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| Our camp site was in Crystal Palace next to the site of the (you guessed it) Crystal Palace. It was moved here after the Great Exhibition in 1851 and burnt down in 1936. |
Firstly - yes, we were in London for the riots, but we didn't see or hear anything and we most definitely did not cause them. We did have to tell a bit of a fib to Sarah when we had dinner with my cousin Rob, because he lives in Hackney where it all started. However, by that time there seemed to be more cops than people on the streets and all was fine. A bit spooky being in the middle of town and seeing all the shops close up at 3:00pm and everyone take off...
Secondly - we were very slack about taking photos, so I have done what I can with the few we did take.
In London itself, we did zero sight seeing, and spent the whole time catching up with friends and relatives, and eating way too much food. Yay!
Our first meal was at my cousin Rob's place - he lives in a 6 bedroom house which seemed to have an endless stream of flatmates and friends who would turn up, introduce themselves, and then place a random selection of meat on the BBQ. We just sat there and got fed. It was great.
We forgot to take the camera - so here is a photo of Rob I got off Google images.
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| Ooooo-brooding. To get the real impression of what it is like to talk to Rob, hold the computer about a foot above your head and look at this photo. He is quite tall. |
The next night we met up with Marnie, Sam, Lucinda, Mike, Des (Andrew Clark) and Emma for cocktails at a steak restaurant, and then dinner at a different steak restaurant (Goodmans). Sam explained why we did this and it made sense at the time but I have since forgotten. The steak house was one where they have their own ageing room, and they bring the different kinds of steak out to the table and explain it to you. When you actually get the steak, it is the only thing that arrives on the plate - everything else is a side.
Anyway, best steak I have ever had. Easy. They also had macaroni and cheese as a side.
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| Yes, I will have a delicious icy cocktail thanks Marnie. |
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| Mmmmmmm steaky steaky goodness. Also, look - I have new glasses! |
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| She is pretending to look dainty. |
The next meal was lunch at the River Cafe (place where Jamie Oliver got his 'break') and it was delicious - I didn't realise it was Italian.
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| The river outside the River Cafe - forgot to take photos of the actual restaurant. Sigh. |
On the Saturday night we went over to Chateau Lambert, where Sarah entertained us and Amanda with her new found culinary skills. Italian, not French - but Lambert seems to work better in an French accent to me. We had home made bread, and pasta; it was all lovely and she should be very proud of herself.
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| The Lambert girls in their natural element. |
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| The entree - stuffed bread balls (home made bread). Delicious. |
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| ...and the main - home made pasta with pork and veal meatballs. |
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| Amanda and me practicing our photo taking technique - first you look away from the camera..... |
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| ....and then look at the camera and smile. |
Finally, we met up for brunch with Josh and Helen and had our first kind of traditional cooked english breakfast at The Providores - actually owned by Peter Gordon (a kiwi) and Michael McGrath (kind of a kiwi). We had a bit of a chat about our joint upcoming trip to Scotland, and their imminent return to NZ (via various parts unknown).
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| Josh and Helen our going to be staying with us for a few weeks in the campervan. They look like this because we have told them there is actually only one bed.....and not much bedding.......and it's going to be cold in Scotland. |
Overall, despite a bit of a nervous start to the week, we had a great time, ate way too much and by the final day we were down to pretty much one meal a day.
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