Last Orders #dreamdiary 191

It’s a lovely summer’s day and we’re enjoying a meal at a local taverna. It’s quiet but the staff are very attentive and friendly. We’re sat in a small whitewashed room with room for a few small square tables. At the back is a pair of ornate brown doors and beyond this the view looks down onto the sea. It’s run by a lovely old mother wearing a traditional black widow’s dress and a white apron. We’ve had a lovely homecooked meal and we’ve just ordered dessert while we finish our drinks. The owner smiles at us as she slowly crosses the tiled floor to the doors. She looks at her watch then slams them. Quick as a flash, she bolts the door into the frame. Then without a word, she looks at us again and walks off. It appears that local hospitality ends the minute it hits closing time.

Boarding Bribe #dreamdiary 190

We’re on a holiday tour of Asia. This leg of our trip requires us to board a ferry for a short trip on the sea to our next destination. We’re given a boarding time and an assembly point so that we have a bit of leisure time at the port, and all we have to do in the meantime is get our passports  stamped as we pass through. We head through the security post, and everyone looks like they’re occupied with someone but there’s nothing to simply stop us from walking through. But we wait to get our passports stamped as we are told and we spot other people queuing in front of us in our party. There’s a bit of confusion as I present my passport as on my Visa page there’s a picture of my mother which is the process that they require. However, my mother is travelling with me so there’s a bit of confusion. I present the correct page and the officer tells me that’s not right. Then I present my UK driving license as further proof that it’s me and it’s still not right. Then she decides I have to pay a fine so I place a silver coin on the counter and walk away. I’m not sure if the coin was even a euro or if was just a scam to try and get money out of me, but I collect my documents without the required stamp. This is the first time that my travel documents have been examined inland. I wonder if this is going to occur every time.

Ogling the Obelisk #stratford 3

There wasn’t that much else to see. There were footpaths heading to the main road but it wouldn’t make much of a walk since it be so busy so we headed back the way we came all the way down to the canal. Once we’d reached it, we turned right which took us underneath the main road and past the pub garden of the Red Lion. Walking in, we were treated to a great-value meal while relaxing in the beer garden. We even got a discount in the government’s scheme to encourage people to help support local businesses. We took a small stroll around the Avon then headed back up the canal to the car. It’s a shame that the pub is now closed as they only wish to cater to the hotel trade. This seems to be a grave error as there’s the opportunity to cater to so many passing people.

Song Blast

Is it a musical melody of people singing? Am I going to be showered with music from the charts and I have to guess the song and artist? Or is it a continuous mixture of songs blended together? Will there be a daily scoreboard which I will have to subscribe to? And will Alexa be the host or will it be someone else? The first thing I have to decide is whether I want notifications sent or not. I decide to give it a go. I’ve then opt for subscriber information which I abort. Next comes the playlists to choose. The songs start but I’m not told what I have to do, possibly because I’ve played before with the girls but it’s easy to figure out. I try to instruct Alexa with another task halfway through but she ignores me, but I still beat my opponent. I now rank ten thousand and something but I don’t know who my rivals are or how many are below me or whether it resets every week. I could be at the bottom.

The Beacon Beckons #stratford 2

The tower seemed quite impressive, though it looked it had been converted into a private residence. We continued north past the tower into the woods. Once out, we continued north until we reached a gap in the hedgerow on our left then turned east to cross the field into the site of the obelisk. There was some sunken ground underneath it as if once there was a moat surrounding it but it was still reachable. I find it interesting that the commissioning brother had changed his name before dedicating the monument. Perhaps there was a rivalry to follow. The view from up here wasn’t that impressive. Sure, there was a big monument, but instead of being dedicated to the famous it acknowledged the founders of the town. The view dipped into the valley away from the town, and there was only empty countryside to see. If you had a pair of binoculars, you might have been able to pick out the Avon.

"It's Behind You"

-The Doctor.

It’s always nice to have a second pair of eyes to help you out and spot anything that you’ve missed. It helps tasks to get completed quicker, so long as you’re happy to repeat the favour when your partner needs it, whether it’s looking for the TV remote or warning them  of something with tentacles that’s just out of sight. It’s the classic panto gag. A lot of people will hear this a lot over the next few months. Most people will say it to help others out, whether it’s an evil monster, a way out, or something physical that they’re looking for. It’s interesting that they’re referring you to your arse. Perhaps earlier scholars used to say ‘It’s behead you’ until heads starting rolling off and the term meant something completely different so they started to refer to another part of the body. Maybe later searchers were ‘benecking’ it.

A Clamour Around Stratford #stratford 1

On the north side of Stratford is a country park offering hills and views of the town. There’s also a fancy hotel complete with golf course, but this isn’t what we set out to look for. What we really wanted to see was the obelisk and the viewpoint. Luckily I still worked at the retail park so I had unlimited free parking with only a ten-minute walk into town. Heading south along the main road, we had to cross at the pelican crossing over to McDonalds to gain access to the canal, then walked back underneath the crossing. Turning east, we reached the second bridge where we re-ascended streetside and turned left, following the road up a hill past large townhouses. At the very end, the road formed a small cul-de-sac, and we crossed the stile into the field. Bearing north-east, we followed the path through a large gap in the hedgerow to reach Clopton Tower.