29 & 30 May

29 May

It's our last full day in Felixstowe so time to start gathering our things together, do some laundry and tidying up and start packing. Laundry was a game this morning. I did a load and took things out to the clothesline and as soon as I started pinning things up it started to rain so I brought everything upstairs to where the drying rack is and got everything hung up. Having finished that, the sun came out. I took the towels and the heavier things outside and rehung them on the clothesline. Since Bruce was at the pub, I chose to walk down to the seaside one last time and enjoy the view.

I had a last ice cream on the pier and gazed at the water and the people strolling the beach front. It's not a fancy place at all, but there's something sort of timeless about it. Except for the clothes (and the amount alcohol being served everywhere you look) the same scenes have probably been playing out here for decades. I walked up the hill and down the high street and when I got to the rail station I noticed the illustrations on the fence by the station.

WAMfest is a celebration of women in the arts. It was started a couple of years ago by some local women and features live music, dance, art, lectures, discussions by authors, classes, and other participatory events. The sign at the station pays tribute to famous women from Felixstowe: suffragettes Emmaline, Cristabel & Sylvia Pankhurst, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Britain's first female doctor, and Edith Maud Cook, Britain's first female pilot.

I got back to the house just as the sky darkened and it threatened to sprinkle. I brought in the laundry again and decided it was dry enough to pack. I worked on my coat a little more - it's nearly done - and after a light bite watched a very strange and funny series called "Cunk on Britain" starring Diane Morgan. I'd watched several episodes of Mandy, another series she starred in when we were in Cambridge. I think Cunk is on Netflix. It's very strange, very funny, and very British. Check it out if you want a laugh.

30 May

Up at the crack of dawn to finish breakfast and clean the house before catching the 9:28 train. My charge for the week decided he wanted some attention before I left, so he sat on my lap on the kitchen floor until it was time to leave.

Got the train to Ipswich, changed to the train to Liverpool Street Station London, caught the tube to Bank Street then transferred to get to Waterloo Station. We had 20 minutes to spare, so we picked up sandwiches to eat on the train, found our track and boarded the train for Salisbury. It was a lovely ride through the countryside and we arrived mid afternoon to sunny weather. Caught a cab to the place where we'll be taking care of Molly the cat. Our hostess, Jean, left us a welcome packet full of information about Salisbury along with some lovely chocolates and a souvenir tea towel. How did she know that I collect them just about everywhere I go? Bruce took off to find pubs, I took off to explore Salisbury. We'll visit the Cathedral tomorrow, so I just wandered around our area of town, found the Salisbury Antiques Center and resisted temptation. There's an art walk going on for the next week or so, and I found one of the businesses participating. It's a travel agency and it was featuring paintings by a man who likes to paint all the places he's visited. Quite fitting, I thought.

The city of Salisbury dates back to the 1200s and there are so many old buildings in town.

The most recognizable are the Tudor buildings.

There's a wonderful stone structure in town called the Poultry Cross constructed in the 14th century and modified in the 18th century,

It marks the place where there was once a poultry market. There used to be three other crosses The Cheese Cross, Barnard's Cross (for livestock) and a fourth cross for wool, the name of which seems to be lost to history. I walked to the Salisbury Arts Centre, assuming that it would have something to do with the Art Walk. Nope, it's a theatre (formerly a church), and closed. Lovely grounds, though.

We're only here for a couple of days so decided that we didn't want to buy groceries, cook, deal with leftovers, etc., so we went out for dinner. The most highly recommended restaurant, Allium, was fully booked for several weeks, so we chose a place that our host had recommended, Anokaa, a modern Indian restaurant. We started with cocktails, a gin sling for Bruce and a Mango Bellini for me and papdams which came with a lovely tray of chutneys.

We ordered two appetizers. I guess this is where I should explain that this is an Indian restaurant, self described as

"A beautiful place for beautiful people. An Asian twist like no other...different, exceptional, out of the ordinary..the words that describe Anokaa. Set in the heart of Salisbury, indulge in an exquisite array of truly Indian delights with a mouth-watering twist in a trendy, colourful and vibrant atmosphere."

Clearly they don't suffer from a lack of confidence. The food, though is actually wonderful. It's certainly not like any Indian food I've ever eaten and I think could actually be better described as Asian fusion. (Just as vague, but it sounds trendy, no?) We shared two starters, "Tandoor king prawn with spiced scallops and raspberry caviar with a carom scented marinade - a Mongolian delicacy" and "Lucknow's famous royal galuti kebab of spring lamb, rocket and pomegranate raita" The prawns were lovely and spicy and the scallops were coated with lots of anise seed, cumin and other spices. The scallops were a shade overcooked, but delicious.  The lamb had Thai spices and just a bit of heat.

As a main we shared "Pan-seared female duck breast with Welsh onion mong dahl and lemon scented dijon rice." Actually there was no lemon-scented dijon rice, but tiny batons of potato and some beautifully spiced mixed vegetables. (The vegetables were my favorite part.) We also ordered date and ginger naan, which was delicious and not overly filled with dates.

A nice first day in Salisbury.