Thursday, November 6, 2008

The Camper's Night In


Evening all. To the left you can see how I am spending my evening and, yes, that tankard is plastic. After all, you can take a man camping, but you cannot and will not deny him the pleasure of ale with a handle. Obviously the Boddies is a bit basic, but shops are scarce and I love it, so hey.
Currently we are fortunate enough to be on a campsite with wi-fi and so I am consequently able to (in a truly amazingly coincidental feat of planning...) watch City take on Schteve McLaren in the UEFA Cup, post on here for once AND hopefully join the midnight crew later on. Deep deep joy.
Just out of shot on the picture (by dint of it's being sound and, therefore, unphotographable) is our current soundtrack - the marvellous CDs donated to the cause by Shane, the immense travelling music that is Creedence (cheers TFD) and the very bizarre, squelch-filled new Mercury Rev. Trucking is good, thus far.
So, briefly, to update things: having spent more than we wanted to on fixing stuff and having spent longer than planned waiting for the arrival of a gorgeous new niece, Iris (Breeders, not Goo Goo Dolls, apparently), yesterday was our first night of independence on a site proper. I am writing this from Canterbury where we have spent two days shopping, touristing, waiting for the van to be fully fixed and marvelling at the English tourist experience. Which, in these parts, is very nice indeed, ta. Good pies.
Tomorrow is Whitstable for fish and chips, the weekend is back to Rochester to help out the nieces, then monday is Dover, Dunkirque and beyond. For about 10 days or so we plan to try and do a bit of Belgium and Holland, ending up at my mate's in Maastricht. At the risk of this turning into some crazy kind of Dice Man scenario, anyone got any suggestions for things to eat/see/try/drink/do?
As ever, ta.

11 comments:

TatankaYotanka said...

Whitstable ....... meh ...go to Broadstairs for the ice cream at Morelli's (with rather good juke box), the Dickens House and any amount of fab fish and chips.

Any road trip should have a spiritual dimension, so I would recommend visiting the religious communities at Chimay,Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, Westvleteren
Koningshoeven and Sint-Benedictusabdij de Achelse Kluis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trappist_beer

Anonymous said...

No itinary suggestions from me, just a fare-thee-well.

Drive carefully, mate.

saneshane said...

This afternoon Friday at 2.30 in Faversham (between Caterbury and Whitstable.. you'll pass it)

The Brewery has spaces left on its tour:
http://www.shepherd-neame.co.uk/tour/index.html
or just pop in to pick up some real ales for your plastic Tankard!

Whitstable does good fish and chips and has a very steep stoney beach front that makes a fantastic noise (we got about ten people running up it recorded the sound, and used it in the backing of a terrible goth track.. long time ago)

Broadstairs is a fantastic choice for all the reasons mentioned above, plus the brilliant beach.. even better with the clouds billowing and the wind blowing... Morelli's looks out to the big inky sky.. nice and warm to eat the gorgeous ice cream.

Canterbury would be a list of pubs/book shops and the indoor market (where my bootleg vinyl came from) all of this form 20 years ago though, so not too helpful. You don't need these things travelling so..

Wave to my brother when passing Newington and my folks outside Hartlip.. enjoy your trip.

Dover has a collection of wwII tunnels in the cliffs:
http://www.cromwell-intl.com/travel/uk/dover.html
if you have time before the ferry.

Now off to see if RR will play for me this week, probable not again, hope this isn't to late for you.

Safe driving as ever.

Blimpy said...

"Saints" by The Breeders is probably one of the best songs ever written.

snadfrod said...

@TY - I think it has to be Whitstable for reasons of meeting relations, but I definitely remember Broadstairs from trips there when I was only wee and my Grandparents lived in Strood. Maybe we can nip along for an ice...

@Dsd - a gentleman as ever, cheers.

@Shane - Oh yeah! That is definitely on the list now, even if only o stop in and sort out christmas for my dad. Thankyou so much for the tip and I will be waving merrily at all your family as I go!

It's absolutely chucking it down here, but I have a bacon sandwich on, we are warm and everything is ok.

Anonymous said...

I'm following your story with utter fascination. Adding my wishes for safe driving. Regarding Belgium, I've never been a fan of Brussels but Bruges and Antwerp are drop dead gorgeous. I only know Amsterdam but that's drop dead gorgeous too. All three are cities where you can just stroll and admire. Bonne route. FP P.S. Do you all have your E111 medical European medical insurance form sorted?

bethnoir said...

saneshane - I want to hear that terrible goth track, it's my specialist subject!

Snadfrod, drive careful and enjoy your journey, hope the rain isn't too miserable for you :-)

saneshane said...

@bethnoir
it was just a demo.. would love to spill it.. was used to very good effect at the start of gigs

I'm trying with 90's tapes to get them on the computer and they are snapping too easily... my 80's ones were stored in a barn for 10 years so are rubbish.

I'm wondering if I could do an old demo post but these were my friends.. an even though I find them great.. maybe they wouldn't want reminding.

(but the feckers were in bands.. the ego couldn't have shrunk that much)

since the spill started I've remembered how much creativeness people have...

bethnoir said...

go on, go on, go on, you know you want to post it Saneshane!

snadfrod said...

@FP - that is absolutely brilliant news, and I'll tell you for why: the three cities (Maastricht aside) that we are definitely going to visit are...Bruges, Antwerp and Amsterdam!!! We've found a great campsite for the 'Dam and, along with cheap ferries and good food, are absolutely stoked to get going. Updates, of course, as and when...

@Shane - made it to the brewery, was too late for the tour, but got some lovely chutney and rather enjoyed Faversham in general. Interesting too, that the 666 bus goes not to Hell but, it seems, to Ashford. Who knew? Oh yeah, and post the track!!!

@beth - thankyou as ever for your kind wishes. Shane, post the track!

Anonymous said...

Cool! Photos please!! Just have a wander in all of them. In Amsterdam you can walk right from the one end of the Prinsengracht to the other and then do the Herrengracht and the Kaisersgracht - they run parallel from memory. Three of the most wonderful streets I've ever seen in my life. I had Kate Bush's 'Moments of Pleasure' in me lugs when I did and now whenever I hear it I'm back in Amsterdam.
----
I've just found a great web page about things to do in Amsterdam which are free of charge (why pay more, eh?) have a look here:
http://goamsterdam.about.com/od/whattodoinamsterdam/a/amsterdam_free.htm