Author Topic: Maisie and Fred's Excellent Adventure  (Read 57869 times)

Offline Gustavo

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Re: Maisie and Fred's Excellent Adventure
« Reply #30 on: May 24, 2009, 23:12:24 »
(part 4, c)

I wished to take Fred here: Confeitaria Colombo! "The biggest mirrors of Latin America", they are famous for ... (I don't like the term "Latin America", I refer to myself as American and Portuguese American. I'm not merely Latin. I'm Portuguese American ... And American, before anything.) This "Confeitaria" is from the first quarter of the XXth century, if not from the late XIXth ... One can take a nice cup of tea, there, cakes, "croquetes" (German meat cake), sweets and snacks, and, at the second floor, they can have lunch. I'm not in the proper moment for a coffe in my life, but, when I have money enough, I like to go there, at least once a month. All the better, once a week! :)





(Fred was astounded with the mirrors ... "They're big, all right!" :lol: )


"A stroll in Rio,
on a Saturday morning"

End

:blackhair:
« Last Edit: May 25, 2009, 15:01:32 by Gustavo »
Gus
:blackhair:

Offline playmofire

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Re: Maisie and Fred's Excellent Adventure
« Reply #31 on: June 02, 2009, 13:49:58 »
Well, Gus has finally kicked me into action with a story that dates back to November last year.  It's been waiting for me to sort it out because there have been a number of distractions, not all good, from Playmobil in the last seven months or so, but now things seem to be getting back to normal.

Diane was 60 last November so to celebrate her getting her pensions (yes, two of them) we went away for a few days (including her birthday itself) to Norfolk, probably our favourite part of the country.  One of our first holidays there, maybe the first, was a stay at a pub called "The Wash and Tope" in Hunstanton.  The Wash in the name is the large inlet of sea at the "top" of Norfolk where King John lost his crown jewels and the rest of his luggage.  A tope is a small shark caught in the area.  Hunstanton itself is on the west coast of Norfolk, and those people who say, "Impossible!" check your atlases and you'll see what I mean.  We thought of going to the Wash and Tope again, but as it had had about four changes in management in about two or three years we decided not and instead stayed at The Lodge in Old Hunstanton.  (Old Hunstanton is the original village only about half a mile from Hunstanton.  Hunstanton itself is a more or less purpose built town aimed at the better off Victorian holidaymaker.  Times have changed, but it's still very popular, especially with motorcyclists in the summer who will travel literally 200 miles on a Sunday to meet up with fellow motorcyclists at the town green.  As they all seem to be in the 50+ age group, it's not so scarey as it sounds!

First, a map showing The Wash and Hunstanton, courtesy of Google maps.  Then a picture of The Lodge.  It's a listed building because of its age (built about 1902) and its history (it used to be a Dower House) and a building of one sort or another has been on the site since the 14th/15th century, for much of the time an inn.  Being on the west coast, there are good sunsets.
“Today well-lived makes every yesterday a day of happiness to remember and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”

Offline playmofire

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Re: Maisie and Fred's Excellent Adventure
« Reply #32 on: June 02, 2009, 13:59:38 »
The thing Hunstanton is most famous for is its striped cliffs which show clearly the different layers of rock and sediment laid down over the years.  Like much of East Anglia, the coast at Hunstanton is liable to erosion by the sea and so rock falls are quite common.  The coast is also one of the dinosaur coasts and so, if you know what you're looking for, fossils are easy to find, especially after a rock fall.  Maisie and Fred, however, got rather over-excited over a dog's paw print on the beach!
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Offline playmofire

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Re: Maisie and Fred's Excellent Adventure
« Reply #33 on: June 02, 2009, 14:10:44 »
On a number of occasions we walked from Old Hunstanton down to the beach and then along the beach to Hunstanton.  Although it's only a small town, it has quite a good selection of shops, including a toyshop which sells Playmobil.
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Offline playmofire

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Re: Maisie and Fred's Excellent Adventure
« Reply #34 on: June 02, 2009, 14:17:26 »
A big treat for Maisie and Fred was to visit SeaLife in Hunstanton.  They'd never seen anything like this before!

There was a big ray and the sharks and a starfish, amongst others, and don't worry, the second shark isn't eating the ray.
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Offline playmofire

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Re: Maisie and Fred's Excellent Adventure
« Reply #35 on: June 02, 2009, 14:24:31 »
Some fish were quite hard to see because they were the same colour as the rocks on the bottom, others were quite scarey, especially the spider crab.
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Offline playmofire

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Re: Maisie and Fred's Excellent Adventure
« Reply #36 on: June 02, 2009, 15:25:55 »
But the smaller rays were the favourites of Maisie and Fred.  At first they thought the ray was ignoring them as it swam by, rather like an underwater bird in flight.  Then, it levelled off, and turned to look at them, as interested in them as they were in it.  And after that, a baby ray came up to see who the visitors were.
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Offline playmofire

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Re: Maisie and Fred's Excellent Adventure
« Reply #37 on: June 02, 2009, 15:39:46 »
On the way out of the aquarium section, we called in at the breeding section and smaller creatures to see the seahorses.  Maisie and Fred were intrigued with these.  When they saw the metal rods in the water they couldn't decide what they were for until they noticed the seahorses curled their tail round them so they could just stand still under water.

“Today well-lived makes every yesterday a day of happiness to remember and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”

Offline playmofire

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Re: Maisie and Fred's Excellent Adventure
« Reply #38 on: June 02, 2009, 15:41:59 »
But outside there was more to see!  It was feeding time for the penguins and for the otters and the seals.  Wow! What a morning!  Maisie and Fred were quite worn out.
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Offline playmofire

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Re: Maisie and Fred's Excellent Adventure
« Reply #39 on: June 02, 2009, 15:46:19 »
Later in the day, while Maisie and Fred were sleeping, Diane and I went to Norwich, a wonderful city.  Of course, we had to call in at Jarrold's, the big, traditional department store where you can still try shirts for fit before you buy them.  We headed forthe toy department before we left and spotted this PM display.
“Today well-lived makes every yesterday a day of happiness to remember and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”