Miyamoto Musashi

The Original Old Rectory dates back to the mid 18th Century and served nearby Crostwick Church (one of the oldest churches in Norfolk). Now privately owned the Solomon family have transformed the Rectory into a beautiful Country House Hotel. Set within 3.5 acres of landscaped gardens The Old Rectory Hotel is ideally situated to enjoy the best that Norfolk has to offer.

The alarm going off at 3am seemed very early but it allowed us to get the airport in plenty of time for checking in at 4am. We checked in and passed through passport control without any problems. Now that we were not encumbered with our luggage we were able to enjoy breakfast which, for me, was a croissant whilst waiting to board the plane. Boarding was timely but when everyone was seated the captain announced that there would be a short delay before take off due to three planes being stacked in the queue for take off. Then a few minutes later there was another apology; someone hadn’t boarded the plane so there would be a further delay whilst their luggage was removed from the hold. We eventually took off forty minutes late but the flight ran smoothly thereafter.

At Naples airport we passed through customs and made our way to the baggage unloading area. This proved a little quirky; most of the baggage arrived and then there was a long delay before the final few cases (including mine) arrived. Luggage retrieved, we made our way to the airport entrance to locate our driver for our private transfer to Ravello. We drove out of Naples on the main highway where Vesuvius dominated the landscape with its charred lower slopes and wispy clouds ominously floating across the top of the crater. After a brief glimpse of the sea we cut inland and took a narrow winding road up through the mountains to Ravello. As we wound our way up, we were treated to spectacular views of the mountains, countryside, mini shrines and a different view of the imposing Vesuvius. As we rounded one hairpin bend, a larger-than-life sized statue of Jesus greeted us.

At the taxi rank in Ravello our driver informed us that cars were restricted in the centre of Ravello and that he had called the hotel porter for us. A few minutes later a small, strange vehicle arrived onto which the porter loaded our bags and then told us to follow him. He wended his way through the narrow streets at slightly faster than walking pace leaving us trotting along behind him to keep up. When we got to the hotel we found that our room was ready and we were taken straight there. The room was small but nicely appointed with a balcony overlooking the hotel pool and the town square beyond.

We booked in for evening dinner in the hotel’s restaurant which is located in the sister hotel, Villa Maria, a few minutes walk away. We then went to find somewhere suitable for lunch, it seemed such a long time since we had eaten breakfast at the airport. We settled on Hotel Amora where we were able to dine alfresco looking out over the spectacular view of the Amalfi Bay. The mountains were illuminated by the sun’s golden light playing across the various mountain features casting shadow and light. We dined on panini, of which I chose Tuna and Tomato accompanied by a glass of cool white wine. It was heavenly.

We lingered a while before taking a circular route back towards the hotel. We detoured into the town square and the narrow streets beyond where we visited a church, S. Maria A Gradillo which is quite plain inside but which has some of its original medieval floor exposed under panes of glass.

We stopped for a drink at the cafe Duomo in the square where I discovered the delights of Lemon Spritz; freshly squeezed lemon in water. By the time we had finished it was time to return to the hotel to unpack and freshen up before dinner. The food at the Villa Maria, which has featured on various TV programmes  including the BBC, was delicious and the service was good. I chose pumpkin, almond and lemon risotto and we shared a dessert of citrus fruit and honey en papillote.

After dinner we walked back to the hotel to sit on our private balcony with a glass of local wine from Mr C’s indulgent (expensive) purchase from the wine shop next to the hotel. The good news is that he was given the corkscrew free of charge It was a delight to sit outside in the warm evening air and soak up the atmosphere.

We set off on our journey a bit later than we intended but we still managed to arrive at the cafe we planned on visiting in time for lunch. There was a bit of a saga getting served, we were being ignored by the waitress. Eventually we got served and the food was as good as I remembered it from our last visit there.

After lunch we made our way to lower Lincoln which we did not explore when we were in Lincoln last year. We visited the waterside and viewed the Empowerment sculpture along with the high bridge. I popped into Bon Marche to see if they had a jacket that I had seen on their website. It was something I thought would be suitable for my brother’s wedding later in the year. They had the jacket, but not in the colour I was after. I tried it on but one of the assistants pounced and put me off exploring further. We visited a small indoor market which had an interesting second hand book shop which had a lot of military and religious/spiritual books although neither of us was tempted to buy anything.

