Bartimaeus

Yesterday we had seen a stall with an honesty box in a drive of a house in the village of Tibberton. We decided to go on our walk and look at the produce later, rather than carrying a huge bag of potatoes around. When we got back there it was all taken down. So this morning we went in to see if it might be open on a Sunday. It was.

Shane was loaded up with a sack of potatoes, leeks and beetroot. There were a number of other vegetables and eggs available and home made pickles, including a fork in case you just couldn’t wait and wanted to eat them there and then.

We had a few locks on our way to Worcester and took turns to drive or lock. One family watched and took photographs. I got the impression they were visiting from another country, rather than local as they watched with great interest. As I drove out, one of them said, “Thanks for the show!” Later Shane was driving and I was working a lock, two women stopped and were talking in an Eastern European language. The younger woman appeared to be explaining what was happening to the older one, and then said to me that it was the other lady’s first time in England and had never seen a lock working before. When the lock was ready, she pushed the other gate for me to open and close it. It is rather nice to be just making your way and entertaining others as you go.

Arriving at Worcester from the canal, rather than the river, does not give such a dramatic view but I was still intrigued by the unusual bridge and why it might have a round hole in it, art or functional? As we were deciding where to moor we were welcomed by the sound of church bells pealing.

We went to have a look around and found a park on a hill, Fort Royal Park, with fine views across the city. On a more mundane road into town, we noticed a surprisingly black and white mural for what it said.

However as we walked past we got a different view and realised this was not one flat wall but two walls with a short connecting wall at right angles – there was the splash of colour!

We went into town and had an explore of the cathedral grounds but as evensong was just starting, we didn’t go in and in stead went along to the river. There we saw a couple feeding the swans. It was quite a sight seeing them all rush for it.

Back at the boat we were undecided about eating in or out. I was thinking I should create something with some of our new vegetables, but in the end decided to go in to town for a meal. The street we had been to before to eat a couple of weeks ago, was quiet and that South American restaurant was closed. We ended up in a restaurant that was also South American, La Cantina Bodega, but with quite a different menu.. It too had the day of the dead decorative skulls around the walls. We both ordered Ximxim as it had happy memories of Brazil for us and it was delicious. We had struck it lucky with Sunday being cocktail happy hour prices all day, so Shane had 2 caparinhas and I had the Bodega special margarita and an espresso Martini. So glad I didn’t bother cooking! The background music was fun too.

On the way back there was a lovely moon in the sky and Christmas lights were up but not lit. We turned off the main drag down a road that has sensibly been renamed.

Back at the canal, it was dark but we had torches. I noticed the surface of the water looked solid. We are use to seeing reflections on it but here we saw a mysterious light coming up from below the water, leaves lying on the surface over it. We can only conclude that a bike has gone in the water with us light on and it was still on. It wasn’t visible in the daylight. Seeing things from a different perspective has certainly changed our experiences today.