June 26, 2012

Today was truly a vacation day for me...sleeping in late and hanging out with wonderful people.

We slept in and when we got up it was almost time for lunch. Ruth was already home from work and was working on lunch for us. Even a simple lunch is wonderful in a new location. We had bread rolls with "the best" chutney, meat, cheese, or a homemade spread create, prepared, and sold by Uncle Nico's students. Delicious enough, but for dessert we had fresh strawberries with double cream. Perfect.

After lunch we headed into Downham Market to exchange some money. The bank we went to had an ATM machine labeled "Hole in the Wall." Don't know if they are all called that, but I did find it funny. We actually ended up changing money at the local travel agency.

We headed out in the car for a drive and ended up at a place called Norfolk Lavender. This outdoor garden/lavender distillery had many products from the plant and lots of gardening items for sale. They were in the process of collecting every variety of lavender known. The small fields were beautiful and it smelled delicious. When we got there the police were there trying to catch a crook who was passing counterfeit bills and they were searching the place for his wallet, which they hadn't found yet. While we were there, they had to call an ambulance for a kid who was bit by a goat in the petting zoo part...it was a dangerous day!

We stopped in Burnham Market for a spot of tea and had a nice chat. It was warmer weather than they had had here for several weeks, but it was also a bit rainy and so we sat under the table umbrellas at the restaurant. This is the "vacation home" place for the English jet-set. Johnny Depp has a home there, along with several other TV/movie stars. It's just like being in LA, only not as warm, sunny, or pretentious.

For our last stop we went to Wells-next-the-Sea. There is a Dutch tall ship that got "stuck" there about 10 years ago. It was a beautiful ship that reminded me of the tall ships I used to sail on to Catalina with the kids. Because it was a Dutch ship, they served Dutch food, so in addition to a British hard cider, we had pannekoeken (Dutch crepe-like pancakes)! Mom went with cinnamon and apple, but I had spinach, cheese, and boiled egg! Life is good on the food front!

This evening, Mom gave Nico and Ruth a quilt she had made out of tea towels. Several of them were from England, but many were also from other countries they had visited, like Australia.