D had Saturday off work, his first Saturday off in ages. We decided to make the most of it and head off in the car for a day out. We fancied the coast, so we set off in an easterly direction. Our first port of call was Bury St Edmunds - it was time for coffee. Bury is a market town in Suffolk, we arrived as the Saturday market was in full swing, bustling with stalls and people. We wandered down some pretty streets, spotted an old couple on a tandem with a basket on the back - a little cat or dog inside (my dream one day). We enjoyed coffee and shared a cheese scone in the Scandinavian coffee house, stopped in the market to buy homemade bread and butter pudding, lemon tart, chocolate brownie and a sausage roll (greedy but they looked too good to miss).
Back in the car we headed further east to Snape Maltings. We ate lunch in the cafe, locally smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for me and homemade burger and chunky chips for D - both yummy. We wandered around the outside discovering sculptures, my favourite 'Migrant' directly below by Alison Wilding, I loved the way they'd been sunk into the ditch sneaking stealthily along. There are also works by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.
We loved this rusty metal building which appeared to have grown up out of an old tumbledown brick dovecote. We browsed around an incredibly organised antique shop which seemed to have everything you could ever want! But amazingly managed to save our pennies and leave empty handed.
Next stop Aldeburgh on the east coast. We walked along the beach, an incredible day for it, as the east coast can be really blowy, cold and bleak! We stumbled across an amazing little gallery 'The Aldeburgh Beach South Lookout and Art House'. Inside We found Francis and Caroline who were very friendly offering us wine and telling us all about the works on display. Quite surreal to see a Picasso hung on one door and a Hockney on the other, opening onto the beach!
We mooched about it was quite busy but in a nice way, apparently Ian Hislop was in town for the literary festival which was taking place and there was a real buzz of excitement. Lots of lovely little galleries and shops to look in, not enough time this visit so we've already made a plan to return soon. Though we did buy a few bits and bobs, some neon lights to brighten our lounge, and a huge chopping board, some bangles and LP's from the charity shop (I'll try and show you in another post).
With the long drive home ahead of us we set off again, taking the coast road to Thorpeness as I was desperate to set eyes on my favourite house, 'The House in the Clouds' - I've loved it since I first saw it as a little girl, it's just magical.
One of our best days out in a long time, a combination of amazing weather and not having a set plan of where we were going - like a proper adventure! Plus a boot full of cakes to feed us when we arrived home.