Saturday, September 08, 2007






hey you beautiful human - I am in Bournemouth for Paul McConnel's wedding to Carolyn.

I have come over to Richard's Hotel because, stink, they don't have wi-fi in mine.
What sort of joint is this then ............ catch up you folks.

Horrible drive down here - hours ........ did not relax until Joan and me had a nice meal in a wee Italian Restaurant tonight.
We talked and talked ......... mainly about our Italian experiences.
We have been travelling there since 1968 when we bought a mini-bus for thirty pounds and took a youth group through France, Italy, Switzerland and back home with not one single breakdown.
I was more like 100 breakdowns and at least one of them was me!

Joan's stand-out memory was our first stop at a camp site in Italy. A camp site which was also a Peach packaging farm. She remembers sitting out in the warm night air - swinging on a large comfy swingy seat and drinking a cocktail from a glass as big as a chamber pot -SO full of fruit and very different than England.

My stand out memory was Sammy Bedson.
He was one of the gang we took with us and they all got drunk on French cognac at EVER French camp site we stopped at on the way down.
But - my memory was him sat in the cafe at our destination Italian camp site and he ordered a pot of Tea!
"If only the boys in the Bulls Head could see me now" he said. (this was 1969 I think)
He and his mates were as good as gold thereafter - drunk enough - enjoying the sun and the Mediterranean scenery ............. and drinking lots of tea!



Wedding tomorrow and some Pipturesque fro there too hey hey





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