The last of our guests and a drive to England

After we got back, we decided to travel to MPP so we could pick up a few puzzles from James, visit with a few friends, and just have a few days of time alone together without guest, help, and workers.  

First though, a bit more fun with Tanner.  He made an amazing aged tomahawk dinner for us. Turns out he's a pretty good cook.  

The next day we decided to go visit a few antique stores, one of which ended up being closed but Tanner was able to pick up a few gifts and we found a few more display cases.  

On our way back to the castle we decided to stop off at Orvieto so I could show him the beautiful duomo there.  I'm pretty sure I did a ZTL violation.  We shall see when I get back home. 

Tanner helped with a few lego puzzle boxes and we had one last very good dinner out in Panicale.   This time overlooking Lake Trasimeno from the balcony of the Mossolino. 

I took Tanner to the airport on Sunday so our trip really started then.  He and George spent the morning working on the 3D printers while I packed the rest of our bags for our trip the following day.  

Around 1 or so we took off for Rome.  The trip was uneventful but we did manage to have one good last day of chat. It was a real pleasure having him stay with us.  I can't wait until he comes back with Jesse and Geneva.  

We got home around 7, had a late dinner and packed the car for an early drive.  

Our first stop was Aosta where we stayed at the base of Mount Blanc.  What a beautiful area we chose!  We have decided that this will be a goto spot on future trips.  We really enjoyed this route.  It has stunning scenery, and the drive is an easy one for me.  I finally worked out how to divide the trip into three parts.  I'm becoming more continental now. I don't want to drive more than 6 hours a day with a nice leisurely lunch picnic (and a nap) in the middle. 

The next day we drove to Reims and stayed at a F1 hotel. Nice name.  Sparse hotel.  I received an email just before arrival telling us we needed to get our own towels.  Too funny.  But for €48 a night, what can one expect.  Seriously though, it was a comfortable bed, a very tiny shower and a loo.  It was all that was needed for a nights sleep.

We arrived at Calais a bit early as usual, and I'm guessing because it was a Wednesday and there weren't many travelers, we got on the train 2 hours earlier than planned without having to pay an extra fee.  Surprise!  This put us in the UK at around 11 am.  We then drove to the North West of London to spend a bit of time with one of George's friends. Apparently, the three of them climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro together. We had a nice walk through the commons where we bumped into some cows, then we headed off to a local pub for a traditional pie and fish and chips dinner.  They were lovely people and I look forward to going back for another visit. 

On Thursday we woke up and headed for Honiton where we stayed with James and picked up a few more white puzzles, some magazines, and a few other odds and ends of puzzles.  Lindsey thought me how to make avocado soup and I remembered how much I love heated blankets. I must remember to get one for our bed in the castle. 

While at James' we had a discussion about Berrocals which lead me to do a bit more hunting, which in turn lead to a purchase of 4 more prints.  Just when I thought I had them all, more show up.  The collection is getting much bigger as we speak.  At the same time, I discovered yet another outdoor work in Italy that I simply must go see.  Turns out, it's not that far from our home so I think on the return we will stop by and take a look.  

Oh, and James has cows too!

We had a lovely dinner together and discussed the return of some of the kept puzzles to the collection. All in good time they will be returned.  For now, we have obtained the cricket bat yet again and I've given James a list of those puzzles that I purchased from the ones he kept.  I don't want him to be completely puzzleless.  Although, he has been doing a great job of repurchasing many more puzzles since we cleaned him out.  His shelves are once again filled.  

Friday after lunch we took our leave as the car didn't have internal dash lights so I didn't want to drive at night.  We came up with a temporary solution of led nightlights that I could turn on when necessary, but it wasn't ideal.  We stayed again in the Westmead Hotel. We had a nice dinner in and an early bedtime.  Tomorrow is MPP.

A long hiatus a short post: IPP Pre-trip

 When I last left off, I showed some overdue photos of a trip our non-puzzling friends made here. Now I give you puzzling friends.  

