Charming Sandwich (and surrounding Kent)

No, you're not mishearing. Sandwich exists. It's actually a place in England, Kent to be more specific. It's a magnificent little historic town, home to a daily seal watching trip, narrow cobbled lanes and its claim to fame, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, an 18th century nobleman who invented, wait for this: the sandwich. Historians often dispute the veracity of this claim but the legend makes it all the more romantic.

 

On a day trip to visit Karen, a Shanghai friend home for the summer, I mentioned my desire to visit this local destination. It was mostly in jest because who wouldn't want to visit a place named after the Western world's answer to finger food? But as it turns out, this city is stepped in historic charm where one can golf, wander the outskirts of the ancient city wall and take a range of ridiculous photographs with the name Sandwich in them.

Note: Sandwich is fairly tiny. It can be wandered in under an hour. But it's got charm in the form of pubs, parks and other sandwich-like establishments. On a day trip to the coast, it's definitely worth a pit stop.

Our other stops included a little wander through cloudy Margate, Britain's once remarkable and now up-and-coming seaside town. It's chock full of antique and vintage shops and places to eat the ubiquitous seaside food, fish and chips

 

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And then a final stop in Birchington and Minnis Bay, where Frankelton was free to roam the wilds of low tide:

A great way to spend a day!

Summer in Review

Summer 2017 has shaped up to be rather unique from my previous summers. Part of this relies on the sole fact that I've spent two and a half weeks in London, quite a bit longer than I have for the past several years. A charming life, yes. But if you know me, you'll also know that I get rather restless after a day of two of nothingness.

But the uniqueness also lies in the fact that the visitors have come to me. In the short two point five weeks, we've had five guests come to stay, among those visitors, four from Shanghai. On top of that, I'v also seen three other Shanghai friends who haven't come to stay at chez Jen, Paul and Frank. London seems like the European portal to the rest of the world and for that, I am grateful. With these friends I've zipped across the city to various lunches, theatre shows (Book of Mormon, woo!) and walking wanders. The daytime drinking rendered me useless more than once this summer.

And there's uniqueness too in the fact that my summer schedule is no longer in sync with my other London teacher friends. I finished school two weeks earlier than my state school teaching friends. Had I returned to the same school, I would be returning a week later than them as well--a glorious 8-week holiday. Given that I'm starting at a new independent international school, I go back to work on the 23rd of August. I still get a lengthy holiday but the nerves are beginning to kick in as I find myself with two weeks to go.

So now I find myself on the island of Corfu, Greece's northwesternmost island sunning myself in the European heat wave to end all heat waves. Since the beach in the tiny town of Gouvia leaves a bit to be desired, I've been lizarding poolside. Tomorrow I head to Albania, a 30-minute boat ride away, for a day trip. Saturday, I make my way up the island for a week of yoga, beach and self-reflection. It will either be my making or undoing.

I can't complain though. Between my stints in London, Paul and I also made our way to Puglia, the heel of Italy's boot, known to Italian tourists but still charmingly devoid of the hordes of English speakers. They're there whispering away but they're far less prolific than in the big Italian cities.

We wended our way down the coast, from Bari to Polignano a Mare and a day trip to Monopoli before checking into a stunning B&B in Lecce and bussing around the Adriatic coast beach towns of Otranto, San Foca, et al. Our final hotel stop took us to Gallipoli and the Maldives di Salento before making our way back to Bari for a solid poolside day.

One day I'll make good of my promise to move to Italy. I might gain 300 lbs but it'll be worth it. And isn't that the most profound summer thought.