Tag Archives: london

Taste of The High Life

June 25, 2022 Neil

My mum recently went on a week’s holiday in Scotland. She had a great time seeing lots of famous and historic landmarks that she has always wanted to see. She very kindly got me a couple of gifts to give me on her return. Obviously she knows me very well as she bought me a box of gluten free shortbread biscuits and a corkscrew shaped like a wine bottle with my name on it which I absolutely love. It is the simple things and little gestures which will always be the best things in life and that will always mean the most.

A couple of weekend’s ago Lynda and I went to visit our good friends Steve and Louise. They live in a lovely little town right on the English and Welsh border. I always really enjoying going there to see them as it is such a relaxing and picturesque place. We left on the Friday evening straight from work. Not only did Lynda pick me up from the train station and drive but she also supplied me with a snack for the journey which was very much appreciated. Happily the traffic was kind to us and we made it in good time arriving at our destination at around quarter to ten.

Steve and Louise being the perfect hosts had a gluten free pizza in the oven ready for our arrival and the kettle already on. We had a nice relaxing evening drinking tea and chatting as I have said before I have known Steve since we were four after meeting at our first day at school. He has asked that I now refer to him as the longest friend I have rather than the oldest which is both correct and fair. We were a bit tired after the week and the travelling plus Steve had organised an activity for us in the morning so we had a reasonably early night.

He is a member of a local gun club and has his own rifle so he had offered to take Lynda and me clay pigeon shooting which we were both looking forward to. I had done it once before on a stag do about ten years ago and she had also had one go at it through a work thing around fifteen years ago. We got up and had breakfast then set off for the club which was situated on a huge site at the top of a hill. It was owned by a former Olympic Champion so as you can imagine it was all very professionally organised and run.

Steve went and signed us all in and got some bullets for us to use. He then led us to one of the several different areas that you can shoot from. We had to wait our turn for the course we wanted to be free. When it was he very carefully explained to us all the safety aspects and rules and how everything worked. There were six different positions that the clays could be propelled in from all controlled by a box with assigned buttons on. He showed us how to use the box and then went first to show us how it was done. He had an air rifle as a child and has always done a bit of shooting so needless to say he is pretty good so he hit a fair few on his first go.

Then it was my turn to take centre stage. He coached me and made sure I was holding the gun in the correct position and knew what I needed to do. I had about six attempts and did not hit a thing so then it was Lynda’s go. We are both very competitive and wanted to beat the other one. On her third try she hit one and took the lead in our mini competition. Then the three of us all took it in turns. During my next attempt I hit one to level things up and celebrated like I had just won an Olympic Gold Medal. A bit later Lynda just catches the side of a clay and nicks a bit off which apparently counts as a success much to my disgust.

We spent about an hour taking it in turns firing at the clay pigeons. Lynda did win in the end by one, which was the one she barely got anything on, so I tried to suggest it was a hollow victory but the other two told me I was wrong and to gracefully accept defeat which I did in the end. After the shooting was done we went and had a cup of tea in the lodge they have there. It was a good experience and I enjoyed having a go at it. I mean obviously the overall winner was Steve he hit way more clays than we did.

During the afternoon they took us for a lovely walk across the fields to a pub on the canal where we had a couple of drinks in the sun. On the way back to their place we walked along the canal and over the viaduct that they have locally. It was a really nice chilled and relaxed afternoon. It is so beautiful around that area, despite having to be wary of about a ton of sheep pooh on the way to the pub. Lord knows what those animals were eating. When we got back to their house Louise then cooked us a fantastic dinner.

After that we watched the film Sing 2 at the request of their daughter Eleanor after Lynda and I had both played Jenga against her and after I had channelled Paul Zerdin to try to bring to life her bird puppet. If you think that you could see Roger De Courcey’s lips move you should have seen my efforts. The movie by the way was surprising good with a great cast that actually included Bono. We finished the night with a few drinks listening to country music as Steve and Louise like me are big fans of the genre.

The next day we got up and had breakfast in the garden followed by a relaxing morning until we discovered the minion toy game. It is a small replica of one of the characters from the film. It gives you three instructions to bop it, pull it and twist it. When you start it off it calls out one of those things and you have to do it within a certain time. You have a go and at first think it is just a bit of fun, but then all of a sudden you find yourself concentrating so intensely to try to beat it. Steve held the high score at 63 I got up to 54 and was waiting to have my next go, when Lynda got to 100 which is seemingly the end of the game, so we stopped playing after that. She seemed to win everything that weekend.

Once we had all had lunch Lynda and I headed off home. We had a fantastic weekend mostly just talking, playing and laughing. I always have a great time in their company and hopefully we will be able to see them again in a couple of months. The other highlight of the trip for me was as a Duke’s of Hazzard fan to see for the first time the Dodge Challenger that they bought and got shipped over from America. They are still repairing it but when it is finished it will be some beast. I got to sit in it and it is some machine.

I have been going to Royal Ascot for the last five years now it is such a good day out. I took Lynda there for the first time last Friday. As we had a London based busy weekend we booked a hotel in Euston for a few nights and arrived there on the Thursday. There was a pub right next door so we had a couple of drinks in there before getting an early night ready for our trip to Berkshire the next day. We got up and got dressed into our outfits. On the way to the tube station we stopped off at a Leon for breakfast. They do a very good selection of gluten free food so since I have been coeliac I have been a regular customer there. I had their Full English Breakfast Pot which was very tasty and surprisingly filling.

