Mathieu

Sorry, meant to also say thanks for the many descriptions and recommendations of the churches, sites and exhibits. I'm in awe at how much you are packing into your days there, and commend you for it - make the most of it ! Your friends must be seasoned travellers to get off the plane and set off on an exploratory trip, though I suppose its all relative. Good for you all.

PS we only had time enough to see the gardens of Sudeley castle.

MissPrism

Brown bread ice-cream is delicious

goddesstogo

OK, maybe I missed a good bet on the brown bread ice-cream. I'll try it next time I see it. After all, I love green tea ice-cream. Only I really don't love brown bread.

MissPrism

Here's a recipe

http://thebeatthatmyheartskipped.co....ead-ice-cream/

annhig

another vote for bb ice-cream. it's surprisingly yummy.

glad you enjoyed the cotswolds. i had an elderly aunt in a retirement home in Bourton on the Water when i was growing up so we used to go there quite a lot; it was touristy then, so i can't imagine what it must be like now.

janisj

Sorry about the overwrought menu descriptions . I've only eaten there once and don't remember it being that way (though it may be that they've gotten so much good press/reviews/notice that they've 'up-marketed' some)

Sounds like you had a lovely time. For next time -- if you want a High Street w/ your village -- hit Burford. A GREAT church and lots of good shops on the main drag.

ltr: If you are from the west coast -- Besides Target -- Macy's usually carries crackers, Cost plus/World Market always does, and anyplace w/ Christmas themed departments like high-ish end grocers, tea shops, decorators, etc - not sure about Trader Joe's - I haven't looked for mine yet this year. I did see lots at Cost Plus yesterday.

And then for posh ones - Neiman's and most other upscale stores will have them.

ElendilPickle

Costco sells crackers as well, according to their magazine.

Lee Ann

goddesstogo

janis, we drove through Burford on the way back to Heathrow and I would have liked to stop but the guys were intent on getting back to London. I can't understand how people can say that just a day or two is enough in the Cotswolds. I could easily have spent four or five days visiting various towns. I'm not going to though -- my last month is devoted to my first love, London!

Yes, our friends are good travelers but it was a help that they were upgraded so could sleep well on the trip over.

goddesstogo

We had breakfast with our friends this morning at their hotel near Euston Square and then, because we had a little time before they had to get to the airport, we walked over to the British Library to see a couple of the exhibits there. We spent most of our time in the Treasures of the British Library exhibit and in there I fell in love. I'm in love with Jane Austen's History of England which she wrote when she was 13 years old. They had it on one of those TV monitor things so you could actually read excerpts and it was so funny! It exists in print and although it's carried at the BL bookstore, they don't have it in right now. The very nice clerk suggested that I try the Gower Street Waterstone's and SO is going to go over there one day and check it out for me. If you're an Austen fan, this is a must.

We only had a few minutes to spend in the Evolving English display but it was lots of fun and I'll definitely go back there. For those of you who are interested in British slang and who uses which words, this would be a good bet. It's not just the printed word in the exhibit -- there are tons of audio stations too. The few I got to listen to were really interesting.

And that's it. We're home and cozy for the evening. Hope you are too.

MissPrism

We are just back from London.
Thursday was horrible weather and we thought that we might be able to get into the BM "Book of the Dead" exhibition without booking.
We managed it and would thoroughly recommend it.
We also enjoyed "Canaletto and his Rivals" at the National Gallery.

MissPrism

I also made my annual visit to the Persephone Bookshop
http://www.persephonebooks.co.uk/
in Lamb's Conduit Street
It has a great atmosphere with books on display, being packed for postal customers and huge mailbags on the floor. The staff are delightful.
It's quite close to the Lamb pub, which is one of those London pubs with lots of original features including glass snob screens'

ElendilPickle

I love Jane Austen's History of England - witty and delightfully sarcastic.

Lee Ann

goddesstogo

Elen,
I'd never even heard of it so, honestly, it was like getting a gift! There I was, standing in the rather sedate, darkened room of the permanent collection, with all these serious Magna Carta seekers around me, laughing my head off! I'm getting it for sure and at only 10 pounds each, I'll likely get a couple to give away as gifts.

Miss P, did you see the Clive Head paintings and the two little videos?

I like to stand up pretty close to paintings, especially ones with huge crowd scenes, like many of the ones in the exhibit, because I like to see the faces and the tiny details. I was looking pretty closely at one of the big pictures by Carlevarjis and I noticed this: a dog smelling another dog's bum, a dog pooping, and two dogs having sex. Of course, then I had to go back to all the Carlevarjis paintings and study them again, looking for doggie antics, but I didn't find anything. I guess he was just bored that day and trying to amuse himself!

Mathieu

"...Of course, then I had to go back to all the Carlevarjis paintings and study them again, looking for doggie antics, but I didn't find anything."

You might have found Waldo if you looked hard enough !

goddesstogo

I think it was Waldo's dog.

alya

My memory fails me at the moment but recently I saw a flyer for a store selling THANKSGIVING crackers

You Americans! you see a selling opportunity and before we know it we'll have valentine, Irish, April fools day crackers.

Crackers ARE just for Christmas!

GTG Glad you enjoyed the Cotswolds, quaint aint they?

Surfergirl

alya -- must be the reason they call them "Christmas Crackers", eh?

alya

Surfergirl - phew! somebody else that can read the packaging

To be honest though we are spending Turkey day with our DD and her boyfriend at their new apartment.

His parents are driving from Long Island so there will be 6+ of us - I'm really tempted to buy the Thanksgiving crackers because they have a great sense of humour and will take them in the spirit that they given

A gag gift??

PatrickLondon

>>April fools day crackers

goddesstogo

Yesterday SO worked at home and I went off to do some shopping but we had an interesting evening. We got the last two tickets for the Everyman Theatre in Hampstead for one of the special events that was part of the Jewish Film Festival which is on now at several theatres in London. It was a panel discussion on the topic of comedy and racism with lots of very funny bits and good clips from many films. The British among you will be more familiar with the panelist's names than we were (Tracy-Ann Oberman, David Baddiel, Josh Howie, David Schneider and a Muslim woman comedian/writer whose name isn't in the program but she was the consultant for the Muslim parts of the movie Infidel). One of these people co-wrote Borat, Ali G and Bruno, but I don't remember which one. One wrote Infidel and one wrote Leon the Pig Farmer. We haven't seen either of those movies but the clips were funny so we're going to seek them out when we get home. Anyway, it was a very good talk, sometimes serious, sometimes funny. There was a drinks reception at the end but we didn't stay for that.

We had dinner at Cafe Rouge beforehand because we've seen it everywhere but haven't tried it yet. It was fine -- OK in a pinch.

Today we're having lunch with a friend from home who's here on business just for a day or two and then we're going to meet jamikins, bikerscott, ltr and her family and (I hope) PatrickLondon for a City pub crawl. Sounds like a fun day!