Home again - tired but happy

Well to complete the final mini chapter of the trip I should say a few last words now I'm home. After a wonderful time in Leicester on Wednesday I wandered over to Birmingham to hopefully catch the Elite League riders championship. Alas the weather had other ideas, horrible persistent drizzly rain from about 6pm onwards that would not quit. Nothing super heavy, just annoyingly constant and when the water started lying on the track and not draining away we were doomed. Met a lovely chap from Coventry (and his even lovelier daughter) and when the meeting got rained off I gave him my re-admission ticket so he could take someone for free to the restaging of the meeting (when ever that is). Never mind, it was a good excuse for an early night and getting half soaked in a sudden heavy shower on the way back to the hotel wasn't a bad secondary excuse either.

Thursday was a happy / sad day, glad to be going home but sad the trip was coming to an end. Typical English weather as it taunted me with the best day I had encountered since arriving with lovely sunshine just about all day. Caught the train to London (cost 61 quid if you don't mind) and got there mid morning. Thought I should do at least one touristy thing so I caught the tube to Embankment and after queuing for what seemed like hours eventually got to "fly" as the blurb said (which means a slow ride in normal speak) on the London Eye. It looked great from the ground but somehow felt a bit flat while I was up there and while it was happening. perhaps the long wait had dulled my enthusiasm for it. Finally escaped the hordes of marauding tourists and found a pub for lunch (strange how that kept happening) and settled down for an hour or so with a fish and chips interlude to help me fight the hunger pains.

Had a very zigzaggy walk down the Thames past the Houses of Commons / Big Ben, Lambeth Palace etc only to wonder what was next to kill a few hours. I then remembered that the Oval cricket ground wasn't too far away so I did some more more meandering till I had success and found it hiding behind some blocks of flats. As luck would have it a game was going on between Surrey and Sussex and I got to see a couple of hours of Sussex starting their first innings chasing 450 odd and at the rate they were going it was going to take them a very long time to catch it. Met three super blokes who I'll call "Nigel and the lads". All obviously well educated and loved their cricket and after me making a few comments about their beer looking terrible and owning up to being an uneducated colonial we had a nice time swapping stories and banter in between the overs and before stumps were drawn sometime after six. I happened to mention I was killing time and got a response "I can't think of a better way to kill time to be honest". A nice relaxing interlude in the sun and I even had some cake and biscuits forced upon me by Nigel and his mates. Absolutely smashing blokes all three of them. Those two hours summed up the trip for me, everywhere I went I met some lovely people and that was a really nice thing when all we seem to read in the papers is all the bad things and awful people in life.

The other good thing was it had taken me past most of the main peak hour rush so all that remained was to head back to Euston, pick up my backpack from left luggage and fight my way across town on the tube to Heathrow. More waiting around (how many hours did I spend doing that over the holiday ?) and then safely on the plane home. Apart from a slightly upset tummy and a window seat (and does that ever upset the people in your row who are trying to sleep) it was largely uneventful and boring trip home, although thinking about the good times I had encountered was a nice thing to exercise my mind on.

Have resolved to do it all again in the next year or two but take more time, take it slower and book everything in advance. I'm sure there are huge savings to be made on public transport and with accommodation if you take the time to research it and know how the land lies. Now that I know I'll be better prepared for the next one. More nice people to catch up with (and hopefully a few very nice ones to catch up with again) and I can't wait !!

Second last day

Have had a wonderful few days away from the speedway (mainly anyway) and catching up with relatives both in Wales and Leicester. Spent two days in the valleys with Ruth (my cousin) and husband Ian. Also got taken around Cardiff bay one afternoon by Linda (my other Welsh cousin) and husband Neil. Cardiff bay is marvellous, they have transformed what was largely a derelict area into a modern suburb which now houses the Millennium Centre (for performing arts) and the National Assembly (where the Welsh ruling body meets). Had a thoroughly enjoyable time all round.