We arrived at Waterloo station in plenty of time to catch the train that we had booked tickets for stopping for a bottle of water on the way. We were one of the first people waiting on the platform for it to arrive. This meant we were able to get a seat on what we knew would be a very busy journey. It takes about an hour to get there and about ten minutes so get out of the station as there are just so many people using the service. Once you get out though it is only about a ten minute walk to the world famous racecourse. It always looks so spectacular when it is set up for the royal meeting I think. Once we were inside we had a couple of pictures of us taken in front of the parade ring. It was a very hot day so we then headed inside to get some shade and a drink.

We were meeting a couple of great friends of mine Adam and Nicki to spend the day with it is now a bit of a tradition that we attend this event together. While we were ordering the drinks I got a call from them, saying they had arrived. I went off to find them while Lynda got the drinks which as it happened did get me out of buying the first round. They then got some drinks as well and we had a nice catch up while enjoying the sun and the views. I like to watch the Royal Party arrive into the parade ring, so about five minutes before they were due to appear we made our way down there to get a good spot to see them.

They always arrive at the far end of the course at two o’clock but it takes them around ten minutes to get to where we are. The lead Royals were The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. We were in a great position to see them arrive and Prince William waved at us as he went past. Once we had seen them all get out of the carriages and shake hands with the welcoming party it was time to head to the stands and get a place to enjoy the racing from. Then there was just enough time to nip down to the bookmakers to get our bets on for the first race before the action started.

The standard of races is as you would expect exceptionally high for all five days of this huge occasion. We followed the same pattern all afternoon, a combination of betting before and watching each race with more drinks purchased as required through the afternoon. I had a couple of placed horses so got some money back that way and everybody else had at least the same. Nicki had the winner in the last race which she really did enjoy. We kept meaning to go and get some food during the afternoon but we were having such a laugh chatting and watching the races that we never quite got round to it.

Once all the racing has finished for the day and all the horses have been returned to the stables in the Queen Ann Enclosure where we go there is a massive sing-song around the bandstand. It lasts for about forty minutes and is brilliant fun with seemingly the whole of Ascot joining in singing and dancing together. There is a really good atmosphere to the place and the whole thing does feel very British. They run through all of the favourites from war time songs to Oasis and Neil Diamond. Once we had sung our hearts out we went to one of the pubs on the High Street for a couple more drinks stopping off for some emergency gluten free crisps on the way.

We said goodbye to Adam and Nicki and got the train back to London at half past nine, once again it was packed and as a result it was quite a slow journey back. We did not get back to the hotel until nearly eleven o’clock. As we had not really eaten we decided to get a take away pizza delivered. It worked a treat I met the driver outside and after a lot of security questions to make sure it was us who had placed the order I took it back to our room. Start the day hanging out with the future King and end it eating pizza in a hotel room, that my friends is how you keep yourself grounded. It was another great day at Royal Ascot and I am already looking forward to doing it all again next year.

The next day we were going to Taste of London with a group of friends. It is an annual event that takes place at Regents Park. Happily due to our sensible planning skills it was only a twenty minute walk from where we were staying. We met everybody there at half eleven and waited for the gates to open at midday. We had opted for VIP tickets which meant that we got fast track entry, a glass of champagne on arrival and some dishes included with our ticket. There are loads of pop up restaurants who offer a selection of three sample dishes for you to try. On top of that it is a trade fair for food and drinks companies to promote their own products.

Once we were let in, we of course headed straight for the VIP area to collect our champagne and plan how we were going to attack the four hour session that we had there. Annoyingly despite the forecast saying it would be warm and sunny it was a little drizzly, however that did not dampen our spirits. A lot of the companies there are handing out samples for you to try, while I was there I tried a tea infused Bellini, some non-alcoholic gin and barely flavoured fizzy water. We each set off in different directions to hunt down the food that we wanted to sample.

The only way I could discover what I could eat was to go from door to door to see the menu in each place so I could discover any dishes that were gluten free. It did seem like there were fewer options for me to try than last year but I still found three things to sample using my vouchers and even got an extra one on top. The stand out two for me, were a peanut satay lamb dish and a barbequed pork belly little number. The food is well presented and there is the odd celebrity chef floating about doing a bit of cooking to. I even managed to find some pudding. I found a stall where there were selling gluten free dough balls with ice-cream inside. They came in lots of different flavours I tried the mint chocolate chip, strawberry Eaton Mess and the cinnamon all of which were great.

The time does fly by and basically you spend the whole time there either eating or drinking so it is a mini festival that I would definitely recommend. It seemed to be quite popular with Radio 2 presenters as I saw Sara Cox there and Lynda spotted Vanessa Feltz. Before we knew it the time was four o’clock and we had to leave as our session was over. I had a brilliant time there once again I always seem to discover something new there that I really like. We said goodbye to everyone and went back to the hotel for a few hours to let the huge amount of food we had consumed digest.

We had somewhere lined up to go that evening. The friends we went to see in Manchester a few weeks ago were at Taste of London with us so we wanted to take them to a great wine bar that Lynda and I accidentally discovered towards the end of last year. We have been a few times since and always enjoyed it so we wanted to introduce them to it. It is called the Cork and Bottle and it is right on the corner of Leicester Square. We had booked a table there for a couple of hours that night.

