Lewes 3

Sunday came. We had a lazy breakfast and I settled the bill. Another pleasant surprise on top of many was that they hadn't charged us for our late night brandies and olives. I mentioned this and they said gave me a 'don't worry about it' type of gesture. Fantastic. Another plus for Pelham House. Phil and I went for a walk, down the hill to a beautiful walled park with a formal garden and stream. The plan was, to walk about a bit and then go for a roast lunch in the White Hart. This was a low point unfortunately. It was hot and stuffy in there, and we fancied sitting outside, but the waiter said we couldn't do that. In fact later on, they even shut the doors to the terrace. We could see other people come and go from the main part of the pub to the terrace with drinks which made is feel even hotter inside. The food was delicious though, and they had marrow as one of the vegetables on offer, which is quite a rarity on a Sunday lunch menu and was very tasty. The service was pretty good too, but lost marks for not letting people sit outside and then closing the doors.

Anyway, then it wastime to go home. We gathered our belongings and strolled down to Lewes Station. An easy journey home apart from a 40 minute or so wait at Clapham Junction for our train home.

By good fortune, we met Di and Paul as we got off the train, and all agreed to catch up in the Magpie later. The predicted end to a great time away.

Lewes part 1

Just returned from Lewes, and it just the break we needed. The first evening went well, we arrived at Pelham House at 6ish and were shown to two sumptuous rooms. Already a worrying surprise as we had booked a standard single for Jake and a standard double for us, and we thought they'd made a mistake; they had already given us a bit of a reduction on our booking. But no, we had been given an upgrade! Jake's room was modern and had a beautiful view of the Downs; our room was bigger, a suite with its own corridor leading to a huge bathroom with the bath in the centre of the room. The beds must have had the best mattresses of any hotel room so far. Perfectly flat and firm. Crisp white bed linen, huge bath towels. Gorgeous smelling Neutrogena shower gel. We congregated in our room, had some coffee and biscuits and went to visit Sam and Fiona and their children Kaya (oops not sure of spelling) and Ryan.

What a blast of an evening. Haven't seen them for about four years. Greeted with a glass of strong red wine, the conversation and wine flowed steadily all night. We ate a spicy fish stew and lots of ripe cheese and talked a lot. Jake was happy sitting with the adults and playing games with the younger children. It was perfect and we made plans to see them the next day. We had gone to Lewes specifically to see Bellowhead and while we were there, to catch up with Sam and Fi. w had got three Bellowhead tickets, thinking Jake might want to come too, and be won over, but no. So we offered our spare one to Sam or Fi, and came to a most suitable arrangement. Jake would stay in with Sam and the children, and Fiona would come out to play with us. 

More in part 2

Bellowhead

Well, as Bellowhead won't come to us, we must go to Bellowhead.

As Bellowhead don't (doesn't?) seem to be playing in London for the foreseeable future, we have decided to treat ourselved to a weekend away in Lewes, which is the nearest place I can get my fix anytime soon...We're going to stay at the Pelham House Hotel, as the receptionist, Lizzie was by far and away the friendliest of any B & B or hotel people we spoke to, some of which answered the phone with a weary and grumpy 'yes' or 'hello'. Feel slightly ill about spending so much to go and see a gig, but then remember it will be an excellent and much needed break as well. We might get to see Sam, Fiona and co, who relocated to Lewes from Hove about three years ago IF she gets in touch.
What to wear though....last time, having heard that people at Bellowhead gigs really dress up in Burlesque and other outrageous stuff, myself and the select yummy mummies and daddies really went for it when we saw them at the Festival Hall. Although it was packed there, we were definitely among the few dressed up for the occasion, I was sporting a medieval style green dress and feather mask, Di wore a basque and a kind of hitched up skirt, the others, variations on the theme. I thought we looked fabulous. So, this time requires some serious planning...or should I wear the usual jeans and sludge colour tops?