Author: Paul

Japan has been on our “bucket list” for a while so we decided it was time to treat ourselves and we booked a two-week tour of the Japanese island of Honshu. This was our second attempt at visiting Japan, our first attempt was with a cruise line that’s not worth naming. After accepting our booking, the cruise line informed us that the cruise was cancelled, and we could go to Mexico instead. Gee … Japan … Mexico … Japan … Mexico … How can we choose between the two? We declined their kind offer, then they made us wait for three months before refunding our booking. Guess which cruise line is now on our blacklist?

If you visit Japan, it is a good idea to download the Japanese language pack to the translator in your smartphone before you leave. While most younger Japanese can speak reasonable English, older people less so, possibly because they have little reason to use it day to day. With the language pack loaded you can easily translate short messages to Japanese and, if you see Japanese text, you can use your smartphone’s camera to translate the text into English.

It is also a good idea to take some shoes with you that you can easily slip on and off. Quite a lot of Japanese buildings have tatami mats on the floor so you have to remove your shoes before entering the building. Having shoes that you can easily slip on and off will make the visit a lot easier.

Tokyo can be very expensive if you stick to European style restaurants and European food. But, if you go with the flow and dine in small local restaurants and eat local food, the prices are much more reasonable, and you will get to sample some really tasty and different cuisine.

Arrived in Tokyo from London

When we flew to Tokyo, we were met by our tour guide at Heathrow and again when we arrived in Tokyo. First impressions; Tokyo is very clean. It is one of the few Asian countries where you can safely drink the tap water. Also, there is almost no litter anywhere and there are also almost no rubbish bins. The Japanese take their rubbish home and dispose of it at home.

The plane arrived mid-afternoon and a coach took us to the Keiko Plaza hotel. After showering and changing our clothes our tour guide gave us a brief orientation walking tour of the area around the hotel, then we settled down at a local restaurant for dinner with some of the other people on the tour. Dinner was a very reasonable 4000 yen (£20) for 2 people.

At the top of the hotel, on the 47th floor, is the Sky Plaza Ibasho bar which offers magnificent views across Tokyo, so we paid a visit. Quite frankly, despite the magnificent views, it is not worth the money. The hotel charged us 5000 yen (£25) each admission. While it does offer magnificent views of the Tokyo skyline, there are plenty of other venues around Tokyo with equally magnificent views. After paying the entry fee, besides the view, you can also get “free” coffee and soft drinks dispensed from self-service machines into paper cups or you can buy cocktails that are poured from a pre-mixed sachet into a plastic martini glass. Save your money and go somewhere else.

The next morning, we had a tour of Tokyo and visited:

• The Meiji Shrine. The shrine was built in the 1920s to celebrate Japan’s first modern emperor and empress; Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. It is a beautiful site full of traditional art and culture and well worth a visit.
• The Imperial Palace East Garden. Built in the grounds of Edo Castle, as well as plants, trees and pleasant walking paths, the garden is a peaceful distraction in the middle of a bustling city.
• Senjo-li area. Senjo-li is a market area in Tokyo with stalls, clothing shops, small restaurants and a Buddhist temple. among the tourists were quite a lot of women and girls wearing traditional dress. Our guide explained that the women and girls are mostly Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese etc… tourists renting traditional Japanese outfits to have a Japanese experience.
• Tokyo Sky Tree. The Sky Tree is the tallest freestanding tower in the world. It offers magnificent views across Tokyo and has a glass walkway for those who do not suffer from vertigo. In the gift shop we treated ourselves to a couple of bottles of plum wine and some mochy cakes (as you do when you are on holiday).

That evening we visited a local restaurant near the hotel where we had sushi and sashimi for dinner for 5000 yen (£25) for the pair of us. The restaurant was vibrant, noisy and full of office workers dining after work.

Tokyo to Matsumoto via Mount Fuji

As well as the visitors centre, on our way to Matsumoto we also visited:

• Ooshi Park – a tourist area for lunch with lavender fields, a kids play area and views of Mount Fuji.
• Lake Kawajuchi – an area of natural beauty on the banks of one of the lower Mount Fuji lakes.
• Lake Sawa – a shopping and tourist area on the banks of one of the lakes around Mount Fuji.

