It's been a balmy 27° day in Manchester today. Much as I don't mind colder weather the sun really brings out the best in a place.

G&T on the deck this evening.

We're in Florence! We left a balmy day in Manchester for a scorchio afternoon in Florence. Lynda, Paul, Hamish and Blake are arriving here tomorrow and we'll do a bunch of museumy, churchy and arty things with them then.

It's-a me-a!

This was in the train toilet on the way from Pisa to Florence. Kinda glad I didn't have a declenchement while in there.

Celebrating Paul's 50th in proper Italian style.

Went to the premier league darts at Manchester Arena tonight. Madness. I've never seen a whiter, middle-ager crowd. Pretty fun though.

This is from our visit with the Murphys to Villa Gamberaia near Florence.

This morning we're heading to Hull where we'll start our Yorkshire Wolds walk over three days (it's a bank holiday weekend here). We're not going to make it all the way to Scarborough unfortunately so will have to do that bit some other time.

The weather forecast looks like it's going to be perfect. Temperatures in the mid-20s.

The Humber Bridge

Lots of shady forest walking. Good because it's pretty warm out in the open.

This is where we're staying tonight. There's a spa which is much needed.

[edit: this place is a bit disappointing. Lovely on the outside but a few problems inside. Ended up walking back into town where we found a nice little Italian restaurant.]

Started the day today with a jacuzzi and hotel breakfast where you nonchalantly demolish four courses and need a little lie down before checking out.

Very hot all day and not much shade.

Near this area we found an active badger sett with about 6 entrances. Lots of tracks out over the fields from their regular foraging trips (no, I'm not thinking of the agricultural ones in the rapeseed field above although if there were kids around I'd have lied about those).

Lots of mole mounds in the area, too.

We're in Market Weighton for the evening. We stopped at an old pub in Goodmanham where we rediscovered that a lager shandy is by far the best drink after a hot walk.

Took us 5 hours to walk 23km plus over an hour of 'not moving' according to my map app. We're not terribly fit but then we're not in much of a hurry.

Here I am with the trip update ... this is our third day and I am sitting in the 'estate' Loughborough. This the site of the main house but it has been demolished - all the houses for the help are still around and pretty fine in their own rights. 

We had an early start from Market Weighton (is sometimes so much easier if you don't have free brekkie). Was still very warm though, but in a good way. 

We had to break away from the track to make our way to Pocklington to catch our bus back to York.  A few pints (yes, of shandy again) and a spot of lunch in the Black Bull before we jumped on the bus to the railway station.

Some more (half) pints in the railway pub and then a train back to sunny Manchester. 

9pm in Paris

We've done two walking tours today and just about to do a river cruise. Here's Sacré-Cœur