Sunday morning we went out around 10:00 to go see Joseph and Olivia at their gymnastics class – Neil’s mom nanny-Ann was there and I also met his wife Louise for the first time.

The kids really seemed to enjoy the class – it was a large gym with 8 or 10 groups of between 4 and 7 kids each. They had pretty good equipment and lots of ‘coaches’ who were all teenage girls. The equipment was pretty good and they seemed to be learning the basics of all of the various apparatuses. The main criticism I might make was the number of times I saw kids that arched their heads and/or backs rather than tucking them under and rolling.

After the class Colin and I popped by the store for groceries then went home for a short while before going out for lunch. We went to the Bull Inn for their Sunday roast – Colin got the lamb and I chose the pork. We each got a plate with a pile of tender and delicious meat swimming in gravy with a scoop of stuffing, yorkshire pudding, and roasted potatoes, and a side dish of potatoes with cheese, and another with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and cabbage. We both ate until we felt like the ‘snake that ate the goat’ – I really wanted to finish it all but just couldn’t – it was enough food for three or four hungry people.

After rolling ourselves out to the car and getting home all we could do was sit down and digest.

Monday was pretty quiet – we took Mo for a nice walk to the orchard and around on the trails to the pub, and went home for a nice roast chicken and potato dinner.

For the sixth night in a row we heard fireworks – every night from Halloween to Guy Fawkes Day – Mo tried to out-bark them.

Neighbours Lyn and Philip came over for a nice visit and to get caught up on our travels, etc. They’re such nice people and Colin is very fortunate to have them next door.

There are lots of shows on right now about the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war – the ‘war to end all wars’ – if only! Those that forget the past are doomed to repeat it.

Once again I stayed up way too late.

Friday morning was sunny and beautiful so we decided to go for a ride. I didn’t bring my own bike over so I’m using Colin’s white mountain bike as I did last year when I was here.

We started out on the trails that led north to the canal, then turned right and went as far as Offerton Lane. Unfortunately Colin doesn’t like riding on the paths and canal as much as I do and wanted to go onto the road instead. The road was small and quiet so I didn’t mind. We followed it around and back across the canal at Tibberton, where we stopped at the Bridge Inn for a drink.

When we left to go home Colin chose to go by the road but I made the return trip by canal and paths instead.

We got take-out fish and chips from the Bull Inn for dinner – they were as good as I remembered. Stayed up way too late watching sappy Christmas movies – I think I watched three of them back to back.

Saturday wasn’t quite so nice out – ‘young Neil’ brought both of his kids over for bacon bunwiches. I’d met little Joseph a couple of times before but it’s the first time meeting Olivia. They’re both adorable – polite, intelligent and – most importantly – well behaved.

In the afternoon we took Mo for a nice walk to the orchard – the shopping cart and large pop bottles that were there the other day had been removed, and several of the trees had pumpkins at their bases – there must have an event of some kind yesterday. We continued on to the grange field and past the larger pond – the half-submerged shopping cart and floating pop bottles had not been removed – no event held here, I guess.

On to the Grange Pub for a drink – watched the last bit of a football game on the big screen. Man U won – Mo was suitably attired in her stylish red and black jacket.

Got up early – before 7:00! – to a gray looking day but we had a road-trip planned and didn’t care. We left just after 9:00 and headed south on quiet smaller roads, passing through Tewkesbury after about an hour.

We turned west at Gloucester and continued further south, through Lydney and on to Chepstow in Wales.

The Severn River gradually widened into the Severn Estuary, and apparently the tides are high enough at times that you can surf on them. As we headed further south the sky started to clear and ended up beautiful and sunny, although still very chilly.

We stopped in Chepstow for a walk around and refreshment. In the old part of the town the sidewalks have short sayings carved into them and coloured blue, as well as groups of large coin impressions.

In front of some of the buildings there’s a plaque sunk into the sidewalk telling the story and history of the building or area.

In the centre of the area there’s a memorial to the wars, and there are poppies imbedded in the stairs, and sculptures in the walls.

Leaving Chepstow we continued south to Newport, where we stopped at the velodrome, which has been renamed in honour of Geraint Thomas, the Welshman who won this year’s Tour de France.

They let us inside to watch the practice but I wasn’t allowed to take photos. I’ve watched a bit of track cycling on tv but have never been inside a course before. It was very interesting – there were several groups of riders in the inside of the track at the far end warming up and getting instructions from coaches, while three or four at a time did their training on the track. The track itself is steeply sloped at each end up to 42 degrees, and I had thought that the straight stretches were flat, but they’re also slanted, although not nearly so sharply.

