PG Tips

It's Monday morning, and Dwight has left for work. My first solo day. Every English hotel or B&B we have ever stayed in has had tea-making facilities in the room, including this one. I've brewed myself a lovely cup of PG Tips tea (with milk...the English way) and have settled in to update this blog.

Yesterday was another blue-sky day with temps probably in the high 60's. Fortified by our full English breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, toast and a grilled tomato) we headed down the hill for a look at nearby Weymouth. We were amazed by how many people were out so early on a Sunday morning. ASDA ("A Member of the Wal-Mart Family"), where we had gone to find an adapter for my laptop, was jammed with shoppers at ten AM. Leaving our car in ASDA's parking lot, we struck out on foot.

Our first objective was to find the train station, which turned out to be central and very convenient. From there we made our way a couple of blocks to the seashore and found that it, too, was already quite animated. It was Seafood Festival weekend which may have accounted for the crowds, and all the ice cream kiosks, carousel rides, chair and umbrella rentals and even an outdoor Punch and Judy puppet theater were all doing a lively business. From there we wandered back to the car by way of the pedestrian shopping streets and the Sunday farmers' market, and were back at the hotel by early afternoon.

We changed into our hiking shoes and followed the Dorset Coast Path down to Chesil Beach (pictured above). From our hotel, which sits at over three hundred feet elevation, Chesil Beach looks like...a beach! I had heard it refered to as a "pebble beach," but once we got down there we found that the "pebbles" are smooth, round rocks as big as a fist, and they are piled thirty-five feet deep! Walking was sporty, a sort of step and slide combination that was fun as we headed toward the water but much less so as we struggled to regain elevation. The sound of the beach was interesting: the familiar sound of waves lapping against the shore was followed by a new sound...the wet rumble of rocks playing leap-frog back into the ocean. I want to remember that.

The highlight of our Sunday was afternoon tea at the home of Marilyn and Peter Gleave, colleagues of Dwight's. We sat in their lovely garden amidst an amazing collection of fuchsia plants (who ever knew they came in so many colors?) and enjoyed our tea with scones slathered in clotted English cream and fresh rasperries. Heavenly! Peter and Marilyn are a delightful couple who have already been so helpful at getting us settled in and making us feel welcome. I look forward to getting to know them better.

Now it is Monday, my first solo day. I think I will try to learn the local bus route and see how long it takes me to get to Weymouth's train station. My English friend Beverly from back home is here this month for her annual visit with family and friends up in the Cotswolds. We plan to get together one day, possibly this Thursday, so getting to Banbury is what I need to figure out. It would be a hoot to have a cup of tea with Bev in England! Will let you know how it goes.