Our greatly expanded household braved the M25 on Saturday and ventured down to Hastings and Brighton to see the sights and, more particularly the seafood and wine festival. Despite Vaughn's amazing ability to hear 'turn right' regardless of the instruction, we made it down to Hastings in time for morning tea, or morning scallop in my case and explored the festival, sampling heavily along the way before working it off on the trek up the hill to Hastings Castle. Not surprisingly, given its location (Battle of Hastings, 1066 and all that), it was the first Norman castle in England, though much of it has been lost to the sea and a particular king (no prizes for guessing who) who ordered the wanton destruction of Churches around the country. Still, it was a lovely site and the view was spectacular.
We then ventured over the Brighton via Eastbourne and the South Downs Way, which was as lovely as I'd hoped and sufficiently hilly to make me a little glad I got the flu when I was supposed to ride it. We enjoyed our second trip to Brighton just as much as we enjoyed the first almost a year ago, walking around the town and along the pebbly beach. Everything and everyone seemed so much more relaxed than in London and I find the feeling of the place not dissimilar to some areas of Australia - Brighton has rather a hippy reputation. We arrived home exhausted but really pleased to have gone.
And as if that weren't enough to make my weekend Vaughn and I went to lunch yesterday at the Petersham Nurseries in south west London. It was our first time driving through London (as opposed to heading straight out of London which is very easy from our place). Suffice it to say the drive was not the highlight of the day. The 14 mile drive took very close to 2 hours - drive five metres, stop; drive five metres, stop. But it was all worthwhile when we finally arrived. The setting was absolutely beautiful - lots of mismatching wooden tables and chairs with plants all around, attentive staff, wonderful food and wine and a very pleasant atmosphere. Having sneaked a look at the dessert menu, I opted to go straight for mains so I'd have room for pud. The whole menu looked fantastic, but it was an easy choice for me. I simply had to order the roast pigeon. It came out succulent and rich with lovely crispy skin and lots of herbs. I almost cried it was so good. Vaughn's meal was also excellent - a chicory gratin, slightly tangy with a great consistency. Not suprisingly I preferred the pigeon, but it was a lovely change to have interesting vego choices on the menu and not just the usual mushroom risotto or pasta. For dessert we shared a hazlenut ice cream with roasted figs and a sheeps milk ricotta with honey and walnuts. They were both superb - the ricotta creamy and smooth and the ice cream fresh and full of nuts. I was also pleased to note the consistency was very similar to the ice cream I've been making recently.
Walking through the adjacent meadow afterwards by the river, we chatted with a local farmer, who had hitchhiked around Australia in his youth. It was a lovely end to a perfect weekend.
Labels: Brighton, food, Hastings, London, weekends