Matsumoto to Takayama

The next morning, we paid a visit to Matsumoto Castle and had a sake tasting before heading off to Takayama.

Takayama

Takayama town centre is mostly heritage listed restaurants and merchant shops selling meals, snacks, boutique clothing and souvenirs. The main attractions are:

• The morning Market – Held in two locations from 8 o’clock until noon; the Miyagawa Morning Market and the Jinyamae Morning Market are only about 15 minutes from each other, so it is easy to visit both.
• Kusakabe Heritage House – A museum featuring household items and folk art from the Edo period, plus a Buddhist altar and a lounge.
• Takayama Festival Float Exhibition Hall – The hall houses antique ornate floats used in Japanese festivals.
• Takayama Jinya government offices – “Jinya” is the collective name of the regional government buildings. It includes the administrative offices, officials living quarters, warehouses, interrogation room and courtroom.

That evening we dined in a small family restaurant a couple of blocks from the railway station called flower. The restaurant was just mum, dad and two daughters with half a dozen tables. The food was delicious and very reasonably priced. When we left, they asked to take our photo for their wall, which was covered in photos of people who had dined in the restaurant.

Takayama to Kanazawa

After leaving Takayama we headed for Kanazawa and stopped off at the UNESCO world heritage listed Shirakaeago Village along the way. Kanazawa is a historic town on Japan’s west coast famed for its landscaped gardens and classical architecture.

When we arrived in Kanazawa, before checking into our hotel, we had lunch in Kanazawa’s Omicho fish market where we tried Japanese grilled eel and an egg salad and potato salad mix. The egg and potato salad combination is an idea we now serve at home.

After lunch we had a brief tour of the Higashi geisha district and tried gold ice cream. The gold ice cream wasn’t all that different to ordinary vanilla ice cream but more expensive and a lot prettier.

That evening we found a tiny restaurant near the hotel that had just two tables and a bar with half a dozen bar stools. A little while after ordering, the waitress returned and hesitantly asked us if we eat raw fish. We replied that we love sashimi, so she went away and returned a few minutes later with a sampler entrée of swordfish sashimi, compliments of the chef.

Kanazawa to Hiroshima

After the garden we visited Buke-Yashiki, a reconstructed samurai house to see how the samurai lived, before heading to the station to catch a bullet train to Tsuruga, then an express train to Kyoto, followed by another bullet train to Hiroshima.

On the Kanazawa railway concourse there were several shops selling bento boxes so for about 1200 yen (£6) each, so we bought ourselves a bento box each to eat on the train.

Hiroshima

Hiroshima to Kyoto

The next morning, we said goodbye to Hiroshima and caught the bullet train to Shin Osaka, then on to Kyoto by coach via Nara.

Kyoto

For over 1000 years, from 794 to 1868 Kyoto was the capital of Japan. The capital was moved to Tokyo after the Meiji Restoration of 1868.

We had two full days in Kyoto most of which was spent exploring Kyoto’s side streets, shopping and buying souvenirs. Like most modern cities, the main streets of Kyoto are dominated by big brands but when we ventured into the side streets, we found all sorts of small businesses ranging from cafes to craft shops to boutique clothing shops. Most of the owners spoke little or no English (Google translate was a lifesaver) but went out of their way to help us.

Besides shopping, we also visited:

• The Ryōan-ji Zen Temple – Designated a UNESCO world heritage site, the temple is located in north-west Kyoto and is considered to have one of the finest examples of a “dry landscape” rock garden.
• Kinkak-ji – The temple of the Golden Pavilion, is one of Kyoto’s most popular attractions. It is set in a Japanese strolling garden.
• Nijō Castle – Also a designated UNESCO world heritage site, the castle is a flatland castle consisting of two concentric rings (Kuruwa) of fortifications, the Ninomaru Palace, the ruins of the Honmaru Palace, plus various support buildings and several gardens.

Kyoto to Mishima

The next morning, after two full days in Kyoto, we paid a visit to Kyoto’s Kiyomizu-dera temple and enjoyed a traditional tea ceremony, before catching the bullet train to Mishima.

