Nottinghamshire 9 - Newark - D Day minus 144, a new fridge for Suzy and leaving her behind at the depot

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It has been a funny old week. Halloween - that imported event was a pretty non descript affair. Perhaps the weather put a dampener on it. Maybe the parents did not want their children out in the dark and cold. Possibly the doors were firmly shut to the trick or treating. Whatever it was, I for one was glad of the non event. I despair a little seeing all those pumpkins wasted. The innards scooped out and dumped. We don't even make pumpkin pies with them. We just plonk them outside in the rain and fill them with a night light . Left to rot. Fields that could be full of something productive are filled with orange pumpkins. All that waste of farming land and all that poverty and hunger in the world and we scoop out pumpkins. Bonfire night passed by too with a whimper. A few rockets, bangers and Catherine Wheels in the run up to the event. A few fizzles and bangs on the night and a bit of a swansong the week after.

I am taken back to the 1960's - "That was the week that was". came to mind. A satirical television comedy programme which was aired in 1962 and 1963. I was on the cusp in 1962 of passing from Junior School to Senior. Having passed the 11+ exam I was heading in September 1963 to a well heeled girls only grammar school. I was learning about the world from the small wooden 9" television set that graced our front room. Not a lounge mind - that came later. A cold old front room heated by one coal fire that continually burned. We didn't watch That was the week that was. Mum and dad came from a generation that only watched TV when there was something they wanted to watch on. That only happened after 6.30 in the evening apart from Saturdays when dad watched Grandstand and the Boxing or in the week in the summer he watched the cricket. The radio was king and we listened instead to the Archers, a tale of everyday country folk , to Two Way Family Favourites and usually a songs of praise type show. Dad and Mum were not fond of David Frost. I remember they thought him too cocky. The humour probably went over their heads. They were still too close to rationing, to the end of the Second World War. I liked it as it satired the establishment. A Labour Socialist upbringing I guess I was like a caterpillar eager to turn into the butterfly and learn about new things. This brought something new into our staunchly labour home. As long as I got a sneaky view of it. We were in the days of political intrigue - of the Profumo affair, of CND, of Ban the Bomb, Mods and Rockers, fighting at weekends in Brighton as the scooters and the motorbikes met head to head on the promenade. The times definately were a'changing to quote the great Bob Dylan. Protest songs were on the fleldging pirate radio stations and Radio Luxemburg. We were in the Swinging 60's. That was definately the week that was.

So yet again this was the week that was. The recent Brexit result and the moves to stop it . The election of Donald Trump to President of the USA and the chance that Marine Le Penn might just win the French elections in 2017 make it feel that we have been in and are still in a situation of "That was the week that was". The times most definately are a'changing.

Suzy goes in next week for her fridge . About time too. The week after her sealing to the roof. Our Greek DK book arrived and much time was spent looking at the pretty pictures. Like children with a new toy we flicked the pages and smiled at each other. It all looks and feels exciting. A new country. A new plan. Tesco clubcard points exchanged for Eurotunnel tickets . We have £101 towards the outward journey of £105 and £84 for the return. A little to pay but we get to France and back for the princely sum of £79. We could wait until after Christmas and get more but the price might have gone up by then so it is swings and roundabouts. We have printed a map off . We will travel clockwise round a wonderful country.

Quoting Swami Sivananda an Eastern writer we have "put our heart, mind and intellect and soul into the smallest of acts" Much more to do but as he says "This is the secret to success."

