Orford, England

For the Easter Bank Holiday, Shane and I had planned to spend the long weekend in Istanbul, Turkey. We were really looking forward to the trip but due to terrorist activity in one of the main tourist areas in Istanbul a week prior to our planned departure, and receipt of a high alert travel advisory from the U.S. embassy in Turkey with which we were registered, we decided to cancel last minute.

We still wanted to go somewhere, as we had two days off work, but were struggling to the find a last minute destination that was affordable. Lucky for us, Baer and Lisa (the couple who invited us to their Thanksgiving dinner when we first arrived in London; friends of Shane's Aunt Geri) graciously offered us their country cottage located in the small village of Orford in Suffolk (on the east coast of England) for the holiday weekend. And they told us we could bring Martha!

On a normal weekend, there is a high speed train that can get you to Suffolk in an hour and half. On a holiday weekend, when there is planned maintenance on the rail line, it takes a tube, bus, two trains and cab about two and half hours to reach the country-side destination. Martha made the travel, and travel changes, more interesting. Martha thinks that everyone she sees is as excited to see her as she is to see them. It is extremely entertaining to watch her, tail wagging, as she begs for attention from strangers. Martha is an attention hog. If someone stops petting her too soon for her standards, she then proceeds to hit the individual with her paw, and if that doesn't work, she may jump up on them and lick their face. She has a mind of her own, we can't stop her! ... but we're working on it.

We arrived at the cottage on Friday afternoon and quickly set out to walk along the sea and explore the village. We thought we would be able to access the sea via a footpath, as denoted by a footpath sign, near the cottage. We jumped the fence at the sign, passed Martha over and quickly found ourselves in a large field surrounded by barbwire.  We abandoned the idea to check-out the sea that afternoon and headed to the village instead.

 cottage

village castle

 After a quick stroll through the village, and tour of the village castle, we took to the village pub for a few pints and dinner.  We sat next to a few locals who took quite a liking to Martha.

window seat at the village pub

local fare - fish and chips

The next day, via a new footpath by the quay, we walked along the sea. The weather was far from ideal - strong winds and cold - so we didn't last long but were able to experience it nonetheless. 

road from the cottage to the village

martha and the sea

orford beach and lighthouse

We spent the remainder of the day being cozy in the cottage, reading and watching movies.  We went back into the village that night for a nice dinner, with the highlight being the fresh oysters as starters. We were told when Prince Harry visited the village, he also ordered the oysters. Great minds think alike!

We headed back to the city on Sunday but not before playing endless games of fetch with Martha in the cottage garden. Martha loved having such a huge yard to run around in. Eventually Martha took to her own game: catch the pheasant. We didn't know where she had wandered off too until a pheasant emerged from the trees and Martha came bounding out of the creek.  

We arrived back on Sunday night - via cab, two trains, bus, and tube - and everyone was worn out, Martha most of all.

Ghent, Belgium

Shane and I finally made our first trip outside Great Britain. We went to Ghent, Belgium for the weekend! For our first trip, we wanted to do something easy. Ghent is a small city located about 30 minutes outside of Brussels, a quick two-hour train from London.

The beauty of an easy trip is being able to the take the train; however, catching our early morning train to Ghent did not go as easy as planned. The trains have changed a bit since I was last in Europe (in college) and now require that you go through security before boarding the train. This may have always been the case but I didn't remember - it is full-on airport security nowadays. Security closes 20 minutes prior to departure so when you arrive at the station 20 minutes prior to departure, it is not ideal. One guard was kind enough to the let us through but told us that we needed to hurry. Hurry we did; so fast that Shane attempted to walk through border control without giving them his passport and I dropped my train ticket running along the platform, but we made it.

The first thing on our itinerary for the weekend: waffles. And they did not disappoint.

We then set off to explore the city. Ghent is small enough that you can walk the whole city, and the sun was out, so we took advantage (we haven't had much sun in London).

On our DIY walking tour of Ghent, we first did a tour of the Castle of the Counts. The Castle of the Counts dates back to the 12th century. The majority of the rooms were empty but a few rooms had old torture tools that we found quite disturbing. The best part of the tour was the view from the top.

After the Castle of the Counts, we viewed the Ghent Altar Piece (what Ghent is known for!) at St. Bavo Cathedral. The painting was beautiful and impressive, however they did not let you take pictures.

We decided the Ghent Altar Piece would be our last tourist stop for the day and popped into a Bierhaus to start our mini-Belgium beer crawl. The first place we stopped was on the canal and we grabbed a spot by the window to admire the view. We then moved to a pub where if you order the largest beer that they have, you have to give them one shoe. When you've finished the beer, your shoe is returned. We decided against the gigantic beer, but we were able to witness a handful of people who were sitting around us with one shoe.

We found Ghent to be the prettiest at night - lights illuminate the buildings along the canal.

The next day we wondered around the city some more and tried a few more Belgium beers before catching the train home to London.

Despite the minor issue with our departure, we'd say our first trip was a success!

London Pooch

In our search for a place to board Martha overnight, we found that the majority of the dog boarders request that your dog be trained off-lead (leash). Multiple boarders told us that even if we thought Martha isn't trained to be off-lead, it is because we have never tried and surely our sweet pooch would be fine. One boarder told me that only dogs that aren't right in the head run from their owners. Well, we tried Martha off-lead, and according to this boarder's theory, she might not be right in the head.

We took Martha to Hampstead Heath for her off-lead training. The Heath is the largest park in London and is in within walking of our flat. Even though the Heath is a quick fifteen minute walk, we decided it was a day of firsts for Martha, so we took her on the tube. Martha loved it! Martha would of preferred to sit on the seat right next to me but Shane claims we need to at least attempt to act like we have a dog that is adequately trained.

Our off-lead training technique for Martha was simple: treats, treats and more treats. Martha is not one to turn down food, so as long as we had something for her to eat, we figured that she wouldn't wonder too far away. We had a whole bag of treats with us. 

As soon as we let her off her lead, Shane was giving Martha treats every minute. She'd take a few steps and look back to Shane for another treat.

Once we got a bit more comfortable, the treats were less frequent and Martha managed to stay relatively close ... at least for a little bit.

Martha loves all dogs, humans and creatures. If a pup was within sight wagging its tail, off ran Martha, wagging her tail. If a couple strolled by, and happened to mention 'cute pooch,' off ran Martha, ready to pounce. We had some people tell us that Martha was brilliant (she is!) and others that we apologized to explaining that she still has a lot of puppy in her. Luckily, almost all of the people that frequent the Heath love dogs. Also, if birds were in the distance, Martha took off. After Martha's attempt to retrieve a bird, we decided that was enough training for the day, and she was back on-lead.

Even though various boarders might not have been concerned about the off-lead issue, after our training day, we still were. Ultimately we decided that it was worth it to pay a tad more to board Martha at a London countryside house with a fenced in 16-acres. No need for the leads as long as there is a fence.