Kiyomizu-dera Temple sits atop a small mountain on the east side of Kyoto offering a commanding view of the city. The temple’s stage, supported by massive pillars, is one of the most famous images of Japan.

At Mishima our hotel was just a short walk from the railway station so getting to the hotel was easy. After settling in we went exploring to find somewhere for dinner. On the other side of the railway car park, we found a street of almost door to door restaurants, so our problem wasn’t one of finding somewhere to eat, it was choosing which one. To make it even better, at the end of the street was a park and in the park was a pop-up pub. Very civilised.

Last day

Our final day in Japan, before going to the airport, was travelling from Mishima to Tokyo. On the way we detoured to take a cruise on Lake Ashi to Hanaori, then a cable car to the Owakudani Valley to see the sulphur fields and hot springs and to buy some black eggs in the gift ship. The black eggs are ordinary hard-boiled eggs that have been cooked in a hot spring. The chemicals in the water react with the calcium in the eggshells to turn the shells black.

Before we arrived at the hotel, we stopped off at Odiaba Bay for a final look at Tokyo Bay to take some final photos.

So long, and Thanks for All the Fish

The next day, holiday over, we headed to the airport and back home.

The Japanese are a lovely, friendly people with a culture that is over 2000 years old. Throughout our tour we were helped by so many people that we cannot possibly individually thank each of them. That said, two that do stand out for a special thank you are Lilian and Harry Potter. Without their help and advice, we would have been stuck several times.

One final comment; In Japanese hotels, along with tea bags, most hotels provide sachets of single serve ground coffee. We normally shy away from those sachets because the coffee is usually rubbish. Not so in Japan.

The Japanese have cracked it so that you can get a proper cup of freshly brewed filter coffee from a single serve sachet. The sachets have cardboard wings that you attach to your cup, and a perforated tear off section at the top. Hooking the sachet to your cup and removing the tear off section reveals a little paper bucket with ground coffee inside. You fill the little bucket with hot water and allow it to drain into your cup, then you refill the little bucket and allow it to drain and repeat as many times as necessary until your cup is full enough. The result is a cup of freshly brewed filter coffee – brilliant!

Hopefully, hotels outside Japan will pick up on the idea and start providing the sachets in their hotels. Or maybe they might even start to appear in supermarkets. We can but dream.

Stay safe
We’ve all heard the travel safety advice that tells you to keep your handbag under your arm, wear your backpack on your chest, watch out for pickpockets and don’t flash the cash etc, etc, etc.

They talk about personal safety but you also need to know about financial safety. Even when you are not traveling you need to always be wary of public Wi-Fi such as in McDonalds or at the airport. Public Wi-Fi is the free Wi-Fi in public places that you don’t need a password to access, you just have to agree to their terms and conditions.

Generally speaking, public Wi-Fi connections are not secure and are open to eavesdropping. The data is not encrypted so a hacker with a scanner could sit a few meters away and read all of the data flowing to and from your device.

By all means use public Wi-Fi for Facebook or to read your email, but never use it for anything work related or for anything that involves money, such as online banking, paying bills or online shopping.

If you need to access your bank or make an online purchase from a public place, use your mobile phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot so that you have a secure encrypted connection that is safe from eavesdroppers.

Check your phone’s documentation on how to switch on and off the Wi-Fi hotspot and don’t forget, when using your mobile phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot you will be using some of your data allowance.

Jetlag
If you’ve ever taken a long-distance flight that crosses several time zones, then you know what jetlag is. It’s that feeling of lethargy that stops your brain from working and makes you feel yuk!

Other than high caffeine energy drinks, which are short term and could do more harm than good, most people use one of two common strategies for jetlag:

1. Sleep when you get tired and it will eventually wear off. If you try this method, you will be waking up at 2 o’clock every morning and going to sleep at 2 o’clock every afternoon until your body finally adjusts.
2. Force yourself to stay awake until about 8 o’clock on the first night. If you try this method most of the jetlag will be gone the next morning but you will be walking around like a zombie, feeling yuk and praying for sundown, on your first day.

Neither method is fun but there is a better way.

