A Good Way To Gear Up For A Difficult Day…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Wards Hotel in Folkestone, England was the place that Himself and I selected to be our accommodation when we needed to be in the city for the funeral of a friend.

The friends widow was also located close by, in a house that the couple had moved to in a down-sizing exercise once it became clear that the husbands cancer was inoperable and his life expectancy was short.

We also found out that  due to the large number of attendees at the funeral, the wake would also take place in the Wards Hotel.

The hotel staff start preparing things soon after the breakfast guests have finished having breakfast. Himself and I chose to have hot typically “English” breakfast, Himself having the plate with the mushroom,  I have the one without since I am allergic to them.

After breakfast we are of course busy with funeral related activities for the day:  the church service, then the graveside one, the wake, and later in the evening, a visit to see our friend’s widow because we need to leave early the following morning to head back to the Netherlands.  The breakfast is nice, we especially enjoy it because it is so different to a typical Dutch bread based one and a treat. It’s not the sort of thing that would be healthy to have on a daily basis but as a special indulgence… well, a little bacon and egg is a good way to gear up for a difficult day.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We Aren’t Lost, We are …..”Sightseeing”!

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Last summer  we hired a camper and headed to the UK.  We have friends who live in Folkstone but our camper van won’t fit in their  tiny driveway and parking is restricted on their busy street.

One of our friends there has made it clear we can stay with them as we usually do, but he is terminally ill and he and his wife are getting ready to downsize from their enormous home

We are concious of the extra work a family of four landing on them imposes, and have therefore opted to stay at a camping ground locally and visit them separately instead.

Luckily we had the good sense to pack Our Lady of the Tom Tom, because as usually we are the family of geography buffs  who  know a ton about the world in general  but are navigationally challenged when it comes to the basics of getting from A to B.

We  start to figure out where our roost for the night is located… up a steep hill to the top of the Dover cliffs behind Folkestone.  About now we also discover the first down side of camper van travel…  Himself intended to use the bike in our luggage compartment to cycle for groceries… but now that we’ve seen the size of the hill he would have to lug the stuff up, we opt for a “U” turn instead and take the camper to the local out-of-town supermarket.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We are going to have to think of this more often during the trip… it’s not like you can pitch up, get out everything for a dinner outside and then pop out to the shops, with a camper you have to take the whole kit and caboodle with you when you drive off.

It’s also clear that small shops on busy roads are too much of a parking challenge for this mammoth of a vehicle, especially when we have a continental set up with driving on the right hand side of the road in mind and our friends in the UK have this habit of driving on the left, which in our vehicle is rather inconvenient.

We mange to find a supermarket we can negotiate without taking out trees, bikes, post boxes, lamp posts, unsuspecting, dog walkers, slow moving pedestrians, other cars and other stationary objects to get the shopping and head out of town again but not without stopping for several sets of friendly directions and taking the scenic route.

There’s nothing like getting lost for old time’s sake is there? In fact, let’s just loose the word “lost” and tell everyone we are just “sightseeing around Folkestone”…  Ha! … if you don’t tell, no one will ever know! (ok,  except of course those who know us well !).

The upside is that we get another look at some of the beautiful architecture of this lovely town…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Roaming Around Folkestone…

These are my journal entries detailing our last summer’s adventures.  Family Kiwidutch and our friend Velvetine are staying with our friends in Folkestone, their home is just a fifteen minute drive or so from the Channel Tunnel so it’s an easy end to today’s journey. We  settle in at the house but need to pick up some  groceries,  so combine this with a roaming tour of the town, checking out the beautiful buildings and local scene. Let’s take a look…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)