The 16th of May. There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered. [Nelson Mandela]
We are back in Lyme. Some of the shops may have changed, but the cobb, the beach and the rolling sea remain very much the same. I was incredibly out of breath, walking from the car to the house, which was not the case last time. It was the summer of 2011, and something magical made my lungs work for a glorious few months. I was wheelchair-free and could go where I pleased. That won't be the case much this year, no matter how many squats I've been doing.
The first thing I did was stand on the balcony and take in the view. You can smell the sea. Tonight we've had fish and chips and I am exactly where I need to be.
The 17th of May.
Today was a good day. I had a bit of a weird sleep (the pillows here are super squishy which I am not used to) but I extracted myself from bed at about half nine, sunshine trying to force its way through the curtains.
I spent the morning reading the weekend Guardian and thinking about the fact that I needed coffee. There is a Costa across the road but I really wanted to avoid that if at all possible. I googled "good coffee lyme regis" and found two promising results; one up the hill, one down the hill. I chose the downhill option: Aroma.
Well they make an excellent latte, and I had a really fabulous lunch of a chicken, mozzarella and guacamole with soft herb oil and chilli jam sandwich on granary bread with salad and it was delicious. I had to ask for a spare plate as I couldn't eat it neatly. I needed more space! But yes it was really good and I'll definitely be going back. Plus one of the guys working there was vastly amusing so that's a bonus.
For the rest of the afternoon, I walked down to the cobb and back which took me a good two hours with rests. Now my left hip is hurting a fair bit and I think I might be hobbling tomorrow.
