Monday 2 November 2020

We Did Not Know It,

but today would be our last weekend out,


for some time, as tomorrow on Sunday, we learnt that a month long lockdown would be put in place, back to Saturday, glad rags on and onto the Beckenham Green,

where the Halloween display was,

I thought Diana would sit here,

and here,

train from Beckenham Junction to Bromley South, coffees for the journey,

as we settle down,

for a couple of selfies,


we made our way from the station,

looking at some of the many old buildings on the way,

I had to take a photograph of 'Stanley's', whatever it was that the shop sold,

the church ready for the Remembrance Services,

a nicely decorated shop,

we continue downwards the harbour,

I have to say it, like all of the towns by harbours, there were so many public houses, and Ramsgate is no exception,

guess who had to have a look in here?

I wonder if this Stanleys had anything to do with the other Stanleys?

this is a near delivery vehicle,

we will be back here tomorrow,

no prizes for guessing who was looking in the clothes shop!

it was a nice day,

looking at the Royal Pavilion,

after a quick pose we decided to eat,

at first outside,

but it was so chilly and windy,

we decided to sit inside,

upstairs in the huge drinking/dining area,

looking outside,

there was a 'Rocker', abut the same age as myself from the Ace Café, with his immaculate Triumph 'Bathtub' Speed Twin,

no queueing at the bar, table service only,

the Rocker had left, just before it started chucking it down,

lunch was served,

a ham and cheese panini for Diana, fish and chips for myself,

then out into the rain,

for a look,

and a pose,

or two around the harbour,

but you know us,

wet or dry we are always OK!

a strange name for a association, the Ramsgate Home for Smack Boys, which was founded in 1881, and no it was not a S & D house of ill repute, it was a home to young apprenticed boys who fished in boats known as Smacks,

up the stairs next door,

and all was well,

thankfully my knees not playing up, no problems climbing a few stairs for Diana,

the view across the harbour,

and looking down,

Diana's coat a little rain swept,

I am not quiet sure what this was,

but something nautical I am sure,

on the other side of the road, small out of the wind and rain viewing areas,

we started on our way down,

admiring some of the boats in the harbour,

if only we had the money I would be the proud owner of a John Bain motor cruiser, like this one, OK maybe a bit bigger, say 64 foot, 

a panorama of the harbour,

we continued down,

looking across the harbour,

some of the boats almost having a garden!

nearly there,

and looking down this is where we were headed,

but first,

looking above,

our restaurant for the evening,

almost there,

at the harbour side cafes and bars,

and this was the one we choose,

for a coffee and some cake,

it was now time to register in our hotel,

our room,

had a great view of the harbour,

just a pity it was raining,

but the sky started to clear,

as it turned into a nice evening,

all set,

and we were off,

for the short walk to La Magnolia

Diana decided on a glass of water, a red for myself,

we were lucky in that in our section there were only 2 tables, and we had booked one of them,

a quick selfie,

and one of Diana, 

we had decided against a starter, Diana chose for her main course, a calzone polpette, which she declared to be delicious,

for myself baby lamb chops with sauté potatoes,

desserts of rum baba for myself and pistachio tiramisu for Diana,

we rounded the meal off with a coffee each, 

before the walk downhill to our hotel, what a lovely day, I am only making one post today as it is a big one and I am trying to catch up with the weekend, arriving at the hotel we were soon off to bed,


4 comments:

jpo5626 said...

Nice trip for you both. Glad you were able to travel one last time before the lockdown. Will they keep the McDonalds open during the lockdown or will Diana be at home with you?
We continue to have very high COVID 19 infection rates here in Central Florida so we have been restricted on going out. We have ordered in an applewood smoked ham from a smokehouse in the North and prime grade filet beef steaks from the Midwest butcher mail order. Also stocked up on 2 cases of 2017 Rodney Stone Cab wine so we are having some fine dinners at home. Alley continues to FaceTime her Mother in Thailand (UbonRatch) and seems the corruption there along with COVID continues to slow entire economy. Her doctor friend said COVID is easing up so many now out without masks. Talk around about the new king and his $120 Billion baht net worth....all extracted gradually from the kingdom’s subjects. Understand that there is a large group of young folks wanting to change the system by doing away with the king and replacing with a more balanced governance. Will be interesting to watch.
We had our first cold snap today so out came jackets to wear while walking the dog. He has one too! You both stay safe and healthy.
John and Alley Central Florida

PattayaStan said...

Dear John and Alley, it is work as usual for Diana as far as drive throughs and deliveries are concerned, as it happens they were so busy yesterday she was asked to work an extra 3 hours! Like yourself yesterday whilst Diana was at work I popped into town to stock up for the next month, 5 boxes of 3 litre each of wine, 2 spiced rum, 2 sherry, 2 bubbly, and I think I bought some food, glad that everyone is keeping in touch, it is the same with Diana and her family, they are always chatting on a telephone app or something, regarding the king and the youngsters trying to oust him, with 2 divisions of his own army as his personal support, plus the others that would support them any change is not going to be pretty, way to many brown very, very large brown envelopes changing hands! over here it has been cold and windy for the past week or so, as you might have guessed, Diana is looking forward to the snow! Best regards, Stan and Diana.

jpo5626 said...

Believe best for all of us to focus on having the best quality of life. We believe every good day is one less bad day so we try to have all good days. We like the positive focus of your couple's life and also the positive presentations in the blog. Helps Alley forget all the family problems in Thailand. And we have the local President drama here in USA...either side could win but does not change anything for those in the middle.
Fun to focus on the good things in life.
thanks!
John and Alley

PattayaStan said...

Dear John and Alley, it is so difficult with our loved ones family's so far away, which is why we started the daily blog all of those years ago, hopefully the new president will help all of the people that so desperately need help, best regards, Stan and Diana.