The staff are excellent in there friendly and very knowledgeable about the food and drink they serve plus they are coeliac aware and can make most of the items they do gluten free. We ordered a lovely bottle of a Rioja Reserva which was right in my sweet spot for the type of wine that I like. As we had all been at Taste of London and eaten quite a lot we all opted for a cheese selection. We had three cheeses each which in my case came with gluten free crackers and bread. The atmosphere in there is very cool and relaxed so it is easy to eat, drink and have a brilliant time. Thankfully our friends seemed to like the place as much as we do; we will be visiting there again soon that is for sure. It wrapped up what was a fantastic couple of days.

Last Sunday was Father’s Day not being a dad myself I am always slightly worried about suddenly receiving a card as that is not the way you want to find out. Joking aside I did obviously get mine a card and without knowing as we did not talk about it my sister and I managed to independently get my dad exactly the same one. We only realised after we had given them to him. I was pleased with my present though he loves his sweets and I got him a huge box of jelly babies that contained fifty different flavours. That should keep him amused for a while I hope.

I am going to see The Rolling Stone in Hyde Park tomorrow which should be great; I will tell you what it was like next time we speak.

A quick reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/

Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.

Right Royal Fun

June 11, 2022 Neil

As I said previously this year seems to be going by so fast, it appears that the weather has not caught up yet and realised that it is actually summer. I have massively benefited recently from always carrying an umbrella with me plus I have seen people in the last week still wearing scarfs and hats which feels a bit wrong for June. Mind you as soon as there is a glimpse of the sun you can smell nothing but barbeques so it is good to know that as a country we are all being suitably British about the situation.

A couple of Saturdays ago now Lynda and I went up to Manchester to see some friends. We drove up during the afternoon and arrived to a champagne reception from our hosts, well after I had enjoyed a cup of tea that I always insist on having on arrival anywhere that I have endured a journey of thirty minutes or more. We had a civilised catch up before it was time to get changed and jump in the taxi they had booked to take us all to the restaurant that they had organised. During this trip it was the first time I think that I have ever seen a driver obviously turn up his radio to drown out what we were talking about and I promise you it was not that controversial or boring.

We arrived at the restaurant, which nowadays is always my cue to point out to the staff that I am a Coeliac requiring the gluten free menu and possibly the allergens menu to. They were great and the food and atmosphere in the place was also good. It was a Tapas style venue but due to my dietary requirements I had a straightforward starter and main while the rest of them shared a selection of dishes. For the record I was fine was this and still had a dessert option I could and did enjoy. It was some ice-cream that came with a small glass of sherry. Not a combination I had ever had before but I found it quite agreeable and may even have discovered a new drink option.

After we had eaten we had a table booked in a really nice bar called Ivy Asia. In there we had some very nice wine and spent the evening talking and laughing. There was a really cool and classy vibe to the place. I would definitely go there again. The next morning our friends did us a totally gluten free fried breakfast which I really appreciated. They even just did gluten free bread for everybody which removes quite a big cross contamination risk so I was very happy about that. We had a fantastic weekend just relaxing and hanging out with mates. I always like going out in Manchester but just never seem to do it very often.

It was my Dad’s 70th Birthday on the Thursday right at the start of the Jubilee Back Holiday weekend. He was not really sure what he wanted to do and I only just managed to get out of him what he would like for a present the week before. In the end I just decided I would go and see him for the day and cook a family roast dinner for the evening. It worked out well as his brothers and sister popped in to see him for a cup of tea and a quick chat during the day. Then he and mum went to church while I prepared the roast beef feast. I do quite a decent roast if I do say so myself although I am not great at judging portion sizes so we all had a massive plateful of food.

We opened some lovely red wine to accompany our meal and then he had two cakes to enjoy for his pudding. When we had finished eating we had a rest to let our digestive systems get to work. Then I started playing some music I thought he would like but had not had the chance to listen to for a while. We ended up doing this for about two hours with both of us taking turns to choose the songs. It was I guess by my standards at least, a low key celebration but he seemed to really enjoy it and we all had a fun time. I think we went to bed around midnight which is sensible for a man of his age of course.

I love a night out at the theatre and in particularly a good musical. Lynda managed to get a couple of tickets from Sky VIP to see the latest Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical version of Cinderella. It has of course hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons recently with the way that the cast were informed about the show closing in London a lot sooner than was originally planned. They all found out on social media instead of being personally informed in advance which is totally unprofessional and unforgiveable really. It closes tomorrow but we went and saw it last Friday.

I was not totally sure what to expect I had seen the odd number from it performed on various television shows before it opened and I did know that it starred Carrie Hope Fletcher. However I had no idea how the storyline differed from the original version that we all know so well. It was on at the Gillian Lynne Theatre which looks very non descript and concrete from the outside but is actually quite spacious and nicely organised inside. We had good seats in the middle of the stalls.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, the songs are excellent and catchy as you would expect from a Lloyd-Webber musical. The whole cast were brilliant and Carrie was sensational in the lead role. It is a modern slight reworking of the original tale with some characters and parts of the story very similar and some others very much not. It is easy to follow, staged perfectly and does I feel reflect the world we live in very well at times but ultimately it is a story and show based on a fairy tale where happy endings are the order of the day. I am glad that I managed to catch it, there was quite a bit of humour in it which of course appealed to me.

Before we went to the theatre we had a nice meal in Wahaca. It is on the list of places where I can eat as they do provide a decent choice of gluten free dishes. The other reason we went there is that Lynda had found that they do a great Margarita cocktail. I can now confirm this to be true as after she ordered hers I decided to try one to and they are very good. We had quite an impressive selection of Mexican food between us started off with some vegetable nachos and for me at least finished off by ice-cream with chocolate sauce. It certainly gave me the energy to enjoy our planned entertainment.