157 days and counting. After a visit to the gym, a walk on the treadmill and a bout of weight throwing I arrived home to start on Greek planning. A quick phone call to Eurotunnel and we are booked on the train. What a pleasant experience. Easy to do and always helpful staff. Wouldn't go any other way. Leaving early on the Friday morning we have planned the journey to take about 5 hours which might or might not include a break for bacon butties or dinner. We will drive on the train which will leave at 1.20 that is unless we get there earlier and catch something closer to mid-day. 40 minutes later and an hour moved on for the clock change we will arrive in Calais. Our route to Italy will be much the same as normal. A whistle stop drive across France.. We need to change our SANEF machine before we go. We have already had our reminder. We need to put our passport details in but mine runs out a month after we leave so the details steadfastly reject until I get my new passport ordered in the new year. Our first night stop will be Boiry on a campsite we have used before. The journey will continue through to Visberg where we stay the night before moving on to Horw in Switzerland . Reminder - get some Swiss Francs for the campsite and a new vignette for the motorways. From Horw to Italy with a stopover at Milan. By day five we should arrive at Ancona. We need to book the ferry but the timetables for 2017 are not out yet. To make matters worse they don't run on a Tuesday. Unless things change we may be hanging about a day in Italy or somewhere along the way rather than winging it to Greece. We have two choices of boat Anek or Minoan Lines. We want a cabin but will not know the cost or feasibility for a little while. It is all exciting. a night at sea . We pass Corfu and some of the Greek Islands before landing on Greek soil at Igoumenitsa. Hurrah for the euro . Think of the journey so far - start off with English pounds, some french francs, a few swiss francs and some nay millions of Italian lira. Finished off with a wallet full of drachma.

On Greek soil we start a clockwise traverse of the country - Kalampaka, Vergina and Volos. A few monasteries and the start of what will be a tour full of Greek mysteries and Roman remains. Venetian castles and forts and lovely sandy beaches. From Volos to Thermopylae and Delphi. Communication with the Oracle. On the Athens . A city - you know us - we hate cities . The noise , the crowds , the queues , the smog, the smells but hell when in Greece you cannot not go to its biggest attraction. We have booked a hotel overnight in order to take in all of the sites over two days without the need to keep travelling in and out from our campsite. We have booked the hotel but booked the wrong day!!! Had to ring and re-book and hope they would cancel without charge which they did. Waiting to see if Paypal takes two payments for the hotel. Picked a small boutique hotel , reasonably priced with views of the Acropolis, good reviews for breakfast, trams outside and a short walk to the sites. Glenn has pencilled in the Nautical Museum out of town just as a change from all things Greek. I have already worked out I want to see the Mask of Agamemnon and the Antikythira Movement both of which are in the museums. .

After our hectic days in Athens we head for Corinth and Acrocorinth - the canal and the castles. On to Mycenae to see Mycenaen architecture and museum pieces. We head for the Mani and the Peloppenese to Argos. Go on you Brits - the place not the shop. To Napflio , Epidaurus , Sparta and Mystras. We are heading then towards the end of our time in Greece. A whistle stop tour of Monemvasia, Gythio and Pylos . A glimpse of Mount Olympus and Nafpaktos before arriving at Patras for the return trip back to Italy . Over the next few weeks campsites and camperstops will be planned in. The weather should be set fair .......................We are getting truly excited to do something we always said we would do.

