Abigail, Dawn and Sue

A couple of weeks ago I had a rather random but very enjoyable Friday off work.

I had booked a place at Abigail Ahern's interior design school.  I read Abi's blog every day and enjoy hearing about her design projects and the masterclasses that she runs in London, New York and Sydney.

Arriving at Dalston Kingsland station and making my way through the authentically gritty local street market I realised that Hackney is still up and coming rather than up and come!

As I got closer to Abi's road, the first signs of gentrification began to appear and I stopped at an organic food store and café - Healthy Stuff - for a flat white.

Abi's house was just around the corner - easily spotted by the fabulous Farrow & Ball Downpipe exterior paint job.

Inside the house was amazing - tea in the basement kitchen as Abi and Graham's crazy dogs got overexcited and then upstairs to the schoolroom in the attic.  The day was great fun, a mixture of lecture, house tour and good old natter with an interesting group of people - all very inspiring!

The day ended with pink champagne and cupcakes, followed by a cab to Atelier Abigail Ahern - Abi's shop on Upper Street.

I then moved on to the second part of the day - Dawn French in conversation with Sue Perkins at the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus, followed by a book signing.

I am a big Sue Perkins fan so was very excited at the prospect of meeting her at the signing.  Alas it was not to be, the conversation on stage was over an hour long and brilliantly funny, but only Dawn attended the signing part (well it was to promote her book Oh Dear Silvia I guess).

Barcelona 40 +1

Up relatively early we headed back to La Boqueria for breakfast - more pan con tomate and fresh figs, washed down with Vichy Catalan and a café con leche.

At 11 Sarah and I joined a Gaudi walking tour, with an Irish tour guide. Three hours later we were ready for a late lunch at La Jardi in the courtyard of the Antic hospital.

Carina arrived straight from the airport with just a small bag and a thirst for cava. One bottle later we headed to the apartment, dumped said bag and set off for dinner in Raval.

Barcelona 40

Waking bright and early on the morning of the big four o - I was pleased that the hangover seemed minimal. A Berocca later we headed out for Mercator St Josep La Bouqueria en route to Sitges for a day at the beach.

We settled on Bar Boqueria for breakfast - drawn by the extensive selection of tortilla available. One spinach tortilla and café con leche later we were good to go.

Reaching Sitges priced traumatic, primarily due to unusually appalling map reading skills and the lack of helpful sigbage on the Metro. Heading for an interchange at Passeig de Graçia we ended up at Graçia itself and after an altercation with a scary lady Metro worker headed back to Plaça Catalunya to access the adjacent Renfe station,

Sitges was beautiful - we hit the beach after a cheeky gazpacho and lay there for the afternoon, before heading back to Barcelona around 6 for a quick siesta and some olive oil crisps before the evening's activities.

Dinner was at Tapaç 24 - an amazing place by cgef Carles Abellan tgat has three queues - queue 1 is on the street, then queue 2 is on the stairs to the basement where the restaurant is based, then finally queue 3 is in the bar area. The food was amazing - as well as the usual tapas staples, we had one of the signature dishes - Bikini (toasted ham and cheese sandwich) with iberico ham, manchego cheese and truffle oil. We passed on the McFoie Burger for obvious reasons. For dessert we had chocolate ganache with pa (bread), olive oil and sea salt.

Barcelona 40-1

I always think that rain (at home) is a good start to a holiday, so when the rain is so heavy that you need to wear a kagool and get a taxi the 300 yards to the station it must be a really good start?

Gatwick was a breeze, though I still don't understand why the queues to check in at the airport retro style are so much shorter than than the queues to simply drop your bag - having checked in online in your own time and printed your boarding card using your own paper and toner (or your employer's)? I opted for the former and headed straight to the desk.

Arriving at Barcelona airport was similarly straightforward - barely 10 minutes from plane to taxi.

The apartment (my first experiment with airbnb.com) is very cute, and the neighbourhood in the Barri Gòtic is lively but central. After a quick change we pretty much head straight out, we have a quick beer in Plaça George Orwell and then head for the Ramblas - and almost immediately stumble into the Festes de Mercè parade. This consists of drumming bands and people in outsize medieval costumes - sometimes squirting water at the crowd. After about half an hour it becomes apparent that the same core characters are looping around so we head off in search of another drink.

We end up in the cathedral square where the symphony orchestra was about to start a free concert - Tchaikovsky I think.

We then headed over to Raval for more drinks and dinner. We stumbled across a Chinese country and western giv, sung in Catalan on an outdoor stage - it was actually pretty good!. A glass of cava at Buenas Migás half way then guacamole and ceviche at Rosa Raval. Then drinks at Café de las Delicies before heading back to Barri Gòtic and Plaça George Orwell for a lat(ish) San Miguel and some tapas in a slightly grungy bar - the pintxos (crusty bread with manchego and an anchovy) were delicious as were the olives and chorizo. Behind the bar the bar staff were whipping up omelettes to order, but we resisted and headed to bed.