If you can, pick a flight that arrives at your destination in the late afternoon or early evening. When the plane lands go through customs, collect your bags and make your way to your hotel. After check-in, have a shower and a light meal, then go to bed, ideally at about 8 or 8:30. You’re already tired from the flight so you should drift off fairly quickly. The next morning most of the jetlag will be gone and you can enjoy your holiday.

Exploring downtown
If you are in an unfamiliar city, when you explore the city, take a hotel card or a piece of notepaper with the hotel address on it with you. That way, if you want to go back to your hotel but aren’t sure of how to get there, you just hop into a taxi and show the driver the piece of paper with the hotel address on it.

If you know you are only a short distance from your hotel but can’t remember where it is, go to any hotel and ask for directions. Hotel staff always know where the other hotels in the area are.

Before you go exploring, use the hotel Wi-Fi to download a map of the city. Then you can use the navigator app on your mobile phone to get directions without using your roaming data.

Language barrier
If you are travelling to a place where you won’t speak the local language, before you travel (or when you have a good Wi-Fi connection), download the local language to your mobile phone to use in your favourite translator.

That way, when you need to speak to a local, you can type your message, question or comment into the translator and the translator will display your message in the local language without you having to use any roaming data.

Great Yarmouth, or Yarmouth as it is also called, is about 20 miles east of Norwich, at the mouth of the River Yare. It is one of the oldest towns in England, having been granted a charter by King John in 1208, but its origins can be traced further back to a Roman fishing settlement. Near the town market you can still see remnants of the old city walls.

Great Yarmouth has been a seaside resort since the mid-1700s. When the railway opened in 1844 tourism boomed and its two piers, Wellington Pier and the grade 2 listed Britannia Pier, were opened in 1854 and 1858 respectively. With its promenade, pubs, trams, fish and chip shops and theatres the town was and still is still a popular tourist destination.

While we were staying in Norwich we were chatting to the waitress in the pub at dinner one night and she suggested that we should take a drive out to Great Yarmouth before we left Norwich. Finding Great Yarmouth was easy; just get onto the A47, head east and keep going until you hit water. Parking was a bit expensive but we don’t really have a problem with that, the money raised goes towards maintaining the town’s amenities and anyway, when we were there all the car parks near the beach were full suggesting that, despite the price, demand still outstripped supply.

After we parked the car we headed towards the beach and took a walk along the boardwalk, towards the Venetian Waterways and the Boating Lake. Dug by hand using shovels and wheelbarrows, the waterway was built in 1928 as part of a relief program for the unemployed. The walk along the boardwalk, beside the waterways, was a relaxing stroll and we stopped for coffee at a kiosk on the Boating Lake before heading back to the main part of the town.

Great Yarmouth is unashamedly a tourist town and it doesn’t pretend to be anything else. There are ice cream parlours dotted along the beach and the main street is mostly souvenir shops, fish and chip shops and restaurants, exactly as you would expect in a tourist town. Although there were lots of people around, there weren’t many large groups, most people wore a face mask in public and everyone maintained a socially distant distance.

One thing we didn’t see on the main street was betting shops and charity shops. Betting shops and charity shops along a main street usually indicates that a town is struggling to survive so their absence tells us that the economy in Great Yarmouth is healthy.

We spent about an hour and a half looking around the town and browsing through the souvenir shops, although we didn’t buy anything, before settling on an Italian restaurant near the town market for lunch. After lunch we looked around the market for a while before going back to the car and back to Norwich.

We enjoyed our day in Great Yarmouth. The streets are clean, there was almost no litter and we didn’t see any graffiti, all of which tells us that the town has a healthy economy and the residents take pride in their town.

About 100 miles north east of London or two hours by train from London or one hour by air from Amsterdam, on the River Wensum in England’s East Anglia, is the city of Norwich; England’s first UNESCO City of Literature and, prior to the industrial revolution, the second largest city in all of England. Founded in 924 as a market town, Norwich is the most complete medieval city in the United Kingdom.

We had a few days spare so we decided to visit Norwich and were lucky enough to find an apartment just a few minutes’ walk from the castle, at a very reasonable price.