After watching for a bit we made our way out – the facility has a bunch of other things happening – a full gym as well as indoor and outdoor courts for tennis and ping-pong, etc. The bright blue sky was getting a bit cloudy again, but the rain was holding off.

We left Newport and went north, stopping for a walkabout at Goytre Wharf, which is a tying up place for canal boats.

The canal is 35 miles long and was originally opened in the early 1800’s to carry coal, and it runs through the Brecon Beacons National Park.

We then went on to Abergavenny, where we once again stopped and walked around a bit looking for a place to get a bite to eat. We found a nice little cafe where we ordered cheeseburgers, and ended up chatting with the owner. We asked him about the mural on the wall of Puglia, Italy and it turns out that he’s Italian so we had lots to talk about.

There was also a mural on the side of the building across the road – it showed the local area as it is now, with a panel overlaid on one side that showed it as it was in 1665 and another panel showing it in 1100, all with Sugar Loaf mountain in the background.

There was an older lady waiting for a sandwich to take out and she was very talkative – her name was Jean and she must be a regular customer. When she got her sandwich she went over to a side counter to make use of some sauces and ended up making a bit of a mess that she wiped up with a handful of napkins, leaving a big greasy smear on the chair she’d used as a table.

Homeward bound after eating, the GPS took us through Hereford, which wasn’t really the route we’d wanted but we decided to follow it anyway. It was almost a huge mistake – the traffic was starting to slow and we could see that the other direction wasn’t moving at all. Luckily there was more than one lane and we were able to bypass the worst of it fairly quickly. The news on the radio mentioned the stalled traffic in that area, and I read later that there’d been an accident between a motorcycle and a car.

The last hour or so of the drive home was in the dark but at least it wasn’t raining. Neither of us was hungry after the delicious burgers we’d had so a light snack sufficed for dinner.

Yesterday and today followed a similar pattern – up at a decent time, nice cup of tea followed by breakfast. Around 11:00 taking Mo for a walk, and stopping off at the Pub on the way home.

They let me take Mo inside as long as I kept to the area that doesn’t have carpet, which was fine with us. I got a glimpse of Chips, the pub cat, who still looks healthy and well-fed, although since I had Mo with me I didn’t try to get near her.

Colin took the mini in for the MOT so he’ll be able to drive it in a day or two with proper insurance. The new bike he’d ordered arrived so he spent a little time setting it up and getting it ready to ride.

One night we had lovely lamb chops with roasted potatoes for dinner, and the next night we got fish and chips from the Bull pub in Fernhill Heath. We always eat so well!

I did not have a very good sleep – I woke up in the middle of the night with a coughing fit – it felt at first like I was drowning. I think a drop of water had gone down the wrong way and I just couldn’t seem to cough it up. I finally went back to a fitful sleep and was glad enough when it was time to get up.

Breakfast was a bit different than yesterday – first thing was they wouldn’t let Mo in – we had to put her out in the car by herself in the cold (wrapped in a blankie) while we were warm inside eating.

The tea wasn’t great – the water came out of a machine and wasn’t boiling – you can’t make a decent cup of tea that way, although there was organic honey to sweeten it with. The baguette was pretty good, though, and I went back and got a cappuccino to replace the crappy cup of tea. The yogurt was good.

It was still very cold out, but no snow and while it was overcast most of the way it didn’t really rain. We left a little before 8:00 but didn’t get very far on our journey before we ran into road troubles – only about 15 minutes along there was either an accident or major road works.

We left the main highway we were on and went on a fairly circuitous route before we could get back on. Everywhere we went there were more roadworks happening – all the towns were trying to get their repairs and projects done before winter hits for good.

We went straight north to start with, skirting just south of Luxembourg, then northwest into Belgium past Brussels, Ghent and Bruges. As we got closer to Calais we could see that the truck stops all had high fencing topped with barbed wire to try to stop the migrants from trying to hop on (or under) a truck and get over to the UK.

We got to the Tunnel terminal nice and early, despite our hour-long delay in traffic, and the first place we went was to get Mo’s passport approved and stamped. The British fellow in front of us was fairly upset – he had his dog’s passport but had neglected to take it to the vet for its worm tablet. His only choices were to take it to a vet in Calais and wait 24 hours to catch the tunnel train tomorrow, or take the dog to a kennel after getting the tablet and come back over and retrieve it within 5 days. Although the staff guy was sympathetic to the fellow’s plight he couldn’t be budged about the rule – luckily Colin knew all about it and had been prepared.

I guess Mo was a little excited about all the other dogs there and left a deposit in the middle of the floor – luckily Colin was prepared for that as well as he almost always carries ‘Mo bags’.

