Despite the ridiculous set up at Birmingham Airport, where you have to pay for a trolley now if you want one when you collect your baggage, which was extremely irritating after 15 hours of travel, I had a great time in the UK. I spent most of the time meeting up with family and friends and trying to chill out and also think about my future. It was a busy but happy time.
To begin with, I went down to Cornwall with my parents for a week of complete 'holiday'. The rain didn't disrupt too much and we had a lovely time visiting several National Trust gardens, the beach, St Ives and discovering some really fantastic food places too. I'm liking the 'Great British Food' industry that has sprung up and developed over the past few years. Particularly good were the meals at Trevaskis Farm outside of Hayle. We also loved the jacket potatoes at the cafe at Trengwainton National Trust Garden. Try it and love it too.
Back in the Midlands from Cornwall and it was time to catch up with many friends. Kath, who I met in SA, came down and we had a very enlightening time at Warwick Castle. It never ceases to amaze me how the people who run that place can alter it every year so that it's still interesting! The jousting was good. (see photo). I mean, what's not to like about grown men in medieval costume playfighting on horseback? There was the usual pantomime atmosphere in the park as we enjoyed that show. The powers that be at Warwick have also totally redesigned the 'Edwardian Weekend Party' Exhibit so that it doesn't just introduce us to the characters but now gives us an in depth look at all the scandal of the day as we now know who was messing around with whom. It was quite shocking to realise that morals seemed to go right out of the window during weekends like those. However, I must have seen that exhibit over 10 times and this is the only time I've actually remembered any of the names! (And that's why HEAT magazine is so popular... I guess ;-) )
I managed a trip to London to see friends there and enjoy a few meals out in Covent Garden, which was great. We also had some excellent dinner parties at home with various couples who have supported me over this past year. I spoke at a couple of churches and it was great to see so many people at my tea and talk at St Paul's in Leamington.
My village church had a cheese and wine evening, which was brilliant fun and I even won something on the raffle (Gotta love raffles!). Mum and Dad took me to their Folk Dancing group as well and that was surprisingly good fun, and thankfully I didn't dream about square sets afterwards!
Thank you to all the people who donated money to me during my time in the UK. It was great to meet up with so many people, to catch up with old friends and to make new ones.
