Eastbourne

On Monday, Claire had the day off work and I'd made up my mind that it was the day we'd go to Eastbourne. We have lived in East Grinstead for just over 18 years, Eastbourne is about an hours drive from home and yet we've never been there before. So, Monday was the day. I wasn't sure what to expect but, have to admit, I really liked it. There is an old charm about Eastbourne, I'm not good at describing it but it felt comfortable, relaxed and friendly. We parked on the seafront and walked up towards the pier.

If you look carefully at the above photo, you'll see there's a little white train coming along the road towards us. I haven't actually looked up to see where it goes or what it does but I certainly hadn't expected a road train to be one of the first things we saw ;o) The pier as we were walking towards it.

Eastbourne seafront

Emily and Claire ;o)

Looking back the way we'd come

From the pier we followed the signs to the town centre, did some shopping and had lunch at Prezzo (2 for 1 offer = always a good thing!) before making our way back towards the front again.

Claire (when we stopped to get ice creams :o) )

Emily and Claire

This seagull was quite happy on the lamp post for some time

Walking back towards the car

And finally, the sea!

A fun girly day out and one more place to tick off my list of places to go to. Not sure if I'll fit any more in before Emily goes back to school a week tomorrow. The holidays have gone by so quickly, can't believe it's nearly time for back to school already!

Off now for tea and cake with my niece Theresa who is celebrating her birthday today. Happy Birthday Theresa!!

xx

A boat trip on Thursday

On Thursday we had arranged to meet up with Frank (Jon's step Dad), Terri and Joel (Terri's grandson). It was Frank's birthday and we thought we'd go for a boat trip on the River Ouze and then on for lunch. We had a little while to wait before the boat was due to set off so had drinks on board.

Robbie, Joel, Frank and Alison Emily and Terri

Once the cruise was underway, we decided we would get a better view if we went upstairs. We had only been up for a short while when it started to rain but, fortunately, they provided umbrellas.

Frank

Joel, Robbie and Ali

Emily and me

Unfortunately the rain was soon too heavy to stay upstairs and we ended up inside for the rest of the journey

The rain stopped again as the cruise finished (typical!) and we walked into town to have lunch at Pizza Hut. It was lovely to get to see Frank on his birthday and hopefully, he enjoyed the day out as much as we did.

xx

York on Wednesday

On the Wednesday, Emily and I set out to do some sightseeing in York. Alison had brought us into town but then had shopping to do while we continued with the tourist bit!

We chose to do a York Sightseeing trip on the open top bus. We sat upstairs near the back hoping to get a decent view as we went round.

York Minster The roof tops from the top of the bus

There is a wall that can be seen around the city of York dating way back.

The Golden Fleece pub and looking down one of the main streets

There is also a river around the city. This is one of the bridges that crosses it.

Clifford's Tower

(click on the link to read a bit of history)

An old water mill

Part of the wall. I love the York stone that was used.

Emily on the bus

The top of one of the towers

The station clock

Boats on the River Ouze

(The red and white one is like the one we went on on Thursday)

We think this was one of the ghost tour groups with the guide (in black) at the front.

York Minster

After our sightseeing, we met up with Ali again and headed home. We enjoyed a quiet evening at the house and Rob decided a braai was preferable to the omlettes we had been going to have ;o)

Thanks Rob, it was delicious!

xx

Pocklington on Tuesday

On Tuesday morning Emily and I left home at 6am for our trip up to York. We had a good run and made it to Ali and Rob's house in Pocklington (approx. 25 mins from York) by about 10.45am. Yay for Satnavs!! After unpacking the car and unwinding for a bit we headed out to Burnby Hall Gardens for lunch. The gardens were the inspiration of Major Percy Stewart who left the gardens in trust for the people of Pocklington. After lunch we had a look through the Stewart museum which gives you a glimpse into Major Stewart's life and travels. In the garden there are two lakes which hold one of the largest collections of water lillies, in a natural setting, in Europe and are beautiful to walk around.

There was also a woodland garden with a couple of wooden scultures. Robbie had fun showing us around as he had been here on a school trip already.

One of the water lillies

After Burnby Hall Gardens we headed out to see Robbie's school which is in Warter (situated on one of the highest points in the Downs - Ali was telling me this leads to her receiving texts from the school whenever it looks like there is likely to be a lot of snow as the school can become cut off and the roads are difficult to get up.) We also stopped off at the Madhyamaka Kadampa Buddhist Centre which is in a beautiful peaceful setting. We walked around the main house and had a look at the view but, unfortunately, the tea rooms are closed on a Tuesday so we didn't get to have tea and cake.

An old church next to the retreat.

We had a lovely meal in the evening and by 9.15pm, my head was nodding and eyes closing even as Ali talked to me :) so I headed off to bed. We had a busy day to look forward to on Wednesday.

xx