Adventures don't have to be big...
Back in May some time, Connie and I both booked this week off work. Back then the idea was that we would go camping. But it turned out that a week camping was probably going to end up too expensive.
And then we managed to find some money, and, desperately both needing a few days somewhere relaxing we decided to book two nights mid-week in an hotel near Bristol. Connie booked it through Expedia. We were doe to leave on Wednesday and get back today.
Only, on Wednesday morning, Connie checked the booking, and suddenly realised that she'd booked it for next week! OOOPS! Well after frantic phone calls back and forth between the hotel and Expedia, we managed to rearrange the booking for a weekend in September, so we didn't loose our money. But Connie still wanted to go somewhere this week, so I booked an hotel room near Cambridge.
That little drama was just the start of the adventure. To get to Cambridge from here, the easiest way is M4-M25-M11. On the M4, we learned the the M25 was closed due to a lorry fire - no indication of which direction, just that it was at the junction we wanted to join at. So, I skipped off the M4 and took an alternate route, ignoring the sat-nav which was trying to tell me to go back to the M4!
Finally back on the M25, I started following the sat-nav. (Who was it posted that list of funnies, including "Sat navs should start directions 10 miles from home - I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighbourhood"?) It took me up the A1M - Why, I don't know. Maybe it thought it was quicker? But then it took me off the A1M and onto the A505. Dual carriageway, so not a problem... Except it seemed to be unaware that there was a by-pass around a particular town and directed me through the town centre! AAAARRRGGHHHHH!
This particular sat-nav was not a cheap one, but it is not a Tom-Tom. I have tried to update it, but there is no where to down-load updates from! Serves me right for trying to save money!
Anyway, we got to the hotel all right. We checked in, to be told "You wanted a twin room, yes?" Uh, no, we want a double room. "Oh, let me check...... We have one double room left".
Room 101! Anyone who has read George Orwell's 1984 will understand the significance!
Actually the room wasn't bad.
Food in the hotel was good, but service in the hotel restaurant was atrocious. Last night at dinner we were kept waiting half an hour for a jug of water, and another three quarters of an hour after we finished our main course, we gave up on desert and left the restaurant, informing them that if they had been a regular restaurant (rather than an hotel one) we would have left without paying!
Well guess what? When we checked out this morning, they hadn't charged us for last nights dinner! Result!
Yesterday we did a bit of an explore of the Cambridgeshire countryside, visiting Ely and Wisbech. Wisbech was "colour me unimpressed". Ely was nice.
A narrow street in Ely.
Oliver Cromwell's House.
The plaque on the house. (Now a tourist information centre).
The Old Fire House.
A pretty old house.
English civil war cannon
Various views of Ely Cathedral
An interesting ice cream van.
The River Great Ouse.
Pretty rare to see a black swan.
Even rarer to see one partnered with a white swan!
We drove out of Ely and across the fens. Stopped on a farm trail to take some photos.
Reminds me of The Netherlands. Reminds Connie of Illinois.
The only thing in Wisbech worth a photo was this:
A rather unusual bird table.
This morning, after checking out of the hotel, we went into Cambridge. By the way, if you ever drive to Cambridge, ignore the Park-and-Ride. It's twice the price of the town centre car parks and you need to have the exact money in change! We went to the Park-and-ride first, discovered we needed to have the exact money in change, didn't have any change, there are no facilities to get change, though "fuck this" and drove into town, to discover a car park that was half the price and took cards!
Not really a lot in Cambridge except a lot of university colleges. Some very interesting architecture, if you like architecture...
And that was pretty much that.
Connie didn't like Cambridge much. It's very much a medieval city and is cramped and over crowded.
On the way home we hit Friday's holiday traffic and the weather - which had been pretty mixed, turned awful. Serious down-pour that even impressed Connie!
Anyway, we made it home okay.
And we still have our trip to Bristol to look forward to! *grin*
And then we managed to find some money, and, desperately both needing a few days somewhere relaxing we decided to book two nights mid-week in an hotel near Bristol. Connie booked it through Expedia. We were doe to leave on Wednesday and get back today.
Only, on Wednesday morning, Connie checked the booking, and suddenly realised that she'd booked it for next week! OOOPS! Well after frantic phone calls back and forth between the hotel and Expedia, we managed to rearrange the booking for a weekend in September, so we didn't loose our money. But Connie still wanted to go somewhere this week, so I booked an hotel room near Cambridge.
That little drama was just the start of the adventure. To get to Cambridge from here, the easiest way is M4-M25-M11. On the M4, we learned the the M25 was closed due to a lorry fire - no indication of which direction, just that it was at the junction we wanted to join at. So, I skipped off the M4 and took an alternate route, ignoring the sat-nav which was trying to tell me to go back to the M4!
Finally back on the M25, I started following the sat-nav. (Who was it posted that list of funnies, including "Sat navs should start directions 10 miles from home - I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighbourhood"?) It took me up the A1M - Why, I don't know. Maybe it thought it was quicker? But then it took me off the A1M and onto the A505. Dual carriageway, so not a problem... Except it seemed to be unaware that there was a by-pass around a particular town and directed me through the town centre! AAAARRRGGHHHHH!
This particular sat-nav was not a cheap one, but it is not a Tom-Tom. I have tried to update it, but there is no where to down-load updates from! Serves me right for trying to save money!
Anyway, we got to the hotel all right. We checked in, to be told "You wanted a twin room, yes?" Uh, no, we want a double room. "Oh, let me check...... We have one double room left".
Room 101! Anyone who has read George Orwell's 1984 will understand the significance!
Actually the room wasn't bad.
Food in the hotel was good, but service in the hotel restaurant was atrocious. Last night at dinner we were kept waiting half an hour for a jug of water, and another three quarters of an hour after we finished our main course, we gave up on desert and left the restaurant, informing them that if they had been a regular restaurant (rather than an hotel one) we would have left without paying!
Well guess what? When we checked out this morning, they hadn't charged us for last nights dinner! Result!
Yesterday we did a bit of an explore of the Cambridgeshire countryside, visiting Ely and Wisbech. Wisbech was "colour me unimpressed". Ely was nice.
A narrow street in Ely.
Oliver Cromwell's House.
The plaque on the house. (Now a tourist information centre).
The Old Fire House.
A pretty old house.
English civil war cannon
Various views of Ely Cathedral
An interesting ice cream van.
The River Great Ouse.
Pretty rare to see a black swan.
Even rarer to see one partnered with a white swan!
We drove out of Ely and across the fens. Stopped on a farm trail to take some photos.
Reminds me of The Netherlands. Reminds Connie of Illinois.
The only thing in Wisbech worth a photo was this:
A rather unusual bird table.
This morning, after checking out of the hotel, we went into Cambridge. By the way, if you ever drive to Cambridge, ignore the Park-and-Ride. It's twice the price of the town centre car parks and you need to have the exact money in change! We went to the Park-and-ride first, discovered we needed to have the exact money in change, didn't have any change, there are no facilities to get change, though "fuck this" and drove into town, to discover a car park that was half the price and took cards!
Not really a lot in Cambridge except a lot of university colleges. Some very interesting architecture, if you like architecture...
And that was pretty much that.
Connie didn't like Cambridge much. It's very much a medieval city and is cramped and over crowded.
On the way home we hit Friday's holiday traffic and the weather - which had been pretty mixed, turned awful. Serious down-pour that even impressed Connie!
Anyway, we made it home okay.
And we still have our trip to Bristol to look forward to! *grin*