Debs' UK Highlights

DEBORAH CROMBIE: As many of you know, I just spent almost a month in the UK, from mid-October to to mid-November. I was working, but it was good, productive (Yay!) work, and every day was full of big and small delights. I wanted to share a few of those.

1) Pret a Manger. I promise not every item on this list will be about food! But to start, I so looked forward to eating at Pret a Manger. This is a salad/sandwich/soup chain, takeaway, with some very basic eat-in tables. They are ubiquitous in the UK. There is a shop literally next door to the Earl's Court Tube Station, so that was my kitchen-away-from-kitchen. I had lunch many days (eat-in) and dinner a few (takeaway.) Their food is made fresh every day, healthy, and reasonably priced, and they are friendly and cheerful. Here's one of my favorites, a salad with falafel, beetroot (beets), edamame, avocado, and broccoli rabe, or "tender-stem broccoli" as they say in the UK. Yum. I wish I could have this every day at home.

 

2) Watching the hor4s. That's Fuller's (the brewery chain sponsor) Heads of the River 4s. Still Greek? It's the annual rowing race on the Thames between Chiswick (Chis-ick) and Putney, for quad sculls, coxless fours, and coxed fours. It's rowed the opposite direction from the Boat Race (Oxford vs. Cambridge) in the spring, but on the same course. My friend Kerry, who works at Leander Club, gave me the heads up on this and I made my way to Putney on that Saturday morning to watch the racing. It was a glorious day, cool but not uncomfortably cold, and bright. The river was gorgeous. I watched from Putney Reach, in front of the boat clubs, and from Putney Bridge, cheering every Leander boat. (They won most of their races, due to me, I'm sure...) Of all the things I've learned researching my books, rowing is one that I continue to love.

3) Portobello Market. Always. I have such a strong connection with the market, both personal and fictional. I never miss a Saturday when I'm in London. The first Saturday was bitterly cold, the second Saturday was 70 degrees and absolutely perfect, and the third Saturday the sky opened up and poured buckets. Such is the market. I particularly love walking back up Portobello Road as the market is closing and the vendors are breaking down the stalls.

It's such a magical time of day. And here's a shot of The Sun in Splendour, the pub at the very top of Portobello Road, on that perfect Saturday. I managed to get a bus going past in the photo!

4) The Cotswolds! Where to start? This trip I managed to actually tour The Cotswold Distillery (last time I only stopped in for a visit.) I don't know why I'm so fascinated by distilling, but this was geek heaven, an hour and a half very detailed, very informative tour. Don't you love these huge and gorgeous copper stills? (Those are for the gin. The whisky stills are not nearly as pretty.)

5) Driving. Much to my surprise, because I've always found driving in the UK fraught with tension. But I've found a car hire company that will bring the car to me, so that I don't have to manage in a big town, and the last few trips I've absolutely loved it. Here's my little Peugeot peeking from the car park at the second of my hotels.

6) The views in the Cotswolds. That is the bad thing about driving rather than being driven, trying to take in the stunning scenery while paying attention to the road and to the navigation. To take a photo, you have to find a layby (a place in the road where a vehicle can pull over.) Here's one shot from a morning of absolutely breathtaking views. I think this is in Warwickshire, near Long Compton.

 

But no photo can begin to convey the beauty of this countryside.

7) The autumn colors. I was visiting the Cotswolds later this year than I have before, and I loved the combination of bare trees with brilliant foliage. This is the River Eye, near Upper Slaughter, one of my favorite shots of the trip.

8) Back in London, a new favorite pub, The Scarsdale Arms in Earl's Court, just behind the Kensington Police Station. Here I am with my friend Kerry, and some unknown but very fancy lady.

9) Saving one of the very best for last. (I promised I would keep food to a minimum.) Dinner at the Slaughters Manor House in Lower Slaughter, Gloucestershire. Because of a scheduling issue, my original dinner reservation was canceled and the dining room was not open to guests. But Chef Nic Chappell had a table set up just for me in the Manor House Snug and he and his staff cooked me a fabulous dinner. Here's my table--don't you love the Sex Pistols poster in this very grand house?

How elegant is that?? I felt like the Queen. And the food was just exquisite. It was truly an evening to treasure and I can't thank Chef Nic and the staff at the Manor House enough.

10) Okay, one more thing. Just walking. I walked every day in London, often for hours after I finished work, and as much as I could in between driving stints in the Cotswolds. 

I don't think there is anything I love more than just wandering in London, discovering new places as well as soaking up familiar neighborhoods. This was the last photo I took, on my last afternoon in London, walking at dusk (4:30!) from Kensington High Street down Earl's Court Road, with the crescent moon just visible over Earl's Court Station.

I was so sad to be leaving. So until next time!