Norwich is an interesting city, you could almost think of it as two cities in one. There is the old city with its twisting lanes, cobbled streets, Tudor buildings and loads of character and then there is a new section, by the river, between the railway station and the football stadium. The new section used to be decaying docks and warehouses but is now being redeveloped with shiny new apartments and restaurant chains springing up everywhere.

After we unpacked, our first job was to get some basic supplies, such as fruit, milk, eggs and breakfast cereal, so we took a walk through the redeveloped area to find a supermarket. We found a Morrison’s supermarket near the football stadium that was open. Everything was very socially distant with a separate entrance and exit, a one-way system up and down the aisles, plenty of hand gel dispensers and nobody gets in without a facemask. All very practical and we felt fairly safe shopping there.

On our way back to the flat we decided to take advantage of a half price meal deal and have dinner in a Weatherspoon pub near the supermarket. Big mistake! The meal was dreadful. Overcooked and dry, the food was almost inedible and the staff couldn’t have cared less. It was by far the worst pub meal we have had in a long time.

The next morning we took a walk into the old town via the castle which, unfortunately, was closed due to the coronavirus. Fortunately strolling through the area around the castle is still a very pleasant walk.

Underneath the castle is a shopping mall called, not surprisingly, Castle Mall. It is fairly typical of most multi storey shopping malls anywhere in the world with shops, a cinema complex and a food court but the idea of building a mall underneath an important heritage building without damaging it proves that with good engineers you can build almost anything almost anywhere.

Being over 1000 years old, Norwich has grown organically over the years. In other words there are lots of heritage listed buildings and little lanes and streets coming off other streets at odd angles. You can see that in days gone by Norwich was a very prosperous city with several department stores, Victorian arcades, fine jewellers and a bustling city market. We spent most of the morning exploring the shops up and down the little streets although we didn’t buy anything. We could see that the city is still mostly quite prosperous.

In contrast to the newer, redeveloped part of Norwich, a lot of the shops in the older part are independent owner operated businesses. There are a few chains but there is a healthy mix of franchised and independent establishments. In the redeveloped part however, independent businesses are conspicuous by their absence.

While exploring the shops we eventually arrived at the city market. Although reputed to be the oldest outdoor market in the UK, it is nothing like other markets we’ve seen and, to be honest, it was disappointing. It was remodelled in 2006 so that, instead of a collection of temporary and semi-permanent stalls, Norwich market is now a series of neat rows of concrete and steel retail pods. There are lots of different sellers selling different things but, with each stall being identical in size and shape to every other stall, the market doesn’t have a soul. There is almost no opportunity for a stall holder to stamp their personality on their stall so, unless you are looking for something specific, browsing is boring.

After visiting the market we walked through a nearby arcade to find a café for coffee and cake, before going back to our flat for lunch. While ordering our snack we were chatting to the café owner (as we do) and she told us about a secret garden hidden away in the heart of Norwich.

That night we went to a pub that was just around the corner from our flat for dinner called The Last Pub Standing. Conventional it is not, but in a good way. The wait staff wore interesting outfits that looked like they were trying out for a fringe theatre production, the beer was served in plastic cups and meals were served in cardboard takeaway boxes with bamboo knives and forks. That said, they made us feel really welcome, the beer was good and we had a delicious Caribbean goat curry. We should have gone there the previous night instead of that other place.

We mentioned to our waitress that we were visiting Norwich for a few days and she suggested that, since we had travelled this far, we should go a little bit further and visit Great Yarmouth. Great Yarmouth is only 20 miles from Norwich so we decided that we would visit it before we left.

After dinner we went for a walk along the river to explore Norwich by night. Starting from the railway station, a walk along the river bank can show you both the old and the new Norwich. Heading south-west towards the football stadium takes you through the redeveloped areas with shiny new apartment blocks and franchised theme restaurants. Although a big improvement on what used to be along the river, the new buildings still feel sterile and the lack of independent businesses is striking. However, if you like canned entertainment and mass produced reheated food then it’s probably fine.

If, instead of heading south-west from the railway station towards the football stadium, you head north-east along the river bank, you will find a peaceful walk that takes you past several historic landmarks such as Pull’s Ferry, a restored 15th century water gate and ferry house, Bishop Bridge and the Adam and Eve Pub; reputedly the oldest pub in Norwich.

