This afternoon was a unique opportunity to see Shakespeare’s rarely performed production of ‘King John’ at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. We met Chris and Gill at theirs and headed over to the Theatre in time for a spot of lunch followed by the performance at 1.30pm. (The lunch incidentally, was superb!) I wasn’t familiar with …
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Holiday: Israel – Day 5 (2020)
It’s our last full day here and if the weather forecast is to be believed, it won’t be a day for anything outside! A quick look through our guide-book offered some indoor-alternatives, so we dressed accordingly and headed out into a very grey day. We were umbrella-less due to ours self-destructing during yesterday’s adventures with …
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Holiday: Israel – Day 4 (2020)
The weather forecast for today, Wednesday, is not so good! In a word: ‘showers’! In another word: ‘cold’! Time then, to discover more of Israel, but from the inside of somewhere! 😃 To maintain our sense of adventure (but mostly to dodge the showers!) we’re diving again into the world of Jerusalem’s public transport system. …
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Holiday: Israel – Day 3 (2020)
A slightly earlier start to today as we have a list of places to visit including our continued trek around more of the old city walls that we started yesterday. On our planned itinerary today… Luckily, the weather is much-the-same as yesterday with only a slight chance of rain. Our first stop today was Temple …
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Holiday: Israel – Day 2 (2020)
Well, the forecast was a good start to our day! We slept well and headed for breakfast on floor 8 at a very relaxed 8.45! 😋 An excellent selection to eat, setting us up nicely for the day. We set-off around 9.45am and hatched a plan to see as much of the old city as …
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Doctor Who – Series 12, Episode 2 – “Spyfall (Part 2)”
After last week’s surprisingly good series opener together with its I-didn’t-see-that-coming-twist and subsequent cliffhanger, I was really looking forward to this episode. Pity then, we were away on holiday in Israel! 🙄 Still, we’re not going to let a little thing like that get in the way are we? No sireee! Step forward Express VPN …
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Holiday: Israel – Day 1 (2020)
Today was a day of travel. Luton to Jerusalem was pretty much 12 hours door-to-door! We do get about don’t we??? 😁 4.12am: Yes, it really was that early! 😵💫 We soon packed-up our things at the Holiday Inn, Luton, and headed downstairs to wait for our pre-booked taxi. 5.15am: Our Taxi was on time, …
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Holiday: Israel – light!
We’re off to Israel for a few days — and we’re travelling light! No unnecessary baggage (what will I do without the sink?). Just the essentials then, for our 2,446 mile, sub-five-hour flight. And keeping to the theme of ‘light’ and ‘easy’, we didn’t even use our car. Instead, David dropped us at the station …
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Doctor Who – New Year Special 2020: “Spyfall (Part 1)”
The last time we had a Doctor Who ‘Special’ on TV was new year’s day last year. Entitled ‘Resolution’, I gave it four-stars (which, given my general disappointment with JW’s incarnation of the Doctor, and the over-simplified plots, was probably quite generous!). Those that know me, know that so far, I’ve not been a great …
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Christmas 2019
As with many of our past Christmas celebrations, this year is mostly a family affair. It’s also a busy one (perhaps even more manic than normal for this time of year) with our festive and new-year celebrations almost blurring into one continuous festive family/friends/food/film-fest! (it’s a tough life!) As a result, this is probably the …
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Four Seasons in a Day
To complete our musical-themed weekend that began last night in Warwick, we’re off to Kilworth House this lunchtime, to enjoy a meal and listen to the winners of the National Tribute Music Awards 2016:- ‘Walk Like a Man‘ (aka ‘Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons‘). More information about them HERE. Kilworth’s Christmas decorations were their …
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Rick Wakeman on Tour (2019)
Entitled Rick’s Grumpy Old Christmas Show, we joined our friends, Ian and Ann, for an evening of superb piano playing punctuated by Rick’s unique sense of humour. This was the last of his twelve-date tour around the UK. The venue wasn’t one we’ve it visited before — Warwick Arts Centre — and the surrounding University …
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Film: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Jo, Janet, Carol, Ann I gave the local Odeon our patronage tonight to see Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. It was released yesterday in the UK and US to pretty good reviews, having premiered in Los Angeles on December 16. It promises a movie that wraps things up nicely across the nine-movie arc (see below) BUT …
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Brideshead Visited
It’s another cultural day-out with our friends, Dennis and Sandra, this being our eighth adventure. Together, we’ve previously enjoyed:- The Royal Armouries Museum (March 2019)Bolsover Castle (October 2018)Belton House (May 2018)York (February 2018)Burghley House (October 2017)Hull (May 2017)Leeds (February 2017) Castle Howard is a private residence, north of York and has been the home of …
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Our Anniversary 2019 (8/35)
Yay! It’s our 8th. Anniversary (or 35th. in ‘old money’). Today was unique, in that it coincided to the day, with neighbour Trish’s legendary Annual Christmas Dinner get-together. So, for this year, in celebration, we were surrounded by our neighbours (who are also our friends)! In part, it was just like our wedding all over …
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Christmas TV (2019)
We’ve all got different ‘triggers’ for when ‘Christmas’ officially begins — for many, the first reminder is when the Supermarkets start displaying their Christmas lines! But that’s obscenely early, so how about……your first Christmas lunch?…maybe it’s when the John Lewis Christmas Ad appears?…or receiving your first Christmas Card? For TV lovers, it’s probably when the …
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Oliver – Live in Concert
We drove down to Roger, Jane and Oliver’s this afternoon. The weather was horrendous, but it was well worth it as we were going to see Oliver playing flute in the East Herts Concert Band at their Christmas Concert. The venue was the delightful St Mary’s Church in the village of Standon, a Grade 1 …
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Yummy Mummy
11.30am: I’m off to the capital today with Ann to meet up with Janet and Carol. We’re all visiting the recently opened Tutankhamen Exhibition at the Saachi Gallery and whilst we’re in the area, home of the ‘Chelsea Pensioners’ too — the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. For the King Tut Exhibition, it’s £24.50 for the young …
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Bulbs for Banstead
An early start for us today as we spent Saturday and Sunday with Richard and Nicki at their place in Banstead. Saturday We left home just after 7.30 and drove over to Huntingdon station. Why not take the car? Well, it’s not the getting there, it’s the getting home part. Last time we tried it …
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Avengers: Assemble Lasagne!
