I had the misfortune to spend some time in Goole the other day. Roberto wanted to get the car checked and his aircon re-whatsit-ed so we took it to Kwik Fit in Goole, only because it's easier to park there than at the Beverley one.
Everything in Goole looks grey and the main shopping street is full of tat shops, charity shops, sell your granny for cash shops. It is, mes chers amis, quite depressing to walk through. There are very few recognisable high street shops and the few that were there looked extremely drab and grey and very uninviting. Even the people looked grey and depressed. It was like a scene from the early '80s recession.
We decided to kill some time and go to the Tesco coffee shop (yes, we were that desperate). The café itself looked quite dirty and tables hadn't been cleared away or wiped. We picked up a couple of sandwiches and filled up two mini tea pots for a cup of tea. Doris, who was serving, immediately decided to go into the back and start washing dishes, so we waited and waited. There was another lady making a toasted sandwich for someone so I asked her politely if anyone was serving. She said "just a minute, loove" and went in search of Doris. Neither lady was seen again. We walked out.
Fortunately we found a nice bakery/café across the road with very pleasant ladies serving. They were the first people I had seen smiling since I arrived in Goole. We both felt quite down on the way home. It really was that bad.
Anyway, depression over and excitement is taking over. We are off on our travels for a few days down south. We will be starting at Burford in the Cotswolds, visiting Oxford from there and then going further down to the New Forest. Can't wait!
Missing you madly already, mes amis. Squeak soon.