While we were at the theatre we got a message from some friends who happened to be in London to but seeing a different West End show. As we had not seen them since New Year’s Eve we decided to meet them for drinks afterwards. Much to our surprise we found a pub that had plenty of seats and no queue at the bar to have a few drinks and a catch up in before we had to get the last train home. It was a brilliant night out, food, theatre and friends is I feel always a winning combination.

It was a weekend for seeing mates which is never a bad thing. I am not sure how but it does seem hard to find the time at the minute to see people. Last Saturday afternoon we went to see our friends Adam and Katy at their house. Embarrassingly while we were there we worked out that we had not seen each other for nearly a year. It was great to see them and they even got some specially gluten free treats that I could enjoy with the copious cups of tea I consumed during the three hours we were there. I was in my element with friends chatting, laughing and drinking tea, that is basically what I was born to do!

I did enjoy seeing all the celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee during the special Bank Holiday Weekend. Trooping of the Colour was as ever a fantastic spectacle and I always enjoy a good flight past seeing all of those iconic aircraft fly over The Mall and Buckingham Palace is always brilliant. It was enhanced even more this year by the reaction of Prince Louie. He was the star of the whole weekend for me! The concert on Saturday was as you would expect slick and sensational.

The Pageant was both totally British and bonkers in equal measure. I would also love to know who booked the celebrities for the various buses and what their selection method was. It looked great fun and I wish I had been there to see it in person. I know a few people who were involved with the float on behalf of the Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival Club. They worked on the sound for the floats, when I was in Somerset I did loads of gigs with them, which were always good fun!

Seventy years in one job is a huge achievement and personally I think she has been and continues to be amazing. She was so good in that skit with Paddington that I think they should have given her a role in both of the films. Stuff like that really appeals to her sense of humour that we all need to have whatever industry we work in I think. Congratulations Your Majesty it was brilliant to see your appearances on the balcony and the interactions with your great grandchildren. Now please rest up a little so we can wave at each other at Royal Ascot this coming week. I am going on the Friday and I am already very excited about it.

Last Saturday night Lynda and I returned to the scene of our second date. It was a restaurant in Berkhamsted called Tabure. Since our first visit my dietary requirements have changed so I had to drop them an email to check they could accommodate me. They sent me a very quick and detailed reply that instantly put my mind at rest so I booked us a table. We went for a quick pre-dinner drink in The Kings Arms, which is where we ended up until closing time after the initial date in that town.

Tabure is a Turkish style restaurant where a bit like Tapas the dishes are sharing options in a particular section of the menu, although you can have individual meals if you like. To make the sharing easier and it better for them to manage my issues Lynda agreed to keep to only gluten free dishes. It was over two years since we had eaten there so we had kind of forgotten how good the food is. Let me tell you it is amazing, I have been lucky enough to eat in some very nice places but this one is right up there. We will definitely not be leaving it so long before we eat there again. The Staff are also brilliant and they do serve an exquisite Malbec there.

I am now starting to get quite excited about Baz Luhrmann’s new film about Elvis Presley. Despite previously playing it cool and saying I would see it at the cinema but I was in no rush to, after seeing the trailer and the hype from the Cannes Premier I went and booked tickets to see it in London on its UK release date. Tom Hanks plays the manager Colonel Parker and Austin Butler plays Elvis. As you would expect from a Luhrmann movie visually it looks amazing and I cannot wait to see it.

This weekend we are off to the Welsh/English border to spend a few days with my oldest friend and his family. We met on our first day in Primary School aged four and we have been mates ever since. I am really looking forward to seeing them. I will tell you what we got up to next time we speak.

A quick reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/

Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.

Food and Funny

April 2, 2022 Neil

Due to the situation over the last two years most of the comedy nights I had been to were open air events. A couple of weeks ago for the first time in a very long time I went to a “normal” comedy night inside, something which at one point was a monthly occurrence. A friend of mine was down in London for the day so my girlfriend and I decided to book a hotel and plan a night out in town meeting up with my mate beforehand. Unfortunately owing to a string of unexpected developments this did not happen but even though that was the real reason why we organised it, we still had a great time.

We had booked tickets to the 99 Comedy Club in Covent Garden. It was being held at a University Student Union bar which gave it a real air of nostalgia. We arrived and had to go down about four flights of stairs to get to where it was taking place. It was a bigger area than I was expecting with a civilised queue for the bar. As it was an actual college venue the drink prices were favourable for central London, therefore we had a couple of glasses of wine each that were it is fair to say better quality than we were expecting.

There were three acts in total on the bill plus the compere. One of the reasons we had picked this gig was because I like the comedian Chris McCausland and he was performing. I have always found him funny on television but I had not seen him live. He was the opening act and he was brilliant as I expected. I like his style and I think he has some great and obviously unique material, so that was a good start to the show. Between each of the acts they had an interval so you could go to the bar or the facilities.

The next comedian on stage was Marlon Davis who I had seen before. His set was slightly disrupted by a drunk member of the audience which I always find a bit annoying. But he was having some fun with her and seemed to be enjoying the situation. He appears to have quite an innocent way and doing some quite gritty jokes which works very well, I think. There are so many excellent comedians up and down the country get out to see them if you can, one thing we all need at the moment is a laugh.

The final act was Fin Taylor who you might recognise from The Mash Report or Have I Got News For You. I thought he was very funny and would happily see him again. It was a well-run night with three very good comedians. The show lasted about two hours and was finished by half past ten, giving us time to have a quick drink at a pub on the way back to the hotel, as well as one in the bar when we got back to where we were staying. Comedy and a few drinks is always a classic combination for a good night out.

