February

We had had a very mild winter so far with temperatures not getting too low and no real sign of snow to date. That all changed at the start of February as the mercury dropped and we got our first look at Dalston covered in a layer of snow. One night we looked out the window and we could see that there was some slow gently making its way down and it got thicker and thick so that by morning there were a good couple of inches everywhere. Enough to be pleasant but not enough to cause any trouble. Nonetheless London was a ghost town that day. We made our way down to Spitalfields, normally buzzing with people and there was hardly anyone to be seen. (Just to keep things in perspective, hardly anyone in London is still way more people than you would see in Wellington on a normal day...)Shopping without the hustle and bustle of the crowds just wasn't quite the same.

The cold weather stuck around and Marcus was lucky enough to not only have the day off work for his birthday but it snowed that day too. First time he had ever had a snowy birthday. Jess made him a tasty late breakfast and it was a lazy morning before we went out into the snow. While we had been in the UK we had become mildly obsessed with the UK version of Masterchef. One incarnation of the series in the UK was Masterchef: The Professionals were young real chefs would compete against each other, not just the usual home cooks. The head judge was a Michelin star winning chef called Michel Roux Junior and Jess had booked us in for lunch at his restaurant, Roux on Parliament Square.We entered through the main door, had our coats taken and were taken to our table. It was a small restaurant converted from an old terrace house so we weren't sharing our lunch with too many people. Never one to pass up multiple courses we treated ourselves to the seven course degustation. Mmmmm. Degustation....We felt very fancy and very full with yummy food. Good job Michel Roux Jr. We made our way back the flat for a bit of a rest after all that eating before round 2. We were meeting our friends at the Railway Tavern in Dalston (not the one across the road from the apartment, or the one next to Dalston Kingsland Station...the other one...) Our friends had secured a nice corner with tables and a booth so we grabbed an ale to warm us from the cold night. After comfy and settled in we upped sticks and walked through the freezing night to Mangal Ocakbasi ("Meat" for the well informed).  We had a great big table booked and lined up for the Turkish goodness. It was the same chef as  last time, slaving away. Everyone ordered far too much food, so there was plenty for everyone, including the vegetarians amongst us. After all that meaty goodness even the cold couldn't get through us as we waddled our way back to the flat/ An excellent birthday all round.

That weekend we decided to check out a sight which we didn't know much about but had spent plenty of time going past, the British Library. We weren't sure if it was just going to be a bunch of books or there was something more. Turns out there was, with an excellent free exhibit containing all manner of historical documents from original works of Shakespeare, to all types of ancient Bibles and even the Magna Carta. Who would have thought that looking at a bunch of books could be so interesting? We had ourselves some lunch at the cafe before finding a spot to sit back and read our own books. Alas, you had to have a special pass to go into the various reading rooms so we didn't get to see what was behind the big wooden doors....

London is packed full of gigs going on somewhere every night. We hadn't exactly taken advantage of that too much but thanks to Tree we made a little journey into the city to see some North London DJs, the Next Men. We met for a drink at Electricity Showrooms before wandering down to the bar where the Next Men were playing. We were a bit worried when we got there and it looked to be some sort of crazy futuristic lounge bar with plenty of silver and people in skinny suits and small dresses. Fortunately we discovered that down in the basement there was a great big room with a DJ booth at the front and a bar along the side and the Next Men pumping out the tunes. Just what we were looking for. They started with some funky reggae tunes before moving into the hip-hop beats and then rounding it out with some dance music. We had some great fun dancing (even some of the rest of the London crowd got into it for a change). We couldn't help smiling seeing Keith from the Office up there DJing away. (Not really him but we think the resemblance is uncanny.)

One of the things we like to do when we visit a site is to climb the tallest structure and get a view around the place. Now with the advent of Skyscrapers there are monstrous buildings that loom over the City of London, but for hundreds of years one of the tallest things you could climb was the Monument to the Great Fire of London, more commonly known as the Monument. A column designed by Sir Christopher Wren and built in the 1670s to commemorate the Great Fire of London and the rebuilding of the City. After climbing the stairs around and around and around we had a great (although chilly) view of some of the great sites of the East End, like Tower Bridge, St Pauls, the Gherkin, the City of London Corporation building and London's newest (and incomplete) high rise, the imposing Shard. We made our way back down again before nipping across to Covent Garden for a cup of tea and some lolly cake.

Jess' parents had got her a voucher for a cooking class for her birthday which we had managed to find time to book in at L'Atelier des Chefs in Wigmore Street. We arrived plenty early and checked out some of the fancy cooking equipment you could buy in their shop a the front before it was our turn, along with all the other Gordon Ramsay and Nigella Lawson wannabes. We were teamed up with three other girls and rather than each of us cook the whole meal we each had a task to do to get the overall job done. We were cooking crispy duck breast on a bed of cabbage and celeriac with a berry sauce followed by a gooey chocolate fondant. There was chopping and frying and simmering and sauteing. We weren't quite sure how it was all going to turn out but were very impressed with our efforts. Then came the best part of it all, we got to enjoy our efforts and wolf down our tasty lunch. Although we were feeling pretty full we still managed to make it around to Ian and Amy's for dinner. They made a yummy dinner with some fancy Artichoke and plenty of wine all round.

