Premise: I like signs. 

I like reading street signs or signs that I see in shop windows or tacked on people’s doors. Signs of all sorts. Mostly, I enjoy taking photographs of signs…the funnier, the better.

Yes, photographing gorgeous landscapes or handsome buildings is all fine and dandy…but when I get back home from a holiday, what really puts a smile to my face is looking at the quirky photos I took.

And many of those photos are of amusing signs… 🙂

Therefore, here follows a collection of some of my best “sign” photos from Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall…

The top two–Volvo and Opening Times–were taken in Dunster village, Somerset. I found other “-ish” shop signs during our trip…and they always amused me. Besides, that Volvo sign is precious…one of my favourites!

I took the third photo (“If you want breakfast in bed…” on the right) in Lacock village (see yesterday’s post). Inside the organic soap shop. Hehe. 

Photo no. 4 (on the left): this “One way…Another” sign was stuck on the roof of a thatched cottage in Porlock Weir, a small, cute village and harbour located about 1.5 miles from the coastal village of Porlock (which apparently boasts the most elderly population in England!) in Somerset… 

Photo no. 5: This “Slow!…” sign (on the right) stands at the entrance to the “prettiest village in England,” i.e. Castle Combe (see yesterday’s post). I thought I’d misread it as we were driving past, so, as soon as we’d parked our car, I walked back to have a second look.

Castle Combe also had some handwritten “Slow please. Ducks on road” signs, which was nice for the ducks… 🙂

Land’s End, photo no. 6 (above, left), is a headland in south-western Cornwall. It’s actually the most westerly point in England (mainland, of course)…

I wondered about the “John O’Groats 874” reference (btw, sorry about the shadow that almost entirely obscures the lettering) until we returned to Florence, or rather, until I finally got my hands on a computer and was able to look it up. From Wikipedia: Land’s End to John O’Groats in Scotland is a distance of 838 miles (1,349 km) by road and this Land’s End to John O’Groats distance is often used to define races, walks or charitable events in the UK. Ah, ok. All clear, now… 

Photo no. 7 (also on the left): I took this “Thank you for…” sign inside a tea room in the city of Wells (Somerset) where we visited the cathedral, of course, as well as roaming around the Saturday market located near the cathedral, where Stefano and I bought some Stilton cheese to bring back with us to Florence. I still can’t believe we actually did that…but yes, we did, and in fact we ate our bits of Stilton last night, together with my parents. 🙂 Does “perky” have a different meaning in British English? If not…well, then that definitely is a bit of an odd sign…

Last but not least, here is the helpful “Keep Calm” series. Hehe. I found the complete series (of which these are but a few) in a shop window in Exeter, in Devon, which we visited mainly for its famous cathedral…but where we also ended up having perhaps the best meal of our entire visit, at Angela’s, in New Bridge Street.

After raving with Angela about our meal (I had sea bass surrounded by a lovely sauce that included caramelized ginger, spring onions and definitely some chilli…), the chef, Richard, came out of the kitchen to meet us, which we enjoyed very much…

Okay, now, since you might begin thinking that this is turning into a travel/food blog (NOT!), let me add a link to an article I just finished reading about a new study suggesting that MGUS patients do not receive adequate evaluation, follow-up, or treatment for their condition: http://goo.gl/08FJ6 Eh…