At Home in London with Tom & steve
steve and Tom are here! It's so good to see them! We've been having fun
and doing lots of stuff, but the best part is just hanging out together.
They arrived first thing on Thursday morning. We walked up Green Lanes to
one of the little bakery places and got coffee, since steve was dying for
it. Then we sat around for an hour catching up before I persuaded them to
have a nap. I woke them up for lunch and then the three of us went out for
a long wander.
We started in Picadilly Square, stopped in at Waterstones and Fortnum &
Mason briefly, and then walked down through Green Park to Buckingham
Palace. From there we strolled along The Mall through St. James Park to
Trafalgar Square. We headed down the Strand as far as Somerset House and
cut through there to the river. We walked back along the Embankment and
then up through Covent Garden and over to Charing Cross Road. By then we
were all ready to sit for a bit, so we stopped into Molly Mogg's for a pint
and a rest before meeting Jason for dinner at Brown's. They were swamped,
but cleared out at theatre time, so we had a drink and then were shown to
our table.
We split bowls of their spinach & leek soup and plates of goats cheese with
either walnuts or figs and parma ham. Tom followed my lead and had the
chicken & leek pie, while steve had the steak & Guiness pie and Jason struck
out in a different direction for the fillet of venison. Then we split
sticky toffee pudding and peach creme brulee for dessert and had to roll
ourselves home.
On Friday I took steve & Tom to the British Museum. We ended up spending
the whole afternoon there, leaving just in time to meet Jason at YMing for a
lovely meal. Back at the house we watched the women's skating final and
then went to Sainsbury's so they could see all the strange food we've got
here and steve could buy ingredients for the dessert he wanted to make. I
was dead on my feet by the time we got home, so I just pointed steve at the
kitchen and went to sleep.
When I woke up on Saturday morning, the house smelled wonderful and there
was a caramel cake and poached pears cooling. Tom & Jason headed out to see
Westminster Abbey, but sadly, it was closed to tourists for the day, so they
ended up at the Banqueting Hall--where Charles I was beheaded--instead and
then stopped into the National Portrait Gallery for a look at the Tudors. I
got steve up and moving and sent him off to meet Tom at Barbara's. Jason
came home and we had a nice afternoon together. In the evening, Tom & steve
returned with Barbara in tow and we watched the skating exhibitions and ate
my tarragon chicken with chanterelles and steve's wonderful dessert.
Afterwards we watched more skating and hung out until we were all falling
asleep. Barbara stayed on our couch, so we could continue to hang out in
the morning.
That morning was a nice, long, slow one. I got various stuff done and
eventually the others woke up. We were finally ready to leave the house
around two and decided to go to Yo Sushi for lunch, which was lot of fun.
Jason headed home and Barbara went off to get ready for her date. steve,
Tom and I tried to go to the BBC Experience, but it's gone! The shop is
still there, but there's no sign the "experience" ever existed. So we
walked down Regent Street in the rain to Picadilly Circus, where I pointed
out the Waterstone's, the Virgin Megastore and the tube station and left
them to spend the rest of the afternoon browsing while I went home. In the
evening we ordered pizza and played Trivial Pursuit.
On Monday we had tickets to see the Warhol exhibit at the Tate Modern.
Jason decided he needed to stay home and work, so it was just the three of
us. The exhibit was quite good and displayed a wider variety of Warhol's
work than I'd seen before. We especially enjoyed one room of his very early
work. We took a break and went over to the pub on the waterfront right near
the museum for lunch of fish & chips, then dove back into the permanent
collection. There had been some changes since the last time I went through
the galleries, so I enjoyed a chance to see them again. We left just after
five and walked across the newly re-opened Milennium Bridge toward
St. Paul's and then hopped on the tube down to Harrod's. We spent an hour
roaming the food halls, buying whatever appealed to us, and came home for a
noshing dinner of roast beef, prawns in dill cream sauce, beef bourgignon,
spinach fritters, a chicken/basil/pine nut pasty, smoked duck breast, duck
liver pate, and three different kinds of goat cheese on fresh bread. Sadly,
the Banon cheese that Jason and I had enjoyed so much in France was off,
with a terrible taste almost like ammonia. But there was plenty more to
fill us up. At the end of the meal we split the three mangosteens we had
bought--always an exciting fruit. Afterwards Jason went back to work and
Tom, steve and I played a long game of Trivial Pursuit before bed.
Today is Jason's regular day at the office, so he went up to Cambridge this
morning and Tom & steve went off to Salisbury and Stonehenge. I had wanted
to go, but decided I really needed a quiet day at home, so that's where I
am. Real soon now I'm going to get to work making the wild boar sauce that
Jason and I learned to enjoy in Italy and I've made a few times since.
and doing lots of stuff, but the best part is just hanging out together.
