We'll be celebrating the birthday of my sister INGER in fine style this weekend, with a dinner at CORRIGAN'S MAYFAIR, a celebrated restaurant located about 2 1/2 blocks west of the American Embassy on Upper Grosvenor Street, LONDON.
We'll be celebrating, but I am not sure what exactly I'll be eating.
Inger forwarded me a menu, and I have never heard of half the items.
"Steamed brill?" (Turns out it's a flat fish.)
"Grilled langoustines?" (Some people call them " Norway lobsters.")
"Marinated ceps?" (Unfancy name: "Mushroom salad.")
The menu items I can identify make me blink in a "did-I-read-that-right?" style.
"Oxtail ravioli?"
"Grouse pie for two?"
"Braised pork cheeks?"
"Salad of partridge?"
"Saddle of wild rabbit?"
As I read the menu, I began to feel:
1) Like the simple country folk I probably am.
2) A bit crestfallen. What is there to eat here?
Then I read:
"Roast cod, Jerusalem artichokes, red wine --" ahh... "-- and bone marrow." Errr...
Perhaps I should just skip right to the dessert menu and the black figs and port with mulled wine sorbet.
I really only want to find one item when I peruse the shops in LONDON (in a few days).
I want to find a collection of P.G. WODEHOUSE stories in relatively good shape.
That's because the collection of Wodehouse stories I have owned since adolescence is in relatively bad shape.
Whole sections of the paperback "THE MOST OF P.G. WODEHOUSE" have separated from the binding and there's an inch-long tear on the front cover.
This wouldn't matter, except these stories helped fuel the ANGLOPHILE tendencies that are sending me to the U.K. in the first place.
The Drones Club, Mr. Mulliner, Ukridge, Lord Emsworth and even Jeeves stories are included in these stories. You remember "JEEVES AND WOOSTER" on PBS, don't you? It starred a pre-"House" Hugh Laurie and a pre-Twitter celebrity Stephen Fry.
If I don't find anything else during the next couple weeks, I want to find a Wodehouse collection.
Travel chaos continues in the UNITED KINGDOM, a mere week before I travel there.
Today's news involves northern FRANCE as much as the U.K.
More than 2,000 people have been evacuated from four Eurostar trains that were trapped in the CHANNEL TUNNEL for up to 16 hours after breaking down due to the cold weather. Storms that struck southeastern England yesterday have now impacted France. Motorists are warned to avoid the M20 MOTORWAY, where authorities have initiated "OPERATION STACK."
Kent Police and Port of Dover authorities declare an "Operation Stack" situation when lorries must be parked the closed motorway when the Channel Tunnel, English Channel or Dover ports are blocked by bad weather or industrial action.
The motorway could be closed for days.
I wonder how it will be when I arrive in LONDON?
I leave for LONDON in a week and a day, so I am keeping my eye on a pair of forecasts for BOXING DAY.
Here, ACCUWEATHER predicts "a morning flurry; otherwise, cold with low clouds."
I can live with that.
Across the pond, THE WEATHER OUTLOOK suggests "an increasing risk of snowfall, especially in northern and eastern areas."
Ahh...
In case you haven't heard, heavy snow today has closed schools, slowed road travel and cancelled flights in portions of the U.K. Gatwick and Luton airports were both closed for periods, while Heathrow remained open but with about 70 cancelled flights.
A week and a day to go, and I am crossing fingers and toes -- please, no bad weather!
Spare us the GRITTERS!
"Your Oyster card is loaded with pay as you go credit and is ready to be used on the bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground and some National Rail routes (check with the train operator before traveling). When you have used up the credit, simply top up your Oyster card."
Here's a way to prepare for a trip to the UNITED KINGDOM:
Listen to BBC RADIO 5 LIVE online while cleaning the kitchen.
That's what I did this morning.
The time difference meant I was listening to afternoon news on the station.
I heard about travel problems in central London -- High Holborn was closed both ways because of a building fire at a restaurant between A5200 Gray's Inn Road and A4200 Kingsway -- near the Chancery Lane Tube station.
I also heard about a new documentary that shows -- in high definition -- a komodo dragon attacking a water buffalo -- an animal 10 times its size.
I also heard about the controversy surrounding Saturday night's broadcast of X-FACTOR, in which judge Danii Minogue (Kylie's B-list celebrity sister) attempted to make a joke about the sexuality of contestant Danyl Johnson. The joke backfired horribly, generating headlines in the newspapers and stories on the radio.
I felt like I was listening in to a nation's day.
The experience will surely give me some context during my trip. It also helped give me a clean kitchen!
I am reading about FLEET STREET today.
It would be fun during my LONDON trip to visit ST. BRIDE'S CHURCH -- "the journalists' and printers' cathedral."
The church boasts the largest spire of the churches designed by SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN. It is said to have influenced the traditional, tiered wedding cake.
Situated behind the former Reuters building on the site of the 16th century press of WYNKYN DE WORDE, the church also includes a small museum.
The museum includes information on the Daily Courant -- Britain's first daily newspaper -- and the Universal Daily Register -- the forerunner of THE TIMES.
We'll be celebrating the birthday of my sister INGER in fine style this weekend, with a dinner at CORRIGAN'S MAYFAIR, a celebrated restaurant located about 2 1/2 blocks west of the American Embassy on Upper Grosvenor Street, LONDON.
