the north sea today

tide coming in … but no water to see. looked like a moonscape. we came there to gather algae. worked hard to get a few handfull … mixed with lots of mud (filled up our b12 reserves ). ice cold hand & feet but lots of fun, wonderful fresh air & an afternoon to remember! & what a yummy dinner tonight

cockaigne ... abundant sunripened cherries ... can't think of anything more delicious!

i really enjoyed this weekend: sun, friendship, talks, inspiration …

a flight with the london eye … j’s wish. great view but nevertheless disappointing for all the three of us.

watching the horse guards in front of the buckingham palace … this was for horse-loving m. we were late & therefore missed the change of the guards but luckily there was a parade in front of the palace.

a visit at the dali universe … my idea & i was thrilled! we all had fun there! gonna write more about this later …

what else? walking walking walking … the embankment, big ben, westminster, st james park, piccadilly, soho, chinatown. the tube. night flight back home … watching the sundown from somewhere above the clouds …

so what was really hard during our last visit to england: we did not have internet access. i have a surfstick to connect to the net via mobile telephone system but the radio signal in our house was too low.

good luck we found a cafe/gallery in newport, the quay arts centre, with a free wi-fi hotspot. even better, they also have an old imac where my little one could play while i was answering my emails and so on. we went there every other day

the blue one at the end of the road ...

behind the house there is an idle peace of land – we called it our “nettle paradise”. stinging nettles in abundance, and also a bit of chickweed. it is only a few metres to the coast path, a few minutes to walk to the beach. every day we made a walk along the coast path, most days ending at the beach, enjoying the sun, playing with sand, water, stones, eating fresh algae …

on the afternoons, we made excursions … played miniature golf, visited “horse country” in binstead: stables, ponies to ride, piglets & donkeys & a small museum.

besides the blacksmith' workshop ... lots of luck!

the isle of wight is small, only 27 miles maximum width. it is hilly & the streets are narrow & winding so one better does not drive too fast. this was my first time driving on the left … required a bit more concentration the first two days but then it was really easy-peasy. thanks to lisa (my navigation system) … she was a great relief! & i love the roundabouts they have there … many! always offering the chance to turn around

we started on thursday, 2nd april, with our borrowed vw-bus.

our baggage

first night, in margarete's house in appelhülsen

empty & no heating - it was quite cold the two days we stayed there. but with a garden full of yummy greens.

on saturday we continued our trip – started at 7am, to oostend (belgium), the ferry to ramsgate, went on to portsmouth, another ferry brought us to fishbourne on the isle of wight where we arrived at about 11pm.

to be continued …