Before we went to the comedy club we had dinner in a nice little place in Leicester Square that we discovered last year. It is called the Cork and Bottle. From the outside it just looks like an old shop front but you go in then down some stairs and it is actually a cosy French style wine bar. That happens to do very nice food. We had booked a table there this time but we have managed to walk in and get a seat previously. They do provide gluten free food options and they were great with me and my coeliac requirements.

I had the Pumpkin and Butternut Squash Curry with rice which is amazing. Not sure why but I seemed to be very hungry so I also had some Brie with Gluten Free bread and a huge bowl of ice cream for dessert. And as it was of course a wine bar it was all washed down with two very nice glasses of Rioja. Lynda and I both like it there and it is fast becoming one of our go to places in London when we fancy some food and drink in nice relaxed surroundings.

I appreciate all I seem to do is to go out and eat a lot. I would like to say that is not true and I do lots of other things in my free time but last Saturday Lynda and I did go out for a nice meal in St Albans. The key thing when finding a restaurant nowadays is that they have to be able to cater for a Coeliac like me. I have an app on my phone that is set up to suggest such places all over the country. We found one that was called Lussmans that had been recommend by several people who have the same condition as me and who had been there.

When we arrived we were shown upstairs to our table and they took our jackets to the cloak room before we were seated. Our waitress came over to me and explained the gluten free options and the steps they take there when preparing food. That instantly put my mind at rest. The food was lovely. I had the pulled pork and lentils dish for my starter followed by a cod and shrimps creation with leek and apples for my main. As I have said before you must always finish a meal with something sweet so I had the dark chocolate mousse for my pudding.

They had a gluten free beer on the menu that I had not seen before so I decided to try a bottle of that. It was called Green’s and it was really nice, so I will be looking out for that in the future. After I had finished that which was only for research purposes you understand I then had a couple of glasses of a very nice medium priced red wine that they had.

It was an enjoyable dining experience. The Staff were brilliant. Once we had finished we retrieved our coats and then found a pub to have some more drinks in. I am not saying we picked the place that all the locals liked but no word of a lie the Mayor was there standing at the bar wearing his chains, I presumed as a nice welcoming party for my entrance. I really wanted to see if he would let me borrow them for a photo but I never got round to asking him in the end.

Grand National 2018 — If I was Mayor what I would wear!

It was Mother’s Day last Sunday so I went to my parent’s house to cook dinner for the whole family to give my mum a day off. I did roast beef with carrots, peas, sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli as well as roast potatoes, parsnips, Yorkshire puddings for those that were allowed them and gluten free gravy. I am not saying I am the greatest cook in the world but I do produce a nice roast or a decent steak meal when I am required to.

I am also a terrible judge of portion sizes so it is fair to say I filled my Mum, Dad and Sister up with their food to such an extent that they all needed a two hour break before they felt ready to face pudding. Although I do not cook for more than one person very often I quite enjoy it when I do and even I was impressed with how well this last effort turned out. We had a relaxing afternoon just having a good old chat and a bit of a laugh. I did also get her a card and present to. I am not looking for a medal or anything but I did the washing up myself. By which I mean I put everything in the dishwasher and turned it on.

Like most of the country I have been doing a lot of remote working recently but in the last month I have started to slowly return to the work place. I am in up to three days a week now, which is great as I like the place where I work. There is always lots going on and you never know who you might bump in to and who might be sound checking outside ready for their performance on The One Show that evening. The worst thing about it is the daily commute. The trains are often rammed and it takes up a lot more time to travel there and back again, time that I was previously using as part of my exercise regime. It is funny how quickly you can adapt your routine when you need to. I am just about getting the hang of it again now.

England have played a couple of football friendlies as the Premier League took a break for a week. I was delighted to see Harry Kane go past Gary Lineker and draw level with Bobby Charlton’s total goals for England tally of 49. That was the benchmark for such a long time until Wayne Rooney scored 53 goals during his career for his country. Kane is just four goals behind Rooney. He is clearly going to become the greatest goal scorer of all time for England. He has also played 52 less games that Wayne did in total so far. I am a big Spurs fan so I know how great he is as I see it week in week out but I feel sometimes that he does not always get the respect he deserves for his goal scoring achievements.

Last night we went to see an amateur production of Evita at the Eric Morecambe Centre in Harpenden. It is where the comic genius lived and it was the first time that I had been to the venue that was named in his honour. The reason we went to see it was to support Lynda’s cousin who was playing in the Orchestra. It is a great show which I have seen a few times before. The cast were excellent and it was all done as true to the original as possible. It is always pleasing to see people performing on stage just for the pure enjoyment and nothing else.

I am looking forward to next week as at last I get to go to the Aintree Festival once again. I have been many times over the years and it is always a great few days. I go and see my mate Jeff and stay with him. We go to Ladies Day on the Friday before partying in Liverpool city centre in the evening. Then we watch The Grand National some where local the next day. It is always fun and normally takes me at least a week to recover from it. I will tell you what it was like this year next time we speak.

A quick reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/

Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.

Happy Birthday To Me

December 18, 2021 Neil

It was my birthday the other Friday the tenth of December. As you get older in life some people tend not to celebrate birthdays that much and even try to ignore and forget them. I am very much of the philosophy that each one should be suitably marked. Achieving another year on the planet is no small feat so you really should reward yourself for your effort I feel. I only tend to have a party on what I consider landmark birthdays and as my next one of those is not for a few years yet this time I enjoyed a weekend in London.

