Fri 14 Sep to Tue 18 Sep – Oh no, I’m 40!

On Friday morning we were up at 06:30 to make doubly sure we were ready for the cab, who we hope’d would turn up at 08:30. We’d booked it through the marina yesterday which was lucky as they told us to allow an hour for the 10km journey (instead of the usual 15mins) since the bridge over the Tiber was restricted following the accident in Genoa. Exactly on time the taxi arrived and 55 minutes later we were at the airport terminal, and the surprise was revealed: a trip to Bath! We’ve been taking for years about a cosy autumn weekend break in a cottage with an open fire, so I was absolutely delighted. Even more so when Tom told me we’d hired a car and I was driving! Sounds a little strange, right? Well back in September 2015 our house in Amsterdam was burgled and the buggers stole my driving license, amongst a load of other things. It’s taken until now to apply for a new one so it’s been 3 years since I’ve driven, and I’ve really missed it.

We landed in Gatwick, picked up the car and drove to Bath stopping off for a walk to see Stonehenge. At about 18:00 we arrived at the house, which was absolutely stunning! Set at the end of a ever-narrowing country lane we arrived to find a large 11th century house tucked away behind a huge weeping willow tree. My first thought was that it seemed a little big for just the two of us, but hey, it was my birthday 🙂 We found the key and let ourselves in and just inside the doorway we saw a few overnight bags. Odd, I thought, but Tom mumbled something about them belonging to the owner who was going away for the weekend, so I thought nothing more of it. We took a walk around the ground floor; the huge kitchen, conservatory, living room and gorgeous dining room then up the three flights of stairs, peering into each of the 8 beautifully decorated bedrooms as we went. It did all feel a bit weird at this point, and like we were snooping around someone’s home but Tom assured me it was fine. On checking his phone he then said we needed to go to the pub to meet the owner – to be honest by that point I really needed a drink so didn’t question what was going on! We walked a few minutes up to the local pub and walked in. I half expected “SURPRISE!” but nope, it was just us and a few regulars. We had a drink then walked back to the house, “To meet the lady, who we must have missed” Tom explained. As we walked in however I instantly heard some very familiar voices and there was Gina, Christian, Cass and Red (the dog)! I knew Tom had been up to something! Later in the evening we were joined by Dom, Dan and their two girls and we headed back to the pub for a late (and loud!) dinner, and to celebrate Gina’s 40th birthday which was today.

From then on, as is always the case when we’re together we drank, we danced and we cried laughing until eventually we crawled into to bed at gone 04:30. On Saturday morning (very hungover!) Tom and I did a shopping run and Christian cooked us up a mean breakfast. Late morning we went for a long walk and stopped off in a pub for a “hairy dog” before heading home to meet Ian, Louise and their two children. That afternoon the festivities started all over again; the wine flowed, the music played, the kids tournmented the dog and Gina and Dom cooked us a wonderful dinner in the huge kitchen where we all hung out together, occasionally trying to make ourselves useful by stirring, chopping and washing up.

On Sunday morning Tom and I had to leave early to fly to Germany so (with me in tears!) we said our goodbyes and drove back to Gatwick to catch our plane, reminiscing about our fantastic weekend. After having been away from these amazing people for a while it was like absolute therapy being re-united with them. The house Tom found for us (do take a look here!) made it extra special as it oozed warmth, character and charm and made us all feel cosy and totally at home. In fact, it was documented in Domesday Book of 1086 and they reckon it could be the oldest home in England; they know who lived there in 1262!

After a long trip via Berlin we arrived at home in Leipzig at around 22:30. The reason for our being here was to attend the funeral of Oma Edith (Tom’s grandma) who sadly passed away after a short illness at the ripe old age of 92. I was fortunate to meet her on a few occasions, mainly at Christmas and I’ll always remember her huge hugs and chats about the birds who visited her balcony. She was a lovely lady who everyone fondly remembers.

On Tuesday morning we flew back to Rome, and eventually arrived on the boat at 22:15, after an epic 3 hour battle back from the airport by bus – we were determined not to get a cab! Poor Tom then had to jump on a conference call, which wasn’t helped by a massive downpour making it impossible to hear the other participants. Finally at just gone midnight we collapsed in bed, tired, but happy.