The weekend started here! And what a fabulous day it was, if you discount the need to get up extra early to complete 40 km at breakneck speed so we could head off to Alvaston Hall Hotel early for the duration.
On a tech related note (well you know me!) I did a quick recce on the intended destination using the Google Maps App to discover it now has full satnav capabilities. Now it is quite possible it has had this for some time, I have no idea as I’m old enough to be able to read a paper map and arrive safely at said destination. However, since it was there I decided to give it a go. It was all fairly straightforward until we reached the Lymn roundabout on the A56. Mike was studiously sticking to the speed limit on what should have been a perfectly straight road when the route displayed on the screen suddenly veered off into a field! I started to bemoan the woeful inadequacy of all such apps but stopped abruptly as I noticed some rather spectacular roadworks meant that a temporary, impressively elaborate, contraflow was in effect. And yes it took us right through what had hitherto been a field! I was impressed 🙂
We duly arrived, met up with friends and soon headed off for dinner. I figured given the world-wide shortage of virtually everything I can currently eat this would prove to be a bit of an adventure. I was to be pleasantly surprised!
Clearly they had better connections than me and had secured the last lettuce in town for my starter of smoked salmon salad. Better still the vegetables on the main course included several pieces of that other rarity, courgette (zucchini)!
The desserts were to die for but I dutifully requested a fresh fruit salad. The waitress couldn’t seem to grasp the concept of no cream, fruit juice, syrup or other sugar laden accompaniment. To save further debate I requested a banana instead. “Just a banana?” came the reply. Yes, just a banana, on a plate! I think she took pity on me as within minutes a freshly prepared fruit salad appeared that was absolutely gorgeous.
All this was just what was required to fuel the evening’s dancing. Thankfully there are no photos of that … well not that I know of anyway!
As you can see from my stand stats today was a VERY busy day 🙂
All in all a perfect day. Tomorrow is looking much more of a challenge as we attempt to fit in breakfast, 40 km biking and a full range of local activities.
560 km done, 1440 km to go.