Jo and Janet joined us for a night of munchies and a movie… Oh, and some G & Ts! Whilst I prepared the DVD player, the lemons and the limes, Ann got busy in the kitchen. Our movie of choice tonight – Avengers:Endgame. There isn’t much that hasn’t already been written about the final film …
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Party, Party!
Well, we haven’t done this in a while! It’s fair to say that many of our immediate circle of neighbours have all had significant things to ‘deal with’ these past few months, so tonight was the perfect opportunity to get together. We played to our strengths, Ann weaving her magic in the kitchen and creating …
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John Lewis Christmas Advert (2019)
It’s 8am on the 14th and the John Lewis Christmas advert has finally been revealed! Back in 2010, JL were the first of the retail giants to release ‘mega’ adverts for the festive season. It started a trend that continues to this day, and now anyone who’s anyone, makes them – yes, Argos and Aldi, …
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Tech Alert (No. 1211)
Yes, it’s that time again! – technology marches on, and I’m looking to replace my ageing BT router – the ‘Homehub 4’. It might only be around 6 years old, but that’s a lifetime these days for this sort of tech! Why change? Well, normally, it would be simply down to more whistles and bells, …
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Cambridge-sur-Mer
Ann and I drove over to Cambridge today. I say ‘drove’ as ‘sailed’ would have been more appropriate I think! – so much rain! ? And add to that, the mega-roadworks as they transform the A14, meant slow progress! Still, we made it in around an-hour-and-ten! 👍 Gone are the days where I used to …
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China – By the numbers!
Welcome to my second – and final – piece reflecting on our recent holiday in China, (the first was posted HERE yesterday). Our 19-day adventure included shiny modern cities, smaller towns, rural locations, large retail malls, small local shops – and pretty-much everything in between! We saw the uber-rich, the rich, the poor and the …
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China – What we learned!
After almost three weeks immersing ourselves in ‘the Chinese way’, here’s the first (of my two-part) light-hearted look at our experiences. Part 2 is tomorrow. The People With a population of around 1.4 billion, in the big cities it certainly felt like it. In the more rural locations, however, you’d never know! Families used to …
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Holiday – China (Day 18): Scrutiny On The Buses
Our penultimate day in Hong Kong – and the holiday! Gosh, it feels like we’ve been out here forever! After my recent episode – On the Buses – we’ve now scrutinised our Big Bus sightseeing tour from yesterday, and whilst we didn’t cover everything we planned, we did pretty well! 😁 I therefore feel a …
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Holiday – China (Day 17): Hong Kong – On the Buses
Well, hello there my Reader, thanks for stopping-by. It’s Day 2 for us in Hong Kong – day 17 of our 19-day adventure in China. 😁 We’re sight-seeing today by Bus today taking in the sights of Hong Kong, courtesy of the Big Bus Tour. We’re attempting to cover as many of their routes as …
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Holiday – China (Day 16): Hello Hong Kong!
Evening all! We’re now on the final leg of our Chinese adventure – we’re in Hong Kong! 🙂 We landed around 4.30 local time (09.30 KMT) and headed for our home for the next four days – The Kerry Hotel. Ralph and Karen are here in HK for the first time, whilst it’s the fourth …
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Holiday – China (Day 15): Shanghai Lights
Greetings reader! 👍. It’s a rare no-official-tour day today! No pagodas, no squirrels posing as fish (or vice-versa) and most of all, no mad Chinese motorists to worry about! 😉 Today’s Post, therefore, is about just one thing – the spectacular light show here in ‘The Bund‘ area of Shanghai city that wows the crowds …
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