January

It was still pretty cold when we arrived back in London so we didn’t get up to too much in the first part of January. We went for a visit to Alexandra Palace, expecting it to be a Palace but when we got there it turned out it was in fact more of an events centre which had been built in the 1800s and had since fallen on hard times. It was the North London equivalent of the Crystal Palace, which had unfortunately burnt to the ground many years ago. Run down is a bit of an understatement for Alexandra Palace but it was still nice to get out on a cold winter’s day and see somewhere new.

We managed to catch up with Robin and Mary in Belsize Park for lunch. It was good seeing them and finding out their plans with a wee baby on the way. Robin had been running like a madman too with his aim to tackle the Berlin marathon later in the year.

January is of course the month of Jess’ birthday, however Marcus hardly even got to see Jess on her actual birthday. This was because it happened to coincide with Kate’s Hen’s party and Jess had decided she would enjoy Kate’s party and then have her own party the next day. After some Japanese and dancing in Shoreditch before coming home in surprisingly good shape. The next day we wandered around to the Lord Clyde pub on Essex Road for pub lunch and drinks with friends. We had been there once before and had a nice meal, but this time was excellent. The service was good, the food was good, the drinks were good and the company was good. We spent all afternoon there but eventually had to leave as Marcus was taking Jess out to see We Will Rock You!, a musical featuring the songs of Queen by Ben Elton and Bryan May. The plot was wafer thin but it was all still very entertaining and you couldn’t help but sing along a bit to one Queen song after another.

Our flatmate Andy is from Manchester, and he had managed to get us some new couches for our flat, the old ones having passed their best before dates some time ago. Unfortunately the new couches were in Manchester, so Marcus and Jess hired a van and drove up to Manchester for the weekend. Andy’s mum Wendy put them up with accommodation, which was a good deal for her because she got to have the couches moved out of her garage. After dropping the van off at her place we got the train into Manchester and went for a wander around. Manchester is an odd place. The centre of the city got blown to bits by an IRA bomb in the mid 90’s so it has all been rebuilt in a modern style, whereas the area surrounding it is a bit more run down and older. It is not really a place for site seeing. Manchester is more about what is the latest cool thing on the scene. We checked out an alternative market, a bit like James Smiths Market in Wellington, only much bigger. Wandered around the town centre. Had some local ale and then treated ourselves to a very nice Chinese Meal at Manchester’s mini China Town, renowned for good Chinese food and it didn’t disappoint. The next day we drove back to London with the couches secured in the back of the van and set up the lounge with its brand new furniture.

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