day trip to dover

the plan was to stock up on baby things during the boxing day sales. the reality was further escapism. whiskey cabinet on boxing day and the cliffs of dover on 27th dec. made a mental note to hit peter jones in the evening but wanted to escape from london first. love dover, having first been (and taken a cruise from there!) just before starting university, and again summer 2014. was back a few years later in summer, for a makeshift picnic of roadside stall berries and almost late for an important dinner back in the city. might've gone by (or past) en route to margate / ramsgate two summers ago, maybe three by now. there's a farm shop i like en route but forgot to stop there this time. also managed to mis-program the gps and end up at the wrong end of the white cliffs (near the lighthouse instead of the tea room / visitor centre) which wasn't too bad in retrospect cos saved on parking. but wanted food after the walk and ended up at said paying car park to access cafe for soup. and discounted christmas cards, it must be said.

really lovely weather-wise and the cliffs were crowded with like-minded walkers.

cotswolds

after a failed attempt to go to the cotswolds after graduation, i was more determined than ever to visit. more sentimental than anything, really, having been as a child with family and brimming with happy memories of the idyllic time we'd. 

however it was different (older?) this time round and i found myself quickly bored of the beauty. felt spoilt and blase, like why do i not like this place anymore? why do i keep comparing it with the north east / scotland which i'm admittedly partial to... it also felt geriatric (sort of like the lake district!) and while i try not to be ageist about these things, there's a limit to the number of picturesque village i'll happily walk around, and number of tea rooms i will visit before losing my mind...

did stop at a cute little farm shop and stocked up for the week which was fun. bought carrots that looked like the sort bugs bunny ate (with the greens still on!) and other goodies which became dinner over the next few days. made a roast pepper soup for when we got back to london sunday night and it was so easy, fresh and flavourful that i kicked myself for not being more proactive about good produce and bothering to 'cook properly'.

also had the good fortune of a couple of great meals - the five alls being one of them.

and argh can't remember the name but this is the pub associated with barnsley house which also has rooms in case the hotel is too fancy.

i'd a discoball in my room, which was sorta funny cos at 7 months pregnant i'll literally what i can get. dancing days might be over for now but a disco ball that scatters light as i drift to sleep? why ever not :)

and what a view to wake to

the spa area was so simple yet well done, the landscapist made something outta nothing. suppose that's the skill, really, to make it look effortless and create value in the middle of nowhere.

and as a trip down memory lane, stopped for lunch at the swan hotel in bibury on the way back to london. was mildly disappointed as staying at swan hotel with the trout stream flowing in front of it was one of my favourite holiday memories growing up but it has been revamped and lost part of its charm.

st abb's

it's no secret that i've great difficulty leaving the north and jump at every opportunity to head back to the east lothian coastline. maintain it's one of the prettiest stretches of coast and just what i want (need?) after a long week at work. now if only it wasn't so far away! was tempted to escape london this weekend but it's been a packed week and after the cotswolds last weekend, sense got the better of me and i'd a hermetic time instead to get over the self-induced introvert hangover. and fb tells me that the train i would've been on had i needed to return to london this evening has been cancelled / delayed by >10h, with passengers needing to take a replacement train to manchester then change for london euston. cue my immense relief because that could very easily have been me and mega ouch for friends who were meant to travel on the (now) cancelled service.

so there. on to happier things! had an idyllic weekend north and went walking on the coast, which is always therapy. scampered on the scary cliff-y bits against my better judgment because i thought we weren't going off piste and was too lazy to wear walking boots, much good they did me from the car :p then we did go off piste and it was a little oopsy but lived to tell the tale.

stopped for usual chinatown chicken and salted fish fried rice (so bad but so good!) on the way to the station and had an uneventful journey back to london.

faroe day 5

stayed just outside torshavn (capita) upon return from south island and did a bit more driving before heading back to the airport. flight to copenhagen, short layover then onwards to heathrow. 

feels like such an ingrate to say it but by this time i was sorta waterfall-ed out. but more walking, some sunshine over the window seat at breakfast.

faroe day 4

i tell everyone who asks that if they were to hazard the faroes, they need to give it at least a week because the weather was so hit and miss. if it were bad, they'd have to accept being cooped indoors, or make do with driving through the pelting rain staring morosely at waterfalls through the rain splattered windscreen. gimme clouds over sunshine any day but rain isn't my favourite unless i'm warm and cosy about to nap. 

so naturally when the weather cleared up, it was a race against time to revisit the whole island and all the view points before the ferry back to 'mainland' (which was still islands).

think these were the cliffs we were meant to see from the white-outed radio station the day before (but didn't)

and this has got to be the most "bang for buck" walk i've ever been on. 30min each way but the views were magnificent. easy walk, at that. up a farmer's field (as you do) and then it was a gentle incline before getting to the breath-taking cliffs with unfazed sheep.

would've loved to linger and contemplate life while watching the waves but there was a ferry to catch.

faroe day 3

post storm, the weather cleared up somewhat and we made hay while the sun shone, kinda. lots more driving (this time around suduroy) and random stopping to tromp through farmer's fields. thankfully no more crazy wind and i shook off the PTSD after the harrowing hike with the cliff. to be honest, all of the walking was cliffside so i'd to be extra careful and pick my way uphill on firm footing.

these basalt columns reminded me of the giants causeway in belfast, and the other end of said causeway on the isle of staffa just off mull in the highlands. i know they're meant to be a big deal and all but, really, it's not that rare. alas no puffins because they hatch their young inland then all leave mid-aug for rafts at sea that they live for the rest of the year.

stopped by a hotel in the second largest town and it felt like going back in time to the 60s. the owner happened to have been a radio / signal (?) engineer for mersck (?) and been to singers twice, once in the late 60s and once in the 80s. he was only too happy to reminisce about his time there and how surprised he was at the massive improvement it'd undergone between his visits. what was cool was he knew the cottage despite me only showing him a photo and knew the whole history. which made me think that it was really a very small place and i refrained from asking him how one avoids marrying their cousin. he also had whaling pics up on the walls that i felt best to avoid discussing. 2 out of 3 conversation OB markers narrowly averted ;)

he'd a great tip about going to the radio station the british used during WWII and the weather miraculously took a turn for the better so we'd some blue skies. maybe the hotel bossman knew ;)