Category Archives: Friends
Yosma
A TURKISH MEYHANE, MANGAL & RAKI BAR INSPIRED BY THE STREETS OF ISTANBUL.
I love Turkish food and eat it often; so it was an absolute delight to find a restaurant in Baker Street that doesn’t do generic Turkish food but excellent Turkish food with a twist. Every dish melted in the mouth from the bread and humous to the lamb dumplings. Even the salad was amazing. Mouthwatering, with excellent ingredients where I could taste the quality. This is a true find for Turkish cuisine. Beautifully presented and served with a smile. Easily the best Turkish inspired restaurant I have eaten at in London thus far.
Alice’s Adventures Underground
The Vaults at Waterloo are playing host to an amazing version of Alice in Wonderland. A show that draws you into the world of nonsense and makes you play along with the characters. I don’t want to be a spoiler but it’s an outrageously fun 90 minutes of mayhem. The sets and costumes, intricate and curious. Twists and turns in every room. Unpredictability is the name of the game. I laughed with wonder and humour for the full duration. Puppetry and dance, comedic turns coupled with a lot of being bossed around in the madness. Watch out for the Queen of Hearts! There is a children’s version and an adult version and it’s not on for long. If you can – do it! Photos aren’t allowed inside so I offer my snapshot above. If you wanted to ever visit Wonderland they have made it possible.
https://www.alice-underground.com
Reims – Champagne Weekend in France
Cathedral in Reims
Everyone has a different version of how to say it and the one we went with sounded like ‘Rance’ as if choked from the back of the throat. I went on a coach ride, with a bunch of people I didn’t know and lets just say alcohol does wonderful things to bond strangers.
The ferry took just over an hour to get to France. I had it in my head that it was three hours, so this was bonus number one . Getting to Reims only takes another few hours. Bonus number two.
There’s a lot to be fermenting and drinking in these.
I went to visit Pomeroy which had auspicious cellars but that was about it. But then over a couple of days we saw three other independent and smaller champagne producers and that’s much more fun. They talk away about how they make it and everyone nods politely, whilst downing the first glass quickly to get the six more. No one was pausing to comment on any aromas of pear. Within the hour I and my motley crew were smashed and buying enough champagne to fill our imaginary cellars at home.
I don’t know why this is in a champagne house but maybe it represents how you feel after one too many bubbles.
You get drunk, buy champagne, store it in the coach and take it home. Some champagne did not make the coach journey back. Some places put on a lunch. Reims is also a great place to stay in. There’s not a lot to do there bar see the cathedral and drink, but apparently there’s a great Xmas Market too. This champagne weekend is the ultimate hen do waiting to happen.
Here’s a couple of places
http://www.champagne-lacourte-godbillon.com/content.asp?IDR=114273
http://www.champagne-dauby.fr/welcome_172.htm
Here’s some info.
Click to access Group-tours-in-the-Champagne,-the-Marne-BD2.pdf
LifeHouse Spa – I spa, you spa, we spa,
Who doesn’t like to spa? This place is near Clacton On Sea. I thought Clacton was a place of caravans and grannies. Maybe it is? I saw the county of Essex and got the fear of turning up at a spa and seeing blond supertanned supertoned Ken and Barbies. But that was not the case. First off everyone bar two spray tanners were normal. All shapes and sizes were present at that pool. Groups of women, couples, but no groups of men though. The pool was heated. The jets in the Jacuzzi could knock over a small child and probably do.
The grounds are gorgeous and serene. Everyone who works there are super friendly. The treatments are as you would expect from a spa and to a high standard. Now lets talk about the room. A King Size bed people. I don’t even think I requested it and I got it. What kind of lushness is that? And GHD’s in the room as standard? I mean where does that happen?
I was as happy as they were
Now lets talk about the food. This is no spa of a couple of bits of green beans over salmon. Oh no. You can have a 2 or three course dining menu that is better than a gastro pub. And the small choice of wines are excellent. It’s perfect turn up stressed. Have treatments and relax immediately, pig out and drink and indulge. Sleep in a King Size bed.
I went on a Bank Holiday and it was busy and I’ve got to say it wasn’t even that busy. I was so overwhelmed by spa choices but now I’ve Lifehoused I doubt I’d want to try anywhere else for a while. I can’t wait to get back there and drink Malbec.
Sanderson Hotel – Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
Cakes in Wonderland
Like Cake? Like Tea? Look at it people. Look at it. Whoever got to be the pastry chef at the Sanderson must have wept with joy when they said ‘ Let’s do Alice in Wonderland, just use your imagination.’ Every sandwich is rolled into a tube of different colours. Every cake is delicious and cleverly crafted from marshmallow toadstools to carrot shaped meringue. There are an amazing selection of teas on offer that are far from the norm but all delicious. And if you fancy it a cheeky glass of champagne can be added too.