Then off to Clacton On Sea to meet speedway author and historian Norman Jacobs. Had a lovely time with his family and then the next day took me to the speedway museum to have a look round and later to High Beech to the rear of the Kings Oak Hotel which is generally acknowledged as the place the first speedway meeting in England took place. Really interesting and enjoyable day we had and Norman is charming and knowledgeable company.

Then off to Anstey to catch up with the Leicester side of the family. Stayed with my Auntie Heather and husband Frank. They live fairly close to Bradgate Park and I had a lovely few hours yesterday walking in the park, watching the deer, enjoying the sunshine (after the rain stopped) and remembering what it was like years ago when we came here as a family when I was a kid. Had the family gathering last night and caught up with uncles Gordon & Frank (with Angela), and later on cousins Nick and John. John had two of his children there and they were an absolute delight, especially daughter Grace who narrated her way through some photographs she had taken on the family holiday to Normandy. Not bad for five years old !!

Off to Birmingham later today for one last speedway meeting and then head off home tomorrow. I've picked up a slight cold that is only very mild but I can't seem to shake off and the timing of going home is sounding very good. I've resolved to come back again in one of the next two years and take longer while travelling slower and seeing more of the country. More plans to be made and more people to meet !!

Friday in London & then Wales

Friday in London and no speedway since Tuesday !! Have spent a "recharge and catch up" couple of days in London doing laundry and sleeping longer than I had previously been. It was nice not to have to pack up and move on for a day or two. Spent a leisurely day yesterday walking through Kensington Gardens & Hyde Park heading in the general direction of Marble Arch and Oxford St. Had a "99" ice cream in the park for old times sake. Hit Oxford St and was amazed by the sheer volume of people. It was like doing a mobile monopoly game with all the streets that I know the names of but hadn't seen for a long time if at all. Headed over to Madame Tausaud's waxworks to try there but the queue was hundreds of yards long so I didn't bother. Same thing at the London Eye so I rapidly discovered the "must sees" were now "couldn't be arsed seeing". The pedestrian traffic was doing it's best to trample me like a herd of stampeding buffaloes so I adjourned to a local pub for lunch. Came out to be greeted by lovely sunshine so I thought I would take the London Tourist bus to see the sights instead of walk. Got on and chatted to the tour guide for a while to find she is a speedway fan from Bryn Mawr in Wales !! Off we went and on cue 15 minutes later the heavens opened and down came the rain. "What was the problem?" I hear you ask. An open topped bus was the problem so downstairs everyone went and that was packed till the rain stopped and the sun came out again and half of us went back upstairs again to get a wet backside sitting on the wet seats.

Changed tour guides half way through and got a Cockney guy who was really funny but sneaked in his gags with no change of voice or expression and if you didn't listen you missed them. I laughed at one of his Maggie Thatcher "sneaked in" gags and he commented he was glad at least one person appreciated them.

Travelling to Wales this afternoon to catch the Welsh side of the family, then up to Leicester on Monday to catch the Midlands side of the family. Birmingham next Wednesday for my final speedway meeting and then off home on the Thursday. How time has flown !!

London for a rest for a day or two

Finally found some time to relax I hope. Our trip to Sweden fell through so we are staying in the UK. Ron and I had planned to split up after the 2 weeks so we are doing his own thing and I'm doing mine. Have gone back to London and might do some London touristy things tomorrow then hope to sneak down to Wales for a day or two to catch up with the Welsh relatives if fits in with their plans.

Interesting day yesterday heading to the Isle Of Wight. The day went quite well until we got to the ferry and paid the fare. £103 for 2 adults and a car !!!!!!!!!!! To say we were gobsmacked was an understatement. If we hadn't promised to meet so many people we wouldn't have bothered. Horrible place to drive is the IOW, all narrow lanes and 30 mph speed limits and horrible traffic lights that don't change for ages and let about three cars and a heap of daylight through each light change. Then had trouble finding the hotel, we were thinking about having a whip round to buy the town we stayed in some house numbers. Lucky the speedway meeting saved the day, it was a hard fought battle with IOW emerging victorious over Kings Lynn but not before a decent old scrap. As a bonus I met more lovely BSF members Leigh, Foldsey, Sandie, W vs H, London Witch, Laura and Ruckeroo and probably a few more I forgot.