I think as far as I can remember since I have been an adult at least, I have taken control and planned exactly what I was doing for my special day, be that a party, a weekend away or just a night out. This time however it was slightly different. My girlfriend Lynda is a good organiser of things and she told me around six months ago that she had booked us both something to do on the evening of my birthday in London and that I should keep it free. A couple of months later she admitted that she had also arranged another surprise for me on the Saturday evening.

With two events planned over two nights it made sense to stay in London for the whole weekend. Together we booked a very nice hotel to stay in for a couple of nights. That took a lot of thought as we were trying to get the location right, which she was attempting to suggest without giving the game away about what we were doing of course. We settled on The Great Scotland Yard Hotel just off Whitehall. I managed to organise to work from London on the Friday and after I had finished I walked across town to meet Lynda who had already checked into the hotel. As soon as you went in and met the staff you could instantly tell that it was a well run establishment.

I collected my key from reception and then went to the room to see Lynda. At this point I still had no idea what we were doing but I knew we had to leave in about ten minutes, so I had a quick cup of tea and opened some cards before it was time to quickly get changed and head out. She obviously had to lead the way as I did not know where we were going. Then all of a sudden we were standing in the queue at The Garrick Theatre waiting to go in and see The Drifters Girl. It stars the brilliant Beverly Knight and as you have probably guessed it is the story of the Drifters. I gigged with the group on my birthday in 2007. Just to clarify I was not singing it was a dinner and dance at a huge venue in Yeovil. I was the DJ and they were the Cabaret. They were great and it was amazing to watch them from the side of the stage.

I am a fan of their music. They have released some great and very memorable songs. We had good seats near the front of the stalls and Lynda had the foresight to pre-order some drinks so it was not long before I was enjoying a red wine. I ordered us some interval drinks to because well it was my birthday. The show was fantastic, the whole cast were wonderful and most of them had to play multiple roles, that they did perfectly and very cleverly. Beverly Knight was excellent she has such a sensational voice and her American accent was perfect. It is a very slick and well put together show. By the encore we were all on our feet singing and dancing along to the songs. Lynda had done very well with the first surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

After the show we went across the road to the Cork & Bottle Wine Bar in Leicester Square. It is a little downstairs place where we decided to go for a bit more wine and some late night food. They had a few gluten free options and I ended up with a carrot and peanut curry with rice, which was very nice. We stayed in there until closing time and then made our way back to the hotel. The bar there was already closed and that may not have been a bad thing as we had a full day ahead of us the next day, so it steered us to bed. Due to me being at work it had been quite a long yet enjoyable day. Plus it was my birthday weekend so there was another surprise waiting for me on the Saturday evening.

We had breakfast included in our stay so made sure we got up to enjoy that. As you would expect from the quality of the hotel we were in it was very nice. I had the omelette which was great. Not wanting to waste the day we got organised and went for a walk along the South Bank. There just happened to be a small Christmas Market there, it would have been rude not to have a Mulled Wine while we were there so we did. We then decided we needed some more food so we went to Prezzo as they do a very good gluten free menu. I had some garlic bread and pasta as I was aware we had an afternoon and evening of drinking lined up so thought it best to line the stomach properly. After lunch we returned to the hotel to relax and get changed before the evening entertainment.

The toilet in the room was a bit more advanced shall we say than anything I had ever experienced. I do not want to be too graphic but when you have done what you need to do there is a control panel that offers jets of water followed by a drier option. Therefore it is a good way of reducing paper use in this situation. I had never tried anything like that before but now having experienced it for myself I really want one. It makes everything simpler and yet more exciting. We got dressed up and went to enjoy a drink in the classy hotel bar. We had two things planned for the evening one that I knew about and my second birthday surprise present from Lynda. The first place we were going to was a cocktail bar that she had wanted to go to for a while. That we actually managed to book at table at for this night the last time we were out in London together.

It is a place called Cahoots in Soho. We walked there in the rain which was not ideal but on arrival they showed us to the table we had booked in the underground section. It is designed like a tube station and you sit in little carriage compartments. It is all very nicely done and is set in the 1940’s just after the end of the war. They have a comprehensive list of cocktails many of which are unique to the place. It is very dimly lit and the menu is in a newspaper. My eyesight is not great so I was finding it hard to read it for a laugh Lynda passed me the candle on the table, which I took and titled slightly. I had not realised it was full of wax and managed to drip it all over my black trousers which made them look shall we say a bit suspicious in a certain light, until I managed to fix them a little in the toilet.

The drinks have all sorts of different names while I was there I had a Vera Lynn, a Judy Garland and a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts. The first one came in a glass that was a replica of the singers head. The drinks were great and not normally what I would have ordered ingredients wise but sometimes it is good to try some new things and push the boundaries. Lynda had three cocktails as well including their own version of an Old Fashioned that she really liked and as she is a bit of a connoisseur of that drink that is high praise indeed. I still did not know where we were off to next, although I did know it included us eating at some point. It was back towards the hotel, was all I knew so Lynda led the way once again and we found ourselves in The Strand outside one of the big impressive hotels there.

She had booked us into a very nice restaurant called Indigo. The reason she was taking me there was it only serves gluten and dairy free food. Therefore for the first time since I have been diagnosed as a coeliac I could go in to somewhere that not only could I choose anything off the menu to eat but also somewhere that there would be absolutely no chance of cross contamination. It was such a cool and classy place that had a nice and relaxed vibe to it. I instantly loved it in there and that was before I had seen the wine list or even the menu. It was such a lovely and sweet place for her to book so I could relax, choose whatever I wanted to and enjoy my food.

