One of the sites recommended for us to check out in Royal Tunbridge Wells was The Pantiles, a Georgian area of the town center featuring boutiques, cafes, and galleries, in addition to an exhibit regarding the spa waters that earned the town its Royal designation.
We then walked back through the cute, small district to begin our perusal of the High Street. It was one of the longest and most vibrant High Streets that we’ve visited.
Bob and I arrived by train to Royal Tunbridge Wells yesterday afternoon a little after 2:00 pm. (Fun Fact: We went through the town of Tonbridge to get to Royal Tunbridge Wells.)
Our homeowner picked us up at the station. We had a great introduction to Nellie, our canine companion for this 31-day sit, and a thorough walkthrough of the lovely three floor home before the homeowners left at 5:00 pm for Heathrow airport to catch their flight to Rio. They will be spending a bit of time in Brazil before boarding a cruise around South America.
Royal Tunbridge Wells (also just called Tunbridge Wells) is a town of about 60,000 people in Kent, England. It is 30 miles southeast of central London. The town was a spa during the Restoration and a fashionable resort in the mid-1700s. It was granted the prefix “Royal” in 1909 by King Edward VII, acknowledging its long history as a spa town frequented by royalty, especially his mother Queen Victoria. It is one of only 4 towns in England with the title. We have not yet been required to curtsy or bow to anyone.
This morning, Bob and I took Nellie out for her first walk of the day on one of the routes suggested by the homeowners. It gave us our first real glimpse of our current neighborhood.
After we returned to the house, we decided to visit Dunorlan Park, as today was to reach a high of 50 degrees F and was partly sunny. It is likely to be the best weather we’ll have for awhile if not the whole visit.
Dunorlan Park is a 78 acre park about a 35 minute walk from the house. It has a 6 acre lake as well as a cafe, exercise and play equipment, and boats for hire in warmer weather. The park was being well used today by walkers, dog walkers, and families.
This afternoon, Bob and I did a shorter walk with Nellie through a nearby cemetery.
I’m happy to report that after the human crush trying to get to breakfast today, the hotel has opened up the stairs. They have also given 10,000 points to Bob for our account. Now, if they could fix the second coffee machine…
When we walked to the hotel on Wednesday, we noticed a sign for the Peter Layton Glass Gallery. Since I knew that Peter and Susan like glass blowing and have some beautiful pieces I wondered to Bob if maybe this was their London “supplier.” Bob was pretty skeptical, but just by chance I was right.
Based on Peter and Susan’s recommendation, we stopped by the gallery today, which has the London Glass Blowing Studio in the back. (Fun note: If you’ve ever watched the series “Blown Away,” Elliot Walmer, a glass blower from this gallery, won the second year of that series.)
We were there about 10:30 this morning when they were prepping for a glass blowing session a bit later. We were able to watch them blow some very small pieces with very long tails to incorporate into a matte glass landscape piece. Bruce Marks,one of the glass artists, was very nice to talk to us about the process and some of his work. He does glass making for Peter Layton, who is almost 90, during the week and for himself on the weekend.
Our stop continued our interest in this artistic method, as there are so many different styles.
From the Peter Layton Gallery, we walked to The Shard to get some great views of London. The Shard is a 72 story mixed-use development super tall pyramid-shaped skyscraper right across from the London Bridge transit station. It opened in February 2013. For a minimum of 19 pounds (US $25.43), you can access the public viewing decks on floors 68 and 69.
Since the clouds had cleared, we thought we needed to do it. The following are some pics from our visit. One of our favorite views was from the floor to ceiling glass in the bathrooms.
After The Shard, we decided to walk to the free Tate Museum via the Boroughs Market.
We walked through the free floors of the Tate Museum, but didn’t find much that spoke to us. We usually really like the buildings that house art museums, but we weren’t that fond of the building either. Just our tastes, I’m sure lots of people love the Tate and its exhibits.
There were two impressive exhibits in the main hall by Maret Anne Sara. The first one, Goavve, uses reindeer hides bound by electrical cables to contrast indigent and modern relationships with the land.
The second sculpture, Geabel, is a maze-like structure inspired by the shape of a reindeer’s nose. Fun fact, a reindeer’s nose is so energy efficient that it can heat air by 80 degrees C in a single second, enabling it to survive in very cold conditions.
We received our homeowner’s manual today for our next housesit, and we will have a 45 minute train ride tomorrow afternoon for our walk through with them before they head off for their trip.
