I didn’t know quite what to expect for our weekend escape to Hamburg. I suppose the reputation of it’s famous Reeperbahn kinda provided images of seedy Amsterdam that I’d rather not visit... but hey, the flights were cheap and at a convenient time for once. One thing’s for sure; it wasn’t going to be as cold as Berlin – apparently the sea breeze keeps the frozenness that you find in other parts of Eastern Europe away for most of the Winter. Wet. Wet and cold. Not freezing. Nonetheless, the Gluhwein stalls provided a very welcome break whilst walking round the city’s huge shopping malls and markets on the endless quest for that last Christmas present… We walked as far West as St Pauli district and decided to stop at the famous Church of St Nicholas which was bombed during WWII and remains in ruins as a war memorial apart from the tower. Coincidentally, it has close links with Coventry Cathedral apparently and a couple of years ago the funding they raised allowed them to install a lift so that people can view the city from the top of the old spire (76 m high). Luckily for us the sun came out just as we reached the top (it only takes 50 secs - this is Germany remember): it was a magnificent, panoramic view! A bit eerie to think of all the thousands of civilians that were killed on the night in July 1943 when the church was bombed (about 35,000 apparently). Down below in what was the alter are 3 modern Breckwoldt sculptures and the glass triangle which leads down to the crypt and some exhibitions.
I loved the Speicherstadt area best of all though. So many bricks!!! You’ve never seen so much Victorian looking architecture with red bricks and ornate corners and roofs. This literally is ‘the city of warehouses’ – the largest in the world – and no, we’re not talking nasty, modern DIRFT here, this is proper, 1900’s customs houses linked by miles and miles of canals and black, semi-circular wrought-iron bridges. Think Birmingham’s Brindley Place meets central Boston - only much nicer and a million times bigger. Although many of the storage and customs warehouses are still in use (an ancient by-law apparently allows the purchaser to avoid paying any tax on the items stored here, until he goes to sell it), perhaps not surprisingly a lot of these old rooms are being converted into luxury apartments overlooking the harbour….mmmmm… if only...

I actually think this is a city best seen in the Summer. Although the views across the vast expanse of Elbe's meanderings within the city walls was very idyllic – there’s something about staring out to sea that makes me want to get on a boat and actually experience it (!) As, by the way, lots of (brave) warmly-wrapped-up people were doing! Although it turned out these were natives, carrying basket-loads of fresh fruit and veg’, just going about their daily lives on the water-buses.

Although Hamburg is a lot nearer to the UK than Berlin, strangely there are a lot less references to English here. No English signage or bi-lingual menus anywhere. Fortunately Germans have a much better education system than us and so we didn’t struggle anywhere to be understood (no thanks to my pathetic attempts with my phrase-book or iPod translator…). They really are a nice bunch the Germans. One guy even came up to offer us help when we were struggling with the ticket machine outside the central train station (keywords now memorised = ‘exact change only’)!!! The 1906 architecture of the station makes you go ‘wow’ and the sheer size of the roof space means unsurprisingly it’s the largest in all of Germany. Good news for shoppers too as unlike the rest of the city these shops are allowed to open on Sunday.

Food was excellent wherever we went (even the breakfast at our city-centre hotel). Lots of fish too (as you would expect in this area). Not too much of the sauerkraut and lots of fresh veggies. All excellent value. The spotlessness of everywhere is really surprising – even though we’d been to Germany a few times before. Even the bins and ashtrays (no smoking ban here of course) are immaculate! I found a handmade German Teddybear called ‘Benny’ to take home with me from one of the craft markets and lots of other unusual things... not to mention the honey and stollen...

We walked for miles and only saw about half the city over the weekend. Definitely a place to return to next year…

Couldn't remember when I was last at Bath - but as we drove into the centre (after 3 hours of slow traffic) it came back to me how parts of it are just so neglected and run-down and yet other parts are the exact opposite. It's a strange part of the country. There's no doubt that the architecture is amazing - especially when it's all lit up by the Christmas lights reflected in the river running through the centre of the city.

We stayed at the famous (5 star) Bath Spa Hotel which is as fantastic as you would expect (!) the service and rooms were wonderful, the facilities - including the 5 different spa rooms all at different temperatures from freezing to boiling - were excellent. The food was the only slightly disappointing aspect of the hotel - but then there were catering for a few of us.

