And we’re off… Arrived Heathrow smooth sailing thru immigration and Heathrow Express to Paddington Station, Taxi to Kings Cross
Early arrival meant no check in till 2pm, St Pancras Hotel for cappuccino and a walk to Post Office for Oyster Cards and then lunch before check in.
A short nap and then off to see Eric Clapton concert at Royal Albert Hall. (note make certain Royal Albert Hall is correct stop for Underground, don’t take Tower Hill Line or you will be late for show and a 35 Pound cab ride for us to get to correct location.
Day Two
Train to Cambridge from Pancras Int’l to Cambridge, smooth 50 minute train ride, and short cab ride to our flat at 26 High Market Rd. We walked through Grafton Mall close to our flat and then had Dinner at a fantastic Indian Restaurant that was Michelin rated
Day Three
Early walk for Mike, trip to Starbucks and jamming at a local music store on a Nord Stage Pro, back to the flat, grab the wife and Uber ride to Fitzbillies for Cambridge Bun and Cappacino, followed by Fitzwilliam Museum, a stroll through and Antique Shop and then to Eagle Pub, oldest pub in Cambridge. Over to Market Hill for open air market and then lunch at Aromi Scilian Pizza and a red wine. It was graduation day in Cambridge, seeing lots of grads in their robes was a highlight. Finish off with a trip to Kings College and a magnificent chapel tour and Uber ride home. Bought a bottle of red wine and some cheese and Wild Boar sausage for dinner. Great day in Cambridge!
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Day Four
Walk to Starbucks for Cappacino, walk to the Sixt Rental Car place for a rental car, nice peaceful 15 minute walk for the car, and a new adventure, driving on the left side of the road, always an adventure! Park the car at Grafton Mall car park, short distance from our flat, we decided we would leave it there just for a short time then an early lunch at the same Indian Restaurant we had dinner at a couple nights before. We decide to move the car to an off site parking with shuttle to downtown area, much more reasonable than the mall parking and we head off the Cambridge Gin Laboratory for Gin Tasting! Big fun, Back home after a nice walk around Cambridge again, we’ve enjoyed our time in Cambridge. We tuck in early as we leave for our dog sit in the am to arrive by lunchtime, an hour or so from where we are.
Day Five
We jump the shuttle to the car park after a Cappacino and arrive back for a 11 am departure from Cambridge and down the road to Garboldisham and meet the Dogs! We detour to Diss for a lunch as the host asks us to come a little later as they are delayed a bit getting to leave. We arrive and meet our hosts and dogs in their beautiful home in a beautiful rural English location. We spend approximately 1 hour getting the procedure for dog care, house specific’s and how to navigate walks and such. We are so excited about our first dog sitting assignment and say goodbye to our hosts as we are on our own! We enjoy a dinner of smoked salmon, linguine and cream sauce and a nice red wine for dinner after an hour walk with Zoe and a short walk for Dillion, we have a quiet English night, watching Netflix and the solitude of the English countryside!
Day 6
Zoe was walked for an hour through some narrow lanes and village of Garboldisham after a cup of coffee and sweet roll and we feed the dogs and take off to Bury St Edmonds. We drive the 30 or so minutes to Bury St Edmonds, find a car park and enjoy a cappacino and walk the Abbey Gardens which are spectacularly steeped in history, and wonderfully peaceful to stroll. We go to the church which was built in the 1500s and spend time marveling at the architecture and history that surrounds us. Next we are off to the market for groceries for the week and explore the local village after feeding the dogs and letting them out for a wee!
Dinner of pork chops and broccoli from the market and off to bed.
Day 7.
A morning walk in Thetford woods of an hour and then a one hour drive to Castle Rising, a 13th century Castle, very well preserved and a five minute drive over to Sandringham, the estate the Royal family spends Christmas. a Absolutely beautiful. We drive back and have a late lunch of grilled bacon & cheese sandwiches, and then a happy hour on the patio of wine, chees, pate, crackers and olives.