After a 12 hour sleep Wednesday night, Bob and I got up with the alarm at 7:15 am yesterday (late for us) to get a bit of free breakfast at the hotel before catching a 1.5 hour train to Cambridge. The hotel is undergoing renovations and is down to one elevator and no use of stairs while repairs are underway there as well. While the staff have been very friendly, they are dealing with 5 floors of guests upset with the long wait to get to breakfast, leave the building, and/or get back up to their room. Titanium status Bob asked the front desk person to convey his unhappiness to the general manager. I doubt he was the only one.
Our train travel was a much happier experience with a smooth, uneventful journey in the rain. Peter and Susan, our Cambridge friends, met us at the station where we walked across the square to a popular coffee shop for a cuppa, as they say here, before the short walk onto their house.
We had a great visit catching up, and Peter made a lovely lunch. I am embarrassed to say, and I deeply regret, that I did not think to get a selfie of the 4 of us. I thought of it before we left for Cambridge, and then we just got busy talking.
I didn’t forget to get a couple photos of the two biggest male personalities yesterday though. The regal Hugo —
And Bob —
Since I predate the mobile phone era and don’t participate in much social media, I feel that the meet-up still counts even without the photographic evidence. It was a great day, and we left with ideas/advice for today in London, a much needed book to teach us about cricket, UK cheeses from a new cheese shop in nearby Ely, and a Christmas bread. All of that, and we were “run over” to the train station, so we arrived back in London safe and dry.
Cheers to our forever favorite Cambridgeans!
After a night in Des Moines, then Iowa City, and then Janesville, Wisconsin, Bob and I took a bus to O’Hare where we flew out late Tuesday night for London. We will be here for three nights before heading to our next housesit in Royal Tunbridge Wells on Saturday.
Bob surprised me by bidding for upgrade to Club World seats on the American/British Airways flight. While we have flown overseas in Premium Economy before, this was our first time sitting side-by-side in our own cubicles where we could lie horizontal when it came time to sleep. It also gave us access to the Flagship Lounge in O’Hare which was wonderfully calm. It was a great experience— once we figured out how everything works.
I slept great in my little cubicle. Bob didn’t sleep as well, but we both felt that the flight seemed so much quicker than usual.
In London, we are staying at a Marriott Residence Inn near the London Bridge Station. We touched down early — a little before 11 am — and we’re at the hotel about 1:15 pm after taking 2 trains and a metro and then walking about 10 minutes from the station.
After getting settled in our room, we went for a walk around our area.
There are so many areas to explore in this city!
Bob and I are back together in the Midwest after he left on New Years Day to drive to Des Moines for some doctors appointments that he was able to schedule. He is fine and has had a productive time while spending time with his sister and brother-in-law.
On 12/30, Bob and I finished our housesit west of Austin for Hollywood and Henry and had two nights by ourselves before I started a second housesit for friends in South Austin. The photos below are from the last of our and then my time in Austin. We had a lovely, relaxing stay and were able to spend time with friends and care for some sweet pets.
The following pics are from my walk downtown from my south Austin housesit. The temperature while I was in Austin reached highs in the low 80s F.
One day I went to see the Lady Longhorns play basketball at the new (to me) Moody Center. I parked in the neighborhood where Bob and I used to live and walked about 40 minutes to the arena on the University of Texas campus.
Tomorrow, Bob and I catch the bus from Janesville, WI (my hometown) to O’Hare airport for our flight to London for our next housesit.
While I have taken a bit of a holiday from blogging, Bob and I have been keeping busy while doing three housesits around Austin — central, south, and west.
The last time I blogged we were in central Austin. Before we left there, I had a great happy hour meet up with three friends in a hotel restaurant overlooking Town Lake and my beloved hike and bike trail, upon which I trained for a number of marathons, triathlons, and even an ultra-marathon.
Also while we were still at the apartment in central Austin, we walked to the UT campus to check out the current exhibit at the Harry Ransom Center. The Harry Ransom Center is a humanities research center, library, and museum that collects and preserves literary and cultural artifacts. We go every chance we get, as they have been the recipient of personal collections from a number of famous artists, writers, etc. The current exhibit was a fun presentation of materials left to them in 2024 from Lorne Michaels, the creator and long-time director/producer of “Saturday Night Live.”
It was a great exhibit. We could have stayed all afternoon, especially since there was an area that was running some of the most famous skits on a loop.
In South Austin, I sat for two cats for friends, while Bob started our housesit west of Austin. I always enjoy time with these two purring companions and will be back with them again on New Years Day.
