What a splendid weekend
What I did at the weekend or Too Long, didn't read
This past weekend has seen Sarah and I disappearing for a mini-break that Sarah had organised thanks to LateRooms. She'd found us a room at the Chesterfield Hotel, funnily enough in Chesterfield which boasted a large pool, sauna and steam room. This was extremely appealing as you know I'm not averse to aquatic activities.
We decided to do this getaway on Monday, so excitement built throughout the week. Work couldn't end early enough on Friday and I escaped at 15.30, raced home to collect Sarah and the packed supper she'd prepared. The traffic was a pain but we got there in good time to check in and have a swim and a steam before pre-dinner G&Ts in the bar. This was something of an eye-opener; not only for the cost of nearly a tenner for two drinks, but for the rugby team that were there for a bit of a do. This group were dressed as cheerleaders and one delightful chap had decided that going commando was the order of the day; sadly he'd also decided that the novelty meant that he could happily adjust himself in full view of the rest of the bar. We hurridly averted our eyes and withdrew to another part of the hotel where a member of staff couldn't seem to care less. Needless to say emails describing this gross indecency have been sent to the hotel's management. We shall see. We didn't let this incident spoil our evening and retired to our room to eat a feast of homemade sushi and sashimi (salmon, tuna, monkfish and scallop) and quaff a bottle of Heidsieck & Co "Monopole". And so to bed.
Morning arrived gradually and we broke our fast with chocolate brioche and headed out to Bakewell to have a good wander around the town and Farmers' Market. We stopped for brunch/lunch at H's Winebar and ourselves a piece of their most excellent Stilton and Steak Pie (mmmm Pie!) Suitably refreshed we returned to sample the dubious delights of Chesterfield's town centre on a Saturday afternoon. The charity shops were thoroughly explored to little avail, but we did spot a Japanese restaurant and resolved to return there after we'd worked up an appetite. This we did after another spell of swimming and steaming and an aperitif of Morrison's Gavi before desperately talking ourselves into a table at the chock-a-block O Tokuda. This was obviously the place to be and for good reason. The sashimi was excellent and had the most tender squid I'd ever tasted as well as some slices of akagi (red clam). Everything we ordered was well cooked (green mussles in a sambal sauce ++++) and the staff were, if anything over-attentive. They seemed quite concerned when we left after an hour or so without consuming our own body weight in food as the other diners seemed intent on doing. And so to bed.
Another leisurely awakening and choccy-pastry breakfast before checking out and a final swim and steam. We're home now and I'm sipping the last of a 2009 Los Rosales Chapel Vineyard Malbec which accompanied the most fabulous assortment of mushrooms (from the Bakewell Farmers' Market) in a cream sauce cooked expertly by my gorgeous sexy wife. Wonders of the Univesre now. And so to bed.