Just back from my holiday to Stoke on Trent. My first dilemma is whether to tell you about this beautiful cottage we stayed in or to keep it a secret. We all felt like lottery millionaires in this fabulous cottage. It was in the middle of the countryside. It had 5 bedrooms, 4 of which had ensuite facilities the 5th room was only a short corridor away from a toilet and sink basin. There were 2 kitchens with cookers, sinks, fridge and freezers. The big kitchen was huge.
There was also a room with a pool table and tv and another family lounge room with a flat screen tv. Two of the bedrooms also had small tv's in them. As me, hubby, mum and the twins arrived first, we all chose the best rooms. We did feel a little guilty, but not enough to give up the rooms we chose. The holiday started off disastrously. Mum slipped and fell in the kitchen. The next day we took her to A & E for an x ray. She had broken her hand. We spent a second day at the bone clinic to make sure the correct plaster cast had been put on her hand. Meanwhile our children, whose age range were from 18 to 27, went off to Alton Towers. Amazingly, they got sunburnt. I say amazingly because the weeks weather was horrendous. It would be dry in the morning and dry in the evenings but during the day when we would go out we would get caught in a huge down pour. Three days we went to Trentham Estate to see the Italian Gardens and each time we would just arrive and the weather would change and we would get caught in a downpour.
The people in and around Stoke on Trent were really nice and helpful. When we arrived at the hospital with mum, other patients who were standing outside helped by getting a wheelchair for mum and even helped me get her into it. And basically anywhere we went people were so nice and friendly and helpful.
The road system in Stoke on Trent was amazing also but it seemed that when people get into their cars their personality took a change. There was little patience for people using SatNavs who weren't sure of where they were going. I blame it on the fact that there were so many speed cameras. It must annoy the residence of Stoke on Trent having so many of these speed cameras.
We didn't manage to get to any of the pottery places either, as mum often didn't feel very well, what with her broken hand and her many other illnesses. Most of the holiday was spent around the pool table in the cottage and watching DVD's or cooking in that huge kitchen. It was also lovely just having all the family around that table eating, drinking and generally spending some quality time together. I think Stoke on Trent would have been a lovely holiday if only the weather had been better and if mum hadn't had that accident.