On Friday we were invited along to a meal organised by the Hethersett Hearts charity which is a wonderful group of people that do so much good in the village.
It was founded at the beginning of lockdown by residents wanting to ensure everyone stayed safe. With lockdown over they continued to support the community every way they possibly could including ensuring the village post office continued.
Yesterday we went to Wells On Sea and bought some interesting little wooden plant holders from a craft fair. Talk about having a real rock n roll lifestyle. It was a very cloudy day and quite bracing (it's always bracing in North Norfolk, never cold).
*. *. *
Stayed up late watching the Eurovision song contest and I had a triple success.
I picked the winner in Sweden which did indeed win quite comfortably.
I predicted the UK would finish in the bottom four not because of political voting but because after last year's excellent entry we returned this year to rubbish and it was no surprise we finished 25th out of 26 (see below).
My favourite song was from Germany but I predicted it would come last because, as a friend always points out, I have a weird and dreadful taste in music.
*. *. *
And so to the next leg of our travels.
So here's the quiz from our travels and nobody will get this right.
What connects Johnny Depp, Roman Polanski. A horror film, poet Lord Byron and my favourite progressive rock band?
Ok it's an unfair question. You might be able to link the first four but not the fifth.
We spent much of the day in Sintra which is a village about 45 minutes on the train from Lisbon. It's very hilly and very pretty and was well worth a visit. It's a World Heritage site.
Lord Byron had plenty to say in its favour on his tour of Europe. He went as far as to say it was the prettiest village in the world, although one would suspect he hadn't visited all that many.
He featured it in his epic poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. Childe in this connection means young man. Byron was travelling through Europe with a friend and up to his lascivious tricks. Always known as mad, bad and dangerous, Byron wrote letters to friends celebrating the joys of the hills of Sintra.
But enough about him. The poem became an instant success, sold oodles and is now practically impossible to read unless you're a Byron scholar of course.
Sintra was the setting of part of the Roman Polanski film The Ninth Gate which seems to have passed nicely into obscurity. I have never seen it but now need to have a look as one of the very strange castle type places figures heavily. I have to say Sintra reminded me of Portmereian in Wales with its higgledy piggledy style and chaotic architecture.
Now the bit you wouldn't have got however hard you tried. Along the route from the railway station to the centre of Sintra were a number of good quality craft stalls - proper art and not the usual crap. One of the stalls was selling vinyl LPs and at the front Was Concert For the People Berlin by Barclay James Harvest - yes the very same. It did the old heart good to see it.
Right next to the building where we are staying in Lisbon is a cafe. We have been in so many times that today the owner said "see you tomorrow" as we went out the door. It will have to be an early visit as we are going to have to catch an earlier train to Porto than anticipated.
Worried about making a reservation we went all the way to the train station and it was a good job we did because there were no available reservations on what we thought would be our train. It's a strange system. You have to have a ticket and then also have to have a separate seat reservation and if all seats have been reserved, you cannot travel on that train.
We headed for the main square in Lisbon for our last night there The place was very lively and there were so many restaurants to chose from The one we chose was oriental in style and had a lot of Chinese people in. So we assumed it was good and indeed it was.
I was very interested in one young Chinese lady who went to a sink and washed her hands at least four times whilst we were there.
Tomorrow it's off to Porto for a three night stay.