A snapshot of Suffolk

It is starting to become a bit of a tradition for Mr Lighty and I to venture on what we term a ‘mini-moon’ every now and again.  So much so that every short break we go on is now called a mini-moon, even as we embarked on our second anniversary weekend – you’ve never been married long enough not to go on a mini-moon, after all!  And this time, our choice of mini-moon destination was to that most charming of English counties, Suffolk, on a perfect English Spring weekend, for a snapshot of what this coastline has to offer.

Lowly Lowestoft

We decided to base ourselves in the coastal town of Lowestoft.  One of the most important aspects for us of any of our mini-moons is our accommodation, and this weekend away was no exception.  We picked Lowestoft as a base, I must admit, more because of the fact that we liked the look of the quirky little B&B we stayed in more than due to any major research on the town itself – perhaps a rookie mistake for any travel junkie to make?  We were certainly not disappointed by our guesthouse, the Baytree House, which was full of character and warmth – not to mention a great breakfast, thirteen guinea pigs and seven pugs!

Lowestoft itself, however, looked like it could do with a little bit of love being injected.  It was a little tired, a little rough round the edges.  This isn’t to say that we didn’t enjoy our afternoon spent there; after a lovely gluten free scone and tea served in bone china cups at the Flying Fifteens tea house – which was again, full of character and charm – we whiled away an hour or two on the crazy golf course - not to mention the traditional seaside lure of the 2p drop machines!

Lowestoft South Pier

There were certainly hints of the town’s former charm to be seen; opposite the old town hall, now only used on polling day, there was a quirky chemist’s shop front, dating back to 1817, but now sadly closed, as were many of the other shops on the high street.  Lowestoft is also the most Easterly point in Britain, and so, on our second morning in Suffolk, we walked down to Ness Point, so that we could be the most Easterly people in Britain.  As much as we enjoyed the bracing walk along the sea front, we couldn’t shift the thought that it was such a shame that there wasn’t more made of this spot to attract tourists, locals and those looking to do coast-to-coast bike rides alike.

Remnants of the ancient chemist's

Ness Point

Out of Africa....in Suffolk!

After our departure from Lowestoft, our Sunday morning was spent at the wonderful Africa Alive! zoo.  Set in 100 acres of land, Africa Alive! is a recreation of the African Savannah – and all in sunny Suffolk!  From smaller creatures in the farmyard area (including baby goats on the attack!), through to a wonderful viewing platform over the lion enclosure, it’s easy to see how you could spend most of a day here.  We particularly enjoyed the giraffe feeding, and the fun of the walk through the lemur enclosure, where these cute creatures are able to wander freely around your feet; we loved how fifteen lemurs managed to cuddle up against the cold on one tiny stand, and then how they decided to climb on the back of the sheep they shared their enclosure with!

At the Giraffe feeding

A lemur on a sheep's back!

From Africa to Aldeburgh

We love to pack it in during our weekends away, and therefore we made a final stop in the lovely seaside town of Aldeburgh.  Drawn to the town by the lure of the famous fish and chips, Mr Lighty was particularly pleased to see that a classic car show was taking place on the beach front as we drove into the town.  Aldeburgh is full of cute and quirky boutiques – think upmarket gift shops, interior decor shops and fashion outlets – and after a mooch around these and a stroll amongst the vintage cars on the beach, we were ready for our fish and chips.  The queue pretty much said it all about how famous these fish and chips are: we waited half an hour for ours.  However, having been lucky with the British weather, we took them down to the seafront, eating from the paper whilst watching the waves roll in, which proved to be the perfect end to our day.  Aldeburgh sums up for me what Suffolk at its best is about: beautiful and sleepy, but still upmarket and quirky.  And the chips didn’t disappoint either!

The classic car show on Aldeburgh beach front

 

Mr Lighty with his famous Aldeburgh Fish & Chips!

London - but not as we know it

Working in travel, I have often told people how lucky I am to have gathered some brilliant and unusual experiences over the years.  But my most recent of these experiences was slightly different; it wasn't a VIP ticket to a Mozart concert in the Kursalon in Vienna, or travelling in first class on the Eurostar; nor was it salsa-ing the night away in Cuba - all of which were equally amazing in their own right. This was a little bit closer to home: this was The View From The Shard!

Early birds: The View From The Shard
As an office, we were lucky enough recently to be among the first people to experience The View From The Shard. Working in its shadow, my colleagues and I watched as the pointed tower crept ever closer to the sky, and there was, understandably, talk about its progress within the office. We were excited, therefore, when a travel-trade pre-opening invitation popped into our inbox. The travel industry has its perks, and this was one we were looking forward to!

In the shadow of The Shard, as viewed from outside of my office

As the day neared, there was more talk and some nerves before finally it was upon us.  At 12:30 on Thursday 24^th January 2013, 6 of us walked the short distance from our office to The Shard, to be amongst the privileged first few who would get to experience London from above.

The Shard Experience
The Shard has taken its cue from skyscraper viewing platforms the world over in that it recognises that the overall visit has to be an 'experience', and not just a nice view.  After the initial security checks, the visitor steps in front of a blue screen, where your photo is promptly taken to be mocked up into a shot of your group with a fantastic London view behind you – very much like the iconic shots of construction workers sitting on a steel girder which are recreated at the start of The Rockefeller Center’s ‘Top of the Rock’ viewing platform in New York, except the Shard obviously doesn’t have any steel girders to play with. 

