went by train down to chelmsford last thursday evening to visit with some friends... roaring fireplace.. on friday went to a small seaside village Burnham-on-Crouch, which is sort of like Bristol, RI. visited Finchingfield on Saturday, had luch at an old pub.

Then we drove some great country roads with the top down over to Thaxted , cool little village with a falling down church.

Back to London on sunday morning then drove out to the Chiltern Hills to have dinner with a friends family. Visited Disrale's mansion and grave. beautiful country out there.. sheep everywhere. Lots of National Trust land that really has changed with development.. got pretty lost making our way back into London..after about an hour we got it figured out..

Lots of fun but you wouldn't guess it from this bland entry.

Chopped some wood for the fireplace tonight.. temps have fallen quickly.

Manchester on Saturday.. Tate Modern on Friday evening...

Also- went to the Victoria & Albert museum last week and went through the British Galleries 1500-1900. The Sir John Soane museum as well... which I would highly recommend. House is filled with all kinds of interesting items.

Tonight Oct 13 Flash Mob Blaine

First day here I made it to Falkland Road without much effort. BA flight over was fine. Great bar in the BA lounge at JFK called Atlantic. Huge beers and wall of windows. Free internet hookup as well. Hung out and had a pot of tea with Mike before he went to work. Easy afternoon around Green Lanes, which is filled with good, cheap restaurants.

That evening we went to an Indian restaurant and had a feast with Mike and his friend . I never knew that vindaloo has an even hotter version called 'pall'. Super hot but we made it. The mgr of the place kept asking me if I was OK, and waiting for me to freak from the heat... really great place... no idea where in London, no too far from Harringay.

Back in London now [Tuesday] Stopped by to see David Blaine.. poor bastard needs a meal. Apparently, he is in pretty bad shape with a doctor on stand-by. Lots of people milling around...
Been walking around all afternoon and wound up here at Victoria Station easyinternet cafe. £1.80 per hour.

Heading up to Manchester and down to Brighton in the next couple of weeks.
Salisbury pub on Friday and some sort of pastis and dinner with friends on Saturday. [we brought back 2 bottles and some wine]

Also caught some good British TV last night: Never Mind the Buzzcocks, The Kumars at No. 42 & East Enders

Take Care-

Discovered Pastis down on the Cote d'Azur. Check it out if you have never had it... half the fun is making it....

Cannes was a blast, our place was 1 block off the beach, did some swimming then walked the old town. Found a cool dive bar next to the train station called St Antoine for the pastis evening of ultimately being denied access to two cafes.

Caught a train to Menton the next day. Trains were out in Monoco, so we had to walk down a hill to the next station and catch the train from there. Slipped into a cab to elude some annoying Morrocans. Walked into Italy along the seafront, then back into France to the Vieux Ville for, of course.... more pastis.. Hung out a the Hotel de Londres outside bar talking to some people who were attending the rally over in San Remo. Some plate du jour around the corner [sale, some sausage and lentil], wine and a couple of armangac[sp?].

Bus the next day to Nice, great town... again our cheap hotel was just a few blocks off the beach. Went swimming and hung out until we could get someone to answer the hotel door. Hit Vieux ville for pastis and ended up at a great little place with a live blues accoustic duo. Turns out this guy, Frank Schapp is from Springs, New York just a few miles away from where I live.So we hung out with him during sets and cranked back beers etc. He lives in Nice and works the streets during the day... high quality evening. His girlfriend played the snare drum and sang.

Next day caught our super cheap flight from Nice to London, Luton. The whole time it was sunny and hot. Did zero museum stuff and just stayed outside.

Wednesday, 1 October

Fly JFK-LHR, take the tube into town, drop bags [at the legendary Falkland Road flat] and explore. Wander aimlessly, meet up mid-afternoon at the Salisbury Pub for inaugural pints.

Early AM Friday[3 Oct.]
Drive out to Luton and fly to Nice, hop a train to Menton on the border of Italy.

-Just spoke to expert European traveler Donnie regarding his tentative visit late autumn to London. The only Bon Voyage! I've received to date. Second Bon Voyage! received from Mike..

England travels to Istanbul to play Turkey, October 11, in what is being described as the tightest security ever for a UEFA Cup qualifier.

In two recently released studies, it appears The UK is on a promiscuous bender.
STD's on the Rise -This is London
Binge Drinking -BBC

From Rough Guides

TORREMOLINOS, to its enduring credit, is certainly different: a vast, grotesque parody of a seaside resort, which in its own kitschy way is fascinating. This bizarre place, lined with sweeping (but crowded) beaches and infinite shopping arcades, crammed with (genuine) Irish pubs and (probably less genuine) real-estate agents, has a large permanent expatriate population of British, Germans and Scandinavians. It's a weird mix, which, in addition to thousands of retired people, has attracted – due to a previous lack of extradition arrangements between Britain and Spain – an extraordinary concentration of British crooks and more recently Russian mafia bosses. Torremolinos's social scene is strange, too, including, among the middle-of-the-road family discos, a thriving, pram-pushing, gay transvestite scene. All in all it's an intriguing blend of the smart and the squalid, bargains and rip-offs.

I visited Costa del Sol several years ago and found it to be a hell hole for entirely different reasons.