We were right near the centre of the city and so had lunch booked at the (apparently) famous Browns. But its only really a gastro pub and as they were short staffed the wait for the food went pear-shaped. Not that we minded - outside it was pouring with rain and we were in no rush. Santa was ringing his bell pointing people to the Christmas market stalls but these were also a bit disappointing. But then we're off (again) to see the real thing next weekend. The Germans are the only nationality who really know how to do Christmas...

Was it really three years ago we were here last? We had to check back in the old Visitors’ Book – but, yes, there we were…signed in 'Sept 2004'. Can you believe that three years have flown by…? Back then it was the popular annual Food Festival - but we were out of season now.

Lots of things have changed at 36 On The Quay, Emsworth – the décor for example is dramatically different. When they first opened their rooms in 2003 Paddy from the Telegraph visited (within a week) and published a glowing report . However, I think the décor soon became dated (frilly curtains and china vases everywhere) and after some considerable criticism from (amongst others) Jan Moir (Telegraph again), a full refurb was instigated. Tables are now given much more space and curtains have been replaced by the clean lines of cream blinds. Much more minimalist. The only thing that hasn’t changed is the owner, Karen's very frosty reception. Why do we always feel we are an inconvenience when we arrive rather than a warmly welcomed guest? I think she may be in the wrong business - (even if her chef husband definitely isn't).

It was mid-afternoon and it wasn’t busy, we were shown upstairs to our room. We had the smallest one this time; “Clove” at the back of the building – the best rooms are “Cinnamon” (which fortunately T&G had) or “Vanilla” which both have wonderful sea views).

It was blowing an absolute hooley outside so we postponed the brisk walk along the sea wall and went to the pub nextdoor instead. It’s a proper locals pub and we met the fisherman, Kevin, who supplies Ramon. He was anxious to tell us about how wonderful his catch of Brill was today. “You must be loaded ££” he said as we left, “being able to eat there!” (he was probably a bit worse for wear by this time) “Why’s that?” T asked. “It’ll cost yer about £100 each to eat there, yer know” Kev explained (as if we were naïve about Michelin-starred hospitality). “Seems very reasonable to me” T said with a wink and we left them to their astonishment and drunken gossip.

Strangely, there was no tasting menu on offer tonight (Saturday). Stranger still no Brill was on the menu, either (was Kevin just telling a tall story)? But lots of nice things anyway. We had one each of the five starters to share between us (we couldn’t decide), and the winner was the scallops. Mains included veal (delish) and I had the halibut (of course), of which there was loads piled-up on a gorgeous mash. Disappointingly, there was no 'Rhubarb Celebration' (Ramon's signature dish) for dessert. But lots of nice alternatives…but service was slow throughout and we had to remind the waitress more than once to bring us some more wine and water when it disappeared.

At the end of the evening, I was looking forward to disappearing behind the secret bookcase in the dining room (a bit like an escape into Narnia). Only one other table were left (it was about midnight) and they were all intrigued when I tried to open it. But it was locked from the other side. “I didn’t have time to unlock it tonight” explained the waitress. No apologies or offer to go round to unlock it for us (maybe she’s learning her (poor) customer service attitude from Karen). Reluctantly (and I have to admit, rather drunkenly) all four of us ran round the outside of the restaurant (it was very cold and raining and windy) to reach the other door and the stairs to our bedrooms. Only afterwards did I wonder why I hadn’t insisted that one of the staff simply go round and unlock the door for us. This is a strange place.

Next morning, as usual, there was fresh continental breakfast available on the ‘landing’. Lots of different types of fresh breads and croissants and fruits and lovely yoghurt. Those in the bigger bedrooms, can have breakfast served to them. I just can’t understand why Karen doesn’t set aside a part of the restaurant downstairs, so that everyone can eat in a bit more comfort.??

Anyway, another successful weekend donated to Kwik-Fit (will my reward be in heaven?) Now we’re on the final countdown to the Christmas break.

I'm sure you probably know about this really popular web site network that's catching-on everywhere you go where you can Re-cycle stuff . Not only do you feel 'holier-than-thou' for being so good to the environment by preventing things from going to landfill unnecessarily AND helping out a fellow human bean - but you also save youself the hassle (and smell) of (another) trip to the local dump...

We use it occassionally (it's quite amusing seeing the different types of people you meet - everyone from middle-class snobs trying to 'do their bit' to gypsies who obviously don't give a toss about the 'etiquette' of the site's ethos - and just see the opportunity of making a fast buck on eBay (or the local car boot sale)).