Getting through customs for us went just as smoothly – the French side just waved us through – didn’t even have to stop and show them passports or anything. The British customs about 100 metres further were more thorough. The first thing he told me was that I wasn’t allowed to take photos of them so I deleted the one I’d just taken, even though all it showed was a sign ‘welcome to UK passport control’ and not any people.

We gave him both of our passports and he had a few questions for each of us but we had no problem and were let through in only a couple of minutes.

As we had a couple of hours to wait for our train we went into the terminal but there was no bar and the food places were all outrageously expensive – almost worse than an airport, if that’s possible. I picked up a bottle of wine at the duty-free shop and we went back to the car to have a snack from the food we already had. I did take advantage of the free wi-fi however.

Our train was a little behind schedule, and we didn’t board until around 4:25. We were on the upper deck, and drove almost to the front of the train. There are four vehicles in each compartment and although you can get out and walk around if you wish most folks stayed in their cars. It’s not like a ferry with all sorts of amenities, although they do have toilets.

We started moving at 4:40 and arrived on the other side around 5:15. As we pulled in we could see another train to our left that had only semi-trucks on it – they’re on an open deck so I assume they always have their own trains. I can see why they might prefer the tunnel to a ferry as you cross in about ⅓ or ¼ of the time. There was a galloping white horse on the hillside to the left to welcome us.

We still had a fairly long way to go – the GPS took us north to the London ring road – it took around 2 hours to circle around the south and west of the city until we hit the M40 to the Midlands.

We stopped at the store before going to the house as we didn’t have much food with us and the house had nothing fresh – I was the last one to stay there and that was back in July.

We finally got home after 14 hours of traveling, only to find that Colin didn’t have the right key to get in the house. Thank goodness for Lyn next door – she and Philip were very glad to see us and we took the extra key that she has.

Was it ever nice to sit down and relax – the last few hours of driving had been in darkness, but at least it hadn’t rained. They’re doing lots of road work over here too, but the motorway the whole way was between 2 and 4 lanes so it was just the volume around London that made that part so slow.

Woke up to cold rain, although it had snowed a bit during the night. Had a lovely hot shower – the room itself is really nice but the bathroom is extra special. Colin had paid for breakfast so we went down to eat fairly early – it said ‘buffet’ so we didn’t know what to expect. Sometimes all you get is white bread and a cup of tea or something.

But part of this place is, after all, a spa, and we all got the same buffet to choose from – it was the best breakfast spread I’ve seen in a long long time. There was the fresh fruit area, cereals and granolas of all descriptions, cold cuts and cheeses, an entire prosciutto leg to cut from. But we both dug into the hot breakfast selections – I chose bacon, sausage, mushrooms, scrambled eggs, fried zucchini and tomatoes, whole grain bun and camembert cheese.

The waiter brought us each a pot of tea and we dug in – it was all very good, especially the mushrooms. I was tempted to go for another plateful but decided not to – I was already so full I could barely get up. Mo also thought the sausage was good, but didn’t get to sample the mushrooms.

We packed up the car and left just before nine, avoiding even going into Innsbruck but heading west to Telfs then up through the mountains to the northwest.

Every once in awhile we’d enter a nice little valley, and it was all very beautiful, although visibility at times was a bit limited and the rain didn’t really let up.

We cleared the Fernpass, then started down the other side.

About half an hour later we spotted a castle/fort on a hilltop across the river and there was a suspension bridge over to it way high up.

I realized we’d driven past it before on the way to Austria five weeks ago – I looked back at my photos and sure enough there it was. I wondered if we’d see the large monkey with the red glasses again too.

After we’d been driving for a couple of hours I had to ask Colin to pull over so I could get out and try to work a stabbing pain out of my lower right shoulder around the spine.

I did a bit of stretching while taking Mo for a little walkabout. It was beautiful spot but we didn’t stop for long. The stabbing abated enough for me to get back in the car and continue on.

We passed from Austria into Germany and ended up on a dual carriageway road going north, so we’re no longer on the same road we originally came over on – no big monkey this time. Turning west just before Stuttgart we crossed the Rhine back into France.

The rain got worse from time to time, then lessened. Miss GPS warned us of more roadwork ahead so we left the main road and took less busy roads to our destination of Metz.

When passing through the town of Saverne we noticed a large group of men in black congregating on the steps into a building, and through the windows of the building it looked like it was completely full of men wearing black. A mile or two up the road we noticed a bunch of police cars in a parking area off the road – many of them were out of their vehicles and had their reflective vests on and some of the cars had their lights flashing. We speculated if the two groups had something to do with each other, and what it might be – going for a night hunt? French mafia bust? Local drug house take-down? We’ll never know.