Got up this morning to come back to London and had a look round the Naval set up at Portsmouth. Very impressive and we felt we would have liked a whole day there to see it all properly rather than just the 2 hours we could spare. The Victory (Nelsons flagship at the Battle Of Trafalgar) was very spectacular indeed. Headed back from Portsmouth on the A3 and ran into mother and father of all traffic jams near Guildford. Tried to divert and got even further away from where we wanted so backtracked and then found a diversion that worked and ended up getting the car back to Avis with about 15 minutes to spare.

Caught the tube to London and here I am. Might try an Indian feed soon and then fall into bed for 8 hours uninterrupted shut eye. Don't care when I get up so no alarm to be set !!

Tuesday morning the day after, I think we are in Wolverhampton

A quick two minute update. Celebrated my birthday with a trip to Wolves to see Lakeside pinch the points from the home team. Took a cab to the stadium so I could celebrate my birthday and we did !! Great venue, entertaining meeting and a nice cup of tea or two made for a great night out.

Off to the Isle Of Wight tonight to watch the PL visit of Kings Lynn and to hopefully catch up with a few of the Australian sidecar fraternity still in the UK after the Gold Cup. Should be another great night.

For my family reading this I'm proud to announce there have been no "overnight special friends" and you would be proud of me. To everyone else I am disappointed to announce that the above is actually true. Never mind, the trip has been fantastic what ever has or hasn't happened.

I'm enjoying the whole trip but getting laundry done while on the move is a nightmare. Might have to stay somewhere for a day or two and get that sorted soon. We have been lucky with the weather, it has rained a lot but mostly at night or when it hasn't mattered to us. Time for me to go (again), this internet lark is much the same as getting laundry done !!

Time flies, Sunday in Scotland already

This has to be quick because I'm on restricted internet time (don't you just hate that?). Having an absolute ball so far. Survived the 1 am start for the drive from Poznan to Prague and arrived back in Prague at about 8:30am. Flew to Birmingham and saw Stoke beat the home team 46-47 which I though flattered Birmingham. Saw Redcar the next night take on IOW and the score of 52-41 didn't reflect the closeness of the racing on the track. Stayed at a pub in Saltburn-By-The -Sea and had a great time chatting to the locals in the bar. Great dry sense of humour they had and all their funny lines were delivered with a straight face.

Did Edinburgh on Friday v Mildenhall and god, what a night. We were made to feel unbelievably welcome and everyone went out of the way to make sure we were looked after. We got taken to the hospitality area and even scored a trip out to the centre green to watch a few heats from out in the middle. Later on we got interviewed by the centre green announcer and to be honest we didn't want the night to finish. What charming and kind hearted bunch the Edinburgh folk are with special mention to Caroline (Midnight Lady), Dennis (Merlin) and Mike Hunter, thanks guys, you helped make the night perfect. Actually I did want the night to finish because I had to drive home but Ron could have easily stayed and enjoyed the hospitality even longer I'm sure.

Off to Glasgow tonight weather permitting and really looking forward to that. Found out we can't get seats at the GP in Malilla so we have decided to stay in the UK next weekend and we will have to see what that brings.

That's me done, the 2 minute warning buzzer has gone and I'm out of here. Till the next time.

Four days, three countries, three meetings, two magnificent stadiums, one tired person

Sorry for the delay in writing but no chance of using the internet since last Thursday. Thursday night was Ipswich vs Lakeside and the meeting looked doubtful before the start due to forecast rain. It drizzled on and off but nothing heavy and we got the meeting in. It was ruined as a contest before it started as Jarek Hampel missed his plane from Poland and Ipswich had to use a PL six pointer. With Ipswich already using R/R they basically had no chance. Lakeside were impressive with Shields and Jonsson doing what was expected of them and Kling looking more than useful and it was never really in doubt.

