London, Bocken....tripping around the UK

It's hard to believe that my jaunt is nearing its end. It's been over a month since we hit the UK and in that time I've covered a fair amount of ground.

Firstly in London, Rachel, Cathryn and I had to revisit the old haunts - and add in a few new ones of course. This meant going up the London Eye, visiting the Fish Man in Leicester Square, browsing at Covent Garden, shopping in Harrods and the Kings Road, pottering through Piccadilly, checking out how old places of employment had changed...and of course visiting the Chelsea Flower Show. This naturally sent Cathryn off into a frenzy, particularly after she spotted Alan Titchmarsh and elbowed her way to the front of the crowd. Hilary was also on a mission to stock up on a few 'small' items which would grace the gardens at Bocken, including a large fuschia which had to accompany her on the train home. Fortified by Pimm's, she made it back safely of course, while we were transfixed by Eurovision instead.

Within a week of our arrival it was time to bid farewell to Rachel as she returned to the real world - the first one of us to fly on the new A380 SQ double decker, which she said was exciting for the first fifteen minutes and then just became the usual long plane trip. As it was Cathryn's birthday we consoled ourselves with a visit to Windsor after the goodbyes at Heathrow before returning to Bocken.

After a few days of tripping around Buckingshire and walking Pud etc, we then set off for a few days in Cornwall where we visited Bude, Wadebridge, Port Isaac, Tintagel, Padstowe, Penzanze, St Michael's Mount and St Ives. They were all rather charming in their own way, especially when the sun was out (ie not raining). Of course, we also had to indulge in fish and chips by the seaside, Cornish clotted cream, Cornish pasties and the local St Austell beer.

A few more days back at Bocken meant jaunts to local places like Marlow and Henley and a game of Twenty20 cricket at the Oval, then it was time to set off for a visit to Sharon and Lucy in Edinburgh. Finally I got to check out the Ness shops where I predictably indulged in a bit of retail therapy, although I did draw the line at the entirely coordinated outfit down to the Wellies with matching tartan. Luckily for us, our hosts had prepared recommended cafes and other eating/drinking establishments so we were able to keep our strength up. We also managed a visit to Roslyn Chapel, met the Fergussons, and visited Concorde - in a hangar but at least I can say I've been on it now. Extra excitement was added by the daily pyromaniac-induced bin fires in the street below Lucy's flat in Leith which kept the local firemen busy. It was a fun long weekend!

This brought us to Cathryn's last week and a visit to William Morris' home at Kelmscott in Oxfordshire, and of course the requisite visit to the gift shop for those essential purchases. It was also Bruce's birthday so I decided to be brave and cook him Beef Wellington, with thanks to Robert Carrier for the recipe of course. After a few stressful moments, it all went off well. The dinner also signified the end of Miranda's exams and Cathryn's imminent return to Australia. Another trip to Heathrow and now I'm the last of the Antipodeans left.

In my last week I did manage to fit in a few days in beautiful Istanbul so that I could buy all the things that I foolishly left there in April. Despite the heat, it was still beautiful and I'll definitely be going there again. I conquered the public transport system, visited Dolmabahce Palace (Turkey's largest building), splurged in the Grand Bazaar, and commiserated with the soccer-mad locals when their team was beaten by the Germans in the last minute of the Euro semi-final. Most importantly, I managed to avoid being shown a single carpet, although I did have a few cups of tea at the friendly insistence of the locals!

Last night Hilary, Bruce and I went to the Globe Theatre to see an excellent production of 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' which was hilarious. It was also a great experience to see it performed as it would have been in Shakespeare's time, with the actors so close you could touch them. Even more amazingly, we saw the show for a fiver each since we were happy to stand in the Yard, as the plebs would have done 500 years ago.

Now I'm down to the last two days which means packing, packing and more packing! I'm sure it will all fit - or rather, it will all have to fit since the tea chest has already been filled. Hmmm......so much to see and buy, so little time, money and space. Oh well, there's always the next trip to plan, and I can't really complain when my little jaunt has been enjoyed over nearly seven months with visits around the UK, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Spain and France. It's a hard life but someone has to do it!