Planning what next

The fact that I haven't put a lot on here in the last few days doesn't mean I've been idle! Before the visit to soggy Frinton, I'd been to stay with a friend in London overnight and saw a fascinating exhibition of church silverware at the Goldsmiths' Company. There was some spectacular work, some of it very ancient and other pieces right up to the present day. After Frinton, I went on to see a friend who used to live in Worcester but now lives in Surrey.

I'm now sorting out what I should do from next week onward, and I've booked myself a week in Norfolk, which is mainly to give me a bit of quiet reflection time but I will also have the chance to go to Walsingham. I've been to the Anglican shrine before, but never visited the Roman Catholic one. After that, I'm going to Rome for five days, and will take the opportunity while there to visit Assisi, which is only a couple of hours away on the train. Because of the time at my disposal, I'm flying to Rome from Bristol, and then back to Paris, for the final bit of my trip in northern France and Germany. I hope that my environmentalist friends will forgive me two flights in three months - I did pay the supplement for carbon offsetting!