A visit to Salisbury

We had a jolly good time in Salisbury. We went down after Frannie had finished work on Friday. It was a very long trip. The roads were very busy and one of the roads was closed. Fortunately Frannie and The Builder have a device which reads maps and which told us how to get to our hotel even if one of the roads was closed. But we were all very tired when we got there.

We were staying in a pub called the Swan. It overlooks a river. And there really are swans on the river. We could see them from our room.

We were in Salisbury so The Builder and his brother could make a new patio for their mother. She is a very sweet but elderly lady and the old patio was very uneven and the little fence was falling down and it wasn't safe for her. We sat in the window and supervised proceedings to make sure the new patio was level and had no slab edges sticking up. We wouldn't want Grandmother Gwen to catch her foot and fall over. But both The Builder and Brother Peter did good work and had nearly finished laying the slabs by lunch time .

Grandmother Gwen had made us all a really lovely stew with lots of different beans and vegetables. Kept us well fed for the afternoon's supervising.

After the slabs were laid, The Builder put the fence up. And by tea time it was all finished. It looked lovely. Excellent supervising by us!!

Grandmother Gwen gave us sandwiches and cake and cups of tea to reward us.

Then we went back to the Swan for a well-earned rest. We were both very sleepy after being alert and concentrating all day.

On Sunday we took two young American students to Stonehenge in Frannie and The Builder's car. They were going to go on the buses, but there aren't any buses from the Swan on a Sunday. So Frannie and The Builder offered to take them. Stonehenge isn't very far from the pub, and we had never been there (Frannie and The Builder had). Stonehenge looked as though it might have been used for pagan rituals, so we asked Frannie if we needed to be particularly careful there. But Frannie said she didn't think hippos had ever been in danger at Stonehenge so that was all right. We didn't stay for long, though, because it was raining hard and it was a bit cold. We also saw the very tall spire of the cathedral but we couldn't get very close because of the rain. It was good that it didn't rain on Saturday. The Builder says they couldn't have laid the patio slabs if it had been raining hard.

We had lunch with Grandmother Gwen. She made us a lovely roast Sunday lunch. It was very tasty, but she gave us huge portions, too huge even for hippo appetites! We made sure there was room for the roast potatoes though. We had lots of lovely snuggles with her after lunch. She told us that she is 82 and a half and she has never had a cuddly toy of her very own, ever, not even when she was very little! We thought that was very sad. We have told Frannie that she must make sure that Grandmother Gwen gets a very soft and very cuddly toy for Christmas this year. Frannie says that we are not to worry. The matter is under control

B and SH

Salisbury advice

So far, with our plan to attack Salisbury (not really attack don't worry!) we've had a few pieces of advice.

Double H (a very lovely humantype) has suggested we watch out for the pagan rituals... although we don't know why - do they eat hippos?

A very nice bear, with the spectacular name Niagra Radcliffe Bourne, has recommended visiting the cathedral. He said "the foundation stone was layed around 1220. It's now only quarter to three and they've finished it"! Hehehe.

Anyways, time for a nap before bedtime.

SH.

Extra adventures

We came in to Frannie's office yesterday, expecting Freyja to come and collect us today.

Freyja can't come in until next week.

So Frannie has invited us to accompany her and The Builder to Salisbury this weekend. They are going so The Builder can put a new patio in for his mum. Frannie is hoping to catch up with a friend for afternoon tea while the patio is being laid.

We haven't been to Salisbury before. So we accepted Frannie's invitation with pleasure.

It's nice here in Frannie's office. There are biscuits and cups of tea and a nice comfy chair for Sleepy Hippo to doze in.

B.

PS

One of the things we forgot to tell you.

We were sat, chatting with Frannie and The Builder, at the Prague airport. A woman and her husband happened by. The woman stopped and looked at us. Then said to her husband: "Jacov, look. So cute!" Then she approached Frannie and asked if she could see us. So we obligingly turned around and she picked up Sleepy Hippo and hugged him and then adjusted Bernard's jumper sleeves (which in truth had rather unrolled so you couldn't see his paws). Then they sat down at a nearby table and we went back to our chatter. They spoke to us in English and to each other sometimes in German and sometimes in another language that none of us recognised. Frannie thinks it might have perhaps been Hebrew because they were reading books printed in Hebrew script.

Lots of people stopped to look at us, very briefly and politely. That lady was the only one who stopped to talk to us.

B and SH.