The next day we took a drive to Great Yarmouth for the day; but that’s another story.

The day before we left Norwich we visited the secret garden that the owner of the coffee shop had told us about.

The secret garden’s real name is “The Plantation Garden” and it really is almost in the centre of Norwich. Next door to the Catholic Cathedral, it is only a short 15 minute walk and less than a mile from the city centre. If you didn’t know it was there you could walk past it and not even notice. Originally a chalk quarry, it was turned into a Victorian town garden when the chalk ran out, nearly 150 years ago.

The garden is the perfect place to relax and spend a few hours reading a book or just sitting, meditating and enjoying your surroundings. Heritage listed and spread across three acres, the gardens are maintained by an army of volunteers. Although they charge a £2 admission fee, it is an honour system with a coin box at the gate and on Sunday afternoons they serve afternoon tea for a small fee and sell homemade jars of jam. Personally we think that a person would have to be particularly mean spirited to not pay the £2 because the money raised, plus donations, sponsorship and occasional functions, goes towards maintaining the gardens.

We were chatting to one of the trust members and he said that before the lockdown they were struggling to find enough volunteers to keep the gardens maintained. Now they have a waiting list. It sounds like, while people want to stay safe and not spread the virus, they are also tired of being idle and really want to feel productive again.

We stayed in Norwich for nearly a week and generally speaking we enjoyed our visit. It wasn’t our first trip to Norwich and it won’t be our last because each time we visit Norwich we find something new. This time we found the Plantation Garden.

Looking back, we might have been a little harsh with our criticism of the redeveloped area by the river. There’s no doubt that the area needed redeveloping and in time it will settle down and become an integral part of the Norwich landscape. Our only real criticism is that we didn’t see any independent venues; all of the venues are franchised chains. Besides, just because we like old things doesn’t mean that everyone does. We like Norwich because, with its mix of little streets, old buildings, boutique shops and department stores, there is always something for us to find. Who knows what we will find when we visit Norwich next time.

Since the coronavirus quarantine restrictions are starting to be lifted and all we’ve done since March is wander around the village, we decided to grab our face masks, throw caution to the wind and treat ourselves to a day trip to Cambridge.

About an hour north of London by train, on the River Cam, is the city of Cambridge, home to the prestigious University of Cambridge. The university dates from 1209 and hosts several famous colleges including King’s; famed for its choir and towering Gothic chapel, Trinity; founded by Henry VIII and St John’s; with its 16th-century Great Gate.

With its theatres, shops, markets and university museums, you could easily spend several days exploring this city. It has lots of independent cafés and restaurants, boutique clothing shops and imaginative gift shops, plus punting, parks and a vibrant city market. When it’s fully alive it is almost guaranteed that there is something for everyone in Cambridge.

Being a university city, Cambridge has very good public transport links. A regular train service from London and several park & ride carparks coupled with a comprehensive bus network, makes getting to and around Cambridge easy.

Last time we visited Cambridge, before the lockdown, it was a hive of activity. The streets were full of people, kamikaze students on bicycles rode up and down the streets, restaurants and cafés overflowed with diners and the city centre had a vibrant atmosphere. Well the lockdown put an end to that! Now most of the people have gone. Although the shops have started to reopen you cannot just browse and the city centre is a pale imitation of its former self.

We drove to Cambridge and parked in the Madingley Road park & ride, which is just over a mile from the American Cemetery. The cemetery is dedicated to American servicemen who died during World War II and is worth a visit but we didn’t go there this time.

The good thing about the park and ride is that it is close to the city and you can park your car for free. The idea is that you park your car for free and pay for the bus ride into the city but at Madingley Road a local bus route runs along the side of the car park. You can park your car then skip through the fence and get a local bus into the city. Not only is the fare cheaper, the bus will drop you nearer to the centre of Cambridge.

The bus dropped us in central Cambridge so we walked north, past Corpus Christi College and Kings College, towards the city market. The absence of people was striking. Unlike a few months ago, the streets were almost deserted.

