Illuminated

I had a good night's sleep. After a late breakfast, we took a bus to Newport. It was raining quite heavily as we left. We're on the receiving end of weather from Storm Bert. While the epicentre is north of here, there's a lot of rain, and the wind makes it feel close to zero. My woollen hat was on.

We visited Quay Arts to see the exhibition of hats from the Sandown Hat Parade: Hats Off to Sandown. It was nice to see some of the hats we'd seen paraded on the beach last summer up close. There was even a video of the event where we spotted ourselves in the background. There's a lot of artistry in the creations. We've already put the date of next year's parade in the diary. Even though it doesn't last long, it's fun.

Afterwards, lunch in the centre's café. I had to look up what a 'homity pie' is: "pastry containing a filling of potatoes, onion and leeks, with cheese". We both had one, and it was delicious. After lunch, I stopped in the gift shop and bought an owl advent calendar to send to Mum and Dad so they could take it with them on their holiday, open advent doors, and think of home while they were away.

On the walk back, the Guildhall was all lit up for Christmas, and I thought it was very well done. I am not sure it was dark enough to get the full effect, but it looked really good.