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Chasing the Ghosts of Scotland/England 2017

Flying is a little like going into labour.
Its frightening.
Its painful, unless you use drugs.
And..once its over your brain blocks it out because you are likely never to do it again  - and you REALLY don't want to remember what it was like the last time you did it.

So..after a 14 hour long haul to Dubai and then a 7 hour stretch to Birmingham we landed with a sigh of relief to be finally extricated from the sounds of children wailing, as if they were being scalded in boiling water, and the constant drone of freezing air conditioning in the plane which saw me wrap myself cocoon like in three airline blankets to raise my temperature  back enough to allow for blood flow.

The 360 Airbus is huge and I rather not think about how the f**k they get it to stay up in the air.
The food was not news worthy.

It's worth the 24 hours of being curled up like a centipede, that has had its life threatened, to now be looking out of a window onto a sunny sky and the knowledge that my adventure begins right now.



We ( as in my travel buddy Gayle and I) are staying at Coleshill for the night, which, I found out, was a small village on a coaching route just outside of Birmingham. Our accommodation is SPRINGFIELD HOUSE on the main road and was the main stop over in the 1790's for travellers heading between main cities. It also has mining history.

Its a maze of small rooms that were once occupied by nuns who worked in the local girls and boys orphanages. Stories of abuse and horrors that those poor children went through ring loud through the conversations I am having with the current B & B owners who have lived and worked here for 15 years.

Its a beautiful little spot with a delicious breakfast to start off our first morning in the UK.


The breakfast room is inviting with real linen napkins good coffee (and you know I need that) and a hot English breakfast.


I'm trying to rest my gut but on offer was also fried bread and hash browns!
Let me work my way through this and a bit of a rest before we head off to enjoy our first day.

I do hope you follow the adventures!

Stratford Upon Avon is about 45 minutes away from Coleshill - an easy drive along the highway.
Stratford is just filled with old houses - black timbered wobbly things that are just beautiful and full of character.


 We found our accommodation at Salamander House which ended up being 3 minutes from the main shops. We decided that it was important to get some retail therapy today so nothing spooky to report.


Accommodation is quite quaint except for the fact that we are in the attic which means a climb of a thousand stairs that just seemed to get steeper as the day went on and not a good sight as we tried to get my huge suitcase up the stairs.



I did have to add a picture of this delightful heart attack on a plate - mega clotted cream scones!
I was tempted but didnt have one - although there is tomorrow!


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