Prague adventures

It's probably just as well that we shelved the jazz club idea. We walked into town from the hotel for our dinner in the Cafe Louvre. Dinner was mighty fine, the company was genial, the restaurant had a lovely atmosphere. Then we walked back to the hotel. And after some light chat and a glass of wine, everyone went to sleep and slept right through until morning. I think it was all that walking around during the afternoon!

Yesterday we all went on a lunchtime cruise on the river. The sun was shining, the water was sparkly. The lunch was very nice - a serve yourself buffet. Fortunately Frannie and The Builder helped us. We might have been a bit little to reach the buffet and to carry the plates. For a long time the boat was stationary in what looked like a tunnel without a roof. We were a bit worried that the boat might be stuck. But The Builder explained that we were in a lock and that the water level was being raised so we could keep going on up the river above the weir. It was like being in a watery elevator!

After lunch, Frannie discovered that there were seats on the roof of the boat. We all went up onto the roof and watched the scenery. There was a man playing a accordion and we had a guide who could tell us what we were looking at. It was very interesting and lots of fun. The Builder and Frannie took very great care that we shouldn't get too close to the edge of the table and accidentally fall in the river!

After the cruise we sat in the Old Town Square for a couple of hours and watched the world go by. It was all very relaxing.

Then it was time to come home. The airport in Prague is much, much bigger than the terminal in Warsaw. There are shops and everything. Lots of things to do while we were waiting for our plane.

And now we are at Frannie and The Builder' house, enjoying a couple more days holiday before we go home to Freyja.

We seem to have eaten very lots of cheese while we were away.

B and SH.

Resting in Prague

We are just about to have a little nap before dinner. It's been a big day. We've been on a coach trip around Prague and done lots of exploring. We had pizza for lunch near the City Square. We've collected lots of bridges with Frannie and The Builder. We've walked for miles - or we would have done if The Builder hadn't very kindly carried us for much of the time in Frannie's red travelling bag. The sun has shone but the wind has been cold. We were glad of our jumper and scarf.

Frannie says she will put the photos onto Facebook for us on Sunday. We do have internet connection in the hotel but it's very slow.

And so a rest before we head out again to dinner in a nice restaurant. The Builder is asleep as well.

Oh, and Frannie says she does like jazz. She's not mad keen on jazz clubs though and particularly not where people are still allowed to smoke. She doesn't think lots of cigarette smoke would be good for our lungs or hers.

B and SH.

On a sad note...

We'd like to take a minute of silence for a good friend of ours who passed today.

Dickens, a good friend for over a decade.  We watched him grow bigger and bigger (and even bigger when he moved in solo!), we sat by his tank keeping his company when people were on holiday, we were all very proud of how well he took the move (and the terrifying car journey!), we fed him when we went to visit.  He was a lovely fish, a real gentleman(fish) who had a great taste in movies and televisual programming.

RIP Dickens

We'll miss you. 

(minute begins) (minute over)

B and SH and Sleepy Bear (guest blogger).

Prague tomorrow, Prague yesterday, but never ever Prague today!

Here's our next adventure plan!

I'll try and get this out quickly, I'm tired and not sure I won't fall asleep before it's done! Tomorrow, Bernard and I are having a mini-adventure to Frannie's workplace - ready to rock'n'roll, so that on Thursday we can jet off from EMA at 625pm for a much bigger adventure, with Frannie, the human's mother.  We'll try to get some photos on the plane :) (ooo and throughout Prague of course!)

On Friday, the wonderful Frannie has booked us all in on a coach tour around the city (like we did in Warsaw) and then she's booked us into the fancy schmansy restaurant for 8.00pm cafelouvre.  There was the possibility of  a jazz club afterwards, but we weren't sure if they discriminated against hippos, and Frannie doesn't like jazz so we are giving it a miss.  Which is a pity as I had my jazz club hat all dusted off and ready to go.

On Saturday we're going on a lunchtime cruise on the river (Bernard has been known to get a little sea sick, but he says this is a river not a sea so he should be okay) and then fly home at 9.55pm.  We might have to make sure that we buy presents on the Saturday - just in case there's nothing in the airport like in Warsaw!

And that's about .... zzzzzzzzzzz

SH.

Very exciting!

Sleepy Hippo and I are very excited.  Lots of exciting things have been happening!

We're now on Facebook (as Bernard Gillard)!

We're now on Twitter (as Businesshippo)!

We've also joined bearplace.net (a place that bears have set up to fight the heartless facebook people who delete bears)!

We've got tickets to Australia and Japan!

We now have a blog!

And....

We're off to Prague this week!

So many things, such little hippos!

B.