We arrived in Metz and checked in to the hotel, then almost immediately went out to get something to eat. After dinner and back at the hotel I read for a very short while then had an early night.

Yesterday morning Colin took Mo to the vet in Marsciano to get the tablet she needs in order to update her doggie passport so she’ll be allowed back into England. While they were gone I took the opportunity to finally do yoga again. Black cat got another nice breakfast.

Before Colin and Mo got home I walked down into the village for a haircut, and I must say that Matteo did an excellent job. Luckily he spoke very good english so understood exactly what I wanted and I’m very happy with the result.

Afterwards I went across the road to Poppy’s and waited for Colin and Mo to join me. Back at the house we continued to organize, then when we were done we returned down the hill for a final drink.

The owner was very sad when we told him we were leaving in the morning, but cheered up a bit when we assured him Colin would be back in a few months. We said goodbye and walked back up the hill.

A little later in the evening I heard noises next door – Angelo must be back from his latest business trip. We’re sure the black cat belongs to him and are glad he’ll have his owner to take care of him when we won’t be here.

Got up nice and early this morning so we could do the final car loading – we saw Angelo on our last trip up to the house. And the cat was never really alone – the neighbour on the other side of Angelo was also feeding him so I’m surprised he’s not gotten fat. His name is Mao – the cat, not the neighbour.

We got on the road at a decent time – about 20 to 9. It was pretty nice out when we left Papiano, but as we got further north the weather got worse and worse. We stopped a couple of times for bathroom breaks and got coffee and paninis at the second one – last of the good cappuccinos for awhile, I guess.

By the time we neared the Austrian border it had been raining for quite a while, and the temperature outside had been steadily dropping. As we entered the tunnel at the Brenner pass – goodbye Italy! – it was raining, and when we exited – hello Austria! – it was snowing.

The snow turned to rain again as we descended towards Innsbruck, and the place we’re staying is a village called Mutters, with another small village right below called Natters – I thought that was kind of funny.

Our hotel is actually a health spa that has two parts and it’s a bit of a maze to get between them. There’s a nice looking restaurant but we chose to stay in the room and snack instead – fairly early night as the day was a bit tiring.

Did some laundry and hung it outside – hopefully it will dry despite the fact that the terrace no longer gets any direct sun. It’s pretty warm and there’s a bit of a breeze so it should be ok.

Took a walk down to the village with Colin and Mo – got a few things from the store and popped into Poppy’s for a bit. Back at the house the big black cat came by for lunch – once again I avoided getting slashed or bitten.

After spending a couple of hours sorting out what I’m going to leave here and packing my two large panniers with what I’m taking with me we went for a nice long walk. We headed up past the bell tower and along the gravel road up the hill to the south.

We stopped at the large abandoned house partway up the hill and had a look around. It’s in an ideal place with a nice yard and beautiful views, but is quite a ‘fixer upper’.

At the top of the hill we turned left (east) instead of right, which would have taken us past the barking dog house. There are great views both north towards the village, and south along the valley.

Partway down the hill we came to a house where the schoolbus was turning around. At the same time a big dog from the house came to greet Mo. The bus driver told us that the dog’s name was Carlo – Mo and Carlo had a good sniff before Carlo’s owner came to bring him back into their yard.

Another house also had a big dog that barked a bit – Mo said hello through the fence. It’s a good thing the dog seemed fairly friendly as the gate to the place was open.

Mo doesn’t care how big a dog she meets – if it’s a male she is likely to be friendly with it, but if it’s a female it’s usually a whole different story.

We stopped at Poppy’s again on our way through the village then went home for dinner of ham, tomato and onion omelette with fries. At one point I went out to check if the moon was up yet – I walked down one of the small alleys that came to a dead-end. The curtains were open with the lights on in one place that you normally can’t see into and while it looked like nothing from the outside it looked really nice inside.

A little later I went back out to see if I could get a good shot of the full moon – well it was full yesterday, so close enough. I didn’t have a great view from where I was so didn’t get any pics but just as I was turning back the woman in the house came out to see who was walking around – I showed her my camera and said ‘photos – luna’ and she smiled at me and went back inside. I settled for a night-time shot of the stairs with the bell tower at the top instead.

Once again the day started off sunny but quite chilly. We decided to take a day-trip to Orvieto – it’s quite a spectacular town up on a high stone outcropping about 40 km south. We passed by it last year when Colin took me to Rome to catch my flight home but we didn’t have time to stop and explore at all. (The photo above is not Orvieto)

The drive there was really nice – a pretty good road with very little traffic. We stopped a couple of times along the way – once so I could take some photos, and once so Colin could take a phone call.