Anyway - got rid of (finally) this old fridge that's been in our summerhouse (I use that term loosely you understand) collecting dust for years. It wasn't much good, but occassionally had beers in it for BBQs etc in the Summer. So this lady and her hubby turn up to collect it. There's me feeling guilty about the state of it (I don't think it'd ever been cleaned) and her hubby says 'oh, don't worry, it's only for a tortoise to hibernate in!'

Now, there's a strange use for a spare fridge (!)

J's worried it might suffocate in there - but I think you have to check them every so often don't you?

Not being a tortoise-keeper I wouldn't know -any thoughts anyone?

Last weekend we escaped again to Wales to the place where we were this time last year.

We visited the wonderful Harbourmaster at Aberearon again (I won't bore you with that again - but the food was just a good) and found New Quay where there's a beautiful quaint harbour - with a marvellous sandy beach!

Here we discovered a new game to keep the two lads occupied: "Here's a pound. Off you go to the Pound Shop (loads in these little rural Welsh towns as you will know) and find something unique/funny/practical as a present for each of us." What a laugh.


Prize for the most eccentric went to C who bought one of those in-flight blow-up air pillows (yes, exactly the same as the ones you see in the airports for about £10+). He said it was so comfortable he put it on and wore it for the rest of the day (mad these Welsh);) And the most creative went to C's friend who found a fluoresent-coloured car-washing glove that resembled a bath mat. Couldn't resist buying one for J (who's obsessive about keeping the cars clean for some unknown reason).

Copster Green is a quiet, rural Lancashire village. Not the place I’d expect to find a collection of Ferraris and Porsches parked up outside an unlikely roadside Chinese restaurant.

Yu and You’s is a funky modern restaurant with highly rated freshly prepared food and excellent staff. We stopped off late at night after a dinner at the Michelin-starred Eastcote Manor (conveniently, just up the road) so couldn’t sample the food (maybe next time). By then, the evening and the restaurant had evolved (or deteriorated, depending on your perspective) into a cocktail bar with a loud and busy dance floor. The DJ was very good – if not a little out of his depth here (e.g. the only Phil Collins he could find was 'you can't hurry love' (!!!) Drinking and driving seems to be an accepted and necessary method of socialising ‘round these parts – and I was glad we had a taxi booked - one of the younger celebs we saw departing in his sports car with three young ladies on his arms(s) definitely was over the limit. Other famous people at the bar included some motorcyclist (never heard of him)…

Dinner earlier at Nortcote Manor, by the way, had been very very good. Not as good as some other Michelin-starred places I’ve been (listen to me) but still very good. It's proud of the chef, Nigel's history of retaining his star for about 10 years. Michelin aren’t usually so generous. What makes the place special is the small, homely atmosphere. It’s a gothic Victorian buiding, so lends itself well to the oak panelling and red carpets, but it isn't dark.

It was almost like sitting in someone’s front room for pre-dinner drinks, a bit like Rutland Water’s Hambleton Hall. Poor Craig had quite a challenge to explain the (in my view a bit too complex) menus to everyone and take all the orders. He made an excellent choice of wine for us (it's always an interesting test to ask the sommelier to choose something appropriate for the dishes we've ordered). There were a lot of staff, but unfortunately no-one (apart from Craig) seemed to really know what they were doing. They spilled the wine, delivered too much bread and didn’t refill the wine as often as I would have liked. Why didn’t they just leave the cutlery where it was rather than faffing around with it after every course? I made the mistake of ordering the goat (yes, I know, maybe the champagne had gone to my head). Not sure what I expected – but it didn’t deliver. The better choices around the table were the venison - no lets get this right "Loin of Roebuck" (excellent - no 'seminal' says J) and the beef. Interestingly there were no “inbetweeners” (sorbets etc) that you quite often get offered at a Michelin-starred place like this, but the time delay between courses was about right (if only they’d got round to the wine). The truly worthwhile ‘inbetweener’ was (of course) the word from the kitchen letting us know the rugby score (at which a cheer from our fellow diners was heard)! This was even more worthwhile as the kitchen-staff were French (he he=). The dining room was far too hot; it was warm outside so the log fire and radiators were overkill tonight. So we quickly escaped back to the lounge where the doors to the fanous gardens were opened and the whiskys and ports were waiting. Overall, very good, not as slick or stylish as I expected, but a really informal, enjoyable evening with great company - thanks to M & C:)

Next morning, we got up quite early to visit the nearby designer outlet place and with proper Lancashire bacon butties inside us ( - after all, it was at least 12 hours since we had eaten!) take up the opportunity of some excellent retail therapy (essential on a Sunday with a hangover). On the way home we inevitably we had to stop at the best local Farm shop in the area http://www.huntleys.co.uk/ (currently undergoing a refurb/expansion). We bought some excellent wild boar and other bits and bobs and treated ourselves to some award-winning and famous local ice-cream (cointreau and orange was the winning flavour) before hitting the motorways again.... picture to follow....

