And finally - More Cricket

25th August, it is the T20 final & we are off to Cardiff. The weather forecast is not good & we are not expecting to get any cricket today. However we only get a very short shower - happy days.

We leave Marlow at 7 and make good time. We are soon having a coffee in a pretty park along the road from the cricket ground. We are staying a in a hotel tonight as the game will not finish until about 10. We have had to pay an extortionate rate as Cardiff is very busy.

The cricket was good and we had plenty of sunshine, some people (not us honest) had plenty of beer and by 9 ish things were getting quite rowdy, not to mention very smelly. Men & 12 hours of drinking beer & eating burgers I will leave it to your imagination. The crowd were up to their usual antics, many beer snakes were made, songs sung, and a great time had by all. Sid the shark kept us amused what a great mascot he was. Unfortunately Pinky the panther got disqualified in the mascot race. Naughty Pinky.

We were glad that we stayed over rather than going back home. We awoke the next morning to a warm sunny day with clear blue skies. Feeling a bit tired we opted for a boat trip down to the Mermaid quay where we walked along past the Dr Who experience (some might think it sad that we walked past it, but I am still scared of the Daleks) to the barrage and lock that lets the yachts out to the sea. No pictures, sorry as battery gone dead. Managed a glass of chilled wine, and a top up of the tan on our faces outside one of the many eateries in the quay before getting the boat back to the city and a swift drive home.

Looks like we will have to re-visit Cardiff as there is a lot more to do and see.

A week at work or how much can you eat in a week

Journey to Pittsburgh PA Via New York


11 th August..Arrived terminal 5 in plenty of time, did not know if the airport would be busy or have trouble getting through security due to the exodus of the Olympians and visitors to the games but no bother at all.

I had already been upgraded from economy to premium before I got there but when I boarded the plane I had been up graded to club. I had the biggest smile on my face for the whole 7 hours. Champagne, fine wine & fillet steak, a comfy seat and movies on demand - I did not want to get off.

Just staying in a hotel near JFK airport, big mistake I should have had the courage to go into Manhattan on my own. I could see it in the distance from my hotel window. Still I went out shopping and managed to do a bit of damage to the credit card.

Caught a flight to Pittsburgh the next day (Sunday). Spent the whole week going from meeting to meeting & restaurant to restaurant. We we taken out for lunch & dinner every day and although we tried to have light meals and salads we were totally outfaced by it all. Our American counterparts did not seem to have much trouble munching their way through several courses twice a day.

We ate in a fish restaurant, Japanese twice, airport food, Italian, Thai, another fish restaurant and micro brewery / steakhouse. It was an amazing trip and found out that Californian wines are not ALL bad!

View from the office window in Pittsburgh

The Grand Concourse restaurant- the Old railway station

The office

coming into land at Newark Airport

London 2012

Thursday 9th August - I said it was a whirlwind of a month well we had the Monday off work to go to York and the Thursday Ian was given some tickets for the Athlectics and Mr Bolt was due to perform,we could not believe our luck. It was a really hot day and I got to Stratford early afternoon, we grabbed a spot of lunch and then headed off to the Olympic park. Tried to see as much as we could - saw the lovely wild flower meadows as we made our way to the stadium.

We had a fantastic night the atmosphere was everything that we had imagined it would be and more. The noise was terrific and the roar of the crowd followed the athletes as they ran around the stadium.

It was 26 degrees and officially scorchio.

Mr Bolt was on top form and we had the most excellent view having had some of the best seats in the house.

 We saw a lot of medal ceremonies, track & field events, celebrities and athletes.

 Got back to Ians apartment about midnight I think, up a 5.30, train back to Beaconsfield and at my desk by 8.30. Completely wiped out - Oh dear I have to go home & pack a case as I have taxi picking me up in the morning at 7am as I am off to the USA for a week - Work so no resting! Told you it was a whirlwind - love it!

