Otter
Otter
Originally uploaded by groan. As part of the preliminaries to my birthday I went to London Zoo yesterday (more pics on flickr).
I think my favourites were the otters - there was a whole host of 'em - scampering and mewling and generally being very entertaining. Hurrah for litheness!
I also went to Bertorelli for dinner which was a much less agreeable experience. The restaurant was full, so we ate in the "Caffe" downstairs. The service was slow (a couple next to us had been waiting 45 minutes for their starter) - the portions were tiny (I had veal milanese and the spaghetti came in a dish about half the size of a small saucer) - and the tables were cramped.
I complained and got a 15% reduction, which was a barely adequate gesture. I chatted with the waiter - who was charming, but clearly wildly over-stretched - and he mentioned that they were having problems in the kitchen with a new chef.
On the way out we saw Alan "may he live forever" Rickman on his way in - we almost warned him off, but didn't. Should have done really. Ah well.