Part One – London’s Calling
Woohoo, a month away. Surely the best way to use a year’s worth of annual leave. Though of course it starts with the dreaded long haul all the way to Heathrow. And on the first leg it seemed it was going so well.
We were on one of the new Air NZ planes to San Francisco. They definitely have more legroom, and the seats seem that little bit wider. And in what seemed like a full flight, we also seemed be fortunate enough to have the one spare seat next to us. Of course, we should have known that this would balance out somewhere else…
We had a four-hour stop over in San Francisco. Not enough time to head into the city, but just enough to track down the Anchor Brewery Bar and have their very good brews. So despite getting no sleep on the first leg, I was feeling good about the second leg to London. That was until we boarded our Virgin Atlantic flight. It had the old style seats, which we had forgotten how little they “recline”, staffed by what seemed a select sample of the Chav population out of Essex. And then…my personal entertainment system didn’t work. And with the flight completely full, I couldn’t move anywhere else, and the staff didn’t seemed to care anyway. So I had to go the whole sleepless 12 hours to London with nothing to do.
Of course, at least I had the treats of London awaiting us. Deb meet us at the airport and from there it was back onto the tube (with my old Oyster card which still had money on it!) and into Putney. After a couple of groggy showers, down we headed to The Bricklayers Arms to meet up with all the crew. The Bricklayers was still as good as I remembered it, all the Timothy Taylors range, plus a couple of additional handpulls they have installed for more guests. But I only had eyes for the Dark Mild – and it wasn’t disappointing.
It only took a few pints to throw off the grogginess and it was like old times again in London. Later on we wandered down the road to another old haunt – Putney Tandoori – where I was greeted like a long lost son (though the stroking of my hair seemed a little weird!). Somehow Anna and I found ourselves back at Todd & Nic’s, going strong until 1.30am when we finally thought we should try and get some sleep (I had gone some 60 hours without any by then) – and sleep we did.
Sunday was meant to be a lazy afternoon up at The Telegraph – a pub up in Putney Heath that had been the talk of the town ever since I left. It calls itself a “country pub in London”, and that is a pretty accurate description. I’m not sure how it happened, but next thing I know it is 11pm and I am only just leaving the Coat and Badge after an all day Sunday session. Not a bad start of the holiday!
We only had one more day before we flew out to the Czech Republic, so we dragged everyone out again for a drink after work before Anna and I went out to dinner with Deb and Carl to Gordon Ramsey’s Murano. For those of you who know (or care) about these things, Murano is headed by Gordon Ramsey’s protégé Angela Hartnett. I think this is the third time we have eaten at a Gordon Ramsey restaurant, and it didn’t disappoint, either the palate or the wallet. At £215, it’s not cheap, especially in NZ dollars, where it converts to $lots!
It had been a great first weekend in London to kick the holiday off – though didn’t help to shrug off the affects of jetlag – and it was great catching up with everyone. Next stop, the Pilsners of the Czech Republic…
Woohoo, a month away. Surely the best way to use a year’s worth of annual leave. Though of course it starts with the dreaded long haul all the way to Heathrow. And on the first leg it seemed it was going so well.
We were on one of the new Air NZ planes to San Francisco. They definitely have more legroom, and the seats seem that little bit wider. And in what seemed like a full flight, we also seemed be fortunate enough to have the one spare seat next to us. Of course, we should have known that this would balance out somewhere else…
We had a four-hour stop over in San Francisco. Not enough time to head into the city, but just enough to track down the Anchor Brewery Bar and have their very good brews. So despite getting no sleep on the first leg, I was feeling good about the second leg to London. That was until we boarded our Virgin Atlantic flight. It had the old style seats, which we had forgotten how little they “recline”, staffed by what seemed a select sample of the Chav population out of Essex. And then…my personal entertainment system didn’t work. And with the flight completely full, I couldn’t move anywhere else, and the staff didn’t seemed to care anyway. So I had to go the whole sleepless 12 hours to London with nothing to do.
Of course, at least I had the treats of London awaiting us. Deb meet us at the airport and from there it was back onto the tube (with my old Oyster card which still had money on it!) and into Putney. After a couple of groggy showers, down we headed to The Bricklayers Arms to meet up with all the crew. The Bricklayers was still as good as I remembered it, all the Timothy Taylors range, plus a couple of additional handpulls they have installed for more guests. But I only had eyes for the Dark Mild – and it wasn’t disappointing.
It only took a few pints to throw off the grogginess and it was like old times again in London. Later on we wandered down the road to another old haunt – Putney Tandoori – where I was greeted like a long lost son (though the stroking of my hair seemed a little weird!). Somehow Anna and I found ourselves back at Todd & Nic’s, going strong until 1.30am when we finally thought we should try and get some sleep (I had gone some 60 hours without any by then) – and sleep we did.
Sunday was meant to be a lazy afternoon up at The Telegraph – a pub up in Putney Heath that had been the talk of the town ever since I left. It calls itself a “country pub in London”, and that is a pretty accurate description. I’m not sure how it happened, but next thing I know it is 11pm and I am only just leaving the Coat and Badge after an all day Sunday session. Not a bad start of the holiday!
We only had one more day before we flew out to the Czech Republic, so we dragged everyone out again for a drink after work before Anna and I went out to dinner with Deb and Carl to Gordon Ramsey’s Murano. For those of you who know (or care) about these things, Murano is headed by Gordon Ramsey’s protégé Angela Hartnett. I think this is the third time we have eaten at a Gordon Ramsey restaurant, and it didn’t disappoint, either the palate or the wallet. At £215, it’s not cheap, especially in NZ dollars, where it converts to $lots!It had been a great first weekend in London to kick the holiday off – though didn’t help to shrug off the affects of jetlag – and it was great catching up with everyone. Next stop, the Pilsners of the Czech Republic…
No comments:
Post a Comment