Should have been in Malta but For reasons that I am not prepared to divulge we had to cancel. As some sort of minor recompense, we agreed to a short break in Norwich ‘instead’. Only two nights, but an early departure saw us arrive at the Bowling Alley in time for the ‘nifty fifty’ three hour session. Thoroughly enjoyed it and I scored both the lowest and highest scores of the day. Naturally, as if I didn’t know (or had conveniently forgotten), I was of course struck down with “Bowler’s Bum“, a particularly savage case I have to say but one I fought manfully for the rest of the stay.
Checked in to the Annesley Hotel, who were as delightful and friendly as ever. Stayed in the garden room, which we found was a duplex with a kitchen/lounge downstairs and bedroom plus ensuite on first floor. Lovely surprise, intentional or not, and we enjoyed the extra space we were afforded. First night meal in the hotel and then the next day we sauntered (wobbled in my case) around the city centre; and then, following a short repose back at the hotel, we had an early evening meal at the excellent Benolis (a well reviewed and garlanded authentic Italian that more than lived up to the hype) followed by Andy Parsons at the Playhouse. The venue was a first for us as we had previously only ever been to the Theatre Royal in Norwich. It’s a smallish 300 or so seater venue and was the first of three nights for Parson’s “Bafflingly Optimistic” show, which was true to its title and saw the positives in an admittedly depressing social, political and cultural environment. Andy is a very funny, naturally gifted comedian and a lovely antidote to current times (and bowler’s bum). I particularly enjoyed the stuff that’s more structural like what’s happening with the Bank of England, what’s going on with inflation, tuition fees etc. The “Quantitative Easing” section was very cleverly constructed and hilarious to boot, although if you happen to be a banker, you might consider giving it a miss.
All in all, another lovely break, all topped off with the great hotel stay accompanied by top notch breakfasts, which I managed to enjoy despite the toothache and derriere centred pain. A definite case of itinerary revision required for next time!!