I’ve been put off by the idea of Afternoon teas before as they can be snooty, stingy and just full of people dressed up for a cuppa for no other reason then to blankly stare at each other, wondering why they paid so much. But this one is worth it. We went as part of a baby shower and they let us lounge for a good few hours. Londoners and Tourists Unite.
Marvellous Mystery of how they got the Passion Fruit dessert in the bottle.
Philadelphia and New York – Days 42 to 48
After recovering for a few days from Road Trip a friend and I took a long hot drive to Philadelphia because my favourite sandwich is a Philly Cheese Steak and why not have it in Philly? So he very kindly drove us the three hours – I had in my head it took an hour and a half. We stopped along the way where I was introduced to Cinnabon which has massive cakes that look like deep filled chicken pie. I couldn’t do it, I had to choose the cheese steak there was too much riding on it.
Two rivals opposite each other Pats and Genos. We went to the one with the bigger queue which was Pats. The pressure was on to make sure the order was correct. It seems there is an etiquette as to how to order and how to get it right. The sandwich did not disappoint and was demolished probably a bit too quickly. The kind of quick where you sit wondering just how loud your stomach can get digesting. Within half hour we were back on the road. Five hours of driving for a sandwich, crazy I know. But there wasn’t anything else to see in Philly on that baking hot day bar a wall with some street art so we left.
My favourite restaurant in Manhattan is Stanton Social on the lower East side. It’s a place that does Tapas style food and Beauty and Essex is the sister restaurant around the corner. They are a little bit up themselves in there unlike Stanton and so are the clientele. I don’t like it really if the person asking you if you would like a drink is looking at you like a bored soon to be ex.
I don’t know if it’s a one-off or standard but in the ladies bathroom separated in a changing area they give away free champagne. I delighted in taking this offering (tipping of course) and watching the look of amusement on my friends faces as they waited to get served and I swanned upstairs with a glass of bubbly. Why we didn’t just traipse up and down all night I do not know. The waitress wouldn’t have noticed.
Later in the week, I walked the Highline which apparently on, online dating is the equivalent of going to Borough Market in London, as in everyone does it. It’s alright; kind of cool to see the city from a height, but not that mind-blowing however to walk on some concrete at a height. If I had gone on a date there I would have been pissed right off.
But New York had to have a quick goodbye for a couple of weeks after that as I made the next journey to Vegas, Miami and Tampa Bay once more.
Savannah Georgia Day 39
cost you nuthin
So Day 39 was spent hung-over at first but what better way to get over it then eat some of Paula Dean’s fried chicken. I had never come across Paula Dean before but she is definitely all over Savannah. You can even choose to do a 3 hour Paula Dean tour. You don’t get to meet her and apart from being charged a fortune to wander around aimlessly and eat in the restaurant for half hour I’m not sure what it consists of. What I do know is I couldn’t stop saying Hey y’all it’s Paula Dean for the rest of the day.
After Fried Paula Chicken we went on the normal trolley tour around Savannah and it’s pretty good actually. Worth the cash to sit for a couple of hours and be told the local folklore. My favourite story was that pineapples would be left on the mantelpiece of any guests rooms and if the host removed the pineapple this was a signal to the guest that they had outstayed their welcome and it was time to pack up and leave. No words exchanged. Strange but apparently effective.
Hey y’all! It’s Paula Dean!
We then decided since everyone was going on about Tybee beach to go there and as soon as we got there and paid for parking we wished we hadn’t. It’s a bit rubbish really or you feel like you are sitting on rubbish. It’s not the nicest beach in the world, nor is it the worst. It’s just a bit of a non beach. So we amused ourselves by playing the game Would You Rather much to the distaste of the families walking by. I don’t blame them, it’s a filthy game.
Apple Crumble Moonshine
We then ate some fresh seafood and went back to Savannah trying to work out how we could live there for a month and not pay double rent. It draws you in and it’s strange because it seems so sleepy but you don’t want to leave. We ended up sitting through the night on a bench staring at the massive boats that were docked and gleaming like new and talking crap. Me drinking wine out of a mug, he drinking whiskey out the jar. I even tried some apple crumble moonshine which is deliciously dangerous. The only disturbance was Governor Tony a local bum making me some stuff out of blades which I really didn’t want. I was more impressed that he looked like he was straight out of the TV show The Wire and would have given him something for that but my road trip friend was having none of feeding the habit and sent him on his way. Savannah though is a magical place and you don’t come across it often. It was one of those places that we knew we didn’t want to leave so we stayed up talking as long as we could and wished time could have stood still for longer than it did.
worldwideattitude 