Food 2011 – Halibut, Eat at 23, Buckingham, Brackley

Saturday, 5th February 2011 – Halibut, Eat at 23, Buckingham, Brackley It started out normally enough in that I went running first thing (4 miles at a gentle pace), but it got away from us a bit after that. We had always planned to head for Buckingham and a trip to Halibut to stock up…

Travel 2010 – Monaco, Vence, Valbonne, Days 4 and 5

Saturday, 16th/Sunday, 17th October 2010 – Monaco, Vence, Valbonne, Days 4 and 5 Saturday we again got off to a slow start – though I did slot in my training run (13k) before breakfast (having watched Nico Hulkenberg vanish into the distance outside – I never saw him come back). At breakfast they were losing…

Travel 2010 – Monaco, Antibes, Day 3

Friday, 15th October 2010 – Monaco, Antibes, Day 3 Friday morning I got up relatively early and went for a swim in the hotel pool – which was heart-stoppingly cold that early in the day. The sun was just coming up behind the building and hadn’t hit the water, but I soon warmed up and…

Travel 2010 – Monaco, Days 1 and 2

Wednesday, 13th/Thursday, 14th October 2010 – Monaco, Days 1 and 2 I’ve been missing in action for such a long time now that it’s very hard to know where to start, so I’ll make it simple and go with where I am right now and what I’m doing. After a long complicated summer, Lynne and…

Travel 2009 – Faro, Tavira, Days 6 and 7

Wednesday, 16th/Thursday, 17th September 2009 – Faro, Tavira, Days 6 and 7 By Wednesday we were becoming very relaxed indeed. Again we breakfasted late and had to fend off the friendly cat. He became even more of a pest as we wandered around the hotel gardens, which are a major part of the attraction of…

Food 2009 – Cookery School, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Great Milton

Saturday, 11th July 2009 – Cookery School, le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Great Milton Saturday morning, despite having been out pretty late the night before, I was awake bright and early and in a fever of excitement. After all, I’d been waiting for this day since January when I’d been presented with a bright, shiny certificate…

Travel 2009 – Zeltingen-Rachtig, Traben-Trarbach, Bernkastel-Kues, Erden, Wehlen, Urzig, Jezus-Eik, Days 5 and 6

Monday, 8th/Tuesday, 9th June 2009 – Zeltingen-Rachtig, Traben-Trarbach, Bernkastel-Kues, Erden, Wehlen, Urzig, Jezus-Eik, Days 5 and 6 Monday dawned sunny and fine, so we had a late, leisurely and extremely good breakfast. The hotel specialises in organic produce from the immediate area as much as possible and also various smoked and home-cured meats and fish….

Travel 2009 – Hockenheim, Zeltingen-Rachtig, Days 3 and 4

Saturday, 6th/Sunday, 7th June 2009 – Hockenheim, Zeltingen-Rachtig, Days 3 and 4 Saturday was a busyish day, with qualifying and one race, though it could have been worse. The weather wasn’t too good, but again that was pretty immaterial really. It had been an odd sort of race, with quite a few unexpected incidents, including…

Travel 2009 – Hockenheim, Days 1 and 2

Thursday, 4th/Friday, 5th June 2009 – Hockenheim, Days 1 and 2 It’s been a long time since we last did a road trip of any great note, probably because flights are so much cheaper these days than when we first started travelling to races in Europe quite so frequently back in 1989. Some of these…

Food 2009 – Locanda Locatelli, London

Saturday, 18th April 2009 – Locanda Locatelli, London We’re not eating out much this year but yesterday was a special event (A’s Birthday celebrations) and she’s been hankering after eating at Locanda Locatelli almost as long as it’s been in existence. So, a table was duly booked for lunch yesterday and ten of us assembled…