After my house-sit in Switzerland, I needed to escape the Schengen zone (the EU’s passport control scheme, allowing 90 days at a time for Canadians). So off to the UK it was to visit my relatives! My cousins & aunts live in Sussex and Norfolk, which counties to the north east of London.

I first stayed with cousin Liz in the Norfolk countryside in a factory worker’s home dating back a few hundred years. It’s been renovated with care with a small office and kitchen downstairs (complete with AGA stove), and upstairs has a new bedroom addition plus two small living room areas and a little sleeping loft. The back yard has room for outdoor gatherings, a small patch of lawn and a shed. Liz was very excited to mow the new patch of lawn with her hover mower; however it ended in tragedy when she accidentally ran over a frog.

Liz decided to jump on the exercise bandwagon with me and so we went out for a long walk along a narrow country lane near her place. These roads are so ancient that they are lined with tall banks on either side. You take your life into your hands walking along these narrow winding lanes, as trucks hurtle along and around blind corners and there’s nowhere to escape.

We happened upon famous actor Stephen Fry’s childhood home. The beautiful brick mansion is no longer in the family’s possession but seems like the current owners are taking good care of it.

A semi-abandoned church sits along the same road, with its lawn overgrown with brambles and weeds. The front door was open so after circling the small cemetery we decided to venture inside. The stained glass windows remained intact (they would be toast in Canada) but there were the ubiquitous CCTV cameras inside as well, perhaps that is enough to dissuade vandals. The pump organ inside was still operational, so Liz and I had a go at playing some bad keyboard tunes.

One day, we rented a boat and putted along the Norfolk Broad waterways. Liz drove most of the time and did a fabulous job. There was a lot of boat traffic along the broads, particularly around the pub and darting amongst the day boaters were some very small but agile dinghies. The teenagers were doing some sort of race and we got stuck in a critical corner spot, being yelled at by the dinghy announcer and not really sure where we were supposed to be going and how to get there but Liz handled it like a boss.

On another day, we visited a town called Wells Next the Sea (the town names on Norfolk are awesome.) My dad spent his summers here as a child, staying at his grandads house which is now a rental. The cleaners happened to be there when we walked past and we were allowed a quick tour inside.

Liz drove me from Norfolk to Colchester to see my aunties and cousins. Liz stopped by the “horse crossing” at Newmarket race course. The track been in action since 1636 and a road now cuts through the huge grounds, requiring a special crossing for the horse and jockeys going to their morning workouts.

I visited my two aunties (on my father’s side) and stayed with cousin Julie in her lovely townhouse. We enjoyed dinner on our laps every night with a good dose of Coronation Street and East Enders! I got all caught up on the drama. I went for long walks in the countryside while Julie was at work.

It wouldn’t be a walk in the English countryside without a stile! There are generally two types: those you climb over, and those you squeeze through. Here’s a very British post about them. https://ruralstrides.co.uk/smile-its-a-stile/

I then stayed with cousin Tony in Colchester. The Colchester Castle which used to be a Norman castle which used to be a Roman temple. This city was the British centre for the Roman Empire for a time. There was a brief uprising from a Celtic warrior named Boudicca — she kicked some ass, but sadly the victory was short lived.

Also it’s the site of the only known Roman Circus in Britain — ruins were discovered fairly recently while construction was going on. While reading a sign about it, a man felt compelled to tell me it was all made up and not real. I said okay cool. 😳

On my way to Montenegro via Gatwick airport, I had to have a stopover in London! I used a luggage drop service called Bounce so I could wander around the city. It made me a bit nervous, as I had expensive gear in my bag. I locked it with padlocks, but it was still a bit of a nail biter.

I walked through Hyde Park and visited the Victoria & Albert Museum, which was the first time I’d been there. It was a really lovely warm day and everyone seemed in good spirits.

My B&B near Gatwick arranged a taxi for the airport in the morning and the driver was none other than the owner! Even though they called it a “taxi service”. He was a very funny Indian man who was just overwhelmed by my adventure and the fact I was doing it myself. After I told him I found myself a sugar daddy, he roared with laughter and then gave me his business card and said he needs me to find him a sugar mama so he can go on adventures too!