A Homey Place To Stay

That feeling that we should be doing something more is just hovering on the surface. We have so much in our head we want to get out, things we want to accomplish, yet once we get to opening up a new document, or starting a new post, working on a project, it buries itself deep, and hides.

The weekend was pretty crap, from what I understand. Today feels better. We've returned to my favourite hotel, the one in a small village, a hamlet. It's a 16th century hotel (built in the 1500's), with amazing rates that include free breakfast. A proper breakfast too, your choice off of a menu, plus pastries, and coffee, and juice. It's a lovely breakfast.

The village is pretty, last time we were here, last week, we took a lot of pictures and even got inspired for a new photography project. This is our third visit, and this time we'll be here for a few days, until about Thursday. It's really too bad I don't have my paints and canvas here.

The smell of the hotel reminds us of our favourite Grandmas house growing up, old wood, coffee and home cooked foods, making it feel homey, which in turn causes us to feel more relaxed and happy than we have. Nothing bad ever happens at Grandmas...at least ours.

The staff of the hotel is so friendly, and the waiter in the pub/restaurant downstairs is an Italian man who is straight out of a movie, quirky, comical and full of energy. The food is good, the rooms are each unique, this being the third room we've stayed in, different from all the previous ones. The place has a lot of character.

While this may seem like some vacation to some, we are seem to be living in England with James, moving around, on a limited budget, because James' flat sold. He is picking up short contracts here and there since not getting the last major one renewed a couple of weeks ago.

Last night we went to dinner for the first time in days, to a place called ChimiChanga; it was nice to have a bit of Mexican, reminded us of home. We have been saving funds by having pre-cooked chicken and buns, salads from grocery store delis, as well as snacks such as yogurt, cereals and fruits, rather than eating at restaurants, or having fast food. It's a fun thing to try to figure out how to cut costs on food by inventing new meal ideas that are balanced of all food groups. Hotels in England don't have microwaves or those small refrigerators, at least none of the ones we have looked into staying at, or have stayed at. Not even that crappy Holiday Inn Express we stayed at one night last week. For breakfast I had an apple and coffee, and for lunch I had two cookies that came with the room, and a cup of soup (this is all very thrilling to you, I am sure).

Not sure what the deal was with the last hotel, it was nice, reminiscent of photos of what the Oval Office looked like in 70's, beige colours with a high ceiling and textured wallpaper below narrow chair railing running around the expanse of the room, and the front hall. It was situated in the countryside outside of Ipswich, England, very beautiful but not much in the way of...exciting.  While it was clean and decent, it had a sort of The Shinning feeling to it, and left us feeling uneasy, and unhappy (not that it was the buildings fault we were unhappy). It's nice to be back, to feel comfortable and have a place to try to get our mental shit together again. A place that feels a bit like home now.

Tomorrow morning will mark one week of our new, temporary, nomad lifestyle. Adventure, because why not.

~ Ivy et al

Home for a couple of days (so far the nicest room we've had here)
(at £29 a night, when you have no place to live, it's a bargain!)

Photos from last weeks visit, and where we are staying for, likely, the remainder of the week.

Back entrance of the hotel

The Guild Room, where you can hang out and read.
It's a lovely room

Scenes from about the village...

We'll write about it more, and add more pictures, including the name of it, when we write about it in our travel blog (Our Frank Adventures). Also, when we aren't staying here anymore (for paranoid reasons).

Really old tree at one of the the village cemeteries. (James figures it's at least 1000 years old)