Thursday night was an excellent gig in London. Support from Engerica (hard G) was surprisingly good and Therapy? themselves were energetic and friendly and fun, and the crowd was great. Spent the entire gig one row back from the barrier, but was able to jump about rather than just being squashed. Brilliant. And we even got off in time to be back in Cambridge before the last train even left London, which was lovely. Nice company from Ernie and Mobbsy too, always more fun on the train when there are several off you. Though we did seem to be disturbing some of the other nearby people on the way home.
Friday Mike and I got up late, pottered about, packed, went to see X-men 3, and shared four halves of cider at the beer festival along with Peter, Kate, Nigel and Dave (amongst others) in the pleasant evening sunshine, with a picnic of nice things from M&S. We left just before last orders so as not to freeze.
We got up on Saturday in time to buy chocolate croissants for breakfast and get a taxi to the station. The train journey up to York was uneventful but pleasant enough, even if we ended up sitting in the vestibule for the GNER leg. We checked in and unpacked (how civilised) then headed into town for a slightly late lunch in the Golden Lion - the first pub we saw that looked appealing. Spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the streets and visiting the Minster - which would have been more impressive perhaps if it hadn't had a service taking place which meant we couldn't see as much of it as we'd hoped. Not being hungry when evening we decided to go to the cinema next - and ended up watching The Da Vinci Code in a dinky little Odeon. A good enough film in its own way - having not read the book in advance the plot was engaging enough to keep us interested, though some things I definitely guessed some way before the characters - but hey you're supposed to aren't you, to make the viewer feel smug. Mike was particularly pleased that they managed to leave out any romance aspect. Afterwards we still weren't all that hungry, and were v tired, so found ourselves a selection of random things to take back to the hotel room and had a little picnic in bed. It was a lovely end to the evening anyway.
On Sunday we entirely failed to get up for breakfast, despite setting an alarm, but did drag ourselves out while it was still morning and headed over the the Railway Museum. The last time I was there was with a train enthusiast about 10 years ago, so I suppose it's not surprising that I didn't find it *quite* so engaging this time round. It also seems that none of the trains were running that day, which was a bit of a shame, and the Flying Scotsman wasn't home either. Still we had a nice potter round and some lunch. Resisting the big wheel we did treat ourselves to a ride on the road train back into town, a silly little thing perhaps but it saved our tired legs a little and was cheaper than a taxi and more convenient than trying to find a bus. We wandered through the streets checking out restaurants for the evening, and eventually made our way to the Yorvik viking centre. I'd been there as a kid but it was a very long time ago. I have to admit that given all the fuss and the size of the queue I was expecting something a bit more substantial, but the ride through the streets was very high-tech at least, if nothing else. And there was an interesting exhibition on a bunch of roman remains found nearby too. Still, it was a nostalgia trip for both of us. We considered going up Clifford's Tower next (it being all that remains of the castle) but didn't think it quite worth 3 quid for the view, when you could see quite a way just from the mound. We finished the afternoon with a walk back into town, a drink on the riverside which was a bit windy and a bit full of drunk people, and a nice long walk around one section of the wall. It was a lovely evening and the low sun made everything even more beautiful. Last but not least by a long way we went out for dinner in an Italian restaurant which is based in what used to be a posh girls school. The food was lovely and the service mostly excellent, but it was somewhat frustrating trying to get the bill at the end, as it had got sufficiently late that they were setting tables for tomorrow and singing along daftly to the accompaniment of the pianist who'd been playing earlier, and while it was all mildly amusing it wasn't very professional.
We failed again to get up in time for breakfast, and sadly I was feeling rather full of cold when I woke, and very achy from the previous day's walking. But we checked out on time and sat reading and knitting in the lounge for half an hour before my mum and dad came to meet us for lunch. We had a drink in the improbably named Ackhorne (aka Acorn) pub. Which had a great selection of beer but sadly wasn't serving food. So instead we went back up the road to a very cheap italian and had a two course lunch for #5.50 each which was really rather good as well as exceptional value. We walked through town and wandered along another bit of the wall, but had to shift the car and ended up having a bit of a mad aimless drive for a while, before we headed for the station and a last cuppa before getting the train home. It was nice to see them anyway, and mum came bearing gifts - a plant which I have no idea what it is and an AUT tshirt, which I must wear tomorrow since it's the last day the union actually exists before the merger with NATFHE. When we got home it was to a quiet evening of Saturday's Dr Who, a light dinner and bed, where I read rather too long before going to sleep.
Cold even worse today so I emailed in sick and went back to bed until 3:30. Skipping tonight's dancing class seems a shame, but I'm still aching as well as coughing so it wouldn't really work anyway. Mike might come over after he's watched the football, which will be nice, otherwise I have no plans for this evening but to find something to eat. Having taken at least two hours to catch up on LJ I've shortened my friends list somewhat, and rather dramatically altered who is on the default view, in the hope of making it less of a time sink. Especially given I still don't yet have my own computer at home to read it from. Hopefully that will be sorted next week.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
