Saluti da Firenze!
Well, the blog was a good idea at the time but as usual with my correspondance I've been a bit lax. I've had a busy time since my first post, mostly just pottering about Bocken over the Christmas/New Year period and revisiting old haunts like Great Missenden, Amersham, Chesham and Beaconsfield. Plus Pud and I have been trampling over the fields each day reaquainting ourselves with the different rights of way.
Christmas was the usual over indulgence, including brandy butter and rest of the festive trappings. No sooner does lunch finish when it's time for tea, and then supper. Hilary bought an entire round of Stilton so Dad would have been in his element. Two days after Christmas Bob and Liz came up for dinner, bringing with them a bottle of 1987 Grange so I finally got to try it - and it was good!!! Seeing in the new year involved watching the entire adaptation of 'Pride and Prejudice' (all 6 hours of it so we didn't finish it until 4am!!). Having scarcely retired for the night, I then jumped on a train and headed into central London to meet up with Rubee who was staying with her cousin Kate in Cambridge. We spent the day just strolling really, after observing but soon tiring of the annual London Parade. The incongruous sight of a gaggle of cheerleaders chanting 'Happy New Year' was just too much to bear.
January 3 was the Ritz Experience - completely over the top in the gilt mirrored restaurant overlooking Green Park. Luckily Romie provided me with suitable clothing for the event. I had a champagne cocktail to begin, then game terrine with vegetables a` la grecque and truffle brioche (I'm afraid I avoided the truffle part), then stuffed saddle of lamb with spring vegetables (absolutely divine, and a 'Ritz Classic') accompanied by Chilean
merlot. Bruce managed to avoid ordering a 1996 bottle of Grange for 500 quids!!! Dessert was a 'Frivolity of Chocolate', followed by coffee and a selection of friandises. It was delicious!!! Margaret Thatcher was lunching but she was the only famous person we spotted. I managed to snap one photo in the foyer but was told off by one of the flunkeys for breaking the hotel's 'No camera policy'. Oh well, I took one snap at least, which I will load on once I have recovered from my technophobia.
My last day at Bocken was spent taking Pud for one last walk before I tackled the nightmare of packing. Needless to say, and quite inexplicably, my gear didn't fit even though I hadn't bought anything new. Hence, a repacking once I got to Romie's that night was essential, with some things to go back to Bocken, but at least it all went in! Still, it's a scary thought if I'm having luggage issues at the start of a trip - or perhaps I'll be investing in Italian Post before I leave. Hilary and I then went in to Leicester Square to see 'Atonement' before it finished. It was very good and the cinema where we saw it was this tiny little studio cinema which only held about 50 people at the most. Another strange observation I made was the number of beer ads prior to the screening, alternated with really graphic ads for drink driving and sensible alcoholic consumption. Strange!
My easyJet flight to Pisa was uneventful once we got in the air. I had a slight panic getting from Turnham Green Terrace to Victoria because a signal fault at Gloucester Road meant a big backlog of trains, but I got there eventually. At half the price of the Gatwick Express, Southern Trains were a much better option too. There's a new and ridiculous rule about taking only one bag on the plane with you from the UK - after clearing Check in etc everyone ignores this with their sacks of duty free etc. I gather that there have been so many complaints that the rule is soon to change. The free seating allocation method employed by easyJet was also clearly destined to be a disaster with a full plane load of Italians whose ability to follow instructions is non-existent. I waited for the scrum to pass before I boarded, and of course, the whole thing was repeated on arrival, except that we had to take a bus to the terminal which had to wait for all of the passengers anyway. Just crazy!!!
After all of these trials and tribulations, I finally met Rubee who was already ensconced in the rather charming Hotel Gallileo. It's nice there!!!! We didn't really do much due to being in holiday mode as well as having to cope with the persistent and annoying drizzle. The usual things - strolling the streets, indulging in coffee (me) and the odd gelato, checking out the markets and Christmas lights, the people dressed in befana and medieval costumes for the parade in honour of the Three Kings, eating too much....like I said, the usual. Besides being alternatively amused and annoyed by loud and ignorant American tourists, that is. After all, what makes noodles green??? And why can't they order a plate of vegetables with tomato sauce on the side?? Or insisting on having each item on the menu explained to them, even though it was already all listed in English! Strange! The poor waiters actually displayed surprising patience.
Rubee has once again departed for Madrid, and my adventure in Perugia awaits. A presto!
