Saturday morning we were up early waiting in the square to be picked up by our son Brendon and his fiancé Jessica. We were off to England for a few days on the south coast at a town named Rye and for all of us it would be the first experience of the Channel-Tunnel. We did not really understand how the crossing was going to work so it was with great interest that we all observed the loading of vehicles onto the train that carries all passengers and vehicles through the tunnel.

Situated on the south coast of England on the River Rother, Rye is an ancient town and claims to be one of the original Cinque Ports. From the look of the vessels on the river it seems like it might still be an active fishing port but it is also clearly a very active tourist town with an abundance of eating houses, hotels and B&Bs. We were there to spend a couple of nights in a famous old hotel called the Mermaid Inn - please note the sign shown in photograph number 3 below.

As luck would have it we happened to be in Rye on a long weekend (Monday was a Bank Holiday as the British call it) and there were a number of groups of Morris Dancers in Town to perform on the Sunday. Their first performance of the day was in the parking area of the Mermaid Hotel.

If one discounts the impact on our waistlines of all that English beer, English breakfasts and chips the weekend was a great success.