Colchester - day 1

I had an experience of the old and the new today In the Colchester area. Rich took us to Mersea Island where we took in the sights of a small fishing village that reminded me of a New England town without all it's commercialism.  The estuary was filled with fishing vessels and recreational boats and the village is a mix of vacation homes, beach huts, houseboats and year round homes. We had a spot of coffee and toasted tea cakes, which turned out to be rolls, rather than sweet cake 

We stopped at Sainsbury's a large supermarket chain where I had a mind blowing experience--Scan n' Go, where you scan in everything as you shop, which makes checkout a simple swipe of your credit or debit card and out you go.  They even have carts that allow you to take an escalator to the second story whose brakes are controlled by a magnetic system of control by the escalator and the wheels of the cart.  It's just a matter of time before that catches on inthe US.