Monday, 24 July, 2017 – weather: grey, cold and drizzly

It is another dreary day. Julie has a business meeting this afternoon. We vacillate about going out for breakfast, e.g. to Borough Market but decide not to do so today. She goes out and returns for some stuff for her to eat:

Julie then goes to her business meeting. Apparently she passed through an interesting food stall street market around St James but did not take photos. It was gone when she returned. I decide to go out to tour Earls Court and get some lunch. I have stayed here several times before but of course many shops keep changing. Let me say a bit more about the apartment. The following shows the type of blocks in which they are contained.

The apartment is located in a very quiet street.

Our Earls Court Apartment link. Highly recommended

While out I grab a burger and explore up and down Earls Court Road. No photos as I have seen most of it before. I was looking for a restaurant for tonight – there was a Thai place off the main road that GB and then Julie and I went to on previous trips but it looked like it was closed for repairs. I had pretty much decided on another Lebanese place that Julie had spotted in her first reconnoiter but I missed it because I turned the wrong way into Old Brompton road. Any way, it is still very cold so I return to the apartment to warm up.

When Julie returns, we decide we will go up to Old Brompton Road to select the Lebanese place or one of the recommendations from Katerina. The weather has improved a little bit from earlier in the day. In the Post of a couple of days ago there was a photo of a multi-coloured door with no explanation. We run into it now.

No customers, no obvious staff anywhere, very weird. It remained that way for at least 10 minutes we would call out and get no answer.

Finally, some one comes up the stairs from the Kitchen below. It is the same kind of deal we experienced in Lyon, the owner, waiter and chef were all the same single person. We order some wine.

While I was up for the photo, two Irish Ladies enter and assumed that I am on the staff. I correct them but show them to a table and give them some menus.

Julie was somewhat disappointed. She gave all the Scallops to me, too much aniseed for my taste, found the salmon over cooked despite discussion with the waiter about not overcooking the fish – maybe the waiter did not convey the message to the cook (same person) and the white fish was OK.

A couple of other parties came in and our Waiter/Chef seemed to handle them OK. The last guy, obviously a regular, asked are you on your own again so that must not be an unusual occurrence even for a restaurant that size. End of night for us.

Sunday, 23 July, 2017 – weather: grey but not too wet

Julie has a bit of a sleep in, until nearly 10:00 and I get some extra as well. The rain has mostly stopped but it is still grey and cool.

Last time we were in Earls Court, probably about 5 years ago, we had gone to a little French restaurant in one of the side streets. I had asked around about it but nobody seemed to know. So I did the right thing and Googled it, sure enough I found it.

Website for the little French Restaurant in Earls Court

I then discover that LFR was open for Lunch and Dinner on Sundays. After much discussion and consideration of the menu, especially the f13.95 three course meal, we decide we will have our main meal of the day at lunch time and at LFR. We go there and are a little early so it is not yet open.

I go run another errand and when I get back Julie is settled in, there is one other couple in there too.

We decide to go with the three course meal, especially since Julie had worked out with our Waitress that we could substitute the dessert for salad or French Fries, which we do. I also order a Cotes du Rhone.

Tons of really good food, way too much. I go back to the apartment for a couple hours nap. As I get up, Julie returns from more prancing.

So Sal, what is the Oils is Oils stuff? It is when it refers to Midnight Oil who is on a great circle trip appearing in many places around the world. Tonight they are playing at the Hammersmith Apollo. Julie had booked tickets for the show back in Australia. We catch the Tube there, two stations away.

It is a very impressive theatre with around 6 bars in the foyer with tons of service staff so no customer has to wait long for drinks. We are up a floor in the circles and there is a bar the full length of the back wall, again with tons of service staff.

There is a support group which we go into see. An 8 piece group of decent musicians but we really did not like their music at all. Then Midnight Oil appears after the stage is rearranged.

The Oils were good doing all of their hits plus many others. They did Beds Are Burning as their second number. They played for nearly 2 hours without a break. Peter Garrett was defying his age, bouncing around and all over the stage like a 20yo. The gig was a sellout with the audience really into it, singing out the well known songs and dancing at their seats, annoying me when people in front did that.

When it was over, after an encore of two songs, including Truganini we slowly walked out of the Apollo and through Hammersmith Station. We boarded a train that seemed to be waiting for concert goers. We have a nice discussion with the people on our carriage who had all been to the concert and were marvelled by the performance of Peter Garrett and Rob Hirst the Drummer.

Back home around 11:15, it is too early to go to bed so various drinks before crashing out. No further food for the day for me.

Friday, 21 July, 2017 – weather: same as yesterday

We sleep in until nearly 10:00 after having been up earlier and going back to bed. There has been rain but now it is just overcast. We decided to go to the usual place for breakfast and we both have the same thing as before, including Julie’s smoked salmon. The difference:

The bus tickets we bought yesterday cater for 24 hours use. We have an hour to spare so decide to take the City Site Seeing Edinburgh tour – the Red Line on the map from yesterday’s Blog. This goes to a few more places and travels in general in the opposite direction. It also had a pre-recorded audio which was easier to understand than the one from yesterday. Once again no photos from the tour as Julie had already covered those two days ago now.

When the tour ends we get off at an earlier stop than where we started – reason, it is down hill. Near our exit, we drop into a place hinting at a food and craft market. It has been idle the last few datys.

Clearly this is a new development not far from the breakfast place. Collectively it is called the New Waverley, Waverley being the name of the train station which is not that far away. What we learned on the bus tours is that the “new towns” of Edinburgh are generally 250 years old. I turn off at our street through the arch but Julie wants to check out a graveyard.

Julie returns and freshens up. But there is still plenty of time for prancing. She heads up the big hill behind us and here are some of her photos.

Julie comes back around 6:30. She says she is not real hungry but we decide to go to the Indian place near our breakfast place in New Waverley. It is large and very new.

Enough for the night, we are on the road tomorrow.

Monday, 17 July, 2017 – weather: brilliant

We are going our own ways today as Julie has a hot date – actually a business lunch with an expert on autonomous vehicles. As indicated above the weather is fantastic – circa 28C with little wind, not a cloud in the sky.

Julie goes out first but her lunch is not until 13:00. I decide to out for a bite and a wander around 11:45.

I am heading to the Shambles market area and stop off at this place which is just before the Shambles.

I have tried to make pulled pork a few times at home and it was not particularly appealing – dried, overcooked pork shoulder. This one was quite good, I guess I get it now. I will have to try again once we get home.

I moved out of the Shambles area and decide to have a look around for a while as the weather is so good.

The rest of these are photos I took while having a wander around:

Enough touring for me. I go back to the apartment.

About then Julie arrived at the restaurant – The Star Inn where we had had breakfast yesterday.

The following is the all day menu and the dishes they ordered:

starcity_allday

Julie came into the apartment and was really excited about the outcome of the meeting. There may be opportunities in the future.

Then there is a sudden change. She mentions that she has heartburn. Then her skin starts to turn red; hives breakout on her arms. It is clearly an allergic reaction to the seafood. Her windpipe swells up and it is hard to breathe. I did not know what to do, as the headline says I really thought I was going to lose her.

Fortunately, a combination of a good chunder (to clear out the remaining seafood), antihistamine and a 90 minute nap and Julie was like a new girl, no problems at all. Amazing. She even was hungry now. So we decide to go out.

We were told that it would be a 30 minute wait before a table was available. We decide we will wait in the bar area.

The service in general, not necessarily for us, was appalling. Too many customers for the number of waiters (3). I was reluctant to order anything else but once the number of customers had settled down it became ok.