Tanner came to us in late July. I picked him up from the airport amongst many gaffs on my part and a few laughs from us both.  I had a few errands to run and thought I'd do that before picking up Tanner.  His flight was delayed so I had about 4 extra hours.  I forgot how slowly I shop and ended up getting him almost 45 minutes late. Fine by him, he had a chance to walk around for a while and he was able to have a cigarette before we left for home. 

I had this stupid gas coupon I needed to use and that turned into a real laugh but problem solved in the end.  We had purchased gas when returning our last rental car and the company doesn't return the overage to your credit card, they give you a coupon that needs to be used in the same station.  I had to drive around for what felt like forever to be able to get the gas.  Mission accomplished. The moral of that story: Never use Q8! 

Tanner settled in nicely in an upstairs guest room and we all had a nice dinner and long overdue chat.  George very nicely laid out a bunch of puzzles on the table in the upstairs room for him to go through and I'm sure he did.  

He is a perfect guest. He does his own laundry,  makes his own lunch.  Actually, we have eaten out quite a bit since he's been here.  But that's ok, we'll keep him. 

He was amazing in helping me go through some old puzzles we have acquired that we still hadn't looked at.  He brought over the "good wood" and we started to populate cabinets. He also set up the puzzle box room and started to install puzzles there for me as well.  

Bill an Scarlet came in for a day or two, but I had them take the train as I was just too busy with 'castle issues'.  We had a lovely dinner at Gallo again.  I just love that place.  The food is amazing!  If  you are ever in Panicale, that is THE PLACE to eat.  Great food, fantastic staff.  You just can't go wrong.  

We also had a pretty decent steak and truffle dinner in the castle.

Sadly our time in the castle was short lived. Jerusalem called.  Hopefully they all got to puzzle a bit.  

We took a train to the airport, and flew out the next morning.  That night for dinner we had a fish tasting menu dinner.  That was something new for me.  Sadly, I didn't take photos of each course. 

Bill and Scarlet are quite the foodies and it's so much fun to hear them talk about it.  The next morning we woke early, hopped in a shuttle and flew off.  

First stop Tel Aviv!  We arrived 3 days early.  Why?  I wanted to hit Gala Games and the market before everything disappeared.  We unpacked and the next morning headed out for the market. It was a short walk.  Only about a 1/2 mile.  There we wandered the market, ate some wonderful figs and bargained for some mangos.  We turned around and headed to Gaya Games. There we found George and Henry Strout sitting in the air conditioned building playing with puzzles and chatting with the shop keep.  We had met him last time we were in Israel and he remembered us.  We bought a few puzzles, but there simply wasn't that much new stuff available.  

Everyone went to an escape room, George took a nap and I took a hike to a miniso for a pillow.  Crazy broad!  On my return, I stopped by the lego store and had a few custom lego people made for George and I.  That night we had a meeting of puzzlers and had a nice dinner and drinks with friends. After we ran into a few old friends in the lobby and stayed up late just chatting. IPP has officially begun. 

The next day was a tour of Tel Aviv.  It was interesting, but hot and we had actually done it the year we took our world cruise.  Not to worry.  In the market I managed to purchase the puzzles I hadn't bought previously. There were some interesting buildings we saw and we got a lot of history. For me it is very interesting to listen to the locals tell the stories differently than written in the history books by the 'victors'.  The world is a wonderful place and traveling it really is enlightening.  

I love the graffiti and signs in this city.

Our next day was in Jaffe.  Here ws got a tour of the harbour and saw a pretty amazing castle.  George and I opted to stop and have some lunch rather than finish the tour.  We later met up with the group at Gaya Games, but called it an early day and headed back to the hotel for a nap and some cooler air. 

They told us at the end of the tour that all roads lead to Jaffe. They were wrong.  I fixed the problem though.  

Next post: IPP proper.