Category Archives: food & drink

bristol sunday

27 Monday Sep 2010

Posted by in food & drink, friends, restaurants, retail therapy

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Had a lovely Sunday in Bristol with Lizzie. We got up quite late and then enjoyed some coffee before heading out to The Maul and M&S where I stocked up on the basics. Then we took a nice car tour through town and I got to see my old hood and lots of familiar places, and ended up at the waterfront to have lunch and – I was assured – the very best chips in Bristol, at the River Station. And they truly were amazing. Later on we took a walk over to the Avon Gorge Hotel hoping to see the sun set behind the Clifton Bridge, but clouds rolled in and so we headed home for cava and snacks.

This morning I am off to pick up a prezzie for Nog and to visit Lizzie’s Folk House Cafe (can’t wait!), before packing up and getting on the train to Paddington, and then making my way to Heathrow to fly home again. I’ve had a wonderful time –  especially meeting with friends old and new – and I hope you’ve enjoyed me sharing my trip with you.

london – bristol

26 Sunday Sep 2010

Posted by in food & drink, friends, london, travel, trips

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Yesterday I said goodbye to Clare & Joe and their pretty Hackney flat where they really made me feel like home. But before heading off to Bristol, Sara & Steve took me out for my first ever Vietnamese meal – it was amazing! Then they even came with me to Paddington and saw me off so I could be there in plenty of time without worrying about missing my train, and so I wouldn’t be there alone. We had one final drink and chat at a bar there and then I headed out to Bristol, where Lizzie picked me up at the station and took me to her very comfortable house. A couple of old friends were there for a quick visit before heading back to London, so we all had dinner together. Then Lizzie and I sat up drinking wine and chatting until well past midnight. Today we are planning a trip out to the HUGE Marks & Spencer here, but other than that I am happy not to have to plan anything or be anywhere at any specific time … just happy to be here. Haven’t seen Lizzie since the summer of 2001 and it feels like no time has passed at all. It’s so nice to have these couple of days to just relax and catch up before heading back to Sevilla.

london day three

25 Saturday Sep 2010

Posted by in food & drink, friends, london, travel, trips, wine

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Coffee in bed, then ran out at 10.30am to meet Ben (friend of José’s) in deepest darkest Hackney, and afterwards whipped back down to St Pauls to meet Teutcher, who then asked me how I felt about fish… thought she was talking about lunch but she was in fact talking about fish eating ME. But lunch first. Off to Covent Garden to sample 32 Great Queen Street West, which was fabby, then off to Kensington to have feet nibbled upon by tiny fish. Loved it. And also the half-hour foot massage afterwards. And then – eep! – was getting late, so planned to meet up with Annie and T’s husband for a drink in Charing Cross before Annie & I headed out for dinner with twitter friends. Needless to say we arrived late after racing there on foot for a good half hour (buses were not making any sense by then). Met Rachel, José & Alessio in gastropub… had okay meal (the company was much better than the food) and around midnight Annie walked me to my bus stop and sent me safely on my way home. It was a day and then some. Click to enlarge the pics…

Today I leave for Bristol at 5pm…

london day one…

23 Thursday Sep 2010

Posted by in food & drink, friends, london

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After, let’s be honest, a VERY LONG day getting from there to here, I finally ended up in Hackney and was taken out to a fab Thai restaurant in by the Hackney Gang … here are some pics. And yes, I got to sit in the cockpit, but then was told I wasn’t supposed to talk about it so have to scrap all the great photos I took. But I have to say it was the only time I wasn’t terrified upon takeoff.. and it was super cool.

More tomorrow. Apparently I have to go and drink some more wine now!

mr sevilla

20 Monday Sep 2010

Posted by in food & drink, sevilla, spain, tapas, wine, work

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Meet my stand-in … Mr Sevilla.

In the past few days I’ve received several requests for tapas tours with three of them asking about tours while I am in London – figures! I thought I would have to say no but then I thought to ask Nog if he would like to try doing a couple of tours. At first he wasn’t sure but we talked it over and I said I would help him organise everything and explained it wouldn’t be any different than when we’ve taken out visiting friends here. And so he’s going to do it! First we thought he would just have one tour taking a couple from London out on Saturday, but then last night I got a confirmation from six lawyers from Liverpool ( ! ) for Friday which should be fun. I’d actually love to be doing these tours myself, but at least now I don’t have to let anyone down and – also very importantly – we will make a bit of extra cash this month. Plus I think this will be good experience for Nog. He’s really turning into quite the Sevilla Expert himself, helping out with my SimonSeeks research, and of course he knows all the tapas bars (and tapas) as well as I do, having been with me since the inception of Sevilla Tapas. And he even sucks the brains out of giant prawns (see above) which is something I’ve never been able to do.

So wish Nog luck this weekend! I know that he’ll do a good job and I suspect he is also going to have a great time. I mean, what better work is there than meeting interesting people and taking them out for tapas and wine?