With temperatures dipping to freezing again and snow thick on the ground we haven't risked venturing out of our lane. Another nice thing about living where we do is that when things are grim we can walk over the fields to the farm to get provisions. Shortly after three o'clock in the afternoon; a cold blue light before dark.
Last night Lucinda and I tromped across dark and muddy fields into Firle to watch our local village's firework display. It was pretty incredible. It had all the scale of the famous Lewes event but with none of the crowds; as such it felt completely authentic and ten times better. Firle Bonfire Society did themselves proud with an epic three-part performance, bookended by a march through the village by costumed, torch-bearing revelers accompanied by bagpipes and firecrackers.
We've just moved to a place that's a little less inhabited. Here's the view as I walked out this morning. One of our neighbours was also enjoying a wander.
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Good day out yesterday. I travelled to Silverstone for a work related meeting and visted the Porsche Experience Centre; it has a great collection of historic cars on display and I also had the opportunity to take out a 911 with one of the instructors. The 911 is an amazing car, not nearly as intimidating to drive as I assumed it to be, even with driver aids switched off. Perhaps I'm stuck in my ways but I think you need a manual box to properly enjoy a car like this but can certainly see how it would be a good fit with the Panamera. Gear changes are super smooth and responsive and I can see how under normal driving conditions it would make for a more relaxing journey. However, this is a 911 and I want to physically swap the cogs to feel as involved as possible.
The last weekend of a particularly gloriously sunny September saw us visting this archetypal castle. Ironically I don't think it was constructed for serious defensive purposes; there's more on the history of the place over on Wikipedia.
I've had a busy August which was dominated by getting married. This was a tremendously exciting and beautiful day; blogging has thus been far from my thoughts.
After the wedding we went to Cornwall for a few days, a part of the UK I hadn't visited before. We visited the typical tourist attractions which I'm really pleased we did as both the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of Heligan are amazing. Eden had shades of Logan's Run about it, I was expecting to be summoned to Carousel at any moment.
Cornwall is geared up for tourism, there are B&B's everywhere though booking ahead is essential during the summer months. We stayed at The Avalon guest house in Tintagel and The Chapel guest house near St Austell, both of which were lovely and I'd recommend without hesitation.
I would however mention that on our first night, shattered from a seven hour drive, we ate at a place called The Olive Garden which is just next door to The Avalon in Tintagel. Avoid. All of the worst food I've been served in this country has been at so-called Italian restaurants, perhaps because people who can't actually cook think it is an easy option.
Cornwall was lovely, but all the stories about getting there are true... it takes a day in itself.
I was on holiday with Cindy all last week. First stop on the Monday was Stonehenge and Avebury, both of which were amazing. We were at Stonehenge for the dawn so a cold start followed by glorious sunshine. The scale of the place is incredible; there's something quite perfect about it.
I've just returned from a fortnight India which was even more than the experience I was led to believe it would be from my friends who've been before. Cindy had been on retreat for a couple of months and met me off the plane in Delhi, definitely the way to do things as she knows her way around. I feel I got to see four very distinct sides of India in only a few days... a full-on experience.
First stop was Haridwar where a festival took place over the weekend we were there as it was packed with people (and almost no Westerners except for us). A short train trip later and we were in Rishikesh which was considerably less crowded and in a beautiful location.Our final destination was the breathtaking town of McLeod Ganj, just north of Dharamsala where the Tibetan government in exile is based. Cindy had booked a room with an amazing view up to the town and mountains.Last Sunday we walked up to the snowline; it was fairly easy going at first and then once we hit the snow it became progressively more difficult. We were never in any real trouble but there were moments when we were in single file up the path with steep drops to one side. It's all very well going up the mountain but useful to bear in mind you have to get down again... when the cloud rolls in it becomes more awkward.It was a great couple of weeks, provided you are patient India is an easy and cheap country to travel in. Don't try and do too much and, although things went smoothly for us, expect your plans to change. The most hair-raising part of the trip was coming back from McLeod Ganj on the bus. It's a mystery to me why there aren't more Indian rally drivers as they clearly have the skills. Between the strobing of the cabin lights a good few of the passengers could be seen being sick out of the windows; given we were hanging off cliff-side turns every few minutes I kept my head firmly inside the vehicle.The diversity was what stuck me the most. We went from a Hindu religious festival to a town with a distinctly Westerners-in-search-of-something feel to a community of Tibetan exiles all within a few hours travel. The fact that India not only allowed Tibetan refugees to settle here but to locate their seat of government in this place speaks volumes about the degree of tolerance found in this society. When we got back to Delhi it was interesting to contrast India's middle classes with what we had seen in Haridwar. Divides in wealth are very sharply accentuated.I could trot out a lot of the well-known cliches about India from a tourist's point-of-view but the strongest recommendation I can make is that you visit this vast country for yourself. We flew Virgin Atlantic direct from Heathrow to Delhi; all-in it cost us around £500 each. The most unexpected part of the holiday was finding ourselves with time on our hands in the Levi's store in Delhi buying jeans. Some things India does exceptionally well and getting to buy trousers at a quarter of the price they are in the UK and having them turned-up to your exact requirements at no charge is customer service unlike any you'd find in a UK high street store. What do I sound like? Cheap flights and observations on consumerism. I need my head checked.Oh, and a final note... one of Cindy's friends said "don't expect to come back from the India with the digestion you left with". I was fine while I was there but have just spent a day lying on the sofa with the worst stomach cramps 're-adjusting' from the food I've eaten. Forewarned is forearmed.
