First task on our return from Florida was to move back into Neil’s house.  It was our home for nearly 6 years before we took the 6 month break which resulted in our travelling lifestyle.  It was strange to be back in familiar surroundings and quite a few memories came back of the ‘normal’ life we led back then.  Working 9 to 5 (always much, much longer), wearing suits, the travelling, PowerPoint (aaarrrggghhh!!!!!) and copious amounts of Corporate B*ll*cks! 

• 

The days before travelling when Cheryl had dark hair and Neil had his old teeth.  

Living in a house was only for a few weeks as we had to clear out the last things that remained and load them into the garage of Cheryl’s rented out coach house.  After almost 16 years Neil’s house was sold and the cash is now in the bank……woooohoooo. 

Back in the caravan for the next few weeks close to the old Severn Bridge and we enjoyed good weather and walks along The Severn Way.  The removal of the Severn Bridge tolls meant that we also went to The Forest of Dean.    We had many days walking along the stunning Wye River Path and Offa’s Dyke Path which runs all the way from Chepstow to North Wales.  He built it more than 1200 years ago and must have had a very good reason to want to keep The Welsh out of Wessex!

• 

• 

• 

Next stop Stanstead Airport to catch our flight to Copenhagen for the drive to Eslov in Sweden.  We were to be babysitting number 1 grandson while mum and dad attend the wedding of one of Paul’s oldest friends.  Eslov is not a big place and we were lucky to find a small guesthouse where we had a 1 bed apartment and a twin room with shared kitchen.  It turned out to be perfect for our needs although the decoration and furniture were quite quirky.  It was a fifteen minute walk to The Castle, the wedding venue, which was surrounded by beautiful gardens and countryside so exploring with the buggy was easy as the roads were very quiet. 

• 

We had a great weekend and dropped the family off in Copenhagen on Monday for them to explore the city before they flew home next day.  We drove on to southern Denmark and the island of Langeland (long island) to visit some friends we met in Goa, Annette and Keld.  They live in the beautiful town of Rudkobing which has many narrow streets of very pretty protected cottages.  We were greeted with a cold beer and a glass of wine before friends of Annette and Keld started to arrive for an evening of pizza and chat.  Keld was so taken by our favourite pizza restaurant in Goa that he made an exact copy of the wood oven in his garden.  His endless supply of pizzas were delicious, the beer and wine flowed, the chat became louder and even louder as we brought to the table a bottle of Laphroaig, an extremely good single malt scotch whisky. 

• 

Annette introduced Cheryl to the concept of Hygge (pronounced huga) which is used in in Denmark and Norway. There is no exact translation into English, but this captures it well – ‘a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment’.  Our evening was surely cozy and convivial and as the evening became cool the eight of us moved indoors where we sat around the candle lit dining table and continued to laugh and joke into the early hours.  We spent 4 nights with Annette and Keld exploring the beautiful island, eating, cooking and drinking.  Thank you very much A&K, we had a fantastic time and look forward to getting back together in Goa later this year.

•