We of course ordered some wine first which for the record was very good. They then brought us a gluten free roll with diary free bacon sprinkles butter. That combination was sensational and already a great start to the meal. Next up I had the belly pork starter which was fantastic. Not only was the food great but it was like Master Chef “style” presentation to. Lynda had the crab for her starter. My main course was Halibut with crushed potatoes and crab sauce, which again was melt in your mouth good. She had the fish and very chunky chips. Then for pudding I had the most amazing chocolate mousse I think I have ever tasted it was just ridiculous. There was one more surprise when they came out with a piece of chocolate cake with happy birthday written on it and a candle for me to blow out, which I thought was a really nice touch.

I had a wonderful time there and will definitely be going back there again. It is a fine dining place and of course their prices reflect that but I would say the food was worth every penny. If you are coeliac or gluten or dairy free I would recommend you go there as a special treat for a big occasion. If you have no dietary requirements I would still go the food and whole experience you have there is brilliant. It was honestly the perfect place for me to eat out for my birthday. It may well become my go to place when I want to mark a special occasion or just fancy eating at possibly one of the safest places I know for my medical condition.

We then went back to the hotel with full and content stomachs and had a couple more drinks in the bar including some Champagne to toast the occasion. We went to go to bed at a reasonable time but when we got to our room none of our key cards would work. I went to the reception and a security guard came back with me to use the master key but that still did not open it. He then had to radio down for another member of the team who came and stuck a screwdriver in a certain area before producing a conventional key and managing to get us into the room. In the end it took us half an hour longer to get in the room than it should of. Modern technology is great when it works and very annoying when it does not.

On the Sunday we got up and had breakfast. I had the omelette again well if it is not broke do not fix it. We then checked out leaving our bags being looked after by the hotel to spend the afternoon mooching around. We had a look around the Christmas Market in Trafalgar Square, before having a stroll around Convent Garden where the better tree of those two places is located. We then went to have a drink in my favourite pub in London Waxy O’Connor’s just off Leicester Square. I have been going there for years, normally I would have a pint of Guinness but now I am gluten free that is no longer an option so I just had to make do with a pint of cider. I was pleased that I could introduce Lynda to the place for the first time though.

Then as we had obviously not eaten enough food during the weekend we went for a late dinner at another gluten free friendly place Cote Brasserie. I still managed to put away their Toulouse Confit and Crème Caramel for pudding washed down by a glass of red wine. We then decided to go for a walk down The Mall and back through St James Park before having one final drink then calling a close to the weekend. I had a brilliant time and was delighted with both of my birthday surprises. That does really put the pressure on me now though as it is Lynda’s big day in March and it is only fair that I organise something as impressive and clever as what she did, wish me luck!

There is literally never a dull moment with my football team Tottenham Hotspur. A Covid outbreak among the players and the coaching staff led to a couple of our games being postponed. This may mean as we refused to play in effect we could be removed from the Europa Conference. I am totally fine with that as I have said before despite the fact we were in it I could never really see the point of it. We lost a few Premier League games but that was agreed and other clubs have been granted that right earlier in the season anyway for the same reason. It is a shame though as we were just starting to get in to a rhythm and put a few wins together. But the health of the players and their families is more important than anything else of course. I look forward to seeing what happens when we return to action. Come of you Spurs!

Christmas Day is only a week away. I have nearly finished all my present shopping which is pretty good for me. I am just going to have a quiet day with my parents on the actual day. Then on Boxing Day I am planning to go and see Tottenham play Crystal Palace before disappearing for a few days to a hotel with Lynda to relax and build ourselves up for New Year’s Eve. It should be fun we are staying at a bit of a quirky hotel. which I will tell you more about next time we speak. Whatever you are doing have a great Christmas, eat, drink and be merry!

A quick reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/

Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Happy Christmas! Cheers Neil.

Fortune Favours The Brave

November 20, 2021 Neil

It already seems like a long time ago now but I hope you had a nice fireworks night and you got the chance to go to a big display to see the sky lit up with lots of bright colours. As a child I was really scared of fireworks so I hated going to those things but as an adult I grew to like them and ended up hosting plenty of bonfire night events over the years. My girlfriend went to one in St Albans where they had twenty minutes worth of fireworks set to the music from James Bond. She had a video of some of it on her phone that she showed me and it looked spectacular.

I did not manage to see any fireworks in person this year. My sister had been invited to a Wedding Reception on the Saturday of that weekend. She has a dog that is sadly getting very old now and does not like being left on her own at the best of times. Let alone when it was likely there would be lots of loud bangs going off, so I agreed to dog sit for her. The animal and I generally get on alright so when I got there she came over to me and had a stroke with a bit of fussing. It is a pleasing site when a dog greets you wagging their tail.

I had a list of instructions of what to do including what time and how much food I could give her and also what time she was allowed to have the various tablets she requires, that she takes with honey. That is now something I am thinking of adopting when I have to take any tablets now. We both went into the living room and I turned the TV on. I put the volume up reasonably loud to try to drown out any fireworks and because after years of headphone wearing my hearing is not the best. I chose what we watched though just to try to at least give the illusion that I was in charge.

