Brighton

We had a great day trip to Brighton, full of sun and fun. I'm lucky enough that Anna wrote about it in an email, and therefore I'm going to cut and paste her as today's guest writer :)

I know Mike keeps you up to date on our comings and goings, but he probably hasn't yet told you we had a lovely day in Brighton on Saturday. Of course we were thinking of Andy - and wondering whether or not he might appreciate a tacky souvenir. It was lovely being by the sea again - but its very much an urban beach - kind of like having a beach at the end of Queen Street. It was a bit smelly - we assume the clubbing crowds use it as a toilet. But besides that it was pretty cool.

Lovely Brighton Cove

Jellied eels!

We had a great time on the pier. Mike went on both of the roller coasters and also bought some Brighton rock candy.

Then we checked out the Royal Pavilion - King somethingorother's [George IV] holiday Palace. Well worth the visit. It was done in an Oriental / Russian / Indian style - with large onion-shaped domes. The interior is all 'chinoiserie' - a British / French interpretation of Chinese styling. Mike and I have never seen anything like it before - truly fascinating. Plus we had a cream tea there - which always hits the spot : )

Fortnightly catch-up

I need to write a couple of entries, but I thought I'd just summarise what we've been up to recently. Last Monday we went and saw the stage production of Fiddler on the Roof at the Savoy Theatre with Selina and Rachel. Anna and I really enjoyed it, but the girls were a bit restless. Funnily enough, this is the first time either of us have sat through the whole play - despite having met during the production of one over a decade ago.

On Wednesday we caught up with Gidon and Connor, and had a few drinks at the Dog & Duck in Soho before seeing the Simpsons movie (which is great, by the way). Visiting the pub was attended by all the usual historical observations that one gets in London - it was a favourite hang-out for George Orwell, and nearby Frith Street was home to Mozart, John Constable and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Friday night we met up with Selina, Rachel, Brooke and others for some drinks at an over-priced joint by Leicester Square. Quite a crowd.

Saturday was sunny again, so we finally had our long-discussed trip to Brighton. We really enjoyed having a nosey around Andy's home town. The sea looked beautiful and sparkly, but the beach was stoney and smelled liked wee. I went on two different rollercoasters on Brighton Pier, and bought a stick of rock.

Sunday we went to a pub quiz in Angel with Connor. We called ourselves "Quentin Tarantino's chin". We didn't fare too badly for a three-person team, but nor did we cover ourselves in glory. We have sworn to make a greater impact this weekend.

This week has been extra busy. We had dinner with Hugo on Monday, at a Belgium pub called Bierodrome (great name!) in Angel/Islington. The food was average, but I had a couple of really great beers. They were fruit beers (with a weiss, not lambic, base) - coconut and apple. Mmm.

Tuesday I had a Guinness with Andy at lunchtime to discuss plans for his short film, which we are shooting in November. After work I met James for a vegie dinner at Food for Thought, before hitting the Skinny Puppy concert at the Astoria in Soho. They are a prominent oldskool industrial band, and the crowd was a pretty eclectic group of freaks (ourselves excluded, of course). Needless to say, it was an awesome gig, and I will be posting photos soon.

Thursday we went to a great vegetarian restaurant in Primrose Hill called Manna, with James and Alisha. They have an amazing menu. I had a

dill, lemon, lapsang & seaweed caviar tofu timbale with grilled fennel and tomato & mustard sauce topped with caper & dijon mayonnaise on warm new potato and pickled aubergine salad

and Anna had

organic tortelloni pasta parcels filled with grilled aubergine, courgette, red pepper, ricotta & blue cheese in a creamy spinach sauce with a watercress, rocket, pine nut & sun dried tomato salad

Fancypants!

Tonight I'm off to see John Waters with Andy. I'm hoping to get a copy of Serial Mom signed by the man himself!