Many of, the smaller independent cafés and boutiques were open but the souvenir shops and restaurants were mostly closed, I guess that’s because there aren’t enough tourists for the restaurants and souvenir shops but Cambridgites still need to shop and buy takeaway coffee in paper cups.

Almost every open shop had a sign out the front asking for only one person or only two people in the store at a time to comply with social distancing rules. The buskers and walking tour operators didn’t appear to be doing much business. In fact they looked quite lonely. Disappointingly the museums were also closed but that’s probably also down to a lack of foot traffic and the difficulty of enforcing social distancing rules around exhibits.

One of the benefits of the restrictions is that, if you look, there are some very good bargains to be found in the smaller independent stores. While we were mooching our way to the market Rosa spent some time inside one of the boutiques and came out with a lovely dress that was very reasonably priced. Of course, being a woman she has nothing in her wardrobe that she can wear so she desperately needed a new dress. (I’m not complaining; the only reason I didn’t buy anything was because we didn’t pass an open menswear shop.)

The city market was trying to put on a brave face but the foot traffic hasn’t come back yet so about two thirds of the stalls were empty. The fruit and veg stalls and an artisan bread stall looked like they were doing a reasonable trade but they certainly weren’t rushed off their feet. Similarly the florist was open but we didn’t see anyone buying.

The clothing stalls haven’t reopened yet, same for the bric a brac stalls, coin dealers and other nick knack stalls, so browsing was a bit of a disappointment. They probably think that there’s not enough tourists and foot traffic in general to make opening worthwhile. I can see their point, there are few things more depressing than sitting in your shop all day and nobody comes near you. But, if you don’t open people can’t browse and if they can’t browse they won’t buy.

We spent about half an hour looking around the market including waiting in the queue to be served at the fruit and veg stall and waiting in another queue to buy a loaf of bread. Other than the time we spent waiting in queues, we only spent about ten minutes, tops, looking at the rest of the market. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t anything to see so we headed off to find somewhere to have lunch.

The Eagle is a Greene King pub that serves standard pub grub. A few minutes after we sat down, a masked staff member arrived to take our order. I ordered bangers and mash while Rosa ordered a beef burger and chip, then I went to the bar to order drinks from the unmasked bartender standing behind a big Perspex screen. After about fifteen minutes our meals arrived.

While the meal wasn’t gourmet food, it was certainly edible and, unlike some of the other places, at least the pub was open and it served food and the prices were reasonable.

After lunch we took a walk down to the river. The punting business was open and there were a few boats on the river but nothing like the number of boats or people that there was this time last year. The ticket sellers were working hard trying to sell to anyone who walked past but, unfortunately, the people just weren’t there. On the plus side, although the weather was a bit overcast, the river bank is a lovely area for a leisurely stroll. We spent most of the rest of the afternoon enjoying the peace and quiet of the river before walking up to the Fitzwilliam Museum.

Unfortunately the Fitzwilliam Museum, like all of the other museums and most of the tourist attractions in Cambridge, was closed. It’s a pity because the Fitzwilliam Museum is a must see place if you visit Cambridge. It is doubly disappointing that the visitor destinations are closed because if other businesses can work out how to open safely and socially distance their customers then it must be possible for a museum to introduce a one way system so that visitors are socially distanced.

Since the museum was closed all we could do was wait at the bus stop for the bus that would take us back to the park and ride, and hence our car, to arrive.

On balance our visit to Cambridge was a pleasant day out although we were disappointed that more places haven’t opened yet. With a bit of imagination and effort social distancing can be managed but if shops and venues don’t open because there aren’t enough people and people don’t go there because not enough is open then it creates a vicious circle.

We understand the need for the restrictions and we fully support the very slow, cautious way the restrictions are being lifted. We always wear our facemasks in public and we are careful to keep a safe distance from other people. But it does take the fun out of shopping when most of the shops are shut and all you can do is window shop unless you intend to buy something. You daren’t go into a shop that is open to browse because you will be stopping someone who wants to buy from entering the shop. While we fully support the restrictions and do our best to comply with them, that doesn’t mean that we like them and we are really looking forward to the restrictions being just a memory.

Hopefully Cambridge will be back to its former self by Christmas, once the restrictions are lifted. But in the meantime, we all have to be patient.