Possibly we tried to pack a little too much into our last four days before leaving for Asia...

Here are some impressions, appropriately kaleidoscopic, of Days 90-93:

-- A barbecue in the garden with rellies in Worcestershire. The first barbie of the trip, actually, and also the first strawbs-and-cream. Always memorable milestones.

-- Last walks in Newark. I think this is the first time we've seen the graveyard in its lush summer coat:


-- Last coffee (plus brownie) at Stray's, which has very much been our go-to Newark cafe this time:


-- Lunch with other rellies in Derbyshire. Would thoroughly recommend Santo's at Higham. Everything was put together Masterchef-exquisitely:



-- Our last cheese indulgences... Red Storm (a very creamy Red Leicester); Saint Andre (a rich Brie-like cheese, made in Coutances, one of our Normandy hangouts back in the day); and a bit more Colston Bassett (which does indeed pair well with rhubarb mead, just like it said on the bottle...).

-- A brief stop in Evesham (Worcestershire again), en route to Bradley Stoke. We stumbled upon Divine Coffee, a little cafe that reminded us of the early days of our current journey. The kinds of pastries on offer, the presence of lutenitsa on the menu, the things written in Cyrillic script yet not in Russian -- everything made me think Bulgarian, but actually it was Ukrainian... Evesham was hosting some sort of medieval fair that Sunday, so it was heaving. Very pretty, though:






-- Bradley Stoke was where we were rendezvousing with the friends we missed seeing on our way up the country, back when the Day Count was still in the early 40s... And if you want a meeting place that's handy for the M4 and the M5, and does decent food, with friendly service and not too much noise, then The Harvester is a really good choice. Awesome to catch up with these people... Thanks again, guys, if you're reading this!

-- A very plush night at The Grange. With an upgrade. We never get upgrades...




-- A quick post-breakfast trip to Severn Beach:






-- And then we're London-bound. En route, a lunch-and-stroll stop at Pangbourne and its across-the-river equivalent, Whitchurch on Thames:








-- Dinner with friends at Taste of Persia, Greenford, west London. Mine was the Ghormeh Sabzi, a rich stew of juicy lamb, herbs, beans, and dried lime. Deliciously different.

And finally... We relinquish the hire car; we walk back through the summer dusk to the Leonardo Hotel (the decor has nice purple accents, as you can see from the pic at the top); and we toast our trip with a surprisingly good-value glass of red...

Next up: Singapore...