to pool together their plastic cards! Feeling adventurous, we requested a bottle of still water to complement the Chianti which glowed in our glasses like a freshly given human sample from the gent's urinal! Let's get back to the food, which was as good as expected, though we think there is something to be said for that old proverb 'When in Rome…' Being nouvelle French, we could have been dining anywhere in the World, and as we later learned, most Tuscan cooks are obsessed with freshness and serve only their local traditional dishes.The result is good straight forward wholesome food with a fantastic taste. We remember later in the week enjoying tomato and cheese on toast in a trattoria in Pienza. The village is famous for it's home made cheese. The bread was baked 'in situ' that morning and the tomatoes taken from the garden. Perfect!…and washed down with a glass of Brunello di Montecilano, the final bill for two amounting to less than 20 euros! Anyhow, we did really enjoy the meal at 'Pichiorri' and there was some kind of satisfaction that our bill must have been one of the lowest they'd ever tilled up! With his million bottles of wine piled up in the cellar below him, the owner was literally sitting on his fortune. Let's refer to this AA guide book once more and see how they summarise the place. 'The service is as impeccable as the price is high'(!). Enough said! Our Americanised Italian chauffeuse turned up the following morning to take us to Florence airport to collect our hire car. Of the lines of busy car rental desks, ours was the only unattended one. Our agents, 'Kirker Holidays', specialising in an upmarket bespoke service, had probably chosen the worst car rental firm possible. We rang them to ask how long we should wait. They rang the desk and we stood there listening to the telephone ringing. Half an hour later the greasy unshaven scruffy car rental rep arrived, barely managing to complete the necessary form filling without dropping dead with boredom. The Alfa Romeo that I'd booked turned out to be a diesel Ford Focus estate, the first hurdle being to actually retrieve the car from amongst several hundreds parked in the far distance from the airport. Amongst the numerous Avis and Hertz rentals we eventually found the AutoEuropa sign, and beside it a couple of unwashed cars. We loaded up, and joined the motorway heading S.W. to the Tuscan Umbria border, and our destination, The Palazzo Terranova. The drive was our first introduction to the rolling green and fertile Tuscan countryside. I was expecting more of a barren Spanish landscape and was surprised at it's similarity to the English countryside. Taking the motorway that would eventually lead to Rome, we exited south of Arezzo and followed the hotel's directions as shown on their website www.palazzoterranova.com It was a case of 'on your right look for a clump of cypress trees at the entrance to the cemetery' and 'follow the dirt road for 2 km. It is steep and bumpy in parts but keep going!' In conscientiously following their every direction, by lunchtime we were carefully navigating that step and bumpy dirt track, through a derelict farmyard (or at least we thought until we noticed the satellite dish pinned to the crumbling walls!) and carried on up the hillside of meadows and forest. In the distance the Palazzo Terranova stood majestically, the line of cypress trees lining it's driveway. Commanding the most stunning of views over the valley below and range of hills beyond, for us this was one of those rare occasions when the reality of the place far exceeded our expectations. With large, low angled overhanging eaves and balustrade balconies leading from the lounge down to the lawned terrace, the house was typically Italian, complemented by lines of lavendar and large terracotta pots around the dining terraces and gardens. However, this wonderful pallazo is the creation of an English lady and her family, Sarah Townsend, and with English staff and clientele, it proved to be an absolute home from home and one of those places that you promise yourself you'll always return to. Anyway, let's have a look at Terranova in these 6 photos below.
We were greeted by the English manager who led us through to the garden and sat us down with a refreshing drink whilst we considered a light lunch on the terrace, taking in the views as shown in the photos above. We were joined by a couple of the resident dogs, comprising in all, half a dozen King Charles spaniels, a black Labrador, and the manager's own pet dog. The arrival was a pleasant change form the usual 'checking in' procedure that we endure, with demands for passport, credit cards and signatures. The lunch was delicious. The owner's daughter is the chef, and her emphasis on the freshness of food was obvious. Later that evening we both had the best lasagne ever! Our allocated twin room in the eaves of the third floor left us rather worried due to the lack of headroom. Perhaps ideal for a couple of small children, pygmies or even limbo dancers, and lacking any view from the oval windows at floor level, the manager sensed our concern and showed us the available suites on the floor below. We were offered a beautiful room whose view through the shuttered window is illustrated in the photo on the bottom right, above. Sarah Townsend has created a very comfortable and welcoming house for her guests. The antiques and ornaments grace all rooms and the bedroom suites on each floor are entered via large open lounges. As a place simply to escape to and unwind amidst comfort, luxury, good food and wine, and all in a stunning location, Terranova would be difficult to beat. Staying only one night before heading West to explore central Tuscany, we remained around the hotel, pool and grounds during the afternoon, looking forward to our evening meal in the gardens. So, for this time at least, we were departing all too soon down the dusty lane towards our next destination, 'Relais La Suvera', in Pievescola. The empty country roads made driving a pleasure. Winding through the pine clad hills, passing sleepy villages scattered over this fertile and green farmland, we spotted the enormous freshwater Lake Trasimeno in the distance, the pleasure boats cutting a wake in the mirror calm water heading to the island Polvesse. Winding down there, and leaving behind the more mountainous Umbria, we crossed country via Siena, arriving at 'La Suvera' in time for lunch. This ancient castle nestles on the Western slopes of the Sienese hills, south of Casole d'Elsa, and was originally a fortress in the 10th century, and rebuilt in The Middle Ages. The castle and estate was presented to Pope Julius II in 1508, and is currently owned by the Marquis Ricci and his wife Princess Massimo who have furnished the hotel with their antiques and ancient family heirlooms. We were lucky enough to have accomodation in the Papal villa, our magnificent imperial room dedicated to Napoleon and grandly furnished with numerous portraits, imperial gilded mirrors, tables, chest of drawers, writing desks and divans, whilst the bathroom featured 33 statuettes representing figures from Napoleon and his army. The whole room was so atmospherically Napoleonic, I almost expected Agneta and Anni-frid from the pop group Abba to leap out of the wardrobe, clad in white lycra of course, and give us a verse of their Eurovision song contest winner, 'Waterloo', where they compared a failed love affair to Napoleon's defeat at the famous battle! Here are some photos of the suite, hotel and surrounds.
