![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Last weekend saw a lot of snow in London, but Mr Duckworth and I nonetheless decided to plough ahead with our plans to visit Great Yarmouth. The destination was chosen because it was relatively close and would be pleasingly deserted at this time of year. I hired a car from Enterprise again, after a good experience with them back in summer. This time the car we got was a Chevrolet Spark, not as good as the Fiat we got last time but OK, although its gears were a bit annoying.
Our catsitting friend was too ill to come in the end, so our next door neighbour and her daughters kindly stepped in. Apparently the children are cat-mad and catsit all the nearby felines. In the end it worked out well as they were able to spend plenty of time cuddling them, rather than just dropping in for a few minutes. Leif and Laeppen still contrived to develop a digestive disorder when we returned - they had been fed the right food I am sure, but had managed to drag away a pack of cat treats and eat far too many of them. I forgot to tell the catsitters how cunning they can be! They can even open cupboards now... The vet said not to bring them in straight away, but to feed them only boiled chicken for a few days! I have done that and their little colons are greatly improved. If only human ailments could be cured by just eating your favourite food for days on end.
Anyway, Great Yarmouth was rather good, in an off-kilter sort of way. I'm pretty sure we were the only people in our hotel. The suite room was nice and big, and tastefully decorated, but they gave us three fan heaters as well as the central heating, because it was so cold up there! The hotel had a special room with a sign saying 'Library', with a desk, shelves and a fat, floral 3-piece suite. It also had a vast empty dining room where the radio played 80s and 90s hits as we ate our free breakfast in splendid isolation. I was somehow reminded of the Overlook in the Shining.
The seafront was windswept and the rides all shut down, but we had some fun in the indoor arcades - we actually won things on the crane machines! A pink, glittery cuddly toy dolphin (which was then nearly snatched back by the icy wind), and some sweets! We also went bowling - I won! - and played other amusements like table football etc. I got rid of a lot of loose change. It was a special experience standing on the pier looking at the snowy beach while Freedom '90 by George Michael piped away discretely in the background. In fact I don't think I heard a single tune from later than the 90s in all of the leisure environments that we frequented. Later on we went to an American diner called Fatso's, where I had proper home-made fried chicken and a lovely tropical cocktail. The dessert menu featured a Fat Man's Misery Cake but that would have defeated me, so I got a rocky road sundae instead. (Upon typing this, I had a very vivid sensory memory of the warm chocolate fudge sauce becoming slightly firm upon encountering the white ice cream. It was a good choice.)
I could see that the town was still reasonably prosperous and would get decent crowds in warmer weather. We will probably go again when the weather is better, perhaps on a group outing. There were loads of interesting-looking attractions that were closed, such as the model village, and the House of Wax, which I am told is full of creepy-looking, inaccurate waxworks.
On the day were travelled back, we dropped by Burgh Castle on the way, on a site which was colonised the Romans. I found a wrapped, intact Twirl bar in the ruins of the castle wall! The churchyard and fields were coated in a thick layer of pristine snow. We could still see a long way over the flat countryside of the Norfolk Broads.
Driving home was extremely scenic in the falling snow, although I had to be careful and stop for coffee and doughnuts. The roads were not busy as people were deterred by the weather, so actually it went fine, and I returned the car without incident. The cats were happy to see us but disgruntled about the snow.
Our catsitting friend was too ill to come in the end, so our next door neighbour and her daughters kindly stepped in. Apparently the children are cat-mad and catsit all the nearby felines. In the end it worked out well as they were able to spend plenty of time cuddling them, rather than just dropping in for a few minutes. Leif and Laeppen still contrived to develop a digestive disorder when we returned - they had been fed the right food I am sure, but had managed to drag away a pack of cat treats and eat far too many of them. I forgot to tell the catsitters how cunning they can be! They can even open cupboards now... The vet said not to bring them in straight away, but to feed them only boiled chicken for a few days! I have done that and their little colons are greatly improved. If only human ailments could be cured by just eating your favourite food for days on end.
Anyway, Great Yarmouth was rather good, in an off-kilter sort of way. I'm pretty sure we were the only people in our hotel. The suite room was nice and big, and tastefully decorated, but they gave us three fan heaters as well as the central heating, because it was so cold up there! The hotel had a special room with a sign saying 'Library', with a desk, shelves and a fat, floral 3-piece suite. It also had a vast empty dining room where the radio played 80s and 90s hits as we ate our free breakfast in splendid isolation. I was somehow reminded of the Overlook in the Shining.
The seafront was windswept and the rides all shut down, but we had some fun in the indoor arcades - we actually won things on the crane machines! A pink, glittery cuddly toy dolphin (which was then nearly snatched back by the icy wind), and some sweets! We also went bowling - I won! - and played other amusements like table football etc. I got rid of a lot of loose change. It was a special experience standing on the pier looking at the snowy beach while Freedom '90 by George Michael piped away discretely in the background. In fact I don't think I heard a single tune from later than the 90s in all of the leisure environments that we frequented. Later on we went to an American diner called Fatso's, where I had proper home-made fried chicken and a lovely tropical cocktail. The dessert menu featured a Fat Man's Misery Cake but that would have defeated me, so I got a rocky road sundae instead. (Upon typing this, I had a very vivid sensory memory of the warm chocolate fudge sauce becoming slightly firm upon encountering the white ice cream. It was a good choice.)
I could see that the town was still reasonably prosperous and would get decent crowds in warmer weather. We will probably go again when the weather is better, perhaps on a group outing. There were loads of interesting-looking attractions that were closed, such as the model village, and the House of Wax, which I am told is full of creepy-looking, inaccurate waxworks.
On the day were travelled back, we dropped by Burgh Castle on the way, on a site which was colonised the Romans. I found a wrapped, intact Twirl bar in the ruins of the castle wall! The churchyard and fields were coated in a thick layer of pristine snow. We could still see a long way over the flat countryside of the Norfolk Broads.
Driving home was extremely scenic in the falling snow, although I had to be careful and stop for coffee and doughnuts. The roads were not busy as people were deterred by the weather, so actually it went fine, and I returned the car without incident. The cats were happy to see us but disgruntled about the snow.
