A Day with Annie and on to Norwich

It was wonderful meeting Annie. I've been following her blog and she's been following mine for several years. I watched her exciting journey as she went through school and then decided to move from Whitehorse (in Canada) to the UK!! After visiting I can understand the allure - I would love to live there myself! Oh...if only I could afford it!

Annie braved the highway to come all the way to Moreton-in-Marsh to pick me up - about a 2 hour drive I think. She didn't sleep much the night before. After a breakfast sandwich we got back on the road in her spiffy "new" car as I was spending the night at her and her cousin's place and then I was taking the train to London then onwards to Norwich.  We got a little confused with the roads on the way back and saw a bit of Oxford :) but otherwise the drive was brilliant - Annie is fast becoming a pro driving on the left side of the road. Me - I'd be terrified to even try!

We stopped here at Morrisons to get a few groceries - the prices were surprisingly low!

Look at the gorgeous sky! The clouds were spectacular and quite unusual!

Although only 2 hours from the Cotswolds the landscape and architecture were quite different. Instead of the golden limestone here everything is built with bricks.

And I didn't see any PALM TREES in the Cotswold villages. It still amazes me to see them! We were much closer to the southern coast of England and the effects of the gulf stream could be seen everywhere. By Annie's house there was a cage with a couple of guinea pigs - they stay outside year round!! I said - "what about when it snows?" Silly me - it doesn't snow!!

We were quite content to settle in for a relaxing tea-drinking afternoon and talked and talked and talked!! It was my first day NOT walking and I had woken up with the sniffles. I was happy to rest and I think Annie was happy to be safely back home after the busy highways!

IF ONLY I had room in my suitcase I would have brought home this pile of "cozy mysteries" but I had to settle for taking a photo instead and will borrow them from the library. Annie and I both love this genre of literature!

At dinner I treated Annie to a big meal from "The Carvery" at the local pub. It wasn't our first choice of meal but we discovered that on Sundays that is all that is available. So we filled up on roasted turkey, yorkshire pudding, tons of veg and potatoes and gravy - it was really really good! I haven't had yorkshire pudding since my mother was alive, so probably 20 years or more ago. I enjoyed it immensely! There was a game of trivia going on and we did our best :)  My brother Gord had suggested I try a pint of bitters while in England and I saw that this pub had bitters on tap so of course I sampled some. Found something else I like!! Thanks Gord!

We talked and talked some more after our dinner and we both encouraged each other with writing projects. Annie's done her part - posted to her blog a couple of times - but I'm still in the pre-writing stage with my plan. So much to get done before I can engage in a project. But someday...

The next morning we headed off to the train station and saw a few animals along the way :) A couple of cows having a walk along the side of the road and horses roaming freely in the forest. I missed seeing the pigs eating the acorns unfortunately!  Go HERE to see the pigs on Annie's blog!

It was sad to say goodbye to Annie knowing that we'd soon have the entire Atlantic Ocean between us but I had to carry on with the rest of my trip. I promise I'll come back!! (for a longer visit :)

 After a 2 hour train trip to London, 2 rides on the underground and another 2 1/2 hour train trip to Norwich, and a taxi to my B & B in the little village of Mulbarton it was time to settle into my room - "The African Room" for THREE NIGHTS!! What luxury not having to pack up my suitcase every night!  It sort of felt like I was in an entirely different country so the name of my room was fitting!

If I were to redo this trip I would have stayed in Norwich instead of Mulbarton. I had to take a bus into Norwich each day and there was no bus or other transportation to Dickleburgh which was south of Mulbarton and where I had hoped to visit as some of my ancestors were from there. There was a bus to a village near Dickleburgh from Norwich but by the time I would get back to Norwich the bus to Mulbarton was no longer running. So next time I go I'll stay in Norwich and won't have to worry about the rural transportation.

Not that I minded taking the bus into Norwich!! I loved it! It was a double decker bus so I sat on the 2nd floor right at the front and managed a few photos of the lovely views.

This is what I could see from the bathroom window (not a good photo, there's a bit of a reflection). It was a very rustic spot my B&B - they had dogs and a couple of horses. In fact they weren't even IN Mulbarton, they were outside of it so I had to walk a mile to the bus stop which seemed like nothing after my wanderings.

When I think of Norfolk County this is what I think of - the misty trees.

 My B & B - isn't it glorious? My room looked over the conservatory on the right.

This is on the way to the bus stop in the village.

And this is coming back - the B&B is to the right of the opening.

One night walking back from the bus stop I got a little lost (more about that later) and when I asked several people if they knew which road I needed to take to find Brick Kiln Lane which was the road the B&B was on they'd never heard of it!! This is a closeup of the street sign - it was falling over and a bit hidden.

They have poppies on this side of England too!

Getting closer to the village...

Lots more berries - yes, I sampled!

And public footpaths here too - believe me, I was tempted!!

This is a scarecrow in someone's garden - I don't know who the person is in the photo?? but I thought it was an original way of scaring off the birds :)

The village green in Mulbarton.

Unique style of homes - I really like them!

The Purple Line! That's my route.

 And off we go to Norwich!

Still a bit misty here and there...

And now we're in Norwich. I've asked the driver to tell me when we're in the "City Centre".

Which he did! I spent two days exploring Norwich - a village called "Old Catton" (my mother's maiden name), Norwich Cathedral, the outdoor market etc. Stay tuned...