adrienne's Tour Diary

After witnessing some of Sheffield's dance festival in the town centre (women wearing sleeveless saris and skirts in 40 degree weather while dancing to recorded music piped in over loudspeakers) we drove into Hessle along the Humber, the same approach the train takes into Hull from Kings Cross. Following the directions beyond The Weir, we found Michaela's house and parked in the back. The first pub we went to was smokey so we walked down to the river and had another drink at a different pub on the water, walking past 7 bedroom mansions from the 1800s that sell for around $400K. Michaela shared some local history, as she is a history professional, and also informed us that the recent Pirates of the Caribbean, starring my mom's favorite, Johnny Depp, is an inaccurate portrayal of that period's sea trade. Her brother, however, recently had coffee with Orlando Bloom.
On the way back from the river we did some shopping at Somerfield's. I have to mentally and physically refrain myself from buying lots of Cheesy Wotsits and Cadbury bars. We bought wine to go with dinner and some Kleenex.
Michaela made a Jamie Oliver pasta with aubergine and mozzerella recipe that was delicious. I took a shower after dinner and, for the first time in over a week, was not perplexed at how to operate the shower, change temperature, turn it on/off or increase water pressure. What a relief. I was beginning to suffer shower operation anxiety but now feel that my confidence may return.
Chris has been carrying a Hong Kong copy of Kung Fu Hustle on DVD so he tried it in Michaela's DVD player and we kept our fingers crossed that it'd work and we wouldn't be left with watching Harrison Ford's Random Hearts on TV. The film began and there was no sound, but the picture was clear. CW figured out the sound issue and we watched the film, which would have made an excellent 30 minute comedy, but as a feature length it dragged and suffered from long unfunny spells, during which I napped.