Speaking of Lewes...

This weekend I attended the Lewes Speakers Festival, a three day event featuring a mix of authors, broadcasters, philosophers and other notable speakers on subjects as diverse as the Arts & Crafts movement, post Nazism in Germany and science vs religion.

Taking place in the All Saints centre a beautiful de-consecrated church in a pretty church yard, the audience frequently consisted of the type of uber-liberal ladies of a certain age that Lewes is known for - this proved particularly entertaining in the debate about the impact of liberal morality on the welfare state, but more of that later.

I missed the Friday evening launch topics (absolute monarchs followed by Marina Lewycka talking about her new book) due to work commitments.  But I was there bright and early on Saturday morning for the 10am talk on the The Arts & Crafts Country House. The speaker was Clive Aslet, editor-at-large for Country Life, his approach was an eclectic cantor through archive photographs from the magazine dating from the early 20th century.  The talk was a little rambling and breathless and the most interesting point he made was that Country Life, when first published, was conceived as aspirational but accessible guide for newly affluent professionals and industrialists - much as interior magazines and tv shows are viewed today.

Next up was Professor John Lewis asking Has Science Buried God?', he gave a balanced, but ultimately Christian, view that science is only possible because of the existence of a God - i.e. that it is only because the universe is created and given order, that science is able to study an ultimately explain it.  Professor Lewis, was a jolly and engaging Northern Irish man who relished a vigorous debate with non-believers - provided they passed the dinner test - that is, however vociferous the debate, could you still have a pleasant dinner with them and remain friends?  The chairman of the event, obviously very excited to be in Professor Lewis' presence rather took over the event and extended his introductory comments into a lengthy personal Q&A session to the exclusion of the audience, until after stating "Just one final question...", he was met with a weary "Dear God, please don't!" from the front row.

The pre-lunch slot was taken by Josceline Dimbleby (ex wife of David), this took the form of an on-stage interview by the editor of Viva Lewes the local what's on magazine.  It didn't get off to a particularly successful start, when Josceline wrong footed the interviewer with an unexpectedly intimate description of losing her virginity at the age of 18 - the talk was meant to be about her new book Orchards in the Oasis, which combines her love of travel and cooking.  Instead of latching onto this surprising but fascinating turn, the interviewer stuck slavishly to the script and responded "It's always interesting to hear about family influences on cooking...".  The interview never quite recovered, though Josceline came across as delightful and the rolling slideshow of food and travel shots made me hungry for lunch.

In the choice between a late lunch and Jonathan Meades talking about French society, post Hollande's election, lunch won out and we decamped to The Real Eating Company, before returning sated in time for AC Grayling's lecture on The Good Book - the Humanist Bible.

Grayling's style is relaxed and conversational and the topic was interesting, though my philosophy graduate companion felt it was lazy and derivative - partly because she had heard him give pretty much the same lecture some years before.

The last session of the day (for me) was a debate between Theodore Dalrymple (a writer and retired prison doctor) and Polly Toynbee (Guardian journalist and former BBC social affairs editor) on the assertion that 'the welfare state and liberal attitudes to morality are the principal causes of the breakdown in society'.  As you might expect the audience was heavily weighted towards Polly's viewpoint.

Sunday's event started at 10am with Baroness Julia Neuberger, senior rabbi at the West London Synagogue, talking about her new book Is that all there is? where she considers what it is that makes life worthwhile.  This was easily the best and most engaging talk of the festival, Baroness Neuberger was eloquent, witty and warm in her approach.

The next topic, Frederic Taylor on Exorcising Hitler: The Occupation and Denazification of Germany', was interesting but delivered in a dryer more traditionally academic style, though the debate afterwards was made more real by the personal experiences of those in the audience.

After a break for lunch at Bill's (regrettably missing a discussion on the paranormal) I returned for my final session - Peter Conradi (author of The King's Speech) on the The Great Survivors: How monarchy made it into the 21st century.  This was a light and fast moving cantor through scandals and high points of the last seventy years or so from Sweden to Spain.  

Three further discussions were to follow on Burma, low carbon economic growth, and drug laws, but it was time for me to go home.

Amsterdam in June

It's not often I get to travel overseas with work - we're a very UK focused company, so I jumped at the chance of adding a few extra nights onto the end of a food and beverage conference in Amsterdam.

The conference hotel was super luxurious, so my downtown hotel (NH Carlton) was a bit of a culture shock when I switched from 'paid for' to 'paid for by me' and moved there. The website presents it as a smart modern 4* hotel, the reality is a bit 80s-tastic and not in a good way - the giant triangular mirror that faces the bed is reminiscent of the Clockwork Orange film poster...

Having overindulged on the previous two nights, including a superb reception at the jawdroppingly beautiful The Dylan, I decided to take an afternoon nap then have a fairly chilled evening.

