Literally peopled out

It's nearly two weeks since I arrived back in this sceptred isle, this earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, this other Eden, demi-paradise, this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England. Though actually, after I'd been here for two days I promptly departed for the Emerald Isle to watch my cousin get married to an Irish girl in Dublin.

I have taken lots of photos which illustrate some of the highlights of the trip so far but sadly failed to bring with me the requisite piece of technology for transferring these to the computer so I'll have to do my best to paint the pictures with my words.

Fish and chips. Prawn crackers. Cadbury's Dairy Milk. Lamb passander with pilau rice and naan bread. Roast pork with crackling. British strawberries.

Okay, so there are other wonderful things aside from the food...

Roads that don't go in straight lines. A public transport system that, though it may not be the most reliable in the world, does at least allow you to travel the length and breadth of the country without a car. Light drizzle. Mottled hedges stuffed with cowparsley. Irony. Understatement. Radio 4.

Not to mention the people.

I was going to list all the people I've seen in the last two weeks, but I don't want to get RSI. But it's been specially lovely to see Sally and Ivo, unexpectedly over from Germany for the weekend at just the right time. And it was deep joy at lunchtime to meet someone who is literally the brother of a man I've been admiring on facebook for a while. Paul Parry has literally gone from A (somewhere in Norway, I believe) to B (in Nebraska) on a tandem. He's now planning to literally paint a town red and fail to teach an old dog new tricks.

I'm looking forward to a few days at home and some more leisurely visits in the next week or two.