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darkhavensThank you to everyone who sent me birthday greetings, and a special thanks to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
staranis for my bottle of virtual bubbly and to entrenous88 (and Xander!) for my musical ecard and the lust for doughnuts it inspired. *drools*
I've just spent 4 wonderful days in the delightful company ofkitty_poker1 and two other flisters "to be named later".
For the first two days we stayed at hers and were fed well and often by her kitchen-angel husband. A domestic god indeed! (Sekrit notes to Kitty - 1) I got home in one piece, yay! 2) Give your hubby a thank you kiss for me once he wakes from his planned vodkoma. *g*) The first night we went to bed at the relatively sane time of midnight. Then the next night we welcomed the dawn and didn't put head to pillow until after 7am. :D
On Tuesday, we had a late long Harvester lunch withsuki_blue, who is adorable and cute and much fun. (I had what she had and YUM!) (A stack of chicken breast and gammon steak, interleaved with Emmental and drizzled with smoked hickory barbeque sauce with new potatoes and peas. Lemon meringue for dessert.)
On Wednesday, Kitty and I headed off to London to The Elena Hotel, which I'm sure will be familiar to a certain section of my James-viewing, con-going flisters. It was an experience and a half, from the abandoned bucket in the wardrobe, through the half-finished renovations to the realisation that some bright spark had wired our bathroom sink taps to the mains... Something I thankfully didn't notice until our final day or things might have got a bit wiffy. :D
On Wednesday evening we metvampirefever for drinks followed by dinner at a lovely Chinese restaurant followed by more drinks. More fun and giggles and damn fine food! (Mine was spring rolls with sweet chili dipping sauce, Szechuan Chicken with water chestnuts and chili peppers in a lovely sweet sauce, and rice with eggs and spring onions.)
On Thursday, Kitty and I hit the important spots. Forbidden Planet stole over 2 hours of our time and received major oohs and ahhs for their collection of, amongst many other things, amazingly overpriced boxsets of shows from my childhood, and then we adjourned to a pub for sandwiches and copious amounts of diet coke. (Mine was the steak and onion baguette with nachos.)
Then we set off in search of the London Eye. For a bloody big ferris wheel, it's surprisingly hard to find. We didn't see a single signpost for it, but we made it eventually. It took 40 minutes to make one revolution - or 'flight', as the rides are sold - but it seemed to be over almost in seconds. The view was stunning, the Eye was impressive, and the Indian couple in the car with us were so cute, snapping photos of each other repeatedly and then asking us to take one of them together. Aaaaw!
On Thursday evening I had my first experience of Pizza Express. *pauses for gasps of disbelief from everyone but Kitty - she had her turn at the table* What can I say? I live in the boonies. :P
We split an American Hot pizza - pepperoni and green chili - because we'd already eaten so much. (Breakfast was included with the room - bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, jam, juice, etc etc and then we had 2 doughnuts each after the Eye.) We then threw our good intentions straight out of the window and had dessert anyway. Kitty had a sliver of New York cheesecake with marscapone and a raspberry couli, and mine was a piece of tiramisu the size of a saucer, dusted with coffee and chocolate powder. See me buzz!
Friday was short but sweet. Early morning rain was chased away by blue skies and glorious sunshine and we had a leisurely journey to Paddingston station, where Kitty waved me off in traditional style.
I can't afford London on a regular basis (and my hair would be one huge snarl if I somehow could) but I will definitely be returning to chez Kitty for more fun, fabulous food and fandom squee. :D
And maybe, just maybe, there will be fic from me again, sometime soon.
staranis for my bottle of virtual bubbly and to entrenous88 (and Xander!) for my musical ecard and the lust for doughnuts it inspired. *drools*I've just spent 4 wonderful days in the delightful company of
kitty_poker1 and two other flisters "to be named later".For the first two days we stayed at hers and were fed well and often by her kitchen-angel husband. A domestic god indeed! (Sekrit notes to Kitty - 1) I got home in one piece, yay! 2) Give your hubby a thank you kiss for me once he wakes from his planned vodkoma. *g*) The first night we went to bed at the relatively sane time of midnight. Then the next night we welcomed the dawn and didn't put head to pillow until after 7am. :D
On Tuesday, we had a late long Harvester lunch with
suki_blue, who is adorable and cute and much fun. (I had what she had and YUM!) (A stack of chicken breast and gammon steak, interleaved with Emmental and drizzled with smoked hickory barbeque sauce with new potatoes and peas. Lemon meringue for dessert.)On Wednesday, Kitty and I headed off to London to The Elena Hotel, which I'm sure will be familiar to a certain section of my James-viewing, con-going flisters. It was an experience and a half, from the abandoned bucket in the wardrobe, through the half-finished renovations to the realisation that some bright spark had wired our bathroom sink taps to the mains... Something I thankfully didn't notice until our final day or things might have got a bit wiffy. :D
On Wednesday evening we met
vampirefever for drinks followed by dinner at a lovely Chinese restaurant followed by more drinks. More fun and giggles and damn fine food! (Mine was spring rolls with sweet chili dipping sauce, Szechuan Chicken with water chestnuts and chili peppers in a lovely sweet sauce, and rice with eggs and spring onions.)On Thursday, Kitty and I hit the important spots. Forbidden Planet stole over 2 hours of our time and received major oohs and ahhs for their collection of, amongst many other things, amazingly overpriced boxsets of shows from my childhood, and then we adjourned to a pub for sandwiches and copious amounts of diet coke. (Mine was the steak and onion baguette with nachos.)
