A trip away

During our holiday we have taken a couple of short trips.  You have seen our trip to Sandwich, in Kent.  This time we went for a bit longer, to Broadstairs, in Kent.  We were going to Buxton but we decided to stay a bit closer to home.  Mini-Kolo took our travelling bear Tom with him.  Tom is a Thompson's Holidays bear so travel is in his stuffing.

A road trip involves lunch on the road.  Tom is good at selecting places.  He chose the West Cornwall Food Company at Folkestone Services.  This vegetable pasty was very nice.

Broadstairs is a coastal town in Kent.  Charles Dickens had connections there and stayed there a lot.  He wrote part of Nicholas Nickelby there.  It also has a bay which, apparently, had Viking connections.

We booked into the fantastic Royal Albion Hotel in Broadstairs (highly recommended).  Mini-Kolo showed Tom how to climb on the bunk beds in the corner of the room.

After unpacking there has to be a stroll.  North Forelands lighthouse is always a good destination for an afternoon stroll.  It is automated now and the buildings are holiday cottages.

Nobody can ever go to Broadstairs without visiting the fantastic, awesome Morelli's ice cream parlour, which has been there since 1907.  Mini-Kolo is no exception to that and following the walk to and from North Forelands lighthouse, a raspberry ripple was just the thing.

We had dinner in the hotel bar, where Mini-Kolo had a view of the bay.

Some decisions are more difficult than others.  Cod and chips or scampi and chips, well hey!! Order both and have a bit of each.  These were the most awesome chips we have had in ages.

The next morning Tom was very impressed by the breakfast buffet.  What a choice!!

We went for a stroll and Mini-Kolo wasted no time in finding a fantastic bakery with nice bread and cakes.  He wrote down the address to go back later.

We walked to Ramsgate, there were no real photo opportunities on that walk, as it was a bit wet and windy.  However, Ramsgate is interesting and we had a good time and came back to the bakery for lunch.

Broadstairs is a great place for fish and Tom stopped for a chat with this very jolly fisherman.  The fish may have been a bit smelly.

After lunch we were a bit tired because of the long walk to Ramsgate and back, so we drove to Margate to have a look at Dreamland, it wasn't really operating, but Tom found that Morellis had a stall there with this giant ice cream to climb on.

In the evening Mini-Kolo got a bit excited about his pizza, the wine may have been responsible for his unstable stance.  This was at Posillipo Pizzeria in Albion Street, next to the hotel.  It was delicious.

The next day was much nicer weather and we went for a walk in the opposite direction, towards Margate.  Starting out at Viking Bay.

We walked to the next bay, Joss Bay, which was another nice sandy beach.

We carried on and soon came to this castle.  Mini-Kolo and Tom did some climbing and stopped for a rest in the sun.

We walked on further.  Mini-Kolo thought he had walked a long way, but he was quite surprised to see he had got to Botany Bay, he thought that was in Australia.  Well of course it is a different Botany Bay, and Mini-Kolo soon realised that.

We walked on to the next bay, which was called Palm Bay, the one noticeable thing about it was that there were no palms!!  We had coffee at a little beach cafe called Jet Ski World, where they hired out jet skis.  We did not get any photos there.

After lunch at the bakery it seemed necessary to go back to Morelli's for a banana split.  Mini-Kolo was amazed that it arrived in a gondola.  It was delicious and both Mini-Kolo and Tom enjoyed it very much.

After the very big ice cream they needed a stroll and they walked around the bay.  They found this boat and wondered whether they could borrow it.

Finally they were hungry again and enjoyed a very tasty Thai dinner at the Siam Kitchen in Albion Street.

Broadstairs is a lovely little town with more restaurants for its size than anywhere else we have ever been.  If you stay in the town you never have to walk far to get a nice lunch or dinner.  It is also a buzzing place with lots of exciting people from language schools.  We recommend a visit.  The Albion Hotel is lovely and there are also some great Bed and Breakfast hotels.  Some days you can even see France from the seafront.