Wilko Johnson/Roger Daltrey ~ Going Back Home album
Hello folks..wow what a beautifully long weekend away, so good that I am struggling to get back into the swing of things here. Windsor was just as you would expect...packed with international and national tourists. But we were staying at a hotel close by, so we were able to get there very early and thankfully miss most of the busy, busy moments. The castle really is like something lifted straight out of a fairytale. Strange to visit a castle that isn't a ruin. We did do the double decker bus tour of Windsor. We sat at the back of the bus...big mistake..although a very funny one. It had rained the night before and so every tree we passed...and there were many...we got showered with water, leaves, seeds and bugs. However we just went with it and were collasped in laughter almost all of the way round the tour. A treasured memory made.
Our accomodation, The Grovefield House Hotel, was really nice despite having no air-conditioning...we had to resort to having all windows wide open and two fans blowing all the time because we had ridiculously hot humid weather day and night. I know those of you who live with this kind of heat all the time will be shaking your heads at this...but we Brits just ain't up to it! lol. Oh hush! The hotel was part of a small chain of hotels and for that, it thankfully hadn't lost its character. We even had a very Manuel/Fawlty Towers waiter at breakfast...well if Manuel had been 20 years older and Italian. He rocked. We took trips out to Henley-on-Thames, Marlow and Upper Wycombe and tried to spend as much time near the water. But before we knew it we were slinging our bags back into the car and heading home. The only downside to the break was eating...it was a nightmare to find good vegan and gluten-free food. I mainly lived on salad sandwiches...not great. It was a relief to get back home and start plotting foods that I had missed whilst gone. All in all though it was a really relaxing and visually satifsying weekend.
On our way back to the hotel on one of the days we saw a sign for a cafe that was part of Dorney Court Tudor Mansion. Our interest was piqued and we made our way down the dusty and very bumpy trail...to find an oasis of lush greenage in a plant nursery that surrounded the most wholesome and unpretentious cafe ever. It had many vegan offerings on its menu boards but I had already eaten so had to make do with a pot of green tea. They had a little shop attached to it and in there I found the most beautiful pottery olive bowls. My holiday treasure was purchased and stashed in the boot of our car along with some rather
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| How could I not buy these? For an olive addict it was was impossible to resist. |
Sadly I have come back to overwhelming hosptial stuff so it's going to be an intense couple of weeks ahead. But I will be back as often as I can with recipes for you all. I also found some elusive white aubergine/eggplants yesterday so I can't wait to get creative with them.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope this week is being kind to you all...
~Red~