August 201

A whirlwind of a month. Ian was trying to balance working all hours of the day & night with getting some sleep & the occasional visit home. We did manage a weekend away as we had tickets for the Test match South Africa V England at Headingly. We arrived at the hotel much earlier than expected and what a good job as they had no room for us. Also as the cricket was on there we no rooms in any of the local hotels. We had driven for 4 hours and were non too pleased to say the least. After a while the hotel managed to book us into The Oulton hall on the outskirts of Leeds, a very lovely hotel but quite a way away from the cricket. Never mind.

Headingly

One of the fantastic chandeliers at Oulton Hall

We had a good day at the cricket despite a heavy rain storm. Ian had managed to get us tickets in the members stand, so we had a roof over our heads, clean toilets, TV to watch the Olympics  - which enabled us all to shout encouragement to the athletes, like they could hear us! Play soon resumed but quite honestly the Olympics were much more exciting. There was some relief in the slow boring match watching the crowd and the stag party all dressed up as Jimmy Saville's.

Now then now then

The next day we moved onto York. I had not been there since a child but I must have been very youngs as I had no memory of anything I saw. We walked the city walls, sheltered from the rain in a  - yes PUB! Did a guided walk with a hooray Henry in the afternoon which was quite bewildering to say the least. Not sure we actually learnt anything much apart from how to get about. Rather hot and my feet hurt so a cool glass was required. Could not find any where so opted for the nearest hostelry which was a Slug & lettuce hmmm. We had a pint of beer & a glass of Cava. £ 5.20. I said to the barman are you sure? He was quite adamant it was right. I thought they had not charged for the beer but the Cava was £2.95 a glass. so I had 2! hehe. They also do a very good Hummus and ciabatta with oil & balsamic for about £3.

Later on we went to Akbars an Indian restaurant  Ian has been to the one in Leeds many times. It was excellent and although we were sensible with what we ordered we were stuffed by the end of it. Giant Naan breads are presented on hanging stands and you rip chunks off to mop up the delicious sauces. Try the chicken livers if you go they are delicious.

The Royal Hotel York. Our room overlooked the wheel.

Pretty tired we head for bed. About 2 hours later we are woken up from a deep sleep. Yes I was actually in a deep sleep. The noise was a bell ringing, trying to look for an alarm clock, switch off the fan, check mobile phones & iPad, frantic by now. We realise it is the fire alarm. Ian in his haste then tries to put my trousers on and I throw on what ever I can lay my hands on. We walk past about 3 fire exits (just following the rest of the flock) before we finally get outside. No fire, I expect someone was having a tab in their room!  It took us ages to get back to sleep.

One of the many York Cat Sculptures

Had a bit of a lie in and then decided we would go the the Slug for breakfast. Ian ordered and was charged £4.95. It was BOGOF Monday. We had the full works, bacon, egg, sausage, beans, mushers,Tomato. I think that was it, oh and tea and toast. It was excellent - really good quality food and very well cooked and presented. Oh yes I forgot that was 2 eggs!  We had to walk round the city and the railway museum to walk some of it off but still came away complete bloaters, but had a great weekend.

London 2012

The Olympics arrived in England and Ian departed to the Olympic Village for the Duration. OK so he gets a few days off here & there but working up to 17 hours a day he deserves it. It was quite trying for me at the beginning as we had little or no time to even speak to each other. Ian was hyped up with it all and I was worried he would make himself ill. However things settled down after about 3 weeks and having the apartment has been a life saver. Commuting each day would have been killer.

He has worked really hard doing all manner of different jobs from Duty manager to pot washer in an emergency when they were 300 staff short. He has really loved it - chance of a lifetime. today he got a reward of some free tickets for the athletics, which includes Usain Bolt running in the 200m mens final. We are looking forward to it. Everyone I know is totally gripped with the Olympics what will we do when it is all over?

Here are some photo's Ian took in the village.