{"id":17854,"date":"2018-03-30T15:00:50","date_gmt":"2018-03-30T15:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/?p=17854"},"modified":"2018-05-05T10:41:44","modified_gmt":"2018-05-05T10:41:44","slug":"an-afternoon-in-aldeburgh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/an-afternoon-in-aldeburgh\/","title":{"rendered":"An Afternoon in Aldeburgh"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Aldeburgh<\/p>\n

In England they say you are never more than 70 miles from the sea – which, if we are speaking in driving terms, means that you are technically never more than an hour from it wherever you are in the country (give or take a traffic jam or two, some incredibly thin and winding English country roads, tractors, Sunday drivers, or GPS mistakes slowing you down…)…<\/p>\n

Having the beach much closer to hand is still very much a novelty for us having lived in a land locked country for a good few years (despite Bavaria’s crystalline lakes<\/a> being a good beach substitute!). It’s still so lovely to say “shall we go to the seaside and have fish and chips for tea?” You can work off any guilt for that on Aldeburgh’s very pebbly beach by the way – that’s got to be a HIIT work out if you walk quickly, take my word for it…<\/p>\n

\"Aldeburgh<\/p>\n

By a stroke of luck, we parked very close to Maggy Hambling’s gorgeous Scallop Shell which was one of the reasons I wanted to visit\u00a0 – a tribute to composer Benjamin Britten who was a native son, and local to these parts for many years.<\/p>\n

As we approached the shell, the sea mist began to lift a bit leaving the most beautiful beach light, and a tiny person intent on exploring each and every segment of it.<\/p>\n

\"Maggy<\/p>\n

\"Maggy<\/p>\n

Afterwards we wandered closer to the town, discovering beach treasure along the way. This beach is obviously well-loved as there wasn’t that much litter to pick up at all really (the Small People insist on doing a ten things beach pick up wherever we are after our trip to Asturias last year<\/a>, no bad thing really!)…<\/p>\n

\"beach<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Aldeburgh itself isn’t huge, and whilst I imagine it’s quite packed in the summer months, the winter makes a wonderful quiet time to explore.<\/p>\n

Unlike a few other seaside towns that can seem a bit “ghost towny” out of season, this place feels very much like it has a thriving local community, despite having a good few holiday homes amongst its housing stock (you can stay in the Old Custom House below, I LOVE where the door is, and would love to know the history behind it)!<\/p>\n

\"Old<\/p>\n

\"museum<\/p>\n

\"Aldeburgh<\/p>\n

\"Aldeburgh<\/p>\n

As an added bonus, despite the relative quietness, the fish and chip shops of Aldeburgh remain open throughout the year (they always say they are the best in the country don’t they? But, having plenty of Yorkshire blood, I think that the Golden Galleon serves up a pretty fine example so they are not making too bold a claim!).\u00a0 You can’t really miss the shop for obvious reasons!…<\/p>\n

\"golden<\/p>\n

\"fish<\/p>\n

\"aldeburgh<\/p>\n

And afterwards, we took them straight back to the beach for how fish and chips absolutely should<\/em> be eaten – covered in salt and vinegar, and straight out of the paper in the fresh sea air…\u00a0 Very obviously it has to be ice cream for afterwards too, whatever the temperature!<\/p>\n

\"English
a first Mr Whippy!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"seagull<\/p>\n

We will be back to explore properly (and Southwold – that’s been on my list for a long time!) before we leave Cambridge, but this particular afternoon in Aldeburgh really was a lovely taster…<\/p>\n

The car park has to win some kind of award for beautiful views both in front of it, and behind it too…<\/p>\n

\"Aldeburgh<\/p>\n

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