June 21, 2005
Crap in Catford
I don't want to be too harsh, and I hope that Catford residents don't take it too personally, but on my recent visit to Catford, I found it quite crap to be honest.
It looks a bit rough, doesn't have too many shops, has horrible industry and railway lines running through it, and generally doesn't inspire much.
There is one very cool thing about Catford though, and that is the fact that it was named after wild cats that used to cross the river there. In tribute there is a giant cat outside the shopping centre. It's rather great, although the actual shopping centre was a bit rubbish.
Mind you, Peckham where I live, is quite rubbish for shops too, so perhaps I shouldn't complain too much. I ended up in Bromley later - that had a lot of shops - nearly as many as Croydon.
Not that I really like shopping - but I do like to look in the windows, and I like all that shiny glass you get in shopping centres.
Anyway, here's what you've all been waiting for - the super cool giant cat...
Meow! The Catford Cat is after some tasty KFC.
June 19, 2005
The Six Million Dollar Curry Off
Alas, there was no six million dollar prize for the Curry Off - but there was the Six Million Dollar Man on TV.
I remember the show as a kid, and loved it - this time round it seemed a bit slow moving, and quite unintentionally hilarious in parts. We survived two episodes before giving up.
I didn't know the show was based on a book, but it was. Also the crash scene at the start is based on a real astronaut crash. I learned all this from the ever excellent wikipedia article.
The Curry Off involved us making, buying and eating curry related foodstuffs. We had two kinds of home-made curry made by Tom and Kev, onion bhajis made by my good self, and various sundries like cake and poppadums.
The bhajis were unfortunately soaked in grease due to my poor cooking ability, but rescued when Kev suggested we put them in the oven and bake them for a while.
I reckon Steve Austin would have enjoyed a curry or two, and he could have eaten it really quickly with his bionic arm. Then the next day he could run to the toilet quicker with his bionic legs. OK, I'm stopping now.
June 18, 2005
What else we did in Chamonix
So, the Chamonix Blog of 2005 comes to a close, and I have to say that we had pretty good weather for our week in Chamonix, and managed to have some very nice walks most days. We also consumed gigantic amounts of cheese, except for one day where Kev decided to ban cheese from his diet. He failed by accidentally eating some Parmesan. I think he was worried about being 'No Cheese' Narrainen.
Walking in the Chamonix Valley.
Tom and Kev both bought sticks to aid them with their walking. Kev was first off the mark, but Tom soon became jealous of Kev's long stick, and wanted one of his own.
Tom and Kev know how to use their sticks.
A big thumbs up goes to the restaurant at the Hotel L'Aiguille Du Midi where we had a totally delicious and wonderous five course meal just as we were giving up hope of finding anywhere to eat that night.
We spent a day following very small lines on the map, and crossing dangerous fast-flowing rivers. This we called 'Freestylin it', in an obvious attempt to make us appear young and hip (except for me, cos I'm obviously young and hip anyway...)
Freestylin across the river
We also took a day trip on the train to Martigny. The train journey was great, but Martigny was like a lost town from the 1970's transplanted to the alps. Kev is only willing to spend five years living there if he receives 5 million pounds in cash. Any offers?
The Mont Blanc Express to Martigny.
We thought that we had been a little early in the season, as lifts were shut, and there was a lot of snow at the top of the valley. We decided that next year's trip should be scheduled for the optimum time of the first week of September.
Meanwhile, relax and view the wonderful photos of this year's trip
June 11, 2005
Shopping in Croydon
Last weekend we took the bus to Croydon. It turned out to be rather exciting, as there were loads of shops, and two large shopping centres - unlike Peckham, which has mostly butcher shops.
Catheryn is very excited to be in Croydon.
The name Croydon comes from the Anglo-Saxon for 'valley of the crocuses', but you'd be hard-pushed to find a crocus there now. However, for a bit of high street shopping, I would recommend it over going to Oxford Street, or anywhere in central London, as it's not so busy, and there's more space, and the shops are closer to together.
The escalators in croydon are see-through - ground breaking technology and very exciting!
We took full advantage, and visited the discount book shop, and Poundland - a shop where all items cost a pound. Rocking!
Catheryn is so excited by shopping, she needs a coffee to recover.
If you want to have a good time, if you want fun and excitement, and if you have a spirit of true adventure, you must get yourselves down to Croydon, where a good time can be had by all. Don't miss it!
June 06, 2005
Alpybus Redeem Themselves
After seeing my recent blog entry about them, Alpybus got in touch with me, and explained that they don't run a full service in May, only transfers on request, and that in May their office is not fully staffed, which is why they were slow in getting back to me.
The fact that they took the time and trouble to contact me personally, convinces me that they are making an effort as far as customer service is concerned, and that my experience was an unusual occurence, rather than the norm.
They have agreed that the website could perhaps be clearer in emphasising that the service is not available off-season, and they say that they will make changes before the next off-season period.
I'm satisfied that they have now redeemed themselves!
June 04, 2005
Chalet Beaumont
Before we set off for the wild mountains of Chamonix, there was accommodation to think about. On the last trip, we camped, but now as we were feeling richer, we were going to upgrade to a chalet.
A trawl of the internet, as usual, came up with a load of useless information about chalets, but no prices or easy way to book, and a bunch of cluttered websites. After a while I stumbled across the Chalet Beaumont, which had a simple website, all the required information, and an easy way to book. The off season price was extremely reasoable, so a few days later we booked it.
Chalet Beaumont - our home for the week
The Chalet was in a scenic location in Les Bossons, underneath the Glacier des Bossons, and with a nice view across the valley. Jenny and Steve who ran the place were nice and helpful and friendly, and there were no problems with the apartment.
The only real drawback of the Chalet was its distance from any kind of shops, and a long, steep vertical climb back up from the valley every day! To be fair, it states on the website that a 'car is recommended.' Being as we were there for a walking holiday, we thought that it wouldn't matter, but even if you disregard the extra exercise at the end of each day, it became quite time-consuming, due to a 40 minute walk to the nearest supermarket.
There was a near vertical ascent to the chalet
The other option was to time the ascent/descent of the hill to match bus/train services, but these are very sporadic off season. Towards the end of the week, we sort of got the hang of it, but it was still hard work dragging food up the steep hill! In the end, I have to agree with the recommendation of a car.
Enjoying a civilised dinner at the Chalet
June 02, 2005
Walking the Loop: Bexley - Petts Wood
The London Loop is a 140 mile circular route around London
Stage: 2
Route: Bexley - Petts Wood
Date: May 28th 2005
Walkers: Myself and Tom
Weather: warm and sunny, strong wind
Walk Departure Time: 2.40pm
Walk Finishing Time: 6.00pm
Walk Distance: 7.75 miles
The second section of the London Loop, while perhaps not having the variety of the first, did provide some lovely riverside scenery, extensive woodland walks, a visit to the metropolis of Sidcup, and a few hidden surprises in the forest.