We discovered another fantastic 'foodie' supplies place yesterday - the very stylish Daylesford Organics near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. (NB To my Southern friends - they also have outlets in London). Apart from a marvellous collection of fresh produce (including local mushrooms and hand-made (award winning) cheeses) (no, we couldn't resist spending alot of money in this bit) - there is also a cafe, 'garden' shop (no bags of compost to be found here I'm afraid - only top of the range linen and suede aprons (£95 each) and beautiful, designer garden 'accessories'), and also a clothes shop selling very nice quality cashmere jumpers and of course (no self-respecting social gardener should be without them) that essential pair of fashionable Hunter Wellies.




Turns out the whole place is slightly surreal - from the artificial outside bar area surrounded by topiary to the Polish staff serving wine tastings. The whole 1500 acre site is owned by the Bamford family (JCB) and this is the 'little hobby' which 'keeps the wife happy' (!) No expense has been spared and no wonder the locals have heavily criticised this 'footballer's wives' type of development. Flying celebrities in and out via helicopter and various Ferraris racing up and down the country lanes doesn't really fit well with the organic and slow food philospohy. But then I suppose we're all hypocrites to a certain extent...


It's a lovely location though, set in converted stone farm-buildings next to a completely unspoilt pretty Cotswold village, which is surrounded by good pubs including the one we went to for lunch - The oldy-worldy Michelin recommended Fox Inn at Lower Oddington (another one crossed off the list)They were very busy - so it was lucky we booked. J & C both had (predictably) the home-made steak and ale pie (which disappointingly to the CRAP (Campaign for Real Ale Pies) member who we know, was served with the unforgivable PUFF pastry rather than the traditional shortcrust version - pedantic I know - but these things are important to some people !!!) C went for the unusual rabbit casserole (very good) and I had the scallops (risky, I know, in view of our location and season -but also very good). The atmosphere was very relaxed and the service OK. My only criticism of the place would be they seem to need more staff, and I wished the chef had warmed the plates before he served the main courses - it really does make a difference - especially for my poor poached pear (which was barely poached) but the excellent chocolate sauce made up for these minor errors. Overall, it was a lovely long lunch and the staff really did try their best to keep up appearances, despite the challenge of keeping everyone in the 3 dining rooms happy.

Afterwards, we had a nice walk in the Autumnal sunshine around Bledington church and I spied a nearby opportunity (lottery win dependant) in the shape of an abandoned old Victorian, double-fronted cottage (with a bit of land attached). We had a peep through the dusty old (rotten) sash windows at the large brown printed wallpaper, falling off the walls in the corners where the damp had come through and the white hand rails where the elderly resident had (once) clung on to life. In the kitchen was the original old cooking range, with the red quarry-stone floor tiles surrounded by a hideous 70's kitchen unit. Ghostly. It is due to go to auction soon. Oooooh if only!

Next time we're down that way, we're going to try the other highly recommended pub nearby - the Kings Head Inn at Bledington. Which apparently is famously associated with the annual village Morris Dancing outside the pub on the village green (how quaint)...!

Have you ever seen a bunch of people on a hen weekend or corporate 'teambuilding' event or something similar - all walking around in the same colour, appropriately printed-up T-shirts and thought - "what a bunch of *$%^%$^%s!!"? Well, I confess, I have. But after last weekend, I'm afraid that I shouldn't really be critical anymore, as I was one of them....

There was about 350 of us in total (we were the red 'Thames' team) running around London trying to accumulate 'clues' from various touristy attractions and dressed-up characters along the way.

This was the Leaseplan Annual 'Eurogames' event - and takes place at a different European city every year apparently.

It was a glorious day (I would have prefered to have been in my garden - but hey ho, the sacrifices us corporate wives have to make;). But I have to admit to being quite proud of the city in the sunshine, when many of our 'guests' from all over Europe had never been here before. Trafalgar square looked particularly impressive, and I longed to lie down and relax on the grass when we got to St James' Park... but it was non-stop...









Each team was allocated a proper red old-fashioned London bus to transport us from one side of London to the other..