Sunny Sunday in the Cotswolds

Anna and I, together with Selina and Rachel, went on a daytrip to the "Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty", a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the "Heart of England". It certainly was very picturesque, and we had probably the best weekend of the summer so far.

Our first destination was Burford (from the Old English burh meaning fortified town, and ford).

A popular spot for antiques shops - one for every 33 residents - its most notable sight is the 15th C Norman parish church. There was a great graveyard, with lots of interesting carved tombstones.

I just about took a dip in the nearby River Windrush, but was dissuaded at the last minute. Instead I visited the little museum (originally the Tolsey wool centre) and bought some fudge and boiled lollies at the sweet shop.

According to wikipedia, the GI Joe character "Big Ben" was from Burford.

Next stop, Stow-on-the-wold, an historic market town.

We lost most of our time here eating a somewhat average pub lunch at the plain end of town (whoops!) but we did have time to take a turn in the stocks.

Stow's chief claim to history is its role in the English Civil War. A number of fights took place around the area, the local church of St. Edward being damaged in one such skirmish. On 21 March 1646, the Royalists, commanded by Sir Jacob Astley, were defeated at Stow, with hundreds of prisoners being confined for some time in St. Edwards.

Our last stop was Bourton-on-the-water, known as the "Venice of the Cotswolds". It was a very pretty, though exceedingly tourist-busy place, which I found quite familiar. I wonder whether we came here, or to a similar town, on the great Travis family UK tour of '84?

The mighty River Windrush hurtles through the middle of this town as well. In all honesty, it's actually a sedate little thing, only running a couple of feet deep. It's spanned by a plethora of wee footbridges and, when were there, was home to lots of small children with butterfly nets. (Catching leaves perhaps?)

We did our tourist duty and visited some of the attractions. The first was the Dragonfly Maze, a yew maze designed by Kit Williams (of Masquerade fame). The object is not only to reach the pavilion at the centre, but to gather clues to access the maze's final secret. (Which I just spoiled here...)

The second was a disappointing an over-priced 1:10 model village (at the Old New Inn), which did at least feature a model of the model in the model.

Time for a nap on the long bus ride back into London!

Sunny Saturday

Went for a free tour around the famed Somerset House, a large Neoclassical building from the 1700s in central London.

Originally a mansion overlooking the salmon-rich waters of the Thames (no, really), it passed through various Royal hands over the years, and also a number of renovations. In 1771, massive work was undertaken to turn the site into public offices for (variously) the Navy, the Salt Office, the Stamp Office, the Publick Lottery Office, the Hawkers and Pedlar Office, the Hackney Coach Office, etc etc, and the IRD.

Thames entrace...

Impressively structured on a number of levels, the final building incorporates reclaimed land and a vast courtyard. The main government department in the early days was the Admiralty, leading to the legend that Nelson worked in the building for a time.

Old Catholic graves left over from the original mansion church...

There is an array of fountains the central courtyard, which fire vertical jets of water to random heights. Great fun on a blistering hot summer's day!

Walked to St James park (via the Strand and Trafalgar Square) afterward to chill out with Connor and Jimmy Gunson.

In the evening we had a house warming party at my boss' house. We had to catch an overland train, the Underground, and the DLR to get there.

It was great big Australian-style apartment complex in Pontoon Dock, overlooking the Thmaes Barrier. This is a flood control structure (the second largest movable flood barrier in the wolrd), spanning 523 metres.

Cath's rabbits were about, but not feeling too approachable. (That's Anna's hand with a basil leaf, and even this tasty treat couldn't tempt Pootle to come closer...)

Dave and Cath's ice tray. Where can I get one?

The boss at the BBQ. Just like home!

A wonderfully orange moon over the city, as seen from the apartment deck. Must be the smog that gives it that colour, because I've never seend anything like it - yet, to the English, it was a perfectly common sight!

Hampstead

Finally some sun! We went for a nice walk around the shops in Hampstead, and stopped by the heath to sit next to the ponds.