They arrived first thing on Thursday morning. We walked up Green Lanes to
one of the little bakery places and got coffee, since steve was dying for
it. Then we sat around for an hour catching up before I persuaded them to
have a nap. I woke them up for lunch and then the three of us went out for
a long wander.
We started in Picadilly Square, stopped in at Waterstones and Fortnum &
Mason briefly, and then walked down through Green Park to Buckingham
Palace. From there we strolled along The Mall through St. James Park to
Trafalgar Square. We headed down the Strand as far as Somerset House and
cut through there to the river. We walked back along the Embankment and
then up through Covent Garden and over to Charing Cross Road. By then we
were all ready to sit for a bit, so we stopped into Molly Mogg's for a pint
and a rest before meeting Jason for dinner at Brown's. They were swamped,
but cleared out at theatre time, so we had a drink and then were shown to
our table.
We split bowls of their spinach & leek soup and plates of goats cheese with
either walnuts or figs and parma ham. Tom followed my lead and had the
chicken & leek pie, while steve had the steak & Guiness pie and Jason struck
out in a different direction for the fillet of venison. Then we split
sticky toffee pudding and peach creme brulee for dessert and had to roll
ourselves home.
On Friday I took steve & Tom to the British Museum. We ended up spending
the whole afternoon there, leaving just in time to meet Jason at YMing for a
lovely meal. Back at the house we watched the women's skating final and
then went to Sainsbury's so they could see all the strange food we've got
here and steve could buy ingredients for the dessert he wanted to make. I
was dead on my feet by the time we got home, so I just pointed steve at the
kitchen and went to sleep.
When I woke up on Saturday morning, the house smelled wonderful and there
was a caramel cake and poached pears cooling. Tom & Jason headed out to see
Westminster Abbey, but sadly, it was closed to tourists for the day, so they
ended up at the Banqueting Hall--where Charles I was beheaded--instead and
then stopped into the National Portrait Gallery for a look at the Tudors. I
got steve up and moving and sent him off to meet Tom at Barbara's. Jason
came home and we had a nice afternoon together. In the evening, Tom & steve
returned with Barbara in tow and we watched the skating exhibitions and ate
my tarragon chicken with chanterelles and steve's wonderful dessert.
Afterwards we watched more skating and hung out until we were all falling
asleep. Barbara stayed on our couch, so we could continue to hang out in
the morning.
That morning was a nice, long, slow one. I got various stuff done and
eventually the others woke up. We were finally ready to leave the house
around two and decided to go to Yo Sushi for lunch, which was lot of fun.
Jason headed home and Barbara went off to get ready for her date. steve,
Tom and I tried to go to the BBC Experience, but it's gone! The shop is
still there, but there's no sign the "experience" ever existed. So we
walked down Regent Street in the rain to Picadilly Circus, where I pointed
out the Waterstone's, the Virgin Megastore and the tube station and left
them to spend the rest of the afternoon browsing while I went home. In the
evening we ordered pizza and played Trivial Pursuit.
On Monday we had tickets to see the Warhol exhibit at the Tate Modern.
Jason decided he needed to stay home and work, so it was just the three of
us. The exhibit was quite good and displayed a wider variety of Warhol's
work than I'd seen before. We especially enjoyed one room of his very early
work. We took a break and went over to the pub on the waterfront right near
the museum for lunch of fish & chips, then dove back into the permanent
collection. There had been some changes since the last time I went through
the galleries, so I enjoyed a chance to see them again. We left just after
five and walked across the newly re-opened Milennium Bridge toward
St. Paul's and then hopped on the tube down to Harrod's. We spent an hour
roaming the food halls, buying whatever appealed to us, and came home for a
noshing dinner of roast beef, prawns in dill cream sauce, beef bourgignon,
spinach fritters, a chicken/basil/pine nut pasty, smoked duck breast, duck
liver pate, and three different kinds of goat cheese on fresh bread. Sadly,
the Banon cheese that Jason and I had enjoyed so much in France was off,
with a terrible taste almost like ammonia. But there was plenty more to
fill us up. At the end of the meal we split the three mangosteens we had
bought--always an exciting fruit. Afterwards Jason went back to work and
Tom, steve and I played a long game of Trivial Pursuit before bed.
Today is Jason's regular day at the office, so he went up to Cambridge this
morning and Tom & steve went off to Salisbury and Stonehenge. I had wanted
to go, but decided I really needed a quiet day at home, so that's where I
am. Real soon now I'm going to get to work making the wild boar sauce that
Jason and I learned to enjoy in Italy and I've made a few times since.