London & Edinburgh

This was the weekend Ian was heading up to Edinburgh to see the All Blacks play Scotland. We headed to London for Friday night and he left for Kings Cross Station on Saturday morning to meet the Lascelle contingent! I was going to have time in London with Hugh and Santanu before returning on Sunday.

Hugh and Santanu have just moved into a new house in Tottenham and we were looking forward to staying there and viewing their new purchase. It is much bigger than Hugh’s Islington house; downstairs is a spacious kitchen, dining room and living area plus a conservatory and delightful, private little garden outside. First floor has two bedrooms, an office and a bathroom and an attic room and bathroom on the second floor. The previous owner has altered and maintained it using wood and fittings to match the original so it is a very attractive house, requiring very little immediate interior work. An excellent buy!

I caught the tube into Oxford Street on Saturday to visit the much loved Marks and Spencers!! What will I do when I return home – unless they have opened one since I have left!!! Anyway I didn’t give the credit card too much of a nudge but enjoyed looking around to see what was available! From here it was easy to go to the Wallace collection (Hugh’s suggestion) which is one of London’s finest, small galleries and comprises a wealth of 17th & 18th Century European artefacts and art including works by Rubens, Titian, Rembrandt and Gainsborough. All these are housed in this restored mansion in Manchester Square and well worth a visit, especially since it is free! In the evening Hugh, Santanu and I went to see the film “Yetta” – a German movie with sub titles. It wasn’t the best choice but the meal before hand made up for it. That was at an Asian restaurant, very cheap but very tasty with huge servings. On Sunday, Hugh and I went to a morning coffee concert at Wigmore Hall. This hall is in West London, just near Cavendish Square. They have recitals or concerts most lunch times (just an hour long) and every evening there are a variety of performances to choose from. The hall itself is just beautiful and quite small in comparison to others around. Our recital was a trio playing the clarinet, viola and piano. From here we enjoyed a Thai lunch and then a quick flick through more shops in Oxford Street before returning home. I wanted to leave at a reasonable time before darkness set in. I’m not keen on driving home from London on my own, in the dark.

I:an’s account of events!
The train pulled out at 9.30am and by 9.45 one of Guy’s travelling mates produced two bottles of Moet and those, along with many cans and 6 hours on the train, it was some trip. Pre dinner drinks were at Dirty Dicks and following dinner they hit the night club scene. On Sunday two of the travelling party visited Edinburgh Castle while the other 4 wandered the streets and met up with Wendy & Colin Young at Starbucks. All arrived at the ground in plenty of time for pre game drinks and this time met up with Tim & Julie Paterson. The game fever seemed to be really building and there appeared to be 2 to 1 supporters in the Kiwi’s favour. By the time the game began, the atmosphere was electric. Unfortunately the 80min wasn’t total excitement although it was great to secure another win for the AB’s. The post game continued at the back of the stand and then many more stops on the way before they hit the city again close to midnight. A visit to two more night clubs before the two ‘old salts’ arrived home, the last of the touring party to crash. The next couple of days were for recovery.