Our current housesit, another repeat, is in the hills west of Austin near the town of Bee Caves. There appears to be a very peaceful coexistence here between the home owners and their pets and the deer population.
A quick update on some of our activities in Austin. Last Tuesday, Bob walked from the apartment to downtown Austin for a late night meet-up with our nephew who was in town for work. Unfortunately, Bob didn’t get any photos of their visit at a downtown restaurant/bar, but he snapped a photo on his walk.
The next evening Bob and I walked a few blocks to a pizza restaurant. We ate off the happy hour menu and scored a coupon for another free pizza there as they screwed up our order. Afterwards, we walked down 37th Street (between where we are staying and the restaurant), where the block of houses was getting prepped for their annual walk-through Christmas decorations.
On Thursday, we walked around the Hyde Park neighborhood (where the apartment is located) to check out a few local sites and shop for some food to bring to our friends’ house that night.
On Friday, Bob and I walked to the UT campus to watch the Longhorn Volleyball Team compete in the NCAA tournament. Our current homeowner only has the Prime streaming service with no local tv and the tickets were sold out, so we went to the Student Activity Center next door to the gym to watch the game.
Tonight, my graduate school Alma mater (Texas) plays my home state (Wisconsin) tonight to advance to the Final Four. Texas has won the national championship two of the last three years, but Wisconsin is playing strong and Nebraska is the top ranked team this year. Bob and I will likely be tuning in and out online as we get a bit too stressed when it gets to this level.
Bob and I finished our first Austin housesit yesterday and went almost right to our second one. We did have a couple of hours in between. Surprisingly, we are doing our current housesit at the same apartment complex (not the same building or unit) that I lived in my last year in graduate school. Bob also lived here for a short time after graduation and before we found another apartment to move to. Small world and a bit of a full circle moment.
Happily, while the complex looks much the same, the area around it has vastly improved, so lots of places to walk to for grocery, restaurants, and shopping.
We had a nice visit and short walkthrough with our young homeowner yesterday before she left on a trip to LA and then Thailand, where hopefully she won’t get caught up in the Thailand/Cambodia hostilities.
We will be caring for Darcy the dog, specifically an 18 year old Dachshund, and Taco the tortoise. Darcy has Cushing’s Disease and wears a diaper overnight. That’s a first for us. Otherwise, she’s a very happy, spry old lady who makes some interesting grunting noises to get your attention.
Today, we walked across the street to the Triangle Development (retail/restaurants/grocery/muti-unit housing) to check out a pond that the homeowner told us about and pick up some groceries for a roasted tomato and pepper gnocchi recipe that Bob is making tonight.
Bob and I had a brief farewell meeting with our St. Petersburg homeowner to catch up on his travels and talk about our love of St. Pete, his condo, and the sweet Lulu. It was definitely a memorable sit. The great weather didn’t hurt and the lack of hurricanes at the end of the hurricane season was a blessing as well.
We left for a “short” four hour drive to start heading towards Austin, Texas, and our next four housesits. We realized too late that we were getting into post Thanksgiving traffic, so the four hour drive took a bit over 5.5. The GPS arrival estimate seemed to get later every time we looked at it. However, other than a slow pace, the weather was good, and we didn’t have any other travel issues. We did, however, arrive to find our hotel’s elevator was broken, so we had a few trips up a couple flights of stairs with what at the time seemed like a lot of stuff (3 suitcases, food bag, and a dirty clothes bag). We travel with more when we go by car as we have all of our worldly possessions with us (mostly some clothes for different seasons that we pick and choose from when we fly).
Monday we left Florida and the Eastern Time Zone to drive through Alabama, Mississippi, and part of Louisiana. We hit a small amount of rain, but the drive was easy in terms of traffic flow. We spent the night in Baton Rouge.
The route wasn’t that scenic, but I need to take photos every once in a while to help pass the time. As you’ll see, I focus on bridges and bodies of water and state lines.
Tuesday, we had a 6.5 hour drive to Austin, Texas, at least 3 of which was in Texas and much of that seemed to be spent getting through Houston.
We’re grateful for no car troubles along the way and the ability to catch up with friends. We’re sitting for a friend now, who left early this morning to fly to Central Florida (small world) for a family wedding. We were able to catch up with her yesterday and meet Sammy or Cowboy Sammy soon to be just Cowboy.
There likely won’t be a lot of blogs while we’re in Austin as we focus on catching up with friends rather than sight seeing.
Peckish Travels