Then we set off in search of the London Eye. For a bloody big ferris wheel, it's surprisingly hard to find. We didn't see a single signpost for it, but we made it eventually. It took 40 minutes to make one revolution - or 'flight', as the rides are sold - but it seemed to be over almost in seconds. The view was stunning, the Eye was impressive, and the Indian couple in the car with us were so cute, snapping photos of each other repeatedly and then asking us to take one of them together. Aaaaw!
On Thursday evening I had my first experience of Pizza Express. *pauses for gasps of disbelief from everyone but Kitty - she had her turn at the table* What can I say? I live in the boonies. :P
We split an American Hot pizza - pepperoni and green chili - because we'd already eaten so much. (Breakfast was included with the room - bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, jam, juice, etc etc and then we had 2 doughnuts each after the Eye.) We then threw our good intentions straight out of the window and had dessert anyway. Kitty had a sliver of New York cheesecake with marscapone and a raspberry couli, and mine was a piece of tiramisu the size of a saucer, dusted with coffee and chocolate powder. See me buzz!
Friday was short but sweet. Early morning rain was chased away by blue skies and glorious sunshine and we had a leisurely journey to Paddingston station, where Kitty waved me off in traditional style.
I can't afford London on a regular basis (and my hair would be one huge snarl if I somehow could) but I will definitely be returning to chez Kitty for more fun, fabulous food and fandom squee. :D
And maybe, just maybe, there will be fic from me again, sometime soon.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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on 2008-03-07 10:01 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2008-03-08 04:29 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2008-03-07 11:23 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2008-03-08 04:39 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2008-03-07 11:28 pm (UTC)What a fantastic trip! So glad you had such a marvelous time.
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on 2008-03-08 04:42 pm (UTC)Fun trip, ohotos to follow soon. *g*
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on 2008-03-08 12:06 am (UTC)Shakatany
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on 2008-03-08 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2008-03-08 12:40 am (UTC)fic-ingkicking.no subject
on 2008-03-08 04:43 pm (UTC)Thanks!
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on 2008-03-09 01:06 am (UTC)In other words, don't try to order a pepperoni pizza in Sweden, lol!
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on 2008-03-08 01:04 am (UTC)*smooooooch*
Sounds like you had a lot of fun.
:)
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on 2008-03-08 04:48 pm (UTC)Thankee. :D
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on 2008-03-08 05:42 am (UTC)I'm holding you to that. *g* We had such a fab time, can't wait to have you back, even if we never go near or by the Smoke!
I showed Paul the leaflet from the Elena and guess what he landed on? You guessed it: All bedrooms at the Elena Hotel are decorated and furnished. Nice to know they don't expect guests to turn up with their own wallpaper and bed. *snicker*
So glad you had a good time, hon, and Paul has been duly snogged. ;o)
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on 2008-03-08 04:53 pm (UTC)So much fun! So much good food. :D
The Elena definitely lived down to (and beyond!) its reputation. Heee!
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on 2008-03-08 07:39 am (UTC)*smoochies and huggles*
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on 2008-03-08 04:54 pm (UTC)Thankee!
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on 2008-03-09 09:12 pm (UTC)Well, happy birthday!! It was lovely to meet you. It's just a shame it couldn't have been for longer. I would have loved to join you on your London Adventures. I'm particularly envious of your bucket-in-the-wardrobe. I've never had a bucket! Mind you, I don't think I've ever actually bothered to unpack at The Elena ...
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on 2008-03-10 05:30 pm (UTC)I hung up a few bits and pieces but most of my stuff stayed in my bag. I'm not a great unpacker. In fact, most of my stuff is still in my bag. :P
Next time I'm down with Kitty I'll have to try for a longer Suki experience too. ;)
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on 2008-03-10 01:59 am (UTC)no subject
on 2008-03-10 05:30 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2008-03-12 10:36 am (UTC)Happy Birthday!
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on 2008-03-13 11:02 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2008-03-13 09:36 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2008-03-13 11:03 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2008-03-13 11:07 pm (UTC)