I managed to get the dog to have her food and tablets at the correct times. Then she settled down and fell asleep on my foot, which was good as she was no trouble at this point and bad as it meant I could not move for about two hours. We did have some issues as a few times she thought my sister was upstairs so I had to take her up and down twice to prove that she wasn’t. The dog’s legs are a bit weak and she cannot do the stairs anymore so I had to carry her up and down. When my sister got back after her night out I am not sure who was more relieved to see her, the dog or me?

I had my Flu Jab a couple of weeks ago and for the first time I got a bruise in the area that I had the injection. I am not sure if I somehow upset the nurse who was doing it or it was just one of those oddities. Anyway I felt fine afterwards. A few days ago due to me being both an asthmatic and a Coeliac I had my Covid Booster. It was very quick and simple and I suffered no big issues from having it. Anything that means I can keep going out to enjoy the things I like doing and that helps me not to die is fine with me. I am very happy to trust medical science as I have been relying on it since I was born.

Last Saturday afternoon Lynda and I went to the theatre to see a play that has been playing in London since 1989. It is on at the Fortune Theatre near Covent Garden, where it has been since the day it opened. Obviously as it was a play I had not seen before it was also a venue that I had not visited either. It is quite a small compact little theatre, the toilets are particularly cosy, but it is as you would expect such as place to look and feel. It does of course have a bar so we enjoyed a glass of wine in our seats before the performance and during the interval.

The play was The Woman in Black. I do not want to give too much away but it is a ghost story. It has a cast of two, Terrence Wilton and Max Hutchinson both of whom were brilliant. The production I think is very cleverly done it is atmospheric with a few little surprises for the audience along the way. The story unfolds and builds nicely and I enjoyed it. As I have said many times before I just love the whole experience of going to the theatre and the connection with a live performance developing in front of you.

After the theatre we went for dinner. There is an Indian style place near Covent Garden that Lynda likes. She has actually got some of this restaurant’s cook books and has made me a few dishes from it during the last eighteen months. Due to the world closing down she had not been there to eat for a while and was keen to do so. And as they have a decent selection of gluten free meals on the menu it seemed like the obvious choice as we were in the area. It is called Dishoom. They only offer bookings at certain times or if there is big group of you. Otherwise it is simply on a first come first serve basis, it is extremely popular.

I am not a fan of queuing for anything but I was aware how good the food was in this place and we had plenty of time on our side so we joined the line outside. One of the staff comes past with a tablet and books you in and then you just wait your turn. They did bring us out a bit of Chai Tea to enjoy while we were there. The queue moved at a reasonable speed and we found ourselves at the front door with the next available table for two set to be ours. We got ushered in to the front desk. It is huge inside and has two floors. We got taken to our table which was in the corner of the conservatory area. I thought it was a great location.

To celebrate the fact that we had actually made it there at last we had a cocktail each. I had their version of a Pina Colada which was lovely. I had told them I was coeliac when we booked in so there was already a gluten free menu for me on the table. I then got given the allergen folder to aid my decision in choosing dishes that were safe for me to have. I had a nice selection to pick from so I went for the following the Mutton Curry, Paneer Tikka and Gun Powder Potatoes along with some rice. The food was amazing it was such a tasty and filling meal. The staff were brilliant and it was a really nice dining experience.

After the meal we decided to go and have another drink somewhere before we got the train home. We found the Cork and Bottle Wine Bar in Leicester Square. From the front it just looks like a disused shop but when you go in and walk down the stairs it is a nice little traditional wine bar in the Parisian style. Obviously they had an impressive selection of wine in there. I tried a large glass of their Rioja which was very nice. We only stayed for one relaxing drink in there before deciding to head home. It was an excellent Saturday out. You cannot go wrong with the theatre followed by an exquisite meal then rounded off with a few drinks, just perfect.

England have qualified for the World Cup in Qatar next year then. It is taking place during November and December. That is going to be so strange for me having it on during my birthday. Supporting the national team in a competition during the winter is going to be extremely out of the ordinary. We made quite light work of getting there and winning our group. It will be tough of course but we have got a pretty decent squad containing a lot of young players who all being well could be available for the next two or three tournaments so it could make for some interesting times going forward, hopefully.

Once again during this international break Harry Kane has proved what a world class striker he is, never mind the opposition you can only score against what is in front of you. He will almost certainly beat Wayne Rooney’s total and become England’s all time top goal scorer. He has already got more competitive goals than the current record holder. I am not sure why but I still do not feel Harry always gets the respect he deserves from all of the England fans. He is a very special player and proving to be a decent captain. I might be a bit biased of course, but his goals suggest I am right.

I have been very impressed with the way Antonio Conte has come to Spurs and already made a huge impression. He has taken control and began changing things plus been honest and upfront and about the task facing him. You cannot argue with this guy’s passion and determination that is why he is a winner. I never wanted to have Mourinho at the club I just felt he was not right for us. I liked Nuno but he just seemed like a stop gap and I think he knew that himself probably. Conte needs to see this through as at least a three year project I think, it will not happen overnight but this is as excited as I have been for a while about a new Tottenham manager.

I am going to see us play Leeds United at home tomorrow. It will be a difficult game as they all are. He still has not had much time to work with the whole squad yet. It is tricky coming in mid-season when you want to change things and put your stamp on it but the games just keep coming thick and fast. We are still in all the cups at the moment and if he can grab one of those in his first half a season then that will be an amazing start. I expect there to be plenty of ups and downs before the end of the season, but getting the first league win under Conte this weekend would be a big bonus. Come on you Spurs!

You can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings. https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/

I am going to Taste of London at the Tobacco Docks today I will tell you what that was like the next time we speak. Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.

Neil Quigley

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