England - 16 May, 2004

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Travel Distance

Total (BMW 330CiC)

2,620 km

Total (other):

925 km

Total:

3,545 km

We have a relaxing morning - sleeping in a bit and then sitting around the breakfast table chatting catching up on the old days and old friends and family.  It is very interesting to learn more about Jacqui and her earlier days.  Amazing - it is soon time for lunch.  Fred joins us and we head out to a local Malaysian restaurant called Bunya Raya.  They put on a big buffet spread and it is quite good deal.  Not quite like the food back home in Malaysia, but a pretty close replica.  We really stuff ourselves.

Once lunch is over, it is time to head on.  We still have some distance to cover today.  Back at the house, we load our stuff up in our car, say our goodbyes and head on our way north.  But first one more stop on the way in St. Albans, north of London.  One of Jacqui's cousins lives there with her family and we want to stop by and say hello.  Unfortunately it is a short visit as they have guests visiting and it is getting late for us.  But once again, it is lots of fun to spend time with family and earn even more about Jacqui's family.

At 6:30 PM we carry on, continuing our way north.  We are not sure how far we will get, so we just drive up the motorway.  Just before 8 PM we approach Coventry and decide that this would be a good place to stop for the night, so we exit the motorway and make our way to the old town.  The tourist information has closed already, but the information at the bus stop directs us to the train station, where a friendly and helpful taxi driver points in the direction of a street with lots of B&Bs.  Many are full already, but we fortunate to find one with a double room going at a reasonable price.

We drop off our bags and then decide to wander a bit and see what we can find for dinner.  We soon discover a big problem with some of these smaller cities/towns - everything shuts down early.  We got so desperate to find something, we even checked out the local McDonalds - but it too had shut by 9 PM.  With empty stomachs (not even a snack bar is open at the train station), we head back to the hotel.  Once there, we discover that they are preparing dinner for some of their guests and they are kind enough to prepare a light meal for us too.

We are therefore able to return to our bedroom with a full stomach, where we spend some time on our journals before retiring for the night.