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After enjoying a wonderful
stay in Southwold last September, we decided to return
in late June / early July this year. The weather was far
hotter than we had ever experienced there before, which
meant we were less inclined to tackle too many long walks.
Nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed our eleven-night stay.
Our friends Gillian and Tony, who had visited us during
our previous trip, kindly invited us to spend a few days
with them this time. They live in the village of Eyke,
about a forty-minute drive from Southwold, close to many
places we had never explored, so we were delighted to
accept their invitation. Rather than travelling straight
home at the end of our holiday, we asked Liz, the friendly
taxi driver who always takes us to and from the station,
to drive us to Eyke instead. We spent two nights with
Gillian and Tony in their lovely home, where they looked
after us exceptionally well. They were wonderful hosts,
treating us to generous hospitality and keeping us busy
with visits to some fascinating local sights (see next
page).
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Southwold
Monday 29th June 2026
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We caught the train
from London Liverpool Street to Ipswich, where we made a
quick change onto another train to Halesworth, where our
regular taxi driver was waiting to take us to Southwold. |
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The now familiar view
from our holiday flat, Number 9, The Craighurst. This was
our fifth visit to the same flat! |
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During our stay, we
revisited most of the familiar places from previous visits,
starting with the ice cream shop, where we were recognised
instantly and greeted warmly by the owner, Lynda. |
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Pre-dinner drinks before
going to The Crown for dinner... another first night tradition! |
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The full
moon tonight was a special Strawberry Moon and micromoon,
which marked the first full moon of summer in the Northern
Hemisphere. |
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Tuesday
30th June 2026 |
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Today, we met our friends
Rachel, Mike and their cute dog, Robbie for a walk to Walberswick,
where we had lunch at The Anchor before returning to Southwold
via the ferry. |
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Wednesday
1st July 2026 |
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This evening we had dinner
in The Tap Room at The Swan. |
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Thursday
2nd July 2026 |
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We had dinner at the
flat this evening, comprising a delicious lamb "wheel"
from the local butcher, broad beans and peas from the grocer
and strawberries from the market. |
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Friday
3rd July 2026 |
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We dined at Sutherland
House this evening, preceded by champagne in the garden. |
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Geoff chose crayfish
with black pudding to start, followed by sole, stuffed with
mushrooms. Bruce had monkfish wellington for his main course. |
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Saturday
4th July 2026 |
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Another tradition -
Saturday night fish and chips from "The Little Fish
and Chip Shop", which was particularly good this time,
with strawberries and raspberries for dessert. |
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Sunday
5th July 2026 |
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Dinner this evening
was Chicken Kiev (prepared by the local butcher), served
with potato patties and courgettes. |
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Monday
6th July 2026 |
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Geoff bought a fresh
crab and some prawns from the fishmonger at the harbour,
which he served with egg mayonnaise, heritage tomatoes and
seeded sourdough bread from "The Two Magpies"
bakery. It was really delicious... |
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...as were the fresh
cherries from the speciality grocer. |
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Local cheeses bought
from the butcher - Suffolk Gold, Norfolk Dapple and Baron
Bigod, served with crackers and some more of the sourdough
bread. |
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Today had been the hottest
day of our stay so far. There wasn't the hint of a breeze
this evening either, but sitting on the balcony gave us
the largely imagined belief that it was cooler than indoors. |
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Tuesday
7th July 2026 |
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Bruce's birthday! A
thoughtful gift from Geoff, who had seen him playing the
game with his family in March. He had joined in too and
thought it might make a good present, which it did! |
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Bruce was given the
option of doing exactly what he wanted to do today. Because
of the heat, that wasn't too much! |
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Pre-dinner birthday drinks
before going out for our second meal at "The Crown". |
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Keeping it light. Bruce
chose the tomato starter, while Geoff went for the oysters. |
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Geoff chose the chicken
schnitzel as his main course. He said it was tasty but it
was quite different from the probably more authentic version
we had in Berlin recently. |
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Bruce chose the dry-aged
sirloin steak which he described as "heaven on a plate".
His dessert was a variation on "Eton Mess". |
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Geoff loved his dessert
of lemon polenta cake which was served with ice cream and
accompanied by a very good Sauterne. |
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Wednesday
8th July 2026 |
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At lunchtime we went
to the "Sole Bay Inn". Geoff wanted to have their
whitebait. |
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Bruce struggled to find
something on the menu that he liked. In the end he settled
for "shell on prawns". His face says it all. They
were really difficult to peel, tiny and completely tasteless.
He gave up after the second one and ate the bread and butter
instead. |
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Thursday
9th July 2026 |
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On our last night in
Southwold, we returned to "The Tap Room at the Swan".
Bruce had a burger, which he enjoyed... |
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...while Geoff ordered
the seafood sharing plate which he ate all by himself. He
clearly loved it! |
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We were both curious
to try the Paris–Brest, a French dessert made of choux
pastry and filled with a praline flavoured cream, covered
with flaked almonds. We shared one and it was delicious! |
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Friday
10th July 2026 |
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We only had time for
a short walk this morning while we waited for Liz to pick
us up at 10:00 for the drive to Eyke. |
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