To Marlow

Three trains and just over an hour from London and we have seen at least two things of note.

First at the station at Slough. A stuffed dog. A real, once was alive, 120 year old, stuffed dog. In a case, on the platform. An explanation found on a blog called ianvisits.co.uk.

He has a whole story. He was right out there, easily visible on the London bound side. We didn’t get close. But at Maidenhead we changed and found a reader, these are my two good sights so far.

As we sit on the last train bound for Marlow, we are searching out lunch spots. One we will miss is Vanilla Pod. If we ever come back we will try to arrive before two as the photos online make it look scrumptious. (UPDATE: we walked by and looked in.. its a place to come back too for sure).

I haven’t kept up with the blog for a few weeks while I have been doing amazing things so today I am trying a little real time action and we will see how it goes. So far I think great!!

The train slows as we get to the first stop and outside we passed fields and crossed over the Thames. Lots of people get off at Bourne End and few get on. We will wind up walking back here at the end of the day.

SPOILER ALERT IF YOU MAY TAKE THIS TRIP…And as the train starts to move, its backing up … and it backs up all the way to Marlow – a huge A+. That’s just the sort of thing I like. It’s why every day is special. Now I certainly understand that there really is no front or back to trains these days, but who really expects not to continue in the same direction.

Upon arriving in Marlow we spot #3 of fun things… how do you like this telephone booth? Defibrilator? Clever!

A short walk into town and up the high street ( I am learning to say high street) we wind up at the Botanist having passed a few lovely looking places. We will soon order some prosciutto, cheese, pork belly bites, bit of pork crackling and a rocket and Parmesan salad… The food was nothing to write home about. The pork cracklings were addictive and the pork belly pretty good, the rest, well, only come here for the fabulous wing chair and the window seating.

We were lucky enough to grab one of those window tables and sat relaxing a couple of hours just watching the dogs and the antique cars and the trucks carrying horses pass by. Without a thrilling dessert on the menu we are up for our walk to the locks.

A word about Marlow: The town is large and prosperous. I can tell by the cleanliness, the number of jewelers and clothing shops. After we eat we are going to look for a jacket for me… in the charity shop and beyond. Turns out the charity shop is fabulous, but no jacket for me, and the town is clearly prosperous. The cars passing gave a great indication. Not only a small parade of antique collectable but a fair number of very high end drives. And as we walked I enjoyed seeing the homes and snapped a few pictures. After a bit I noticed that many of the house had names.

Red Brick House being one of the more interesting

yes, this is red brick house, can’t you tell?

One nice large lock and I feel complete, but our day isn’t over.

Anyone who knows me will be shocked to hear I went a wandering on the river and walked through cow pastures. It was too hot and too long but in hindsight well worth it. We saw a hot air ballon in the distance, looked at the houses on the opposite bank, held hands, and picked out our favorite boats.