kimbofo

My new toy

I finally relented and bought myself a new digital camera. My Sony Cybershot has served me well ever since I bought it back in October 2004, but recently I've found myself getting more and more irritated with it. I thought maybe the lens needed a good clean, but that didn't seem to improve the sudden inability of the macro function to work reliably. And I won't dare mention the white balance!

So I took the plunge last weekend and ordered a more advanced camera from Amazon. The new Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3EB-K seemed to tick all the boxes -- a 3-inch LCD screen, 10 x optical zoom and a 28mm wide-angle Leica DC lens -- so that's what I went for, completely unaware that T had been eyeing up the same camera since Christmas!

Anyway, it arrived on Thursday. It has a sexy-looking black body and so many functions it will take me six years to figure them all out.

Late this afternoon I took a quick walk around the neighbourhood to have a play with my new toy. It's slightly heavier than my Cybershot but very easy to use. The 10 x optical zoom is a vast improvement on the Cybershot's 3 x optical zoom. Similarly, the wide-angle lens is a revelation, but I think it will take me awhile to get used to it, as I've spent the past two-and-a-half years taking photographs with a fixed lens.

On the whole, it seems like a good purchase. But I won't know for sure until I test it out properly on my holiday -- which, if truth be known, is the real reason I bought it.

Lady Muck

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Most Noble Lady Kimbofo the Elegant of Londinium-le-Thames Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Swimsuit hell

The worst thing about going on a relaxing holiday in the sun is the fact that at some point you have to expose vast amounts of ghost-white skin and flab to the unsuspecting hordes. This may partly explain why I haven't been on a lying-by-the-pool holiday since September 2000! In fact, that may possibly be the last time I actually wore a swimsuit.

So with the much-longed for trip to Ischia fast approaching I've been wondering how to address the issue of what to wear by the pool that won't make me feel like a fat white freak.

My old swimsuit (a blue floral tankini) still fits -- in fact, I'm in much better shape than I was back then thanks to two years of cycling -- but I wanted to get something a little more funky.

At one point I  considered getting one of these -- a head-to-toe "burqini" -- but in the end opted for this sporty number:

A post about the beer festival (and a missing pie)

So, we went to the Great British Beer Festival at Earls Court last night and had a great time.

I got there at about 4.30pm but T and our mate JB had already got a good two-hour head start on me. We were joined by two of T's colleagues, and later one of JB's mates and a friend arrived, so all up there were seven of us imbibing a wonderful range of ales and ciders and perries (I stayed away from the latter, just the smell of fermenting pears was enough to put me off, never mind the incredibly high alcoholic content).

Our party of seven found a quiet pillar on which we took turns to lean (there is never enough seating at this festival) and we'd each go off in search of a new beer whenever our pint glasses ran dry. I think this is the first time in my life where I've gone drinking and bought all my own beers and none for anyone else! But this really wasn't the place to do "rounds" -- it was far too busy at the bars and you'd never be able to carry them back through the heaving crowds.

To avoid the hassle of pushing through the throngs we stayed put in between the bars for the North-east of England and East England. (Although at one point I did venture further north to try a raspberry fruit beer from the Belgian bar.)

They bill the festival as the "biggest pub in the world" and they're not half wrong. Half of London seemed to be at last night's event -- you really noticed how the venue filled up with the after-work office crowd because as soon as 5pm came around you could barely move.

This little piggy went to the Great British Beer Festival...

...on Tuesday night...
...and looks set to go again tomorrow...
...because there's nothing I like more than hanging out with strange bearded men with the biggest beer bellies you've ever seen...
...and odd-shaped women who look like old trolls...
It really is an eye-opening experience attending this festival...
...and not a very good advertisement for drinking large quantities of beer...
...but I go every year...
...because it's so much fun trying new ales and people-watching...
...and, well, you know, it's a good place to buy souvenir pint glasses to add to my collection...
...I've got seven so far...
...and I'll bringing home the eighth tomorrow!
Stay tuned for a proper "report" on the weekend...provided I survive the Friday night crush.

This little piggy went to market...

Once-upon-a-time there was a big department store in Kensington called Barkers. It was in business for 135 years before it closed its doors forever in January 2006. The building, a rather regal looking establishment at the top of Kensington High Street, has since been converted into the UK's first organic emporium known as the Whole Foods Market, which opened in June.

I'd heard lots of great things about this American-based business and was looking forward to doing a shop there. It sounded like my kind of thing: loads of great natural and organic foods spread over three floors. So yesterday afternoon, with nothing better to do, I took a walk to the market for the first time. I had rather expected to walk away with bags of yummy fresh fruit and vegetables, and loads of interesting new foodstuffs. What I came away with was a big headache -- and a slightly crushed spirit!

The market looks incredible. The displays cannot be faulted. The vegetables are presented in colour-coordinated formations (a bit like bath towels on display in your favourite department store) but everything -- and I mean everything -- is hugely expensive.  I don't mind paying good money for good-quality organic produce, but much of what I picked up seemed to be a bit beyond its use-by date, or fast approaching it: seriously wilted herbs, peppers with dimpled-on-the-way-out skin, slightly spoilt tomatoes.

The fruit seemed in better condition (I bought two juicy-looking peaches), but I'm not sure I'd want to spend £8 for a tub of layered berries -- strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and so on -- even if the presentation did look especially mouth-watering.

Secret London

One of the more annoying things about London is the numerous green spaces dotted around the city that are out of bounds to the public. Many of the beautiful gated garden squares in the more exclusive areas can only be accessed if you have a key -- and keys are generally only available to nearby residents.

So finding a square that is open to the public and doesn't have any restrictions on access is something quite special. Red Lion Square Gardens in Bloomsbury is one such place.

The park is quite small but very pretty. It's lined with London plane trees, has two large grassed areas and plenty of benches to sit on. The focal point is a statue of Fenner Brockway. But the real "selling point" of this park is the cafe.

From the outside it doesn't look like much. In fact, it sort of resembles a wattle and daub hut. But it has a great range of eats and the coffee is absolutely delicious! And I can highly recommend the homemade falafel, which comes wrapped in pitta bread with tasty hummus and chunks of tomato and cucumber topped with a raita sauce.

On Saturday afternoon we sat at one of the little tables (adorned with a bright yellow plastic tablecloth) out front and enjoyed some rare summer sunshine. It was so pleasant I almost felt like I was on holiday -- even if I was in the middle of the city in which I live.

So if you happen to visit London and want to go somewhere that's off the beaten tourist trail and represents good value for money then you can't really go wrong with Red Lion Square Gardens. Oh, and if you need another reason to hunt it out, there's a great book store around the corner!

Destination Isola d'Ischia

So, this is where I'll be headed at the end of the month.I basically stumbled upon it by accident, plugging the wrong "region" into Expedia's search engine. When Ischia came up, I had never even heard of it, much less knew where it was located.

A little bit of research (Wikipedia is great!) and I discovered that Ischia is a small island off Naples, Italy, which is famous for its thermal springs and viticulture. Just the thought of lying back in a bubbly spa with a bottle of wine in hand and I knew this was the destination for me!