Travel Warning

A word of warning to anyone thinking of vacationing in the UK over winter. You will at some point be struck down by a cold or flu of some description. With such a dense population, the viruses spread like wildfire. It is inevitable, and I am no different. Here I am about to go to London again (to visit Harrods this time), and my head is throbbing, my body thermostat broken, and my nose is all red and rendered useless.

I need some sunshine!

London

We spent the day yesterday in London; and I FINALLY had a cup of coffee that came close to the standard back home (but not all the way) at Flat White Cafe (http://www.flat-white.co.uk/). We did some shopping in the huge HMV store on Oxford Street, before diving into Wagamama in Camden for lunch. I can see why the stores didn't take off in NZ, but it was nice enough. Then... off to the Tower of London for a very cold tour...

Oh, and it was a great night for taking photos!

Snow!

Back in Northampton, a day to take it easy. I looked out my window this morning, and behold - we finally have snow!

Edinburgh New Year

Midnight on New Years Eve in Edinburgh (with a cameo appearance from my mum & Chris):

Brown's Pie Shop & Restaurant

This afternoon in Lincoln, we had lunch at the feted 'Brown's Pie Shop & Restaurant' (http://www.brownspieshop.co.uk), which would have to be the first true culinary highlight of this visit to the UK. With real old-world warm interior, we dined in the cellar, a snug place that was a welcome respite from the cold outside. I had the wild game pie with an Orange, Madeira & Thyme sauce, and I can honestly say for the first time in my life I have found a pie to rival Chrissy's own internationally famous Venison Pie! But I surely find myself missing the coffee at Bodyfuel more than ever. The service at Brown's however was brilliant, and the first truly good service I've had from anyone in the UK. Service standards in my home country have proved to be disappointing so far. I only wish I could dine at Brown's again before I leave!

So That Was Christmas

Hello all! I hope you have had a very merry Christmas, wherever you are. As for myself, I've had a good, but jetlagged one, hence no blog updates since I landed on British soil. But I can condense the experience into a few salient highlights from the last few days:

• When I came out of arrivals at the airport, my mother literally didn't recognize me. It was strange seeing her in the flesh for the first time in three years, and doubtless the experience was reciprocated!
• Going shopping on the British high-street on the 23rd, I re-discovered a few things I had conveniently forgotten; number one how terrible the coffee is. number two how dire the food served in cafes and restaraunts; number three how unfriendly and paranoid the average Brit has become; and four just how damn many people there are here. I swear I've lost all my street-navigation skills.
• My sister says it's nice to see me, but it's hard getting used to the new 'muscle mania' Charles.
• 
• Christmas day, I cooked the full Christmas dinner for the family in my mother's tiny kitchen; that was the turkey, potato served three ways (roast, mashed and boiled since people all wanted it different), stuffing, roast parsnip, roast sweet potato, sprouts, cabbage, carrots, asparagus, gravy, miniture sausages... getting the spread on the table, I was actually quite proud. I fell asleep sitting in the living-room chair however afterwards, leaving me quite unable to enjoy the Christmas special Doctor Who - or the Christmas pudding.
• Boxing day - going to the river Nene and feeding ducks; too much food and too much leftovers. Just like I remember british Christmases to be!
• The only thing I got for Christmas was more t-shirts. Fancy that...

Tomorrow, we leave Northampton and go to Lincolnshire!

UK!

We're here.... finally! The rest of the journey was a breeze. Nothing to report - which is a good thing! Only once I was at Frankfurt airport, the German authorities grabbed me from the security screening queue, and asked me to follow them to a separate area for a further test... eek, I nearly imagined that they were going to go all rubber-glove on me. Turned out they only wanted to swab my laptop for traces of drugs or explosives (!)