Happy New Year. 2016 and My Eyeballs Hurt
It’s 2016. My eyeballs ache after last night’s cracking New Year’s Eve party with friends and their families, what a great night! The bottle of champagne we sampled and bought south of Troyes went down nicely at midnight, and I mucho enjoyed sampling a selection of real ales.
But the party is now over. Ah, no, hold on a minute… It’s just started! Wayhey. So, in a necessarily brief update to spare my eyes, this is what we’re up to at the moment:
- Zagan’s had a wash and we’ve gone through all the cupboards and lockers removing unnecessary weight. A glass plate we never used, a woven floor mat, about a hundred spanners, and even the cushions have gone (we’ll stuff the cushions with rarely needed but essential clothes), along with a whole raft of other stuff. Saved maybe 20 or 30Kg.
- Zagan’s also booked in to the garage for a fettling. It’s going to be a big one. Service, MOT, cambelt and two new snow and mud tyres for the front wheels.
- We’re missing not having a car (although it’s only been a few days), but not much. Zagan is parked a mile away in secure storage but we can get him as we need him (swipe card in and out). We’re on a main bus route and are within a few seconds walk of shops, restaurants etc. Being so central to town was actually a hassle when owning a car, since the parking is time limited, so we’ve freed ourselves of that worry, as well as saving £600 to £1000 a year, sweet.
- Our travel plans for 2016 are fluid as ever, but the snow chains have been fitted (once, more practice needed) and The Alps is metaphorically programmed into the SatNav. After that, it’s a toss up whether we head to the North Cape via the Baltic States and Finland or though Denmark and back the same way. Anyone been to Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia and have any thoughts on ’em, let us know? Oh, and I’m wondering whether we can squeeze in a wee nip down to Venice and a bit of Croatia?
- We sat down a couple of days ago and worked out our goals for 2016, from fitness to languages, business to blog we’ve now got something to aim for over the next 12 months.
- The budget’s holding up to the pressure of being back home, although we’ve got some necessary purchases in. We’ve been talking about these for at least a year: Ju has a new winter coat, we’ve finally upgraded her phone to a Motorola Moto G 3
, so we can use 3’s WiFi calling feature at home (this came up as one of the best budget Android phones you can buy on various review sites), and we’ve bought new good quality walking boots in the sales (although they’re too small, so we need to swap ’em).
- The Hidden Bakery (who are renting our shop) are doing a great trade out front, which isn’t surprising as the goodies they cook are sublime. Great for those guys, and good for us as the rent will bolster the Madcap Early Retirement Budget.
- Life in the Cooler is proving to be just great. It was wonderful to (almost) just walk back in here and start living a ‘home’ life, knowing we can just as easily drive off in Zagan and head wherever we please. Wow. The wood burner’s proving too tempting though, and we’re needing cold showers every 5 minutes to fend off the combination of furnace blast and massive insulation!
Right, eyeballs aching again, time to go. Whatever your own plans are, we both hope you have a wonderful 2016.
Cheers, Jay
Great to see you both, do I get photographic credit for our group shot? 😉
Oops, you certainly should Nicola! Great photo, fab beer and an awesome night! Take it easy guys, thanks again. Cheers, Jay
Rebellion Beer Company
Marlow Bottom
Lat 51° 35′ 9.9384” N, Lon -0° 46′ 6.6035999999999” W
Vital coordinates for the brewery and tasting shop.
I’ve been to Tallinn a few times and the old town is worth a visit, you can park at the port and walk the few hundred yards into the town. You can probably find somewhere to kip on the outskirts of Tallinn. Hiiumaa Island is very quiet with many secluded forest and coastal areas ideal for wild camping and very safe but it is an island so there is a ferry cost to consider
I would suggest you watch the Hairy Bikers Northern Exposure, for places to visit, along with foods to eat. The series should still be available on the BBC iPlayer
**** Happy New Year ****
“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller
Estonia is well worth a visit. Tallinn is a very beautiful city and quite safe and the people are friendly. There is much more to Estonia though if you wander down towards Rakvere and hit the coast you will find beautiful beaches you can wander for miles. There are lots of old mansions dotted all around the country and as Andy has pointed out lots of safe wild camping…. hope this helps. I also have contacts i would be happy to share if you need them.. best,
Hi guys. Happy New Year.
Rumour has it you were in El Rocio, near Huelva recently. Are you travelling incognito (no blog), or is this indeed just a rumour? We’re there now. Would be good to meet up if you’re still in the area?
cheers, Peter and Elaine
Hey guys! We’re so far below the radar at the moment, even we don’t know where we are. :-) Seriously, we’re at home in Notts while our motorhome is geared up and we attend our mates’ wedding. Once wp the wagon rolls, we’ll kick off the blogathon again. Take it easy out there, have a lot of fun! Jay