A Woman’s Touch Is Needed
That’s not meant to be sexist, but I do lack a certain amount of female help and guidance.
Take this morning, I woke up and thought, I’d got a splinter in my foot. If I had, it’s probably my own fault as I’m always bare footed around the house. But there was no-one with the supreme experience of a mother to have a look and possibly a dig. So in the end, I went to Upper Street and asked in Shuropody. As it happened, an Australian from Brisbane, by the name of Gabby was free and gave my feet a quick service. The problem was a small corn, which was expertly dealt with.
So this small problem was solved, but then others have not been so simple to deal with, if I had a woman nearby, to ask for help.
A question though I must ask, is why do most of the Australians I meet seem to come from Brisbane? And why do most of them seem to know a coeliac or two?
Not A Bad Curry!
I had this lamb rogan gosh at the Olympic Park yesterday.
Not A Bad Curry!
It wasn’t at all bad and it was certainly better fare than I’ve found at most sporting events.
As I don’t appear to have suffered any ill effects, I would assume it was made with gram flour.
Seeig this picture though, I might say that it tasted better than it looked.
Millennium and Wembley Stadiums Compared
I’m not comparing anything, but their use for football, as I’ve experienced both in the last few days.
I’d say Wembley is very Jaguar, whereas the much less expediently-built stadium in Cardiff is more Audi, with more concrete and wood and less marble.
On the other hand, the sight lines in Cardiff, may even be better to those at Wembley. You also seem to closer to the action. I wonder, if this is because it is a much squarer stadium than Wembley. Only an architect with experience of sports grounds would know.
Food in both stadia is the usual gluten-rich junk, but then as the Millennium Stadium is in the centre of Cardiff, anybody who like me is choosy with his food will eat off-stadium. That is not really an option at Wembley, so I always eat before I leave home or in the centre of London.
The Millennium Stadium does lose on access to the trains, whereas Wembley has improved greatly in the last ten years. I believe Cardiff Central station is being rebuilt, so hopefully, better access will come. But a nearly three hour wait for a train to London is unacceptable, even if First Great Western were their usual helpful self, even handing out bottled water.
A Coeliac Compares Islington and Highbury Corner Waitroses
I have two Waitroses close to me and both are just a single bus ride from the stop on my corner. The Islington store is at the Angel and the Highbury Corner one is just a littleWaitrose across the road from Highbury and Islington station.
I can get most things I need in the Highbury Corner store, except for the goats’ milk and yoghurt, that I like. They even have the Genius Gluten Free bread and a good selection of gluten-free cakes and biscuits.
The bigger store at Islington, is always a bit short and the bread is sometimes non-existent. They do generally stock some gluten-free beer, which I haven’t checked for at Highbury Corner.
The Rise of Gambling Spam
I’ve had the impression for a week or so now, that the amount of spam I’m getting from dodgy gambling sites has been grown somewhat.
On the 1st, to the 7th of August, I’ve received 26, 32, 25, 21, 35, 24 and 29 messages respectively. A few months ago, they were quite rare.
They are ideal practice for using the Delete key on your computer.
I must admit I do like the odd small bet, but then only when I have inside information about the nag involved.
The only thing I do with Spam is occasionally eat it, as I’m a coeliac and it’s gluten-free.
I have now found that most of this spam comes from a website called http://www.promotion-rewards.com,which is registered with a Slovenia address.
Canoe Slalom At The Lee Valley – Food
Inside the venue, there was nothing I could eat, but I did bring a salad from Waitrose and I ate that outside in the Park, before I went in. These pictures tell the story.
There was a stand selling what they said was healthy food. But it was vegetarian and not gluten-free! And there were no salads!
So luckily, I got it right, but then I always assume there is nothing for me inside a venue. Soft drinks weren’t a problem and I didn’t feel that £2.30 for the standard bottle of diet Coke was over expensive.
BTLondonLive At Victoria Park
I did pop in briefly to the free BTLondonLive event in Victoria Park.
The only gluten-free food I could find was the paella, which wasn’t labelled as such, but as far as I could tell didn’t contain any gluten-containing ingredients. Note that they don’t let you take in food and drink. So for a coeliac, it’s paella or nothing.
I left fairly soon after I got there, as they weren’t showing the cycling, which of course, I could view at home. But as it was only a short bus ride from the end of my road, I wasn’t really bothered.
The New Little Waitrose at Highbury and Islington
It opened yesterday and I was impressed.
The only thing I couldn’t find of my staple purchases was the Waitrose goat’s milk. But surprisingly they had the Genius bread and the Genius fruit bread, which is rather difficult to get elsewhere. There was also gluten-free biscuits and cakes.
It will be a great help for me, as often I come out of Highbury and Islington station after coming home on the Victoria line. So at least I won’t starve.
I was impressed, and the average coeliac could do a lot worse round here. If anybody is going to the Olympics on the London Overground, it will be a good place to pick up a picnic. You could even go round the corner and eat it in Highbury Fields, which is rather a smart little park.
One of the Only Gluten-Free Snacks At Eastfield
As I’ve said before Eastfield, or Westfield Stratford City as the developers prefer, is a place where gluten-free food for lunch or dinner is difficult to find.
This is all I could find, other than loaves in Waitrose and Marks and Spencer.
One of the Only Gluten-Free Snacks At Eastfield
Even Starbucks only had the usual excellent brownie and a cheese and coleslaw sandwich. And I just think coleslaw is food for German rabbits.
Returning to the Marks sandwich, what do you do if you’re Jewish or Muslim and fancy something substantial?
I suppose we could always live on Starbucks brownies for a few hours, but the lack of choice does really put me off going to Eastfield.
A Morning Trip In The Rain
I’ve been there many times in my past, both as a child and as a parent.
It’s raining, cats, dogs and hippopotami and all of the things to do indoors have been done to death. So this morning, I decided to see what the new Emirates Air-Line is like in the heavy rain.
I took my usual route to the Northern terminal at Royal Victoria DLR station, by taking a bus and a tube to Bank station and then getting the faithful Docklands Light Railway. Is there a railway anywhere in the world, that was built as on-the-cheap as the DLR, that has morphed so successfully from an ugly duckling into a swan? Or possibly in the DLR’s case to a whole game of swans.
Even on the short trip from Bank to Royal Victoria, there is much to see, like the expensive yachts, housing and offices, the many spires of the East End and mud flats, factories and construction of the River Lea. It is a trip that delights most children.
I took these pictures on the way to Royal Victoria, during the crossing and then at North Greenwich.
Afterwards, I took the Jubilee line to Canary Wharf for a late Full Italian breakfast at Carluccio’s.
So was it a worthwhile trip? And would it be with young children?
- I only got wet walking between Royal Victoria DLR station and the cable-car and between the cable-car and North Greenwich tube station.
- The queues were less than last Sunday and marginally worse at North Greenwich. Is that because there’s parking on the South bank of the river.
- The view from the gondola wasn’t too bad at all. Is the glass treated with a water repellant?
So on balance, a trip in the rain, may even have an advantage in that the crowds are smaller and you don’t have to wait.
The Anonymous Widower 