Monday, July 11, 2011

Details, details

Kent and I have been to England more than a few times, both together and separately. But this is the first time we haven’t stayed in the London area; instead we stayed in the village of Bosham (about four miles from Chichester).

The very first cab driver we had asked us if we knew how cities were determined in the UK. We did not, so he told us: in order to be designated a city in the UK, the population must be over 500,000 OR there must be a cathedral. Chichester qualifies as a city because of the cathedral there, while Bosham qualifies on neither point even though it’s got a really beautiful church. Both the village and the city are beautiful, and I am glad we stayed there the entire time we were in England.

Bosham is on a tidal flat area and the high tides flood a couple of the streets twice daily. You can see signs all over the place warning motorists to be aware of when high tide occurs so they don’t get stranded. This link describes a pub right on the water where we had lunch on Thursday.

Our friend's wedding took place in Lavant at St. Mary's, which is also ridiculously picturesque. I hoped for warm, sunny weather for Fiona but alas, it was pretty chilly and damp. We didn't get rain until later in the evening during the reception so only the smokers were affected.

Saturday we were lucky enough to be able to watch our niece, Avalon, at her school's end of term activities. We had a picnic lunch there with my sister, Martha, her husband Nigel and both girls (Eilish is the younger of the two). Then we went to my sister's house for an amazing curry dinner, marred only by Martha cutting her finger on a tin can lid. Fortunately she's up to date on her tetanus shots and once the triage nurse said no stitches were necessary, all was well.

It was a great trip all the way around. Now I'm back to job hunting while being swarmed by needy cats. It's good to be needed.

2 comments:

Jeanne said...

chilly and damp, huh? What would you recommend packing for a trip to England?

edj3 said...

I'd recommend checking Weather Underground before packing. The week before we left, Chichester had really gorgeous summer weather. While we were there, it was in the mid to upper 60s and cloudy. I guess if I had to say, my advice would be layers.