From here, your wait for the lift involves a ‘Q&A’ session with one of the many friendly members of staff, who are happy to answer any questions you may have, offer up facts (did you know that the lifts travel at six metres per second?!) and point out the clever gizmo on the wall which shows where the various lifts are in the building.  It’s then onwards and upwards, firstly in one bank of lifts, upon which colourful leaves fall and seasons change, eventually stepping out onto a carpet inlaid with a map of the River Thames, which encourages you to identify the various landmarks described along the river as you wait for the final lift – the final lift which takes you up, up and away to the View From The Shard itself.

'Leaves' falling on the lift roof

The 'guess the London landmark' carpet, as you wait for the second set of lifts

London from above

Once you step out onto the 69^th floor, it’s rather high!!  And the height makes the views breathtaking: the river winding its way towards Canary Wharf and the Docklands, being able to see into the grounds of the Tower of London, Tower Bridge being reduced to the size of something which wouldn’t look out of place in a child’s play set....even the seeing the trains coming into London Bridge Station from this different, aerial perspective is interesting.  I think for me, my favourite view was the view directly across the river looking on to the Swiss RE building, commonly known, of course, as the Gherkin (my favourite piece of London architecture), the new ‘Walkie-Talkie’ and Tower 42.  The buildings have such an iconic, ‘London’ feel to them, and seeing them in such an up-close manner adds to their beauty. 

The view across the river towards the Gherkin, Tower 42 and the Walkie Talkie

The Shard has also embraced technology with the interactive telescopes dotted about at intervals: these touch-screen gadgets work by pointing the telescopic end at a London landmark, and the user being able to identify them on-screen and even learn more about the building in question.  These were impressive as they were, but another incredibly friendly member of the Shard team told us as we descended in the lift that they were still in the process of adding another 100 landmarks to them, to improve them still further.  There’s also the impressiveness of the structure itself; up on the floor above, floor number 72, the roof remains open-air – most Londoners will say that The Shard looks unfinished because the point at the top doesn’t meet, but I think having been up to the top, the open-air nature of the construction adds to the viewing experience, making you feel on top of the city and among the clouds.

Up in the clouds: the open-air nature of the top floor, reaching up into the 'unfinished' point

The verdict

There were some teething problems on the day of our visit – the lift, for example, on our descent didn’t want to work for the operator for quite some time, and we all stood wondering if we’d have to walk down the many flights of stairs to ground level – but that’s to be expected at a pre-opening.  At £25.00 for a pre-booked ticket, the price tag is also pretty hefty, but all of my colleagues said that had we been anywhere else in the world, and not on our home turf, we would have paid to have visited the viewing platform, so there’s no reason why it shouldn’t succeed in London.  It’s different – and certainly taller – than anything else that London has to offer, and this uniqueness will stand it in good stead.  All in all, I feel very privileged to be able to say that I’ve been up The Shard – and viewed London, but not as we know it.

Tower Bridge in miniature

The River Thames winding its way towards Canary Wharf

You call this snow?!

It’s that time of year again when the UK suffers its annual dusting of snow and everything comes to a grinding halt.  When this yearly occurrence happens, my thoughts always turn to the year I spent living in Vienna – an academic year, to be precise, the year of 2004 – 2005, which happened to be one of the worst winters on Austrian record.  Snow covered every bough and rooftop as far as the eye could see, and the city was bathed in a brilliant white.  Now that was really what you call snow!

Schönbrunn, bathed in snow.  This was actually taken during its 

Easter Market (yes Easter Market!)!

Snow won’t stop us! 
Coming from the scarcely-touched-by-snow UK, I’d never seen snow like it, and it now forms one of the overriding memories of my year abroad.  But it isn’t necessarily a negative memory.  The snow started on the 20^th November 2004.  I was woefully underdressed for the occasion in a skirt, tights and ballet pumps; I soon learnt that for the next 5 months, the only form of footwear I would be wearing would be my snow boots.  It didn’t stop snowing until the end of March – I can remember going to the Easter Markets and being surrounded by beautiful coloured eggs, wicker baskets and clumps of snow.  What was so different to the UK, however, was the fact that the snow was no big deal: trains still ran on time, schools and businesses were still open, and my commute was barely affected, even if I did have to go and borrow an umbrella from the Hotel Schrannenhof in the market place of Klosterneuburg one morning, en route to work.

The Schönbrunn Easter Market sign, with snow underfoot!

The no. 2 tram - still running despite the snow!

Stunning snowy city 
And so as the snow descended on the city, and being woken up by the snow plough became a regular occurrence (so much so that I became convinced that the “Secret Sound” competition on the local radio station was someone shovelling snow – it turns out that the sound of someone moving a computer mouse over a mouse mat is surprisingly similar), a beauty took over what was already a stunning place to live.  Vivid memories of cars piled high with snow, sledging at a friend’s house in Klosterneuburg, shopping in festively white Christmas markets and a beautifully snowy trip to Salzburg are all highlights of my year abroad, and the beautiful scene through a tram window of tree boughs heavy with snow in Stadtpark will stay with me forever.  Snow might not excite me anymore, but it does fill me with a sense of wonder, and of memories of a beautiful white city which doesn’t stand still for snow.

Cars covered with snow in Klosterneuburg

Sledging in Klosterneuburg

 

A snow covered Klosterneuburg