The first part of this blog writing took place in a stunning new Starbucks concept store - not a chain I usually frequent, but it was raved about at the conference and has the added benefit of free wifi. The store is amazing - it's in a bank basement and reached by sweeping twin staircases from the street that are edged in kelim throw cushions for lounging on; the raw exposed concrete structure and cracked and beaten tiled floor contrast with the beautiful old delft tiled walls, coffee sacks and sculptural wood - there is also hardly any branding - just a simple chalk version of the mermaid logo in the window.

Not feeling that hungry, dinner was eaten on the go at Burger Bar, a hole in the wall place where you choose your meat and preferred weight, then the burger is made fresh in front of you from a bowl of meat - the weight flashes up on an LED screen as it is weighed before shaping and pressing. I had 200g (the smallest size) in black angus. The burger was delicious and served medium rare (dripping blood), with a small side of fries. Way too much for me so I ended up leaving nearly half the burger and most of the fries.

Up early the next day I walked through the bulb market to Spui a square surrounded by bookshops, with a second hand book and print market in the middle - though nothing much is open early (9.30). Breakfast is latte and a croissant at Coffee Company, taking advantage of the free wifi that seems to be provided everywhere.

On to the 'nine streets' that form a grid over the western canals - lots of quirky stores and cafés including Screaming Beans (time for another latte stop). Over coffee I plough a little further into Iris Murdoch's 'the black prince' - our latest book group choice - now half way through (page 205) but finding it tedious in the extreme. I think it is meant to be parody of a farce, but there is precious little to laugh at so far and all the characters seem to combine dullness with unlike-ability.



Back on the streets there are lots of people on bikes coming at you from all directions - most ring their bells to avoid collision but it is quite disconcerting nonetheless. Many of the bikes have a coffin like box on the front containing a small child or shopping.

I head in the direction of Anne Frank's house but the queue is depressingly long and doesn't appear to be moving so I leave it for another trip.

I wander on to the Boerenmarkt organic street market - the cheeses and meats are amazing and a woman walks towards me eating a yellow pepper like a lollipop - holding it by its stalk. There is also a museum of cheese, which basically just seems to be a shop but pretty much everthing can be sampled - twenty odd samples later I move on...

In a window I spot a flyer for a photographic exhibition on the ruins of Detroit by Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre, I have coveted their book for a long time, having seen it reviewed in a magazine, the chance to see the full size pictures was not to be missed. The gallery doesn't open until 2pm so I seek out somewhere for lunch settling on a tiny bakery café that specialises in quiche and tarts. The olive quiche is delicious - as is the chocolate tarte.

The exhibition is as good as anticipated and is held in a wonderful gallery space.

I pass more random shops as I wend my way back to the hotel, I am intrigued by the Febo hot food takeaway shops that sell burgers, croquettes and other local delicacies from vending machines - apparently they are a local tradition - I'm not tempted!

There is an amazing art deco / art nouveau cinema called Pathé Tuschinski - I am tempted to watch a film, just to see the interior but decide to have a drink instead!

My life in books

This last few months I've really reconnected with reading - maybe it's getting used to the longer commute, or the fact that I cracked and bought a Kindle, or maybe these things just go in cycles...

On moving here last year I set out to join as many groups as possible in an effort to construct a social life in a new city, pretty much from scratch - oh and my other aim was to try and not base my social life around alcohol.

Some of the groups were good, but the times or locations didn't work with commuting, other groups just didn't work for me for other reasons, the alcohol avoidance didn't really work either - us Brits are pretty pub-centric after all!

My big success was The Brighton Book Club found through meetup - a highly recommended site for anyone looking to find out what's going on in their area.  The group is large and lively and meets monthly in an upstairs room in a pub.  After just the first night I felt welcome and at home, over the following months we read:

Work commitments and holidays meant that I missed a few others along the way...

I can honestly say that I wouldn't have chosen any of the above books, and to be fair I haven't enjoyed all of them, but they have got me back into the habit and routine of reading again - meaning that I've also read lots of other books in between.

Inspired by reading books I wouldn't otherwise choose, I then started to search for book blogs to further pique my interest - my favourite is Savidgereads and I love forward to Simon's (almost) daily updates dropping into my inbox!

This then led me to Goodreads - an amazing site, where you can record and rate your entire library, post reviews, engage in discussions or simply browse recommendations - you can even link to online sites to buy a copy if you're inspired to buy.

I also obsessively managed to collect a full set of vintage Agatha Christies from ebay - my favourites are the wonderful Pan paperback editions from the early 1950s.

                                                           

Finally I found that through my Pinterest boards I can celebrate my love of beautifully designed book covers!

So what have I discovered?

• I love books now as much as I did when I read my first Enid Blyton over thirty years ago (The Secret of Moon Castle since you ask)
• I am a bit geeky and get a soothing satisfaction from cataloguing things
• I can get as much pleasure from a beautiful old book cover as from the story inside - mid century 'Saul Bass' style ones are my favourites

... and what am I reading currently?

         ... Patrick Gale for pleasure 

                           ... and Iris Murdoch for the Book Group