Wednesday, July 15, 2020

UK Day 1: Travel in the time of corona

Having had my April trip to South Africa cancelled due to the fucking corona virus, I was desperate to travel again. Four months of forced isolation seem almost unendurable when you HAVE to stay somewhere.

The Norwegian government in its infinite wisdom had decided that it would announce on July 10 which countries would be excepted from the general travel advice NOT TO GO ANYWHERE, which was also governing for what the insurance companies would accept.

Lo and behold, Engerland popped up as one of the blessed countries and I immediately booked a flight and started looking for hotels and stuff, cheap car deals etc, etc. Planning was, as always, half the fun.

I flew out on Wednesday the 15th, which was opening day for travel to and from Norway. The flight was uneventful, except for the part where I almost couldn't breathe because I had to wear a fucking mask throughout. Also, having one's mouth and nose covered really brings to mind the importance of dental hygiene…

I picked up my rental car and drove up to Bury St Edmund in Suffolk, East Anglia. I've been in the general area twice before, but never really stayed nor ventured much into the actual town. I drove in and with the aid of my shmartphone I managed to drive straight to my hotel.

I first stopped to pick up some provisions...
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I was lodged over this pub. Nice place and reasonably priced. Can you imagine this sign being put up in the US? I think not.
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I had some Chinese food from an establishment right next door. Ok food, but Chinese remains underwhelming, especially compared to Indian.
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Way too sugary but otherwise ok.
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This dog, which belonged to the owner of the pub, became my bestestest friend while there was still the chance that I would feed her. However, I was told the dog was on a strict diet, so I didn't. She then lost all interest. She wouldn't come to me when I made soothing sounds, but for some reason she came right over when I opened a can of diet coke. At first I didn't understand but then it struck me - the sound is the same as that of a can of dog food being opened and the old girl prolly recognized it.
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