A special Easter weekend in England.
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For a couple of years I lived with the thought of going to a gig of the British band Mostly Autumn in their
home country. Because their lead singer Heather Findlay was about to leave the band, this gave me the perfect
opportunity to be part of the farewell gig. Together with someone else we made plans and arranged the necessary
issues for our trip. On this Friday morning we had to leave early to arrive in time in England. The concert is
already tonight!
I departed around 7 o'clock in the morning to drive via the Achterhoek region to the city of Calais in France.
The trip itself went fairly well and we arrived in time at the harbour of Calais. At 13:55 the boat left the
harbour to go to England. Near half past two we arrived in Dover, from where we continued our trip on the left
side of the road. At 18 o'clock we arrived at our destination, the Thomas James Hotel in Leamington Spa. After
putting our stuff in our hotel chambers we went into town to get us some fastfood. Soon after we joined the
long queue in front of 'The Assembly'. On
the Mostly Autumn page you can see a nice
selection of photos of the wonderful concert itself.
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Saturday, April 3rd, 2010.
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After some good sleep and a nice breakfast we took my car to explore the surrounding area of Leamington Spa.
First we intended to go to the Warwick Castle but we couldn't find a single spot to park the car there
(probably because of the presence of tourists during this Easter weekend). After all we drove on to Kenilworth
where is also a castle located. We visited this interesting castle, or actually the remains of it. The weather
was really good today. With now and then the warmth of the sun it was a lovely spring afternoon. The scenery
of the castle, the countryside and the nice weather gave me a perfect opportunity to experiment with my brand
new DSLR camera. We had a nice time and enjoyed the beautiful views from the top of several castle towers. Part
of the castle are the Elisabethan garden and a museum in one of the main buildings. The former stables now
houses some sort of restaurant where you can eat nice cakes and drink something -- just the thing we did.
After our visit to the Kenilworth Castle we drove on, just touring through the surrounding area. We picked a
couple narrow and curvy roads through the hills of Warwickshire. This was a real pleasure! Also driving on the
left side of the roads becomes easier every time. Only roundabouts (traffic coming from the right) and other
road crossings (inner corner for going left, outer corner for going right) are still a bit strange. After all
it was a really nice experience! Unfortunately the weather became worser. The clouds gathered and soon after it
started raining. Once back at the hotel we had a drink and went to bed early. Tomorrow we got another long trip
ahead of us. During the evening and night it kept raining...
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On the following day we had to wake up early to go back home again. The ferry would leave at 13 o'clock, so
we left Leamington Spa around 8:30. The weather has completely changed and the sun was shining bright. The
closer we got to Dover the more clouds appeared, which was actually not so nice. The trip to Dover went really
smooth, so in the end we asked if we could even take a ferry earlier than planned. Luckily there was enough
place for us, so we nearly saved an hour there! Around three o'clock we arrived in Calais, from where we
continued our trip in the direction of the Netherlands. The trip went very well, so we arrived nicely in time
at home. Thankfully we got Easter Monday here, so there was enough time to rest after this pretty exhausting
but unforgettable days. I will really cherish the memories and photos of this special weekend in England.
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