Sunday 20 January 2013

Life in the suburbs ..

Snow has come and this morning the world is indeed a beautiful place - even in the bleak mid-winter!
So far we have had squirrels cheekily frolicking on the upper terrace; a fox languidly sniffing around the lower terrace and a pair of deer delicately picking their way through the woodland behind.

Life - don't you just love it?









Thursday 17 January 2013

Never too old ...

A brief note to record and acknowledge  that one needs to embrace technology and its remorseless advance. Bish is a true convert and is able to both understand it and even more importantly the potential it represents.

I however am a self confessed Luddite with a hankering for the old, ancient and retro.

But I need to draw your attention to 2 nice pieces of kit!

Firstly, every home should have one ....the Nespresso machine. Very good coffee.

















Secondly an Ipad mini - as a reluctant but curious to see what all the fuss was about type of person, I am a convert - great fun.














Embrace the future - follow the Bish!

Wednesday 2 January 2013

Noel dans la grosse pomme ...

saisonniers et festive amis de vœux et des adeptes de toutes les choses amusantes bus ....

French this time to keep our affiliation to Europe alive.

New York, it really is a wonderful town.

The court of Smithington packed its bags and decamped to the east coast of central america to experience the celebration of Jesus' birthday American style (not to be confused with the ubiquitious gangnam style which is in fact Korean and we would then be starting by saying .. 계절 축제 인사말 친구와 모든 것을 재미 버스의 추종자)

Anyway .. After consulting with a representative of the equally ubiquitous Mr Branson (Knight of the realm), plans were made, bookings paid for and excitement permeated the Smith household. The first born has ventured to NYC twice before - once in the company of the beautiful one, which meant that the male heir and myself were in fact Big Apple virgins. With both of us having a not insignificant fear of heights I am sure you will understand our mounting trepidation as the girls teased us incessantly about scaling the Empire State Building.

Having never spent Christmas with just the four of us, this was a major thing and I'll cut to chase and state upfront - we had a blast! Too much food, lots of laughs, some disagreements and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. 

Lots to tell.
Mikey and I are proud to announce that we made it to the top of the Empire State Building and stood outside .. But we are not doing it again.
Grand Central Station is truly aptly named and the Oyster restaurant is rather splendid.
Bloomingdales is undoubtably the American Harrods
Macy's is the biggest store in the world
Audrey Hepburn was right - there is no place like Tiffanys
Ground Zero is very sobering and  thought provoking
Hurricane Sandy closed the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island but both are good to look at
Wall Street is rather understated but the bronze bull is impressive
China town is definitely appropriately named and somewhat inscrutable to the visitor
Katz diner where Sally impressed Harry is rather shabby however one block down is a rather smarter one selling fabulous pie
Central Park is larger than expected and another trip is required to see it in all its glory
Strawberry Fields does exist and is rather quaint and pleasingly under commercialised
The Roosevelt Hotel does good cocktails and morning coffee
Burgers really are better and bigger than over here
The Rockefeller centre does the absolute best steaks in the Northern hemisphere especially for Christmas dinner
Ellen's Stardust diner is the best experience at mealtime ever - check it out!
M & M store in Time Square is the busiest and most claustrophobic ever!
Jersey Boys on Broadway is fabulous - O what a night!!
McDonalds breakfast is equally nauseous in America as in England
Dogfish Head and Samual Adams are worthy ales to sample and bourbon tastes even better over there.
Everyone should visit Times Square at least once in their lifetime
Yellow cab drivers don't talk much and a Lincoln limousine makes saying goodbye to the city that never sleeps rather poignant.

So here are some pics ...

Grand Central Station

Ellen's Stardust Diner

Wall Street Bull

George Washington at Liberty Hall 

Small bit of China town

An Englishman in New York!