Sunday - Dereham to Beccles & Football

Sunday we woke up and had another full English breakfast although neither one of us could eat us much as we had the mornings before. We "checked" out which meant that we just handed the lady of the house cash and she wrote us out a receipt. Later we realized that Mike still had the key in his pocket! We will have to mail it later.

We met Richard out front and headed from Dereham to Beccles. We had to call Jonathon on the way because he was right on the Bungay and Beccles border but it made a difference which A-Road to take. There are different levels of roads, the largest being Motorways (M#) which are like our freeways and often several lanes on each. Then there are A Roads (A###) which would be like Hopyard/ Dougherty out our way and then B roads (B###) which might be like Eden Canyon. There are no C level roads but the unmaintained dirt or gravel roads would be about that level.

Jon met us at his house and Richard dashed off to go back to London. He wanted to get to London before the England vs. Germany Football match so that he could watch it before his flight back to Switzerland. We got a quick tour of Jon's adorable cottage, put our stuff down and headed to a nearby time to meet his wife. His wife Sarah shows dogs and was at a rather large dog show. They have two dogs, which are like their children, one Saluki (Tigger) and one Lurcher (Brody). We had a lovely time with them and her aunt and uncle Chris & Peter and all their dogs. There were three different Saluki's, a poodle, two lurchers and two Daschunds in their little group and we all took turns holding the dogs. It was very warm out, it was mid to high 20s degrees Celsius which is high 70s to low 80s Fahrenheit. The English are not used to this weather and were all out in shorts and tank tops. We had to keep giving the dogs water, putting them in the shade and spritzing them with water. We had a quick bite and then headed off with Jon to take a freind home, freshen up and head to a pub.

We met up with a few friends of theirs at one pub and headed to another to pick up a few more before arriving at the final pub that we would watch the England vs. Germany football game at. The World Cup is huge in England, no American sports contest compares although the Superbowl is closest. Every window in London hangs an English flag and they fly from the back and windows of cars everywhere. Every pub was decked out in white and red strips and blasting English football chants and songs. Mike had a few half pint of Guiness at the first pub that we met friends at and then a few more at the one we stayed at. Jon kept buying him more and Mike tried shanty as well (Cidar & lemonade). We had a burger and a sausage from the grill outside and watched the game inside and outside of the pub.

The game has a lot of history behind it, apparently the WWII grudge still stands in football. Germany was expected to win but of course the English were hopeful. Football is much more interesting to watch in a pub. Although since Bree is restricted to water the atmosphere wasn't quite the same. She has to request still water actually otherwise she might be brought hot water for tea or sparkling water. There was a great goal by the English that counted and then another that wasn't; either way, Germany just had too many more and were the better team. Everyone was dejected afterwards but had had enough to drink they were okay.

We walked over to a local restaurant right on the river called the Waveney and sat outside. Everyone was shocked that they could eat outside and couldn't remember the last time they had. Sarah met us there at the end of her dog show, Tigger took first in his group. Everyone had quite a few pints and teased Mike for swearing off after awhile. The food was great - fish & chips again for Bree and lasagna for Mike. After dinner we walked back to Jon's car to head back home.

When we got back we sat up for a little while looking through some old photos that Jon had from Frieda, his grandmother. Bree was able to put a few more names to faces but there are still a lot that are unknown. As Richard has gotten into genealogy of the family, tracing part of his family back to the 1600s, the pictures seem like a real important piece. We may scan them in and share them with the cousins to try to figure out some people.