Staying here two nights allowed us a complete day in between to take off in the car and hit the tourist trail. However we still had time during the first afternoon to get out and about locally and just pottered through the beautiful hilly country where ancient castellated or walled stone villages occupied each hill or vantage point. We'd leave the car at the entrance to such villages and amble through the narrow streets where elderly locals sat beside their front doors, eyeing us up curiously. There was no point trying to disguise ourselves as anything but foreign tourists, armed with rucksack and camera! Church bells rang from tall towers to break the peace of the sultry afternoon. Neat rows of vines surrounded each pretty hamlet, interspersed with fields of wheat. We passed through Radicondoli, Montingegnoli, Montancinello, Castelletto, before heading back to our Papal Villa in preparation for yet another superb Italian dinner.
The following day we planned a circuit taking in Montalcino, Pienza and Siena. All three towns were steeped in history with fine examples of ancient churches, towers, and central plazas within their walled citadels. Montalcino sat at the top of a conical hill, it's winding road up proving a popular challenge for all the cyclists each put to the test in their own personal 'Tour Du Tuscany'. At least the ride down would be a lot easier! As many of these villages, car parks were provided on the perimeter as the central zone remained traffic free. Wandering along the narrow streets lined with 'enotecas', bakeries, cheese shops and trattorias, we'd catch glimpses of the surrounding panorama of rolling countryside between the tall tightly packed stone houses. We wound down the hillside from Montalcino, passing some well known vineyards (Brunello di Montalcino) en route to our lunchtime destination of Pienza, a very pretty village famous for it's cheeses. Once again parked up just outside the raised protective old walls of yet another historic village, we chose to have a light snack in a small café off the main street where the trattorias on this busy Sunday were already overfull. It was all just perfect; home made cheese and fresh tomatoes on toasted bread, washed down with some excellent local red wine.
We weren't returning from Pisa airport to London until late afternoon the following day and so planned to fill the time in a similar way to this day by exploring another popular tourist destination called San Gimignano. Famous for its numerous towers dominating the skyline of this medieval hilltop village, again the winding road up ended with a series of car parks, leaving visitors to enter the gates of the citadel on foot. Oh well, we had several hours to kill before the run N.W. to Pisa, and so planned a stroll up to the plaza for a spot of lunch. Taking my ticket, I reversed the car in to one of the few empty spaces when all of a sudden the gear stick went all loose. With engine remaining in reverse, the gear knob was rendered useless and I knew something major was broken. I'm sure I could explain this in more technical terms, but the main point is, we were stuck in the middle of nowhere with no taxis in sight and a car which I didn't fancy driving backwards all the way down the motorway. Still, we had several hours to devise an alternative plan to get to Pisa. Fortunately we had our mobile phone with us and Dennis got on to the travel agents in Florence to explain the situation. They couldn't authorise a driver until cleared by the London office, who were in turn reluctant to do anything, explaining that the car rental company were responsible to sort it all out. As already mentioned, we didn't have any confidence in this particular company after the experience in collecting this car. So, time passed, nothing much was achieved, it was getting steadily hotter, and our tempers were rising together with the heat. We commandeered the local parking warden to chat with the car rental firm in Florence, and decided to adjourn for lunch after the travel agents finally conceded to send a driver to collect us and luggage. We had already declined an offer to be deposited at Pisa in a rescue vehicle, envisaging the complication in loading the car on to the back of the pick up truck in the tight car park. Time was passing alarmingly quick and we were already cutting it fine to make the flight. Lunch over, and still no driver. More phone calls were made until we had a running commentary on the driver's whereabouts. He finally appeared, gross, sweating and greasy, but as long as the vehicle was working, we didn't mind. The driver disappeared for a chat with the parking attendant. We were looking at our watches. He decided to try and get our car out of reverse gear. We told him he wouldn't. He couldn't. 