London Lives

Beach at Aberystwyth

London Lives decamped for a 36-hour jaunt to lovely Wales last weekend. The journey was in honour of a good pal’s significant birthday. Boo to not being able to have more time off work  for the visit to Aberystwyth; I had to shoot there and back over a very short period of time. But what’s not to love about a long train journey, complete with coffee, iPod, book, writer’s notebook (always…)

There were football fans travelling up to Birmingham where I had to change. Good-natured banter, thankfully. Even when I noticed they were cracking open cans of Stella Artois at 11.00am. Then there was a very pretty journey on the section to mid-Wales.

Aberystwyth was beautiful. My first visit there and I was excited to see the sea for the first time in ages. There were walks along the seafront, new buildings to look at, introductions to new people, the pebbled beaches to explore. And great tapas and good wine with pals old and new. On to a pub for more wine, then we ambled back to hotels long the seafront, a brilliant and huge moon hovering over black sea.

After breakfast, another walk far along the seafront; far along past the university, the war memorial and on up to the marina and the river Ystwyth. Then we walked back along the beach, with its smooth grey pebbles. Splendid dogs roaming over them, their owners calling them back. And then I had to go back myself, through the pretty countryside, the occasional wind farm and hillsides of shaggy cows. Back to change at Crewe and a straight run to London Euston.

I picked up a beautiful smooth grey pebble from Aber. It rests on a cabinet in my bedroom, next to the conkers I picked up from Hyde Park last week.

Above is one photo of the beach.  And I’m fond of a nice building with a date on it (below). More Aber pics to follow.

Right. I recently became a lady of a Certain Age and had a splendid weekend of celebrations. After agonising about where to go, I plumped for a favourite Italian restaurant in town that most of my pals have been to at one time or another.

If I was nervous about gathering various people together, I needn’t have been. There was something special about seeing friends of mine who’d never met before getting on like a house on fire at each end of the table. Lush food (as always), Prosecco, wine, puddings and liquers. Wonderful.

The following day, my brilliant best friend took me to lunch at Brown’s, a great brasserie in Covent Garden. I haven’t been there for years and I like the fact that it is buzzy and smart, without being stuffy or full of nightmare people. I had a lovely crab and avocado salad followed by fish and chips. Sometimes F&C just really fits the bill and I wasn’t wrong this time. We had great natter over Prosecco and Gavi. My pal had the goat’s cheese and red pepper tart (which I purloined a mouthful of), followed by quail and rice.

There was a smart wedding reception taking place at Brown’s; lots of men in kilts and women in gowns, although there was one woman in a kilt and staggeringly high heels. She looked ace.

Afterwards, we went to see Stomp! at the Ambassadors Theatre. Fantastic, vibrant and something completely different from anything I’ve seen before. The Ambassadors is a lovely theatre, very small and with an interesting history.

Brilliant weekend. I love my pals.