On our first day in the UK, we find an amazing bakery and eat breakfast while driving to the southwest of England, where we visit our good friend in Taunton. On the way, we stop at a farm shop that our friend has told us about so often. And it is really great. Besides many products from farms in the area, there is homemade bread [Weiterlesen]

Because of the uncertain petrol situation in France, we decide to take our usual route via Strasbourg, Metz and Reims, driving the first leg through Germany and only crossing the border to France at Strasbourg. Before that, we fill up again before Offenburg. But we could have saved ourselves the drive through south-west Germany. In fact, they ran out of (normal) petrol at two service [Weiterlesen]

This time our trip to England needs a bit more preparation than usual. In France, a strike by refinery workers has caused many places to run out of petrol, and in London, deluded climate activists are letting the air out of the cars’ tyres. To be on the safe side, we buy two petrol cans for a longer range, adjust the route and have ordered [Weiterlesen]

From 3–12 May 2022, we’ve been on holiday in the UK. Here’s sort of a list what we’ve been up to. Monday, 2 May 2022: Prologue Tuesday, 3 May 2022: Back to the UK at last Wednesday, 4 May 2022: May the Fourth be with you Thursday, 5 May 2022: Cottage lunch Friday, 6 May 2022: London with a surprise Saturday, 7 May 2022: Picknick [Weiterlesen]

The washing machine is running, the shopping and souvenirs are unpacked. Half of them are groceries. As always. As with every trip to England, this one ends with eating the box of donuts with mother-in-law and sister-in-law, this time on the breezy balcony. Here’s a before and after photo of the donut situation. 😉

The most important thing is done: getting Krispy Kreme donuts. So we make our way home again. Good bye UK! We miss the Eurotunnel train we booked after getting in one of the random explosives check, which means waiting for the next one half an hour later. An annoying delay. But then, we’re finally on our train and on our way to France. After a [Weiterlesen]

Today we get some rain after all. Which means: we eat in the car instead of outside and mainly remain in the Friary shopping centre. Which we wanted to visit anyway. Nevertheless, we get quite wet on the way to some shops outside. From our favourite parking spot in Guildford (what a pity: Jamie’s Italian is now a McDonald’s), we don’t drive back to the [Weiterlesen]

Today we meet our friend Ollie again. She moved to Bristol recently and shows us around town. In the morning we visit a picturesque cemetery with graves dating back to the 19th century, which are slowly being reclaimed by nature. You truly become a piece of nature again when buried here! In a covered alleyway, many small food stalls await customers. We finally get to [Weiterlesen]

We drive past Stonehenge (we have already been there twice) on our way to the south-western corner of England. It’s a bit weird that the road passes by so close to it. We stop at a petrol station where they built a roll of plastic bags into the pump nozzle to protect your hands. We should have these everywhere! We head to Taunton where we’re [Weiterlesen]

Lunch with Clare and Dan on the restaurant terrace is, in one word, brilliant! I learn that the Brits only eat Sunday Roast during winter. But I order one anyway. It comes with a huge Yorkshire pudding. I then haveEton Mess with blueberries and lemon for dessert. Good friends, good food – a good time! It’s hard to fly on a full stomach! Nevertheless, I [Weiterlesen]