Well, the blog was a good idea at the time but as usual with my correspondance I've been a bit lax. I've had a busy time since my first post, mostly just pottering about Bocken over the Christmas/New Year period and revisiting old haunts like Great Missenden, Amersham, Chesham and Beaconsfield. Plus Pud and I have been trampling over the fields each day reaquainting ourselves with the different rights of way.
Christmas was the usual over indulgence, including brandy butter and rest of the festive trappings. No sooner does lunch finish when it's time for tea, and then supper. Hilary bought an entire round of Stilton so Dad would have been in his element. Two days after Christmas Bob and Liz came up for dinner, bringing with them a bottle of 1987 Grange so I finally got to try it - and it was good!!! Seeing in the new year involved watching the entire adaptation of 'Pride and Prejudice' (all 6 hours of it so we didn't finish it until 4am!!). Having scarcely retired for the night, I then jumped on a train and headed into central London to meet up with Rubee who was staying with her cousin Kate in Cambridge. We spent the day just strolling really, after observing but soon tiring of the annual London Parade. The incongruous sight of a gaggle of cheerleaders chanting 'Happy New Year' was just too much to bear.
January 3 was the Ritz Experience - completely over the top in the gilt mirrored restaurant overlooking Green Park. Luckily Romie provided me with suitable clothing for the event. I had a champagne cocktail to begin, then game terrine with vegetables a` la grecque and truffle brioche (I'm afraid I avoided the truffle part), then stuffed saddle of lamb with spring vegetables (absolutely divine, and a 'Ritz Classic') accompanied by Chilean
merlot. Bruce managed to avoid ordering a 1996 bottle of Grange for 500 quids!!! Dessert was a 'Frivolity of Chocolate', followed by coffee and a selection of friandises. It was delicious!!! Margaret Thatcher was lunching but she was the only famous person we spotted. I managed to snap one photo in the foyer but was told off by one of the flunkeys for breaking the hotel's 'No camera policy'. Oh well, I took one snap at least, which I will load on once I have recovered from my technophobia.My last day at Bocken was spent taking Pud for one last walk before I tackled the nightmare of packing. Needless to say, and quite inexplicably, my gear didn't fit even though I hadn't bought anything new. Hence, a repacking once I got to Romie's that night was essential, with some things to go back to Bocken, but at least it all went in! Still, it's a scary thought if I'm having luggage issues at the start of a trip - or perhaps I'll be investing in Italian Post before I leave. Hilary and I then went in to Leicester Square to see 'Atonement' before it finished. It was very good and the cinema where we saw it was this tiny little studio cinema which only held about 50 people at the most. Another strange observation I made was the number of beer ads prior to the screening, alternated with really graphic ads for drink driving and sensible alcoholic consumption. Strange!
My easyJet flight to Pisa was uneventful once we got in the air. I had a slight panic getting from Turnham Green Terrace to Victoria because a signal fault at Gloucester Road meant a big backlog of trains, but I got there eventually. At half the price of the Gatwick Express, Southern Trains were a much better option too. There's a new and ridiculous rule about taking only one bag on the plane with you from the UK - after clearing Check in etc everyone ignores this with their sacks of duty free etc. I gather that there have been so many complaints that the rule is soon to change. The free seating allocation method employed by easyJet was also clearly destined to be a disaster with a full plane load of Italians whose ability to follow instructions is non-existent. I waited for the scrum to pass before I boarded, and of course, the whole thing was repeated on arrival, except that we had to take a bus to the terminal which had to wait for all of the passengers anyway. Just crazy!!!
After all of these trials and tribulations, I finally met Rubee who was already ensconced in the rather charming Hotel Gallileo. It's nice there!!!! We didn't really do much due to being in holiday mode as well as having to cope with the persistent and annoying drizzle. The usual things - strolling the streets, indulging in coffee (me) and the odd gelato, checking out the markets and Christmas lights, the people dressed in befana and medieval costumes for the parade in honour of the Three Kings, eating too much....like I said, the usual. Besides being alternatively amused and annoyed by loud and ignorant American tourists, that is. After all, what makes noodles green??? And why can't they order a plate of vegetables with tomato sauce on the side?? Or insisting on having each item on the menu explained to them, even though it was already all listed in English! Strange! The poor waiters actually displayed surprising patience.
Rubee has once again departed for Madrid, and my adventure in Perugia awaits. A presto!
No comments:
Post a Comment