Underdog

We went to see Underdog the movie in Worcester on Sunday. I was surprised how expensive it was - over £17 for an adult and two children in a multiplex cinema on a Sunday lunchtime. But we had a cheap lunch (eating a Subway and pasties standing on the footpath huddled out of the wind). The movie was entirely forgettable, but lunch, movie and train ride made a satisfactory diversion for three of us on a rather chilly Sunday afternoon. We were slightly careless about choosing our return train, and ended up on one that didn't stop at Malvern Link, so we had to walk from Great Malvern - not too far, though.

On Saturday, Stephanie and Helen both went horse riding, although it was slightly coincidental. Steph was riding as part of her Saturday morning school hobbies, and Helen had stayed at a friend's place on Friday night - they keep a pony at the stables next door. So they got to wave at each other in the distance.

Monday was my visit to Bristol University. It was another interesting discussion, with just one person this time. Again, there are possibilities for future work together, but some hoops to be jumped through before anything really productive occurs. We'll see what happens. Oh, and I found quite a good milkshake, although the viscosity would probably rule it into the thickshake category.

The scientific experimentation at work today was a determination that the tea room smoke detectors (if they exist) are not very sensitive. I took in the electric fry pan and beaters (along with my Australian power board with the UK plug!), and other sundry pancake making equipment and ingredients. I put a sign on the door, proclaiming "Hot Pancakes, 3:30pm here, don't make me eat them all". Fortunately, over a dozen people were able to help me. The remaining flour mix was consumed tonight for dinner, so I'm slightly over-mapled just at the moment, and I indulged somewhat in laughing-gas-propelled cream. But I also went to the gym this afternoon, so it should all be ok.

Now, I haven't mentioned wines for a while. There have been a couple of unremarkable ones, but it is important that I record my immense satisfaction with the 2003 Château Castera from Médoc, on the Bordeaux Left Bank (you know, Left Bank means more Cab Sauv, Right Bank means more Merlot). I'm going to have to order a dozen of these, but there are some hurdles: one place has the right label, but not 2003. Do I risk over £100 on a vintage I haven't tried? Another place has 2003 Château Puy Castera from Bordeaux Left Bank. My bottle doesn't have a "Puy" in sight, but how could they be different? Hmmm. The wine (trying to recall last night's adjectives) was nicely balanced, with good berry fruit and those all-important toasty flavours. It wasn't the longest finish by any means, but what there was was delicious. (Do we often write "was was"?) This winery was given the label "Cru Bourgeois Superieur" in the 2003 classification, but as you know, that classification was annulled by legal challenges from some people who missed out. I guess it's still a good sign, by any standard.

The only other news to report at the moment is that we've booked our airfares to Salzburg on Good Friday, returning Sunday 9 days later. In that time, the current (optimistic?) plan is to visit Budapest, Ljubljana, Venice, a West-Austrian ski resort TBD (pretty and pretty cheap are the primary criteria, good snow secondary), and the German Alpine Way road. Good Friday is one of the most expensive days to travel, but we don't have too many options.

Well, while I'm here, I might just mention that we're amazed at how often we need to replace light bulbs here. Maybe the power is a bit dodgy. Maybe there's too much vibration with kids jumping around upstairs. Maybe we're exceedingly unlucky, and it's coincidental. But some bulbs are lasting only 3 weeks.