Before lunchtime we were already two valuable team members down as the Irish contingent went back to the hotel to sleep off the far-too-many-free-guinesses they had the night before at the 'English Pub' evening the hospitality team had arranged for us the night before (inevitably, some people never got to bed at all). With only 4 other team members who had enough English and enthusiasm to complete the 'challenge' we had our work cut-out for the afternoon. We decided to split into two teams - one was to get the obscure photos we needed (26 items in only 10 polaroids - and we had already wasted one)
And the others to get the remaining clues (last destination, Kensington). This was strictly against the rules - but heh, it was a near impossible task and by this time we just wanted to get what we needed and get back to the hotel bar for a glass of something cold...







There was a few street-painters along the way...









I saw the famous, controversial sculpure of Alison Lapper's torso (she was on Radio 4 tonight talking about it)...
.........The only disappointing thing was lunch. We ended up near to Swiss Cottage, but the pub that was arranged for us only had a room downstairs in a claustrophobic cellar and the food was....how shall I put this politely..worse than terrible. Fortunately, there was a little authentic sandwich-bar place just opposite, run by a friendly Italian guy, who it turns out can speak about four languages (that we witnessed) and made an excellent fresh ciabatta..



























Needless to say, some of the less experienced Europeans went round the corner to the nearest Mickey D's...(sad).

Patrick and Peter outside Charing Cross station...we're waiting for the rest to catch-up (those shop windows are so tempting)...























We collected most of the clues and challenges. The only one we struggled with for a while was the signature of a traffic warden (apparently they're not allowed to give them out)!! But we persuaded one in the end with a little white lie that it was for charity;)

J in Hyde Park - with the answer to our last clue (at last!!!) - Kensington palace "Which King is inside the gates?"
Afterwards it back to the hotel to get dressed-up in the Little Black Dress (not J you understand - although some of the French unsurprisingly obviously didn't really understand the wording on the invitation) for the evening do. Before long we were back on our (by now, beloved) old London Buses to travel over to Fulham to dine at the Georgian Hurlingham Club which is (amazingly) set in 42 arcres of private gardens....where they had arranged an excellent reception and dinner for us which included the marble sculpture people you see sometimes on street corners (although obviously alot more professional)! It was all very impressive, including the grounds, croquet lawn and the modern water features outside the dining room. You couldn't have hoped for more quintessentially British summer evening surroundings...

Can you spot where I am...?

With many thanks to Candy and all her team for being an excellent team-leader!

PS Hey, thank God for Blogging eh? What else would you do when you can't sleep???ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

There’s something quite special about sitting by a river watching the world go by (even if we did have to listen to Cliff Richard singing his heart out from a nearby tour guide)… I was really surprised last weekend when we stayed with friends in Chester (never been there before). It’s a really lovely Medieval walled city – reminiscent of Canterbury for the benefit of my Kentish friends – and what an excellent place to shop till you drop!! Sooo many wonderful (designer) shops – there’s no doubt you could do some serious damage to the plastic here.


Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately - as far as J was concerned) we were running too late to do anything other than window shop (even at the bears). Although we did stop at the Cheese Shop to buy some famous Colston Basset stilton (the best in the world). We called-in to see the Cathedral (dark and austere on the outside, but light and refreshing on the outside) while Evensong was just beginning. Very restful...



But dinner was calling us at the wonderful (one) Michelin-starred Arkle Restaurant at the Grosvenor Hotel in the centre of the cobbled Eastgate.








It was great to see that the chef (Simon Radley) has got a real sense of imagination and humour e.g. hats off to E who went for the ‘Pond Life’ for a starter (frogs legs and snails, of course) and amongst other interesting things on the mains was ‘carpetbagger’ (which J had) – ‘Welsh black fillet, studded with native oysters, Corned Ox with all things Carrot’ and ’24 hour mutton’. I think mine won (Turbot) but then I’m always biased towards that fish dish…Service was spot-on and the restaurant was ambient and busy without being chaotic. And the cheese selection meant we were very impressed (although it wasn’t quite as impressive as our experience at Winteringham Fields). The good thing about Michelin-starred places is that they have to have a place to sit down and enjoy a drink before (and after) dinner. The Arkle’s place is one of those relaxing warm, welcoming, comfortable, library-type rooms – the kind of place you could easily just sit down and talk with a glass of something for hours…

The next morning, we thought we’d never have room for that big BBQ breakfast - but somehow we managed it….

another Michelin-starred place crossed-off the list… with thanks to P & E for such wonderful company and an excellent 'foodie' weekend.