Summer is now officially over. I was hoping that we would have some more hot days before the end of summer so that I could enjoy some days off, but it just did not happen. Summer came to a close with a wind storm, rain, and chilly weather. I also got my first cold of the season last week, but I am feeling a bit better now. Summer 2018 had some ups and had some downs; my regret is that I did not get to take time to enjoy it. Anyway, here is my summer in review.
The summer started out busy. I was doing long hours until the beginning of July. After I returned from a milestone long-weekend birthday trip to Milan in mid-June, I continued the long hours. In early July, I hosted my first ever BBQ (Fourth of July BBQ in London) and invited a few friends. It ended up being a small affair, but it was a good day with nice weather. The BBQ was to celebrate a number of special events from milestone birthdays, an engagement, July 4th, citizenship, and a new house. It was really fun and I plan on hosting another one next year.
In early July, I enjoyed some artwork in London. First, Serpentine in Hyde Park became the setting for London Mastaba, a huge tower of floating red barrels. London Elephant Parade 2018 also returned for a short time, and I also saw Frieze Sculpture 2018 in Regent's Park with a friend. A new Sculpture in the City was also launched, but I have not seen this yet and have until next May to do so. So, the London art scene did not disappoint.
In fact, mid July was very busy with a week of cooler weather. One of the calendar's events was to attend MINIs in Poole Quay for Quay For My Car with my MINI before I traded it in. This clashed with friends visiting Manchester from the states, but I'd planned Poole Quay first so attended that with friends. We had a fun time catching up, eating Italian food on the quay, and enjoying ice cream. This is always a fun even in the nice weather, and they host other classic cars each Friday throughout the summer months. This year was the busiest that I have seen it for the past couple of years.
My friends from the states arrived in Manchester mid-week (mid-July) on business. It didn't make sense to go from London to Manchester for a couple of days and then come back for Poole Quay and return for the weekend. So, I took a trip up to Manchester at the weekend. We had a wander around the city and went to the National Football Club and also a tour of the BBC Media City studios, both attractions that I will be covering soon. One of my friends is an instructor in telecommunications and media at a university, and they have some workshops with the University of Salford at Media City. So, he got us in to BBC Media City for a tour. I have yet to post about these events, so keep checking back. We also went to enjoy Brunch at The Alchemist and visited Manchester Cat Cafe.
After visiting with my friends in Manchester and then a little over a day with them in London, I had a long weekend in Norwich to visit GoGoHares! Hop Around Norwich and Norfolk and a few castles. This is a part of the country that I had not been to (with the exception of a couple of days spent in Norwich to visit similar sculpture trails). The weather was perfect, and I stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast/pub. I wish that I had taken more than a day off. I could have easily had a couple of more days to see additional castles and attractions in the area.
I visited Baconsthorpe Castle (Norfolk, England), Caister Castle (Norfolk, England), Norwich Castle, Framlingham Castle in Suffolk, England. One of the most memorable attractions was at Caister Castle where there is also Caister Castle Car Collection. It is filled with fantastic classic cars and motorbikes. I also enjoyed walking the trails to one of the broads and would have loved to have had some time to take a boat tour. I hope to return next year and hope for the same hot weather and full sunshine.
In early August, I had another long weekend and went to Bristol. I was hoping to see the Bristol Balloon Festival, but this was cancelled because the weather was windy and rainy and just downright horrible. It was not a nice weekend at all. August has been a wash-out for the past couple of years. However, I did get to visit Gromit Unleashed 2.0, the latest scupture trail from Aardman. I enjoyed the previous trails and enjoyed visiting Bristol.
August was dreary and turned out to be the month of sculpture trails with my attendance of two more: Robins Hoodwinked! Sculpture Trail and Minerva's Owls Sculpture Trail in Bath. This was my first visit to Nottingham in eighteen years. Because the weather was not nice, I did not bother to take time off but just had a couple weekend trips.
I enjoyed visiting Bath again and was happy to see the flowers in the park. I used to walk by these every day for just over two years, but they were not planted for one of these years. This arrangement is beautiful, and there are some great photo opportunities here with the Royal Crescent.
The beginning of September started off fantastically with the scorching weather returning for one day only. I went to Bournemouth to see the Bournemouth Air Show. Sitting on the beach watching the planes was enjoyable and took me back to several years ago when I went. I only wish that this hot and sunny weather would have continued, but it only lasted one day with most of the remainder of this month being chilly and wet.
At the start of September, I used my birthday gift voucher to see "Everybody's Talking About Jamie" at the theatre with dinner at Prezzo beforehand. I thought that the play was very enjoyable and had some great music. And, a week before summer ended, it went out with a bang. I attended Agnes' and Andrew's Wedding at The Wokefield Estate (Reading, England). It was a nice day and was great to catch up.
And, that draws summer 2018 to a close. I do appreciate and enjoy autumn, though autumn is much nicer in the states than it is in England. It's normally wet in autumn here, but I do like the fireworks at the start of November and Bonfire Night. The main downside is that winter is fast approaching, and there's several months of grey and cold weather before the warmth returns. Oh, and did I mention that I really dislike being ill? I am feeling better now, but autumn is the start of the season of illness.
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