Wednesday 20 March 2019, at Croombe Court

Our stay in Malvern - Croome Court

On the Chinese bridge at Croome

We enjoyed a very nice breakfast at Paul and Tam's, with cereal, fruit, boiled egg, croissant and coffee. Then Paul took us to Croome Court,  a nearby stately home. They didn't have reduced prices for seniors! The grounds were landscaped by Capability Brown, and we strolled round the small church, the lawns and over the Chinese bridge.

Inside Croome church

Then we entered the house and first looked at the display of tapestries by Grayson Perry, which were huge. They reflected his rather jaundiced view of life in modern Britain and were very compelling.



Then we went upstairs to see 'What is Home?', a display reflecting the thoughts of young people in care. I was pleased to see in one module, a copy of an Enid Blyton Famous Five book, which was the first proper book that I read. We also looked at their archive and had a coffee and flapjack. It was a surprising visit.

Grayson Perry's tapestries filled the walls of the downstairs rooms

On the way back to Malvern, we had a drink in the garden of The Swan pub, and then we went inside Malvern Priory with its stained glass windows. I took lots of photos. We headed home via Waitrose, always a pleasure, and we bought a Guardian.

Colourful window in Malvern Priory

In the evening, Paul and Tam had booked a curry at Anupam where we enjoyed a very nice meal of shared dishes. It was nice to have a longer chat with Tam.

Tuesday 19 March 2019, Heading to Malvern

I started the day with a phone call from the dental clinic in Zurich, making a two-and-a-half hour appointment for 9 April! Something to look forward to then! We watered the balcony plants and went to the Apotheke for a few essentials for our trip to UK, and also to Migros.

We made a list of shopping for the UK. Then we packed, including some Swiss wine and cheese. We had lunch at home and shut down the computers, before catching the 15.05 bus to Thalwil station where we caught the fast train to the airport. The weather was sunny but cold.

At the airport, after checking in our two bags, we went through the usual security and passport checks before having a drink in the Montreux Jazz Bar - a cool glass of Sancerre for me. Our Swiss flight left on time at 17.15 and arrived slightly early in Birmingham at 18.10 - the UK is an hour behind Switzerland.

We collected our hire car from Europcar, a Vauxhall Corsa. Richard noted that the petrol tank wasn't full and took a photo of the petrol gauge.

We set off and headed to Malvern via the M42 and M5, arriving at Paul and Tam's a bit earlier than our 8pm prediction. They made us very welcome. Tam had made a lovely quiche for tea, with salad and a glass of red wine. Our room is up two flights of stairs.