Excellent weekend

[lnr]

Thursday night I had been going to take Mike over to Andrew's for an evening of good company and music, but Mike was feeling sick, and I was feeling thoroughly unsocial and only popped in on him briefly with flowers and grapes and chocolate before heading home for a quiet evening in on my own. I think I needed the space, much as it meant not seeing a nice bunch of people. Still, I think it was probably the right answer - by 10:45 I couldn't keep my eyes open to finish the last 5 pages of my book and gave up and went to sleep. Which left me much more rested for Friday at work and then the weekend.

On Friday night I ended up working rather later than intended. In fact I didn't leave the office until 20 to 8, which is completely mad. But it does make up for a couple of not very productive days earlier in the week (my first competant Wizard got killed on the Astral Plane by Pestilence. I mostly found this amusing and a little frustrating rather than heartbreaking). Anyway I stopped off at KFC on the way home, and picked up Mike as we went past his house, and when we got back to mine we watched 4 episodes of B5 from Season 4. This is a DVD I've been promising Simon to watch for quite some time, and I really should apologise for being a bit stroppy about it in the end, because it was probably only fair that he was nagging me about it, even if I was getting irritated. Still, I'm glad he did because I was surprised to find myself getting straight back into it despite the many many months break. Excellent stuff.

Saturday we awoke and found it was sunny and actually quite warm. We did the washing up and had brunch. This was not without incident: I dropped a pyrex bowl while carrying it over the rest of the washing up and ended up dropping it and smashin 3 glasses into pieces which went *everywhere*. Still, I finally finished it and got to eat my sandwich out on the bench in the garden in my shirt sleeves while feeling quite pleasantly warm. Bliss. We decided it would be nice to get out on the bikes anyway, and having looked at some maps and checked the weather forecast (still dry at 3, rain at 6) and done some bike fettling and found the bike computer we finally set off around 1:20 for Ely.

It was a lovely ride: out along Histon Road and its continuations as far as Wilburton and then backroads to Witchford where the rest of the main road to Ely has a decent cycle path along it. We had an icecream and pottered round the market and the shops where I bought some wool in somewhat mad colours (DK acrylic in purple, black, almost flourescent pink and one with variegated pinks and purples). Then we headed into the Cathedral and had a look at the stained glass museum in quite some detail (interesting but a bit steep at 3.50 each) before wandering round the cathedral itself. It was nice to hear the choir practising in the Lady Chapel, definitely added something to the proceedings. When we came out we found we'd missed much of the rain, but that it was still drizzling. And deciding it was a bit early to eat yet, and that we hadn't seen anywhere tempting, we headed for the station and arrived to just comfortably catch the next train to Cambridge without having to wait.

Next stop was dinner, and we were feeling indecisive so looked at the Galleria's menu which sounds great at the moment, then thought I'd let Mike look at the Margerita's menu too. Normally I think the Galleria would have beaten it, but it turns out they've been revamping the place. New chairs and tables in a much more lush and comfortable style, and a shorter menu which was missing a few of my favourites (the nice salad with potatoes and sausage) but had a few interesting additions too. We stayed, and found that having only had a light brunch much earlier meant that even at 6 we had plenty of space for 3 excellent courses. Bruschetta and some nice bread with peppers and goats cheese made good starters to share, then I had sardines stuffed with breadcrumbs, olives and sundried tomato cooked in an excellent and very tart lemon and white wine sauce. Mike's spicy prawn linguine was excellent too. The pudding menu remains the same so I recommended the Coppa del Golosone to him but had the tiramisu myself as I was avoiding chocolate - having forgotten it's sprinkled with cocoa - still, we'll let that one pass.

Once again we missed the rain, and having brushed it off the saddles cycled back along the river to Elizabeth Way then home to my place having picked up a video of Stephen King's IT on the way past Mike's house, and we watched it when we got in. I'd not seen it before, though I've read the book. He's seen it many times but not read it though, so I guess that cancels out. It seemed moderately faithful to what I recall anyway, though the special effects at the end rather let it down. I wondered a couple of times in the middle though just why it is I watch horror films, since I don't really actually *enjoy* the feeling tense and jumpy at the time. Funny things people. It wasn't too late when we got to bed, but reading and the clock change rather caught us by surprise and it was 3am before we dropped off.

Which leaves me rather sleepy today, but happy. A pleasant morning's lie-in let me finish my book, and I just had time to ring my mum and tell her she's great and catch up on the gossip before heading out to the pub for Sunday lunch with Matthew as part of his Stag weekend of celebrations. It was a pleasant meal in nice company, and as the party shrank it was nice to have people move around so we got to talk to quite a few people before I decided I was just too tired and could do with a nap. Which I'll be off to do shortly. Mike has headed home for what's left of the weekend, but I've had a really good time. And I've promised him dinner at the Galleria next Friday, since he's off to Mexico the following week for a friend's wedding and a holiday, so it's a nice excuse to treat him before he goes.

Addendum: route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=303819

Comments

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Ooh, how long did it take you to cycle to Ely, and how far is it by cycle-friendly routes?

[lnr]

Our route was just a tiny bit over 17 miles, and we spent 1 hour 25 mins cycling and about another 20 mins or so in three short breaks at about 4.5, 10 and 15 miles. I'd say the route out through Histon and Cottenham is a *bit* fast and narrow for cycling on in places if you're not confident, but there is a cycle path on the pavement on the fastest bit between Histon and Cottenham.

Train back is £4.10 each.