Diana Copied Some More Videos,

of our European holiday,

on to the computer, so rather than make a few posts about odds and ends, I spent the morning putting a couple of videos together, this one on a yacht, sailing to some of the places of interest around Santorini, I am uploading to YouTube the next one that is in Finland, so in a couple of hours please call back to see it, if you want to watch us ice fishing, dog and reindeer sledging and walking through lots of snow, as for yesterday we had a quiet day at home, 

after our evening meal it was feet up for a couple of quiz shows, a couple from Endeavour and then for us we were off to bed.

Day 50,

our last day in Blighty,

overnight the snow had settled,

but it did not seem to worry the fox,

who decided to settle under one of the evergreens,

we went out for a drive,

to Keston,

and then to Downe, 

driving through country lanes,

until we reached this farm shop and restaurant,

the building was a converted barn,

downstairs the food shop,

and upstairs the restaurant, arriving back at Steve and Kai's it was time to say our goodbyes as the taxi picked us up and took us to the airport,

and here we are,

and guess where we are going to eat!

the seafood bar,

we were hoping to have Alaskan King crab, but they had sold out,

so Cromer crab it was then,

we then went to a specialist coffee bar,

the coffees were certainly different,

and so nice Diana wanted two! then on the aeroplane and the flight back to Thailand, where I stayed at home looking after the cats whilst Diana will set off on a new set of travels with Mum and Dad.

Day 49,

in the morning,

I could hear strange parrot like noises,

and there he was, the same species of parakeet we had seen in Kew Gardens,

although difficult to see, there are now two of them,

unlike yesterday the snow had started to settle,

in the evening as it was our last night,

it was time to open a bottle of bubbly, 

then we were off to Miller & Carter in Bromley, it is situated in Pickhurst Lane,

'Cheers!',

a cocktail for Diana and Kai,

I have to admit,

I have forgotten,

who ordered what,

but suffice to say all of the starters were delicious,

and here we all are,

next the steaks,

with a lobster side dish,

and each steak came with a half lettuce each,

with a choice of dressing,

eyes down and tuck in,

our last night sadly came to an end so an after dinner cocktail and we were all on our way home for a good nights rest.

Day 48,

no trip to the UK, would be complete,

without popping down to see Chris and Wannie,

the Beach Road was deserted, today there has been a half Marathon run,

so many of the roads were closed,

fish and chips, we were definatly in Brighton,

and we were blessed with blue skies,

although it was still cold,

onto the pier we went,

looking along the beach,

we noticed new for this visit, a zip line tower, the line running parallel to the sea,

a pose,

or two,

it was such a beautiful day,

we made our way to the funfair,

and had a bite to eat,

I asked if anyone wanted a ride,

but there were no takers,

I have to say this one looked scary dairy indeed!

looking towards the observation tower and the old wrecked pier,

Diana's favorite,

freshly made sugared doughnuts,

I zoomed into the tower, the observation platform at ground level,

and the wreck of the West pier,

Diana happy with her doughnuts,

the arches where I am told boats and winches to haul them ashore used to be kept,

the observation tower nearly at the top of the column,

a couple of poses from me,

notice who is carrying all of the gear,

and one from Diana,

a final look at the West pier,

I have to mention, I was so looking forward to a few plates of cockles and whelks,

but alas the only seafood place on the pier was closed,

next stop for us, The Lanes,

looking at some of the strange buildings on the way, like the Black Lion,

and I just had to call in here,

where I made a couple of purchases, I will do a post about my stamps when I have caught up with the UK posts,

Herbie,

we entered The Lanes,

with it's quaint shop windows,

every so often there is a square for dinning, but a bit cold today,

we continued exploring,

and found this old bookshop, with the Internet I am surprised there are still shops like this,

in the ares, lots of cafes,

and pubs like The Victory Inn,

there are also so many one off shops,

like these,

in the lanes themselves there are lots of jewellers,

and this unique shop,

The Duck House,

selling, yes you guessed it,

rubber ducks,

we found another seating area,

then back into The Lanes,

did I mention jewellry shops?

well there are lots of them,

this look a bit sinister, The Original House of Correction, 

built in 1835, but if you go the the link the sign might be a little confusing,

more jewellery shops,

now this is a shop that I like, but it was closed,

unlike Choccywoccydoodah, 

it is a chocolate shop,

and uses chocolate,

to make fantastical sculptures,

like this one,

we fancied a coffee so we called in here,

we made a move back to the car, when I noticed the wind farm,

so I zoomed in to take a look, they must be so efficient, supplying Brighton with so much nearly free electricity, and how do I know they are efficient? I counted them, less than half we were working so that means the ones that working are produce lots of electricity, I wonder what happens when there is no wind?

sunset,

as we parked up in the Brighton Marina,

a quick pose by the boats,

and we were here, Memories of India,

and here we were,

looking down into the street below,

the place was so nicely laid out,

a selfie of us,

Chris and Wannie,

also joining us John and Lucy,

Steve, behave!

'Cheers!',

we all chatted the night away, what a wonderful day, it was so nice meeting all of our friends on this huge trip that we have been on,

we said our farewells and Steve very kindly drove us home to Beckenham where after a nightcap we were off to bed.