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January

January

We eventually woke up in our little Cornish cottage in 2012. It was looking a little clearer than it had the day before so we decided to head a bit further afield, to one of the modern attractions of Cornwall, the Eden Project. It is basically two massive dome glasshouses filled with plants from all over the world. Once we finally got through the car park (which is huge) we found we weren't that far from the attraction. The middle of winter isn't exactly peak visit time. Before heading down into the pit where the domes are located we stopped for some tea, scones, jam and clotted cream for Jess and another pasty for Marcus while being entertained by the automated puppet show about what would happen if we didn't have nature in the way it is now. We descended into the pit past gardens and giant bees before entering the first of the domes. There were signs everywhere warning us that it can get very hot in there but they are probably more for the summer guests as we found it was just pleasant. We wandered past the various tropical plants and checked out the artwork interspersed throughout and even read some of the signs to get better informed. There was a viewing platform up above the middle of the dome so we climbed up the many stairs until it was our turn to go out and have a look. It was pretty high and interesting to get a view of the rainforest from above rather than below. We made our way back down to the dome entrance. Between the two domes was another building where you could buy eco-souvenirs but more importantly you could buy lunch. There was a big area with long tables and all sorts of organic cooking to order. An organic bacon and lettuce roll, a leek and blue cheese pastry and two pieces of Victoria sponge later and we were feeling pretty good. We made our way across to the next dome. This one was more temperate with plants from places like the Mediterranean and New Zealand. It was clever the way they had constructed it so that different parts of the dome catered from slightly different climates. We particularly enjoyed all the different varieties of chillies. There must have been about 30, from mild to having to be behind glass because they were so potent. There was one more building to visit. This one was a big concrete construction with a giant concrete golf ball like shape in the middle. It was so big that they had built the building around it. There were all sorts of educational exhibits but we found the winning entries in the international nature photography competition the most amazing. There were six year olds taking pictures a million times better than our holiday snaps. We were happy with all the we had seen today so jumped back into the car and drove back to the cottage for a well earned rest.

We weren't quite sure what to do with our remaining day in Cornwall so decided to just head out and see what we could see. We started with a drive out to Britain's most southerly point, The Lizard.When we arrived there wasn't much there, a lighthouse, a cafe (closed) some fields and plenty of wind. This was much more what we were expecting to see when we had visited Lands End so were pleased we made the effort today. After a bit of a wander we climbed back into the car and wandered our way through countryside and little villages skirting the coastline and then cutting our way back in again. We had no real plan about what we were wanting to do but were just happy to check things out along the way. Cornwall is apparently full of country gardens which you can visit and although it wasn't exactly the right time of year we decided to check one out. Trebah Garden filled our requirements (being nearby and able to be found.) We parked up and made our way in to into the grounds. It wasn't at its best but was still a nice green calm walk through the grounds. There was a combination of trees, plants, ponds, bridges, sculpture and even the odd Punga to remind us of home. We stopped for lunch in the garden cafe, checked out the garden shop (alas no garden to bring things back to in London, and then meandered our way back through the countryside to Penzance. We dropped off the rental, did a last wander around the streets of Penzance and then made our way to train station for the slow trip back to London.

We took it easy through the middle of the month before it all got busy again towards the end. Jon and Lobke were in town so we caught up with them for a drink at the Citte of Yorke, and old style pub with the same owners as Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. It was good to see them, even if only for a short time.

The next day was the big one of the month, Jess' 30th birthday. It was on a Saturday this year so we could spend the whole day celebrating. It was champagne, fruit and croissants for breakfast. Jess then got to play with her new Kindle for a while before we caught the bus to Highbury and Islington and a short trip on the Victoria Line to Green Park and we were out in Mayfair. We had been enjoying the classy food you could eat in London but hadn't yet been anywhere that was the holder of a Michelin Star. That was about to change as we had a booking at Hakkasan, Chinese Cuisine with a modern take. It looks relatively inconspicuous from the outside with a glass front and some tables and a bar. However, then you go through and down the stairs into a whole different world. The lights are low and all the furniture is black or dark brown, but there is blue lighting around the place so you can see where you are supposed to be going. It has a good effect which means you don't really notice the people around you. After being seated by the waitress, wearing a funky Chinese style dress, we grabbed a mixture of dumplings to get us started. We were treated with ingredients like seafood, rabbit, duck and a whole range of exotic herbs and spices. These were easily the tastiest dumplings we had ever had, and we do like dumplings. For the main Marcus had king crab in the shell and Jess enjoyed a Peking style duck but done with plump sauce. The mains were also tasty but nothing could beat those dumplings. It was then back home for a bit of a rest and a round of Happy Birthday before Jess blew out the candles on her Red Velvet with cream cheese icing birthday cake. Marcus would like to pretend that he had been baking but this masterpiece was well beyond his expertise. The day wasn't over yet though. We walked up Kingsland Road to Stoke Newington where we had invited everyone to celebrate Jess' birthday at the White Hart, a trendy but spacious local pub where had a big booth reserved. There was a really good turnout from all our friends from all over London, both North and South. Everyone seemed to be having a good time although Ian got a bit out of control and made sure Jess had more than her fair share of shots.

It felt like a long time since we had been to a West End musical (Panto doesn't count) so we decided to make up for it by going to see THE west end musical (no, not Shrek) The Phantom of the Opera! With a round of Yo Sushi for dinner and passing the stars getting out for a movie premiere (Polish movie so nobody we recognised) we made our way to the theatre (which was actually pretty small), found our seats and readied ourselves for some Andrew Lloyd Webber magic. It wasn't Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford but was still very impressive. The power of the music of the night....

While we had been away lots of our friends had been growing their families. Babies everywhere. Not so much with our London friends, so when one did it was a pretty big deal. We jumped on the District Line and made our way out to visit Kate and David and their new addition, Mae. She was ultra tiny but ultra cute too and Marcus even held her for a while as she slept away. Mum and Dad were very proud and it was great to see them all.

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