I started the day with a continental breakfast for a change. This was a surprise for Gemma as every time so far I have gone for some version of full English breakfast. In this case I did not because yesterdays had been so bad so I decided that going for something that I could see at selection time felt like a better option!
Then Gemma and I spent some time trying to get our train tickets sorted for the European part of our trip. I think we should have spent more time before this doing the planning. Looks like we will have to drop Verdun, there is just not enough time for transfers etc. Gemma and I agree that Verdun will have to be a separate trip some time in the future. Perhaps we will have a holiday dedicated to northern France.
Gemma has just booked our Prague to London section on easyjet so we have our return timings now. We just have to sort out all the intermediate bits! We discovered that we will have to phone raileurope to get our tickets as not all of it can be done over the phone.
Then it's checkout time and we are off to look at the castle, slowly. Another truck has had trouble on the roundabout and everything is at a standstill. I suspect that this happens quite a bit around here, small windy narrow roads and lots if big trucks.
We got to the castle just as it was opening, $28 each to get in seems a bit steep. However the gardens are really nice, particularly the water gardens. It's a real castle not some disney mockup. Real keep battlements etc. Only the keep, the main halls and some of the battlements are open as the rest is a private residence but that is well worth visiting. The private chapel is larger than some churches. Due to a mix up we even got to see the bedrooms which were actually an add-on cost.
Then after a cup of tea/first lunch it was time to head to Ipswich. Well try to at least the traffic had still not recovered from the earlier problems. On the way we stopped at a little chef at Chelmsford bypass for second lunch/first dinner. It was like stepping back in time, really 1970's, even down to being disorganized. And the decor was very worn, it looks like it is ready for closure. Still it was reasonable refueling and we were off again.
Then it was Bury St Edmunds, and no cell coverage just as were were trying to refine our directions. Yes we are lost. We managed to recover coverage and check our details and discover that rather that being on the edge of town I have booked us into a place 10 miles outside! (Six Bells Inn Bardwell) It's right in the middle if nowhere the Wops of Suffolk! It's actually an old pub that has had rooms added onto it. It's in a real
picturesque British village. Very nice. Gemma and I had a walk round to find the post box to send some cards. It has a village pond with village ducks, one store (closed) and a village hall all very quiet but very nice. Gemma keeps on having a go at me about how far out we are. We eat at the pub that evening, nice but simple food. We booked our breakfasts and time to turn in.
Here is a Flickr set showing many more pictures from this day
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