Friday was just a boring travelling day to get to Prague. Lovely city Prague and the trams rolling down the middle of many of the city streets made me feel like I was back in Melbourne (except the trams were going the wrong way). Met Ron (my travelling partner for the next two weeks) at our hotel. Saturday was the big GP day. Went for a walk round the old part of town in the morning and I swear I've seen half the buildings in Prague in TV documentaries about WW2. A few of the old buildings looked exactly like the Gestapo headquarters from Hogans Heroes (a US TV comedy set in WW2 for those that don't know). Beautiful city with history and culture oozing out of just about every pore. We went on a boat ride on the river in the centre of Prague, very relaxing way to spend an hour. Had goulash & dumplings for late lunch then off to the track we went. Ron had bought two Australian flags with him and we both had one each draped around us. Got in and strangely enough ended up in the hospitality area. Met a lovely couple from Indianerna (sp?) in Sweden, a guy from Brisbane wearing a Rugby Union shirt, and a couple from Leicester who used to go to Leicester speedway and with who I could commiserate over losing Blackbird Road. Had a nice bit of banter with a few Polish fans, the language barrier didn't stop them saying things about our flags and where we came from. Then off to our seats. Wow, what a stadium. Never seen anything like it, superb set up and we had good seats on turn one about six rows from the front. Wonderful atmosphere certainly very much enhanced by the passionate, noisy, and friendly Poles coupled with lots of flag waving Danes. The Danes flags got a major work out because their favourite son Nicki Pedersen won the GP impressively. The racing wasn't great but never mind, we left feeling we had been to and witnessed something special.

Sunday was off to Leszno day. To keep the story short it was a long, long day. Left Prague soon after 9 am and hit Leszno after 4 pm. Driving on the right of the road, the car being manual, the gearstick, indicator & rear vision mirror all on the side I'm not used to, poor road signage, poor roads before we left Czech, about 1,000 (at least it seemed like 1,000) small villages I had to slow down for, taking one or two unscheduled detours, and stalling more than once contributed to me feeling mentally shattered by the time we got to Leszno. I think Ron was feeling rather drained after navigating all day too. We were cheered up when we found out that what we thought was an afternoon meeting turned out to start at 7:30 pm so we had hit the jackpot. Found a bank with cash and returned to the stadium. Got in and this time double wow, the best stadium I've ever seen, even better than Prague. Superb facilities, great viewing and Poles only too happy to help us out. Rezsnow (sp?) were the visitors and Leszno took them apart. Again the meeting suffered by Rezsnow being a rider short (Povazhny) and Leszno made them pay. Having said that the Leszno team with Adams, Hampel, Shields and Kasprak in it would take a power of beating no matter who they rode against. At various stages we waved the flags for the Aussies and got the thumbs up from both Leigh Adams and Cam Woodward (good lads those two, they must be Victorian) but nothing from Adam Shields (hmmmm ... a NSW'er, say no more). Not a Four"N'Twenty in sight so we had spicy sausages with bread to eat. The day still hadn't finished as we still had an hour to go to Poznan where we were staying. That was a good road though so that part was easy. Found the hotel easily too so that was a real bonus after the day we had had. Was just about to go to bed and turned on the TV to find speedway on !! Watched it and talked and ended up falling asleep after 2 am.

The next day and a half can be explained easily.

Monday - slept very late, went for a walk & sightseeing, had a meal, came back to hotel, crashed.
Tuesday - slept not quite so late, went for a walk & sightseeing, had a meal, came back to the hotel and got on the internet which is where I am now.

Due out at 3 am in the morning for the drive back to Prague (because we have to get the car back there). Looking at taking the major freeway into Germany and then south to Prague rather than the way we came and hopefully it will be far less stressful. Fly out of Prague around lunchtime. Tomorrow night finds us at Perry Barr in Birmingham for more speedway and looks like being another long day. Not sure when the next edition of this will be, hopefully Thursday or Friday we will be able to find a place to use the internet. It will be great to get back to where they speak English !!