A quick couple of days to catch up, almost

The 18th saw us begrudgingly leaving the Fuzzy Duck, after another pretty darn good Full English Breakfast of course... We set off exploring a bit and covered a few bases. In Stratford on Avon we stopped by the house where old Willy Shakespeare was born 

And pottered around looking like tourists a bit, taking photos of four hundred year old pubs and wonky Tudor buildings of various descriptions...

                    

                                                                 

Amazing how some of them keep standing up... We also headed out to spots like Lapworth and Alveston for a stroll, and found some more ancestral stomping grounds and a couple of nice and rather ancient churches

           

Having scratched the history itch significantly enough to last us for a while we headed out to Hereford to call on some friends nearby and there we spent a most pleasant night being hosted and drinking wine into the late hours as we pondered the results of the Scottish referendum as they slowly filtered through. Fair to say all of us, even the proper Scot amongst us, were pleased with the result, which will hopefully continue to benefit all involved. 

The 19th was a bit of a travel day as we busted out westward and headed 'over the border' and into Wales. Needless to say from the first minutes I was both intrigued and confused by the dual-language road signs which actually DID make the English ones suddenly seem much more easy to understand after all. Wales though seems just as pretty as England and just as packed with quirky and quaint little spots, although I really can't tell you what any of them are actually called...

  

I am advised the bottom one is pronounced 'Comewilly'

Still, nice to look at -

Although as expected a bit cloudy and murky.... Which is what you would hope for in Wales really. On the bright side it is not at all cold just yet so we are thankful for that. And the signs are endless entertainment...

                   

                                                             

I mean really Wales? Really???       'Cyflyrydd' ???!?!!

I will not waffle at length this time around as we are nearly up to date and I will tell you all about where we ended up in the next installment. Needless to say the array of beer and cider pictured earlier has featured, along with various other bits and pieces. I will point out though that just added to the Obscure Music Reference list is Alt-J, another band out of the UK who have stormed to prominence in some circles in the last year or so. We were gutted to find they are in fact touring the UK at the moment but we couldn't make a concert date coincide with our itinerary, so missing out on what would have been a pretty awesome experience there. They do, however, have their second album out now which I have to recommend you have a listen to, perhaps after the first one, which won the Mercury Prize here as many good bands have before (PJ Harvery and Elbow recently just for starters). To say Alt-J like to experiment a bit is really the ultimate in understatement, it took me a while to begin with to decide whether they were genius or just pretentious ridiculous nonsense... I am leaning toward the former. Their music is complex, surprising, endlessly catchy, at times confusing, and very subjective. It's hard to even put into a category, 'alternative experimental rock' really doesn't cover it at all. Not even close. A first listen may raise more questions than answers but persistence pays off... I also recommend looking at some of their live stuff on YouTube, they are talented young guys... But listen to 'A Perfect Wave' in album form first, let me know what you think.

I will leave you now though with a photo of our current transport, just to get you all jealous. She 

has never looked so good 

There she is, in all her glory. Behind a sweet Ducati.