Friday Mar. 31st, 2000 Ipswich
8C/46F Hazy and chilly.
Kel
Didn't get a lot of sightseeing done. Some of the clothes from our first load
of laundry are still wet and beginning to remind us of the "atmosphere" of Arans
boat after a rainy winter. Plus, we still have plenty left. Decided
running an iron over it might help, and were lucky enough to find Matt had one
tucked away.
It helped a bit, but wasn't doing the trick on some of the heavier items so we
just decided to break down and find the nearest coin-op in the yellow pages.
Alas, we couldn't find anything but white pages at Matt's. (Not very surprising
as he doesn't have a phone installed. He has no need of one since he's had the
cell phone grafted to the side of his head. Something that apparently all the
English have done shortly afer birth.. ;-)
So, we empty my carry on and fill it with more clothes. (We only brought enough
clothes for 8 days each, HOW did it get to be so MUCH!?!?!) and take the bus
into Ipswich around 10:45 to ask at the TIC (Wonderful inventions these are!)
They helpfully point us in the right direction, give us a map, and away we march.
We spend the next hour washing and drying (and realizing we've forgotten soap,
D'oh! Luckily a cup can be had for 30p) and warming my hands on the dryer while
trying to read the Grisham. I'm so glad we've hit Waterstones, I've gone thru 3
of those books already. Once it's done we fold it back into the bag and go off in
search of lunch.
We pop into O'Neils, an 'Irish' (note the quotes) pub. Len orders a Steakette
sandwich and I have the BLT and an Irish Coffee! Ahhh, Warm at last! Len notices that
the Irish barmaid working there does the best Guinness shamrock he'd ever seen.
I'd have to agree, it was quite impressive, really. I notice that every place
selling food has notices all over stating the use (or non-use) of the various nut
oil, and non-use of GM (Genetically Modified) foods. Nobody seems to be able to
give us a good definition of what exactly a GM food is. We go home no wiser.
We decide to hit Sainsburys on the way back to the bus and grab some munchies,
nuke food (Chicken & Mushroom pies), a loaf of bread and beer. We're back at the
flat by 17:15 and Len decides he has time for a quick nap, and I started on
another Dick Francis novel.
Matt gets in about 17:45 or 18:00, and while he really wanted a nap as well, he
stirs himself into being a good host and offers to show me the promised Gorse
bushes. We leave a note on how to find us in case Len wakes up early, and off we
go. They remind me a lot of pyracantha, but they don't have leaves yet, just
flowerbuds that are about to burst open.
That kills 10 minutes, so we come back and wake up Len to start dinner. Matt and
he bustle about in the kitchen and emerge with potpies, hotpocket-type 'wiches made
from the leftover spaghetti sauce and chips and vinegar. Matt is downright
horrified at the amount of vinegar I like on my chips. (Not being a big fan of
french fries, I prefer to drown them in whatever I can)
Len watched TV, I read, and Matt sorted Bab5 cards after dinner, and we've packed
up most of what we have already. Just a bit left for the morning. Wow! We've
been here a week already!
