Europe Day 23 - visiting Bec & Mark / Windsor

Saturday
Even so Bec and Mark apologized a dozen times for not having heating in their "construction site", we had a very good night. The house is so interesting and we can understand that they fell in love with it. The photo says that it is in Bury Saint Edmunds. It comes with a lot of history. One of the previous owners was a survivor from the Titanic and she lived the rest of her life in this house After she retired.
This kitchen has made great progress. The cabinets are custom made by Mark's stepfather. Bec's father David also had his hand in this. I love the style and the wood.

Mark is making the coffee for our breakfast.

Bread made overnight in the bread machine and eggs laid by their free-ranging chickens.

And this is how scrambled eggs look like when the chickens find their own food. I think I am "yellow with envy".

We went up and down the stairs to pack our stuff and the cats played hide and seek behind the towel hanging over the railing.

They also wanted to help pack.

I was distracted when we got the tour yesterday and didn't take any pictures. I am trying to catch up.
The house from the garden side. The thatched roof is a work of art.

Way in the back the chickens are running around. They were huddling when they saw us strangers. I only wanted to say thank-you for the eggs.

The house from the front.

It came with its name "Maythorn"

I think around 10:30 am we packed the car again. Bec was driving us to Windsor. Mark had things to do and stayed behind but he let Bec take the car he normally drives. The Jaguar is a very elegant, quiet, smooth and comfy car.
Even on a Saturday the traffic is very heavy around London. But about 1:30pm we arrived at Jane's (James'sister). Her flowers in the front were so gorgeous.

And in the back too.

After some tea and lunch we all went for a walk. We decided to walk to the river. The Thames is always nice. Here was an interesting houseboat.

Then we wanted to walk back through Alexandra Gardens.
You can see the castle.

It was perfect timing. We could watch some Morris Dancers for a while. This is what Wikipedia says about it:
Morris dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may also be wielded by the dancers.

Don't know why this man was carrying a barn owl around. I tried to ask him whether it was a rescue animal but if I understood him right he had bought it.

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After the walk I think we had another cuppa tea and then Bec had to leave for her drive back. Another 2+ hours on the road but I bet she had the radio on.

It was great seeing her and Mark and their house. It was so nice of them to pick us up from the airport and even bring us to Windsor. THANK YOU very much. Hope to see you again soon in Virginia but I assume finishing the House is going to be priority.
You know I like my gadgets! Sarah and Caleb did FaceTime and I took a screenshot. I think we were gone too long because at the first moment Caleb looked quizzed. But soon he recognized Papa and Omi.

Helen and William were very busy on Saturday with the science museum and a free visit to the Frist. She posted lovely photos and I could "steal" this from Facebook.

Ah, those sweet faces! That makes for a good night's sleep.

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Europe Day 22 - flight to Stansted, England (via Madrid)

Friday
The alarm clock rang at 6:15 am. Way to early for breakfast. Downstairs was quiet except for the receptionist who called a taxi for us, said good bye and let us out at 7 am. The taxi was promptly there and brought us to the train station. We had our tickets already so nothing to worry.

The tickets also have your seat numbers.

The train ride from Seville to Madrid was very comfortable and took only 2 hours and 20 minutes.

I like to look out of the window and see the landscape change.

You can see we are very close to Madrid with the graffiti etc.

James, the avid reader, had read that you can take a local train to the airport free when you have a ticket you arrived with. We could not figure out how to do it though. We almost gave up and wanted to head for the bus we had previously used (5 Euros each) when I saw somebody I thought I could ask. It was a very nice station person who understood me and took us to the right machine, took our tickets to scan and tapped from one screen to the others and produced the next tickets for us. Gracias! We had to wait about half an hour but would have had to wait for the bus too.

That train took us to Terminal 4 and we still had to take the airport bus to go to T1.
Through the check-in which is a relief since RyanAir is so strict with the carry-on. Through the security. Don't these restrooms look inviting?

The plane was full except for one empty seat. Seats were 3 and 3 with aisle in the middle. The window seat next to me stayed empty and as soon as the doors were closed I scooted over so James could sit sideways. Otherwise he really would have had a problem with his long legs.
We were supposed to leave at 13:35 and almost on time. The flight to Stansted took only about two hours. I loved my window seat.
The dry landscape short after Madrid.

Mountains in the north of Spain.

England. So much more populated.

We walked from the plane to the terminal. It is definitely colder in England, but at least the sun is shining.

Got our luggage. Texted with Mark. Everything fine. Having one beer waiting. What a disappointment ... they only have French beer. Really?

Mark picked us up with his Jaguar and we have a lovely drive to Bec and Mark's house.
A welcome G+T. This spring they had sold their house, bought another one and moved. This house is 300 years old and needs major renovations which they like to do. They do a lot of the work themselves. We are amazed how much they have already done in the short time. Of course we had seen photos of demolishens etc.

We watched a part of a program they had saved. Their previous house (which we had not seen) had been on a TV show when it was for sale ... the British equivalent of our "House Hunters". That was fun.

Upstairs. You can see one of the still open walls here.

We settle into the guest room.

There are three cats roaming the house. Sometimes they suddenly appear here or there and want to play.

Bec had made reservations at "The Dog", a lovely local pub.

We all shared a sample platter as starters.

Bec's main course:

Mussels!

Local fish for me: Seabream and veggies

Curried lamb for James and Mark.

Bec was the designated driver home and we went to bed soon. After all, Bec and Mark had worked all day.
Even though the cats would have liked to play.

Night night.

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