Flowers in the Kibble Palace
Wednesday July 28, 2010
Happy Birthday Nancy! Well the day started as most days here, breakfast, clean-up, and chores. We did those things, worked on the blog and a bit of laundry. About 11:30 we set out for today’s adventure.
We headed out to Byers Road and a Chinese Lunch at Amber—as sticks in the mud we didn’t change a thing and had the orange chicken and Hong Kong sweet and sour. A wonderful meal for a budget price—here not in the states. We spent 15 pounds, and it is easy to forget that it equals about 22 dollars—but no matter. After lunch we strolled up the road looking for a cake for tonight but didn’t find one.
We went to the Botanical center to look inside the Kibble Palace, a huge Victorian style green house. One room was devoted to carnivorous plants, rows and rows of pitcher plants with different colors. Then into the main room that had plants from around the world. We saw plants from South Africa, China, Australia, and South America a wide selection of species with many notes about their individual properties. One plant had antibacterial properties which work even on the resistant MRSA bacteria. On the inside ring was a huge collection of tree ferns that grew like a jungle on both sides and over the pathway like a jungle except for the kids trying to go different ways than their mother’s expectations.
We left the Kibble Palace after a thorough inspection and walked back to the tube stop. Along the way we bought raspberries for breakfast and some roses for the flat. Then we got on the subway and went back to city center. We stopped at the post office to buy some shipping envelopes, and at a bakery to buy some cupcakes, as we couldn’t find a cake that we liked. We walked home along Argyle Street and then some more work on the blog and sorting of paper accumulation which we decided could not take up a whole suitcase of its own.
For dinner we went to a restaurant in City Center called Café Andalusa whose main offerings are tapas. Tapas are great. They are small portions served on little dessert or bread size plates and bowls. If you are with a group you order several different kinds and share amongst the group. They generally recommend two or three tapas per person. This can add to the confusion of the table. We had great fun picking out what to order and eventually resorted to writing down what to order. The waiter came to collect our order with Jess doing the Spanish. The waiter, however, cheated, and was copying down our order from the list in Pete’s hand. Too bad – Jess was doing an amazing job. We had 10 tapas: Potatoes Gratinedas—potato chunks in an amazing cream sauce; Championes---button mushrooms, again in an amazing cream sauce; Solomillo con Setas—sliced steak with onions and mushrooms; Chorizo frito al vino—a sausage; Pollo Rebozado—chicken grilled and served with an yogurt sauce; Pollo Marinado—chicken pieces deep fried in a batter with a mustard sauce; Queso Manchego—cheese slices; Aton a la Plancha—tuna with potato salad; Pan Fresco--bread; Bollo al Ajillo--bread. There was enough that everyone had 2 or 3 tablespoons of each dish. It was great fun. Forgive the Spanish spellings—I tried.
We walked back to the flat and had cupcakes and ice cream. Sara called, and we had a video chat with Sara and the wee ones. Poor Ian was at work, winning a trial—ok, they didn’t know they won until later. That is always a great time….the boys are real troopers and do a great job. They do, however, give Sara a real workout trying to protect her computer and keep them on screen. It was delightful because they actually said some new things for us---papa, nana, Pete, Chase dog, and they tried to say Jess…..boy are those “J’s” tough to say. Thanks all for a grand birthday.
Steps: 18,589
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