Staying Close

 

We had another wonderful sunrise. A sight like this makes the heart soar and provides an uplifting start to the day's adventures.

After meeting up for breakfast and lingering over the toast, we headed down into town. Di had an item that she wished to exchange in one of the shops she raided on Monday. We then weaved our way up towards the top of town. There were more cards needed from the card shop, and we needed to drop in to The Art Den to settle up for the print we have ordered, but won't be available in time for us to take it home. The Art Den wasn't open, so we looked in some other shops and eventually bumped into Jane and Trevor. We grabbed a coffee in "Becketts" and then went back to The Art Den. It was open. We went in for a nice chat and to settle up. As we headed back towards the Esplanade, we stopped off in the toy shop to see if there was anything that would be suitable for Ellie.

Leaving the shops, we walked along the Esplanade and around the Millennium Walkway before walking up the slope to the Connaught Gardens. By now, the sky had clouded over and it was feeling decidedly cool and damp. The weather app warned of rain. 

We had a standby plan to visit Bicton Gardens after the shopping trip, but the weather suggested that would be a sub-optimal trip!

We returned to the hotel and spent a quiet afternoon in our room with our Kindles and a pile of magazines.

Once we had dressed for dinner, I started to pack, ready for our return home tomorrow. I managed the first load of ancillary bags down to the car. The rest can wait for tomorrow.

We met up with Jane and Trevor in the bar before going into dinner. Di's selection tonight was one of their huge prawn cocktails, followed by soya-glazed salmon. I started with spiced monkfish, followed by the soya-glazed salmon. It was another wonderful meal. We retired to the bar for post-dinner tea and coffees before heading up to bed soon after 22:00... but not before we had been to reception and booked our rooms for this time next year. (This was our ninth stay at the Victoria, so we had to get the tenth booked!)