There are times I'm so glad I do what I do for a living. Last week I spent a couple of days visiting far flung corners of England to brain storm ideas for a forthcoming series of features.
The weather helped of course but the the train journey from Exeter to Plymouth is amazing. The train track hugs the coast for a while before heading inland through beautiful Devon countryside.
Plymouth itself is a mish-mash of beautiful old cobbled streets and buildings that have survived through it's long naval-city history and awful mid-20th Century architecture owing to the fact that it was bombed to buggery during the second world war.
My first meeting was over looking Sutton Harbour and with views like this you can't complain.
After a swin and dinner in a fab little Japanese restaurant I decided to take a stroll around the city's waterfront (including Sutton above). The sun was starting to go down.
There was a small fun fair on the top of the Hoe and this would have been a fab shot if only I'd caught the word 'buzin' fully lit up.
The next day I caught the train up to Bristol and was treated to a boat trip around the city's centre so I could get a feel for the development going on. The weather was gorgeous, the views stunning, the trip informative and it beat being sat back in the office staring at a computer screen. Didn't take any pictures - well I was technically in a meeting.
And to top it all I've got a bag of feature ideas to take back to the office on Monday morning.
More pics at flickr