Brush with smarmyness

At the Savile Club we noticed this.

Oooooh!

Safe House in Mayfair: The Savile Club

We arrived in London at 2:45 Saturday afternoon.
This is my second time driving in Central London. SatNav is a wonderful invention and I am sure we would have ended up somewhere in Yorkshire without it.

The Savile Club is a wonderful old house. I have tried to capture a bit of it in these pics. But they dont do it justice.

Now as luck would have it, the bar was open - even though the club is unstaffed on the weekends. So we availed ourselves of Green King IPA, just to maintain equilibrium.

Best of all of course is the company - Karen and Wyn took us out for a meal.

Owen had whitebait, which for those who do not know are tiny whole fish, breaded and fried whole - as in with head on. Including the eyes. Yes he ate them all up. Good man Owen!

Rhod had a wonderful grilled goat cheese appetizer. Toast smothered in carmelized onions, the cheese on top and grilled under the salamandar. It was outstanding. I had smoked haddock topped with Welsh Rarebit as my entree. It was very good indeed. Karen finished her meal with the largest strawberry sundae I have ever seen an adult eat! I think she enjoyed it. Gareth and I had matching lemon tarts and tea for pud.

It is good to be well cared for.

Well we are heading home in the morning.

More pics will surely follow.

TTFN

- john

The Cardiff Pub Crawl

We met a great many friendly people on our day in Cardiff. Both friends, family and other rugby fans eager to find out what the heck four Canadians were doing in Cardiff for a single rugby match. Needless to say most were impressed with our enthusiasm. Which leads to more pints.

Finally we went for a late night bite after Y Mochen Du and were directed to Charlestons by Huw Davies for steak. Steak at 1am after 12 pints of beer is the best thing a man could ask for. Until the waiter below shows up at your table.

We ate our food very quickly as our faces were reflected in the shards of mirrors tiled on the walls.

We had the distinct feeling we were being watched. But there didnt appear to be anyone around.

There was a cold chill in the air.

*what was that?*

He had a ring on every finger.

When he spoke his lips did not move. We may not have even used our ears....but strangely we heard him. "No Brains. Just lager."

THE HORROR! THE HORROR!

We ran screaming back to the Angel of Mercy and fuzzy sheets.

Why, why, why Delaila?

The entire Millenium Stadium doing a little Tom Jones number!

I am not an animal!

I was very interested in the emphasis placed on distinguishing this disposable cup from conventional disposable cups.

Made of plant starch this cup is 100% biodegradable. Now, why couldn't shopping bags also be biodegradable?
What about all the plastic packaging that CDs, DVDs and all sorts of electronics come in?

The best news is that it performed exactly as a disposable cup should. When Gareth threw it out on the field at the referree it did not crumple prematurely. Perfeck.

This is a wonderful step forward.

The most popular man in Wales

Here's our man Gareth generously bringing much needed sustenance to a group of wayward boys. He is a hero among them. He might even walk on water.....er, cancel that. It seems he just missed the urinal.

Canadian Rugby Team gives Wales a Good Game

Millenium Stadium is a fantastic venue for watching a rugby match! Canada scored first with a monster penalty kick from the halfway line. Lots of good tackling by the Canadians. Wales is too good though, and the Canadians cannot withstand constant waves of Welsh support running. Wales scores several tries in the corners each after a ton of good tackles by the Canadians.

Late in second half Canada intercepts a pass at centrefield and streaks in to score right under the posts.....all 6 Canadian supporters cheer! The locals were less impressed.

Final score: Wales 34, Canada 13
--Gareth

Santa Claus Parade Weekend In Canada

M is ready in waving - it is a lovely rainy day for Mr Claus' arrival!

Canadian National Anthem at Millenium Stadium

50,000 people to see Wales v Canada

Its Brains You Want

Here we are on game day in Cardiff. Meeting Wyn later. In a pub called the Yard. Have had Brains Best Bitter, Gold and now the Dark. And its only 2:50. Gawd this place is grand!

Next we are off to a pub called Y Mochen Du to meet a colleague of mine and possibly have a pint.

The toilet in this pub is very interesting. There is intense public pressure to wash your hands as Gareth pointed out.

Oooh, our food is here and the table of rugby fans next to us has invited us for a drink and a chat. So ta ra!

Mercedes Flop

So the celebrated Mercedes CLS failed to materialize at the Hertz rental depot. While I was considering a characteristically Wyn-like shade of apoplectic, the service agent found us a nice Audi A6 Wagon which suits us quite nicely although we spent about an hour waiting for it to be sorted. But he tossed in a free tank of fuel and only charged us for a 2-door compact. Now, if only the sandwiches from the M4 Services could be had for less than 126 pounds per slice of bread, we would be having a real bargain day.

Unfortunately the SavNav system is less polite and accommodating that in Wyn's A4. Owen renamed her the SatNag or the Nagivation System. "Dont drive so fast!", "Do you know where you are going?", "Why dont you stop for directions?"

Today was quite rainy. Heading to Cardiff tomorrow.

Thats all for tonight.

Good night all.

Family Finance Opposition

Not so quick lads! On behalf of all little Harries all 110 quid is accounted for. Full audit to follow.....

It's Father Christmas!

Arthur was passing out the cash for the young ones for Christmas tonight. £10 each. That will buy us each an extra beer tomorrow after the rugby.

Well we had a wonderful evening in Ebbw Vale. We enjoyed the dulcet tones of Dy Williams with his moving rendition of Proud Mary at the Park Hotel Karaoke Night. Both Arthur and Ceinwen are in fine form with tales of relatives of dubious identities: Johnny Banjo, Flower Price and his BROTHER Petal (the original "the only gay boys in the village" I suspect) and I am certain there was someone named Quidgy(?). There was a local physician nicknamed Dr. Death and there was a tale of someone related deemed too religious for the local establishment who was snatched up at the age of 18 and forced to live 62 more years in an asylum.

So, kids....lunacy clearly runs down the Harries side of the family. This means you can not rely on anything they say, especially if frothing at the mouth.

God Love Cienwen

I think we all know about Peter, his boat, Cybil and yes Sarah in the sportscar. In the words of Ellen, "God Love Her!"

It's Ceinwen

And she's showing pictures of Peters new boat. And Cybil Sheppard... and, Hey! did you know Sarah went out in Peter's sportscar?

Touchdown.

We made it to London (well almost - I am typing this while we are still 45 mins away from landing. If you get this it means we have in fact landed safely).

The flight was uneventful.
Those business class pods are not the most comfortable to sleep in - but I am not complaining. I think I heard an announcement asking if there was a chiropractor onboard for the elderly gentleman in 31C (that would be Gareth, of course). Or was it a proctologist? Hmmm, not sure.

Anyways, lots of love to all. I need to go spray my feet with rosemary-mint refresher spray from the amenities kit.

Bye bye!
John