Where to Start

When did I set up this blog? This must be at least the third one I have put in place and then never posted to. Time to leap.

(Mike, Tania, William & Felicia at Cowgate, Norwich- photo by Mike) We're in Norwich, so this is where it starts. This is actually where it started - at least the "Mike and Tania" part of the travels. I'd been to Scotland the previous year, played sessions and floor spots at several festivals and clubs, and had invitations to come back for gigs, but booking them myself had proved problematic. William and Felicia had this friend in England who was booking a tour for them. They'd met him just two years earlier, when they did a tour with Tom.


So Mike and I met in the Norwich train station. And that was... a long time ago. If I try to catch up the whole back story I'll never get on to posting new stories of our travels, so if you're interested, you can get at least some bits and snippets by reading about our adventures in restoration after Mike sold the house in Norwich to buy an old farmstead in Ireland. Yikes. I have tried to move all that onto a blog page, but it's too much back-tracking.

(Mike on the Interstate - photo by Tania) We've put in a lot of miles together, up and down the UK by car, bus, train, plane, ferry and probably other transport too numerous to recall, and back and forth across North America in our slightly rusty but extremely cozy VW camper van.

OK, some places in North America are a bit far for the old VW, so we do fly when we're going up to Alaska to visit my old stomping grounds and spend time with my family. (On Campbell River Bridge - photo by Mike)

As I mentioned at the start, we're back in Norwich now. It's raining, so not great photo weather, and yesterday when we were out wandering we didn't get the camera out. Oh well. Norwich is still Norwich, with its stunning selection of church towers, including not one but two cathedrals, and its maze of winding medieval streets.
We had a wander through the Norwich Lanes, stopping for a few bags of Mike's favorite tea from Wilkinson's, and to see what's new at Inanna's Festival. Passed through the Market just to see who's still there. We didn't go into the Castle Mall this time, but I remember being very impressed with the way the modern structure had been worked in between the castle and old shopping streets. Didn't even spot it when we walked past yesterday, but I know it's easy enough to find when you're looking for it. (Norwich street view photo from Google Maps).

So there - I've blogged a page. Now it's time to get back to playing music. Rainy days are made for practicing!