151 days and counting. We feel frustrated looking up at he leaden skies of Winter. On a fine summers day one looks up and sees endless blue. It feels as if it goes on forever with just a punctuation of a cloud of two. Today the world is shrouded in a grey cloak. It is as if someone has taken a old woollen cloak grey in colour and chucked it round the world leaving it in a blanket of greyness. There is not one cloud of white to punctuate it today. It feels cold and the rain falls like stair rods. We wake early. It is dark. We have to do the Suzy shuffle . It is fridge fitting day. Out come Maddy the temperamental French lady my old Pug 307. Next the grunter the German Beemer. Then we move Suzy. Life is not easy in the heavy rain which soaks us to the skin, in the cold that eats away at my finger ends. Then there is the new gap to negotiate. It does not prove as easy as we thought . We need more practice as my hand gestures don't seem to be working as they should. We hit the road for Derby. The traffic is awful and at a standstill the Derby end of the A38. A normal Monday morning. The lady in the petrol station smiles at me and asks "Going anywhere nice?".. No Derby I mutter and next week Nottingham. We arrive at the repairers, wet and bedraggled . We are greeted with the message that the fitter is stuck on the M1 but he will be here soon. How long is how soon? - we wonder. The job will take all day . Come back this afternoon when we ring you. Ah no you wont. You told us 8.30. We are here wet and pretty miserable and you told us it would take 2 hours. You even said you would run us into Derby. Not that we would want that in this rain which still continues to fall heavily. We spy the butty wagon and walk over. We order a cup of coffee which arrives in a polystyrene cup. Actually it is not a bad brew . Perhaps us being wet is a help. Any hot drink would feel good. The bacon and onion butty is not half bad. Not as good as Denbigh mind but not bad and it does fill a hole in our yawning stomachs. Makes us a little more sweeter and approachable . We will sit and wait . Has he arrived yet? No he is on the A38 but I have taken the fridge out and it is ready for going in and testing. He arrives and before long he comes to us . We think a tea/coffee machine might be nice in reception . We think a heater on in this cold weather might keep humours on the right side of good. He tells us the fridge is fitted and tells us he had to get it through the window . I did say it would not go through the door but what does a woman know about sizes and dimensions I hear you think? Well I felt good . I got it right thinking we would not get the new one in. Sion laughed too . The fitter then explained how it worked and he did a darn sight better job than Lowdhams did when they sold us the van. It looks pretty good and has given Suzy a much needed face lift . Next week she goes for the fitting of her new seals. Oddly all that rain and not a drop came in. What do you make of that?

D Day minus 144. I am not counting. We have not done much work on the holiday planning apart from looking at books on Greece. Spring should be a lovely time to visit. The spring flowers should fill the fields and roadsides and the climate will be much nicer than back home. It seems a long time away though and the words of mum come to mind. Good things come to those who wait. Sadly I am not good at waiting. Today was Suzy Shuffle again as we moved the two vehicles and took her for her roof repairs. The journey was unpleasant with road works and traffic delays all the way from home to Gunthorpe . Suzy was sadly left and there is now a hole in the garden where she once stood. The repairers have promised to try to get her repaired by Wednesday. The weather was cold. The sky was as always leaden but the rain kept off . We made a plan to go to Newark on Trent a Nottinghamshire town with a population of 27, 000. An old town with a big history. We parked below the castle, paid our £1.50 for two hours and headed up town. First stop a small cafe serving all day breakfasts. Bacon and mushroom butty for the driver and two rounds of toast for me. A warm welcome and we were glad to get out of the cold into the warmth of the cafe. Newark appears a nice bustling town with a good range of shops from individual owned ones to the multi chains. Banks, building societies and cafes - there was enough to keep us out of mischief.

After our warming late breakfast we headed up town to the castle The town stands on the A1 the main route to the north and is on the ancient Great North Road. It is served by the railway as it lies on the East Coast Main Line. The towns origins lie with the Romans. It also lies on the roman road the Fosse Way. Now if this was a French town we would be enthusing about what was there but for some reason here at home we take these sort of places for granted.The castle which overlooks the River Trent was founded in the mid 12th century by Alexander the bishop of Lincoln. Originally a timber castle, it was rebuilt in stone towards the end of the century. Dismantled in the 17th century after the English Civil War, the castle was restored in the 19th century, first by the great Anthony Salvin in the 1840s and then by the corporation of Newark who bought the site in 1889. There is a museum on site and guided tours available but not on a cold miserable damp November day. King John died after a feast at this castle on the night of 18 October 1216 from dysentery. The castle was then slighted after the English Civil War in 1648 and left derelict. It is a lovely place and quite evocative. The facade faces the river. Inside is absolutely nothing - just laid to grass. But it is a lovely place to while away half an hour or so. The windows and walls and stones could tell such a lot if they could talk. Graffiti carved into the walls suggest that visitors had been here over the years and left their marks. Fancy stone cutting dating back to Victorias reign. Seats are placed around so that weary feet can have a rest . I loved the windows some of which were gothic . Others were Norman openings into which later windows were fitted. Not much remains but what is left makes for an interesting trip out just on our doorstep.



Sometimes you don't need to go far to spend a profitable hour or so.

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Comments

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