An Evening in Ely

Its been a while since we woke to the delightful sensation of remembering that although everything looks the same, you are not where you were the night before! We spent the morning pottering about Ely, waiting for the imminent arrival of the Warriors and the Moominclan on Melaleuca. The Warriors were first to arrive, and Melaleuca about an hour an a half later having stopped for water in Littleport. In the meantime, we went to Peacocks with Jim and Sarah, and sadly it wasn't as good as when we went last. But the teacups and saucers were still painstakingly mismatched, the list of teas even longer than before and the tea tasty (although both Sarah and I felt that ours was a little weak). It felt like a holiday, anyway, to go there with friends.


James helps the Moomins moor up

Soon we spotted Melaleuca, complete with the whole family on board, and they breasted up to us. We had not met Simon and Ann's daughers Alice and Jess before so it was great to finally get a chance to speak to them (and they are both lovely). I had looked up where we should go for drinks in the evening, and bearing in mind that Jim and Sarah are connoisseurs of real ale, chose the Price Albert, recomended by CAMRA as being a 'jolly good pub' for real ale. According to Jim's guide, it didn't do food, so we headed to the Cutter for dinner, where we met Alex, a Canadian liveaboard boater in Ely who crewed for Jim on Warrior last year and a very nice chap indeed. We took a somewhat circuitous route to the Price Albert, but once there, found it to be a quiet, friendly place that DID do food after all. Ah well. A Good Time was Had By All, and Jim, Sarah, Alex, James and I stayed til gone closing time.

Apologies if this is a carbon copy of Sarah's account, but we did do the same things all evening! I am also somewhat worse for wear after yesterday's excesses, so not up to much!

Today the Duck and the Moomins have headed back into Cambridge, to be followed later by Warrior. I have to be at work, alas!