Day 8
After an hour walk for Zoe, we take a 45 minute drive to Norwich to see the Norwich Castle & Museum and the Norwich Cathedral. We turn in the closest car park to where we are going on google maps, GREAT IDEA and are two blocks from our first destination Norwich Castle Keep & Viking Exhibit. Absolutely stunning display of different Viking Hoard discoveries and various Viking artifacts. We have lunch in Norwich market, the largest in England. A short cab ride over to 1000 year old Norwich Cathedral, was nothing short of stunning, impressive, awe inspiring. Pictures don’t do it justice, We have slight trouble getting a cab back and get a local hotel to call for one, as we waited almost ½ hour to secure one. Back at the car park, we exit and make our return to let the dogs out and make dinner.
Day 9
Mike went to the village store in Garboldensham to get a New Guardian for our hosts, and get a cappacino from the portable cappacino wagon, along with the paper. I chat with a couple of locals outside and head back to get Kathy. We decide to “stay local” today, and go 15 minutes away to a garden shop/deli/market/café in Bury St Edmund, which was a delight and really felt like a local, having another cappacino, scone & clotted cream. We then motor over 15 minutes to the village of Diss, found a good place to park and went to the drug store and had lunch right by the lake at a great little pub. Back at the house, we then go the Fox Inn, a cooperative pub, bought and staffed on the weekend by local residents. There is a Thai food truck and lot’s of local families enjoying the brilliant weather outside and several chatting us up about our stay, about the village, what we are doing and we have some Gin & Tonic’s and enjoy being immersed in the local scene. Thoroughly enjoyed the pub.
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Day 11
After an hour walk with Zoe, Kathy and I drove the 50 minutes on an overcast day to the Village of Ely to see the Ely Cathedral. It was a delightful Sunday drive, and had a few sprinkles of rain on our way. The cathedral loomed on the horizon and was truly a sight to behold as we arrived. The cathedral is over a 1000 years old. The churchgoers were having coffee and tea as we entered and marvleded at the incredible stained glass After lunch we went back and toured the stained glass exhibit in the church and waited out a brief rain shower before heading back to Garboldensham.
Day 12
The last full day we decided to tidy up after the walking the dogs and then into Thetford for a lunch at the Red Lion. I had a hard cider, Koppergate, Strawberry Cider, which was excellent with the spicy curry. We also went by the ruins of the Thetford Priory; an ancient abbey that was destroyed by Henry VIII. We made our way back home under drizzling skies, to finish our laundry and continue to pack as our hosts were due to the next day, and we would have to say goodbye to our good dogs, Zoe and Dillion.
Day 13
We have the morning to say goodby and take our last walk of the morning the relish in the English countryside, and appreciate the fine week we had, experiencing life in the country. Our hosts arrive back around noon, the dogs excited to see them and us being a little sad that we have to leave. We make the brief one hour drive back to Cambridge and return the rental car, savoring our first dog/house sitting assignment being complete, and experiences living in this beautiful setting. The car rental place checks us in quickly and pays for our cab back to the train station, where we catch at train back to Kings Cross. Kathy takes a nap, and I go to the Resting Hare to grab a Gin & Tonic and walk around to get to know the neighborhood. We take off to the Underground around 5pm to grab and early movie of Rocket Man and then have a pleasant dinner at Tuttens Covent Garden. We are off the next day to Gloucester for two nights before we start our next dog sit.
Over to Wales for the next Dogsit:
Again, we took the train, and picked up a rental car close to our final destination, in Hereford. We would be caring for a Hungarian Vezela named Morty. Same run down as the previous sit, as we were now veterans. Spent a couple of hours with the owners to learn about Morty, the house, and final instructions. Then off to the supermarket for supplies.
We quickly got into the routine with Morty. Caring for him with morning walks and breakfast. Watering the garden and a quick tidy on the house, and we are off for a few hours of exploring. We usually find lunch out and eat dinner at a nearby pub or cook at home. We watch a series on Netflix or Amazon Prime. The days & nights fall into a natural rythem. After completing our sit with Morty, reversed out steps returning the car and taking the train back to London, where we took a couple of days to explore Greenwhich & bits of London before heading home.
Enjoy your Journey!
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