Once we reached Orvieto we drove most of the way up and found a good car-park, which is right across from the funicular that brings people up, and also the old castle/fort that overlooks the valley.

We were pretty hungry so we started walking into the old town right away. We walked up the main road, passing lots of shops and cafes. There’s very little traffic so mostly we walked in the middle of the cobble-stone road – which was convenient since there’s no room for sidewalks.

Then we could see the Duomo off to the left in the distance.

We made our way to the piazza where the Duomo is – it was built in the 13th and 14th centuries, and the front of it is quite impressive with carvings and guilt paintings, and the rest of it is in a striped pattern made from black and white marble.

We didn’t bother going in – no need to tempt fate and cause a fire or eruption of some sort. We chose a restaurant right nearby and sat down to get some lunch. There were many things on the menu that sounded delicious, but I had to try the ‘drunken sausage and beans’ just so I could see what it was.

It turned out to be a good choice, but for starters we got a plate of mixed bruschettas that were all very tasty, and Colin got the lasagna for his main course. My drunken sausages must have been marinated or cooked in red wine – they were purple/black and just delicious, and came with large flat beans in a lovely tomato sauce. When I went in to use the facilities I talked a bit with the owner – his grandfather used to own the place and he was very happy when I told him how we really enjoyed the meal. I think they make as much from selling wine as they do from the meals they serve – the whole inside is lined from floor to ceiling on all walls with bottles of wine. I would guess that most of them are local and hard to get anywhere else – the wine we had with lunch was very nice.

After our leisurely lunch we walked to a very small park just off the piazza – there were at least six cats there that must get fed a lot. There were great views across the valley to the east.

We then headed down back towards the car-park. Just before the castle/fort there’s a war memorial.

We took a walk around the castle – it’s now a public park and has even more spectacular views.

Orvieto is on the main way from Firenza in the north to Rome in the south so was built on a great vantage point to overlook the whole valley.

Once again when we got home neither of us was hungry enough for dinner. It had been a lovely day and we agreed that a return trip to Orvieto sometime in the future would be great.

We went for a nice long ride on Sunday morning – it was sunny but not hot – perfect weather for riding. We rode east to the main road, then along it for a very short way until we came to the ‘train station’. There’s still a sign indicating that it’s the station, and I did in fact check the train schedule at one time – it’s still listed as if the train runs on the line but I don’t think it’s been used in a long time. The tracks are completely rusted and some of the weeds are almost as tall as I am.

Anyway we continued east to Casalina, then turned south to Ripabianca where we crossed over the highway and kept going south to Carcere, then on to Collepepe. We ended riding all the way to Marsciano, and both walked our bikes partway up the long hill out of town. We hopped back on and made our way to the small back road we were on the other day. Getting off the busier road was nice – I don’t think we passed a single car after we left it.

Stopped, of course, at Poppy’s for refreshment before going back to the house and little Mo – we’d covered about 24 km in all so it was a decent distance. The afternoon turned very windy, and in the evening there was a terrific rain storm for awhile. The wind was so fierce that it blew over the three little potted cedars that Colin had bought – it even blew one right out of its pot. They’re now tucked up next to the back wall just in case. It’s sure nice to be warm and cosy inside in that kind of weather despite the lack of the wood-burner.

Monday was quiet – waited around most of the afternoon for the house painter to come and have a look, but he didn’t show. Black cat got some more food – it’s pretty insistent about getting into the house but we don’t want it taking a round out of Mo.

Tuesday was again nice and sunny, although a bit on the cool side with the wind. We took a little drive to Monte Buono for lunch at Il Ristoro. This time I got the fish special, which was pasta with fish fresh from the lake, along with little beans and carrots. It was a bit salty and somewhat spicy, but very delicious.

The little cats were back, but since we were inside this time I couldn’t try to pet them. We got to the restaurant a little early so the place was just about empty, but as we ate more and more people arrived and by the time we left there must have been 40 or 50 folks there – the place was hopping and the parking lot was almost full.

Upon leaving we decided to go into the town of Castiglione del Lago to get some groceries and have a look around.

It’s a fair-sized place right on the water and has a small promontory jutting into the lake, with a castle/fort on the top.

We parked right at a park on the lake and walked out onto a little ferry wharf. The wind was blowing pretty hard and the water was choppy and colourful – it reminded me once again of home – nice large lake with small mountains all around – very pretty.

We were both still full from lunch so dinner for me was light – just some peanuts and a small bowl of the chicken soup I made yesterday.