As it was very late yesterday, we’re starting the day a little later today. Gabi wants to pop into the newly opened Sephora shop in our shopping centre, for which people were queuing for hours (and criss-crossing the centre) the day before yesterday. This is only the second branch of the cosmetics chain in the whole of England; the first one only opened a few [Weiterlesen]

Today we meet Clare, Sheridan and Amy at the ExCeL to visit the “Disney 100” exhibition together. It contains many drawings (albeit reproductions) from the early days, with Oswald the lucky Rabbit, Mickey Mouse and the many characters from all the fairytale films for which Disney is so well known. Many items are very interesting: for example, the Snow White costume from 1937, which was [Weiterlesen]

As our holidays progress, there’s more and more luggage! Good thing LucY also has a boot in the front. After one last breakfast from Gail’s with a delicious blueberry & custard brioche and a cinnamon roll, we drive back to East London, where we spend another couple of nights in the same hotel as at the start of the trip. We make good progress and [Weiterlesen]

Today we meet Clare, Sheridan and Amy at the Festival Place shopping centre in Basingstoke to do some shopping, but mainly to spend some time together. There are some great furniture stores, clothes shops and more. I find several Back to the Future items in the “Cool” shop. And for the first time, I see film posters on canvas frames. That’s a great idea! We [Weiterlesen]

We’ve seen the sign for “Birdworld” on the motorway for years. Today is the day! And we are amazed: this bird zoo is much bigger than we thought from the park map. And we’re excited as we’ve never been this close to the flamingos. The aviaries are also home to many native and exotic birds from all over the world. We actually recognize some of [Weiterlesen]

Today we are travelling to Portsmouth on the south coast of England. In the outlet shopping centre called Gunwharf Quays, we get together with our friend Clare, who we met here for the very first time a good nine years ago. We are also joined by our American friends Sheridan and Amy, who travelled from the USA yesterday and are staying with Clare. We will [Weiterlesen]

After breakfast, we set off on the journey to Fleet. We travel eastwards for two and a half hours and really enjoy the journey. The autumn sun shines beautifully through the leaves of the trees and brings out the autumn colours even more. The route also takes us past Stonehenge again. We arrive in Fleet just before one o’clock and are still too early: our [Weiterlesen]

Today we pick up our friend and drive to the sea together, while Mickey the dog stays at home. And we take the scenic route. The beautiful road takes us over picturesque hills, along meadows with countless sheep, and under the canopy of yellow, green and red trees. In places, the road is so narrow that crossing is no longer possible. But fortunately there is [Weiterlesen]

Today our friend shows us Taunton, the town (Ton) on the River Tone (Taun) in Somerset. We start at the Farmers Market with lots of locally grown fruit and veg, fudge and cider. Our friend tells us about the early prosperity of the area thanks to mines and railway lines that delivered fresh fish from the sea to the rest of the country. We see [Weiterlesen]

Our time in London has come to an end for the time being. Today, we’re travelling west to visit our friend and her dog Mickey in Taunton. On the way, we stop at a service station to charge LucY at a Tesla Supercharger. And we are amazed: there is a large solar farm right next to the service station, which hopefully provides sustainable electricity for [Weiterlesen]