WHERE ARE WE ANNE?: A BRITISH RECORD FOR A BIRTHDAY

Schoolday Birthday

July 15th found us getting up early and walking in to Brighton to pick up a hire car for the day. We drove back out to Park Farm where we did the sailing theory course and did a one day vhf-dsc radio certificate. Technical sounding but straightforward enough. Anne and I almost got 100% but fell just short... we were robbed! A good pass all the same. We now have another certificate to add to the sailing dossier and dodge any problematic questions that may be posed by officials in future travels.

After the course we drove just down the road to Glyndebourne which is an English opera institution. Glyndebourne is a 600 year old country house with a full scale opera house banged on the back. We just went there for a sticky beak but when we turned in to the driveway we were instantly shepherded to a parking spot. It turns out there was a dress rehearsal of Donizetti's 'Don Pasquale' and the first bells were ringing. There was a temptation to join the throng but we opted for a walk in the gardens instead. Turns out the deal is, setup a champagne picnic on the manicured lawns and gardens (in this case in perfect weather) then leave it and wander in to the opera and come back for more plonk at interval. So we walked through this scene of freshly abandoned champagne, strawberries and raspberries like being first on the scene at the Marie Celeste. I've never seen so much unattended plonk in my life. Lovely grounds, very posh, we would pass some one and say hello like we were members of this exclusive club enjoying a full dress rehearsal on a week day as you do. Wandering along a path we'd find another nest of picnic splendour with abandoned wine in some long grass like finding glittering easter eggs. Some great painted bronze sculptures everywhere and the odd Red Legged Partridge with chicks clucking about.

We drove back the way we came and stopped in at the Cock Inn, a 16thC pub for din dins and a little birthday card opening.

It was a beautiful warm day, I had no idea at the time that it was Britain's hottest ever day on record at 37.4oC in London. It was less than that where we were with the sea breeze cooling things slightly, but an historic birthday nevertheless.