There were some interesting and colourful characters wandering around this part of Lincoln. As we walked under a bridge we had to negotiate three rough sleepers, one of whom was high on drugs. I was left thinking that if I had stayed in that part of Lincoln last year I wouldn’t have wanted to return for a second visit. We returned to the car and made our way to the Charlotte House hotel where we checked in and took our bags up to the room which was in fact a suite. It was a fabulous room with his and hers tellies and his and hers shower and bath.

There was champagne waiting for us on arrival but we left this for later and made our way through the castle grounds to see the Poppy Wave which is currently being displayed there. After taking a few photographs we made our way into town for a drink and a slice of lemon cake before returning to the hotel to enjoy the champagne whilst we got ready to go out for our evening meal in The Old Bakery. The food was delicious and the service excellent. After dining we visited a pub called The Strugglers which was rather small with no seats available. Mr C asked if there was another room to sit in and we were advised that there was but the room was a snug with only two tables so we would have to share. We popped our heads through the door and a gentleman plumped up the cushions on the end of the bench next to him, inviting us in. After a while we got into conversation about the upcoming EU vote, Timothy Taylor beer and micro breweries in Lincoln.

After the conversation it was time to return to the hotel for a well earned sleep in the fourposter bed.

We set off in good time and when the time came we stopped at a tea shop for elevenses at a place we tried to stop at a few years ago on another visit to Wiltshire. On that occasion we aborted the attempt, some sort of event was going on which meant parking in a muddy field and my shoes weren’t suitable for trekking back across the field to the tea shop.

After a refreshing cup of tea we resumed our journey, stopping along the way for lunch at Bourton on the Water.  After lunch we did a bit of window shopping before continuing on our journey to Salisbury. When we arrived at the hotel ‘The White Hart’ we realised that it did not have a lift!!  This is very unusual for a Mercure hotel and I wondered how Mum would cope with her leg up and down the stairs.  You might recall that she broke her leg last October and we had to abort a family holiday.  This Salisbury trip was the long awaited rescheduled weekend away.

When we had unpacked and settled in we strolled across the road to have dinner in a pub right next to the hotel.   Afterwards we returned to the hotel for a nightcap before retiring for a good nights sleep.

The fact that the Public and Commercial Services trade union had called a strike on Wednesday gave me the excuse to take an extra day off and accompany Mr C to Newcastle where he was delivering a training course on Thursday.  I have fond memories of business trips to Newcastle a number of years ago and I was long overdue another visit.  Those of you who read me regularly will know that Northumberland is one of my favourite parts of the world.

I got my bits and pieces ready in the morning and set off for the north just after lunch.  By the time we reached Leeming Bar it was time for a refreshing cup of tea at a motorway service station.  It was distinctly chilly when I stepped out of the car, but on setting foot inside the service station I realised that it was even more chilly inside!!  Then I sat on the wooden chair…  Needless to say I didn’t take my coat off and I drank my tea quickly before it went cold.

Once in Newcastle we drove a couple of circuits trying to spot the hotel and then as every good photographer knows to do I looked up.  I could just see the neon  sign of the Hotel Vermont peeping out from behind another wall and luckily there was one last space on the car park.  As I entered the hotel I noticed a Ferrari and a Rolls Royce flanking either side of the entrance door.

The hotel reception is currently being refurbished and a temporary reception was set up at one end of the dining room.  Booking in was a little cramped. The reservation had been for up to two people but they never did ask who the second person was and there was none of the usual signing a registration document…

There was just enough time to unpack before going down to dinner.  The weather was a little bit iffy so we stayed in the hotel for a meal.  For some reason we got free veg and free drinks at the end of the meal although we did have to retreat to the other side of the dining room for the drinks, it had dropped decidedly chilly outside and there was an avalanche of cold air coming off the windows!

As you can see from the photo I dropped lucky and got a ‘room with a view‘ again

As soon as I saw this wash basin I knew that the plug would not close to retain the water, I had recently read about a similar basin in France.  I thought never mind I will just have to be clever and wash using running water.  This wouldn’t have been too bad if the tap hadn’t been so close to the edge of the bowl leading to half of the water cascading over the side onto the slate and ultimately onto the floor!

The shower mat saw a lot of use…

In a Paris bathroom…