'Let's hit the road!' we said impatiently. He got back in the car and turned the ignition. Silence. He'd snapped the key off in the barrel. We got back on the mobile to the agents…'You're not going to believe this, but…' Meanwhile 'Il Slobbo' also broke apart the rest of the key fob but reassembled it and improvised to make a pair of pliers to turn the remains of the key in the barrel, and start up the engine. It worked. He then stalled the car, not once, but regularly. We were now really pushing it (No not the car, the time!) and thought there wasn't much chance of making the flight. Things still hadn't reached rock bottom until he incorrectly left the motorway to Pisa and for reasons we still haven't fathomed to this day, started driving in completely the opposite direction, to Siena. Once again we rang the agents to update them on the debacle. They rang him and we were staging this three way conversation between the back seat, London and the front seat. Well it all became too much for him and in true Italian style, 'Il Slobbo' decided to sulk and went on a 'Go Slow' as we serenely followed the signposts south to Siena. In his broken English he commented 'In Italy we do things in a different way'. You could say that again. Now lost on a back road to nowhere, he pulled in to a garage for directions, back tracked to the motorway to Pisa, and followed the signs to Florence. Florence still looked nice as we passed it by, with another hour's drive remaining to Pisa airport. The telephone continued to ring. The agents assured us that if we missed the flight, there was another one 6 hours later! They also rang British Airways to ask them to keep the check-in desk open. We finally made it, didn't tip the driver (don't sound so surprised!) and got literally the last 2 seats on the plane on the back row. So, all in all it was an eventful end to an interesting introduction to Italy. The weather overall has been really good during the latter part of this month here in The Cotswolds. With the lovely long evenings and the sun not going down until sometime after 9.30 in the evening, it prolongs the time available to enjoy being outside. Last week on returning from our travels, and soon catching up with work around the house and garden, we had a few free days before the commencing of the painting of the house exterior. Decorators are here now for a month and so we're restricted to being around at home, and, inevitably, we are already considering a full decoration of the interior too, which should keep us grounded well in to the Autumn! Making the most of our last few days of freedom for a while, The Lake District beckoned, in particular a short stay at Bank House (part of Sharrow Bay hotel) on Ullswater. Watching the weather forecast, last Thursday looked ideal for a couple of days up North, and so with the bird's dawn chorus, I was up at 5.a.m. and coercing Dennis in to a particularly early start, our aim being to arrive in time for the famous full Sharrow breakfast at 9.a.m. at Bank House! Leaving the house at 5.45.a.m. we sat down for porridge at 9.a.m. sharp, progressed on to eggs and bacon, toast and preserves, and then strolled down to the jetty to catch the 'Raven' launch down the lake to Glenridding. As usual Dennis bought a return ticket to Howtown, and I set off on foot along the scenic lakeside footpath in the morning sunshine.
Intending to meet up back at the hotel by lunchtime, I set a fast pace, overtaking the predominantly elderly couples sharing the same route. It always seems that the husbands look in their element as they stride out, taking in the scenery, leaving beetroot-faced wives behind, laden with backpack and stumbling over loose rocks as they try to catch up!
By early afternoon Dennis and I were sitting out at the table in the photo above on the right, enjoying a pot of tea and taking in the wonderful view from Bank House. With the afternoon still to fill, we headed off in the car for a spot of house hunting. We've done it before, and will no doubt do it again, but after all these years we are still searching for that elusive Lakeland holiday home, you know, the one on the shores of the lake, surrounded by acres of wild ground (no gardening to do!) and of course in immaculate condition with state of the art amenities. We've come close to finding it in the past, and one we've always admired is shown in the photo top right of the 8 above. It's called 'Lakefield' and is offered for weekly rent by the owner, which is in fact the ideal way to enjoy the place without the responsibilities of ownership. We've stayed there a couple of times, but it's demand is such that you need to book your rental a year ahead. The evening meal was as ever an occasion as we watched the ducks serenely paddling across the water as the sun lowered behind the fells. Our routine at Sharrow has for many years been set, with myself rising early the following morning for a hike up Hallin Fell as Dennis takes early morning tea in the comfort of the bedroom. We headed South after breakfast, passing through Cheshire at lunchtime and so rang Mum to see if we could call in to see her at home. She was having my sister Janet and her husband around for lunch, so it was a nice impromptu get together. With heavy afternoon traffic as usual on the M6, we didn't arrive home until late afternoon, and being up North, had missed the heavy thunderstorms that had hit the area that morning. And that's it! All these pages and no less than 44 photographs generally cover all our news from mid May until now, the end of June. In fact I've just recalled one final day away; a couple of Saturdays ago when we paid a flying visit (courtesy of a rapid drive across country in the Aston Martin!) to Dennis's Godson and his family, John, Debbie, Oliver and Emily Blundell, over in Hertfordshire. On a really hot Summer's day we had a nice pub lunch followed by an introduction to golf, where I passed most of the afternoon hacking away the turf or looking for lost balls in the rough! It was a super day and it was great to catch up with them all. Now all I have to do is give Dennis a call to do his technical stuff and put this newsletter on to our website. It's going to take him all night! Best regards to everyone. See you probably late July or August for an update on our whereabouts. Colin & Dennis. |
