Our weekend away in the Cotswold's was a bit of a sequel to a break we took a couple of years back to Stratford-upon-Avon. This time we stayed at an olde worlde pub in the village of Chipping Campden called the Eight Bells Inn.
Let me rewind a bit... I have an issue with our sat nav. Namely the bloody thing is blatantly untrustworthy. Don't get me wrong, generally it gets us to our desired destination, however occasionally it seems to throw a curved ball and sends us on weird routes. Also it seems to struggle with certain sections of major highways and the map simply disappears. Of course this is what happened this time and then when the bloody thing got back to normal it decided it wanted to take us an even more long winded course. After taking a switchback cross country journey through snow and sleet we arrived at Chipping Campden (why are there so many places in England called Chipping something?)
The Eight Bells Inn was a very old establishment and our room was situated in the annex. It was comfortable if a little bit on the small side and bizarrely featured one of those old style clockwork alarm clocks which of course I promptly wound up and then regretted it because it ticked rather loudly.
We took a stroll along the main boulevard of downtown Chipping Campden, taking in the ambiance of the place - this took all of 15 minutes or so and then wandered back to the inn for a pint of Old Hookey and a glass of wine! Dinner was superb at the Eight Bells and we both had steak which was cooked to perfection. Of course N was delighted that she was sitting right next to the open fire place.
Friday, we ate a hearty breakfast and set off for our first port of call which was Anne Hathaway's Cottage, which is situated on the outskirts of Stratford. Like the Shakespeare Birthplace there is a guide in the room who describes what life was like in the house (however this time they weren't in costume). The sheer tedium of repeating the same descriptions, anecdotes, jokes etc. every few minutes to a different group of visitors astounds me. Anyway it was well worth the visit and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the Bard and Mrs. Bard.
Our second place to visit was Warwick Castle... to be honest I had some misgivings about visiting the castle as Tripadvisor had criticised it as being geared for kids (if memory serves me it has been taken over by the Tussauds Group). As it turned out we wouldn't get to find out! The entrance to the castle car park was coned off and guarded by an elderly monkey-brained retard who could only grunt words to the effect the car park was full and he didn't know anywhere else where there was parking. Good to see at a major tourist attraction great customer service eh? We didn't bother looking...
We decided instead to re-visit Stratford-upon-Avon... and after the sat nav decided it was two hours away (or only 8 miles if you looked at the road signs) and tried to direct us 180 degrees away from the town centre we eventually got there. We retraced our steps from two years ago and bought some chips near to the theatre which is still in the process of being revamped.
Back to Chipping Campden and this time we decided to have dinner at Hicks Brasserie... but before that we simply had to watch the live edition of EastEnders to see who had murdered Archie Mitchell. The meal at Hicks Brasserie wasn't as good as the previous night's at the Eight Bells but was not too bad. Toulouse sausages... whatever that is? Afterwards we trod our weary way back to bed!
And that was it... another full English for brekkie the next day (this morning as I write/type) and yet a different route back home.
Goes without saying... Robert Downey Jr was fantastic in the original, so fingers crossed for the sequel. My only concern is do we have to have another character in a similar looking powersuit? (ie. War Machine). Rourke looks good though!
Okay... as Dark Lochnagar has previously said: "Hammond, you don't half watch some shite on TV" or some such phrase. I must admit I have had one eye on Dancing on Ice. I know, I know - I am a sad b*stard, but there is bugger all on a Sunday - that is my excuse.
Our weekend away in the Cotswold's was a bit of a sequel to a break we took a couple of years back to Stratford-upon-Avon. This time we stayed at an olde worlde pub in the village of Chipping Campden called the Eight Bells Inn.
During the early days of The Hammond Rants, I ranted about Mick Hucknell from Simply Red... just seen a current photo and to quote The Predator... "One ugly mother f*ck*r." Bloody 'ell Mick - stick a paper bag over your head and do us all a favour.
I remember all those years ago... back in 1981 to be exact when good old Konrad Bartelski came second in the World Cup downhill skiing race in Val Gardena (I think?). The only British guy to do anything decent in the history of British skiing... a bit sad really. You can check out Konrad on his website www.konradbartelski.com
It must take years of dedication and training to reach the pinnacle of ski jumping (as it does with all sports)... and you get precisely 2 nanoseconds of recognition on the BBC and therefore the British public. I have just watched coverage of the Winter Olympic ski jumping and now cannot remember any names of those that took part... actually that is a lie! The guy who won was Simon Amman... was it? Interesting to see the Winter Olympics is relegated to BBC2 as there are hardly any British competitors and therefore bugger all interest. On a separate note I couldn't help notice that the ski jumpers were all about 20 years old, were skinny b*st*rds and looked like they had never shaved!
Talk about giving you the willies! Looking forward to your retirement? Not with this lot. The name and the imagery make you think you are about to receive a visitation from the Grim Reaper. A cowled figure clad in black robes emerges from the gloom. Are you going to discuss your pension or are you gonna be staked out and sacrificed?
I'm not particularly impressed with Sam Worthington so far... however I caught the trailer to Clash of The Titans just before Sherlock Holmes... And blimey!... it looked superb!!
