J28 Pictures

Junction 28

Dinner straight from work at Junction 28. Hidden round the back of Tredegar Arms and the church. An old (ex-) railway station. Thanks Dr Beeching. It's a well respected eatery.

Plenty of free parking this early evening, but I know the large car park gets full later in the evening. It's a large place, yet it still feels welcoming and intimate.

Sat in the whicker chair of the lounge, I relax and allow the atmosphere to waft over me... music, decor, staff attire... I'm in my childhood, enjoying a visit to an expensive restaurant.

Frank Sinatra croons, Richard Clayderman tinkles, The Carpenters harmonise. The waiters are for the most part men in white shirts, black waistcoat and trousers, slight midriff bulge, (fake?) italian accent, aged 30+. But, there's no prawn cocktail nor black forest gateau on the menu. It's a good, varied selection of meats and fish in European style.

I skip starters (still feeling quesy over the broken cam belt) and select monkfish with king prawns and basil ravioli. The combination of prawn, basil and pasta is very good, leaving the monkfish as a poor sibling. I skip desert and request a coffee. This is delivered with the offer of cream. The subsequent, unprompted offer to refill my cup is welcome.

It's cheaper before 7pm, but not by much - the prix fix menu is 16.50 instead of 19.50.

All-in-all a pleasantly relaxing end to the working day and start to the evening. A welcome trip back to my early teenage years. Now, have I saved enough for that Sinclair ZX81 yet?

Barry Island Last Week

I went to Barry Island last week but forgot to post photos. It was a nice sunny evening. Nice beach and view over to England, but the place was shut!

-Andy
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Mob: 07714-719206
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Convention Centre

The hotel's just a few minutes walk from the convention centre. Actually it's a Resort Hotel and Convention Centre. I think it opened April 2008. It's very large. It has five or six floors, 2,000 rooms, and has an enormous atrium that's got shops and eateries. Very nice a light and airy. http://www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylord-national/

Steve O'D and I have a speaker's briefing at 4pm and then Futrix forum at 5pm and then opening session at 6:30pm and then we'll find some dinner after that.

We're presenting our paper at 2pm on Tuesday, so I'd better find time to remind myself of the content beforehand.

My first paper is at 8am tomorrow morning. As usual, it's an early start.

Breakfast was nice this morning: Asparagus and cheese omelette.

I'm hoping you all have a good week. I hope fencing trip is good.

ttfn

Washington #1

The breakfast in Ramsay Plan Food at Heathrow terminal 5 was very good. Not large, just one sausage, a couple of rashers of bacon, half a tomato and a few slices of mushrooom, but it was well cooked and immensely flavoursome.

Food on the plane was average, and the leg room and elbow room was limited, but livable. The entertainment system is digital - not games, but a big choice of videos and TV shows, all of which start when you want to watch them, so you don't miss the beginning if you join "late". I watched Control (film about the life of Ian Curtis, lead singer with Joy Division) and then saw an episode of Mitchell and Webb show. Both were interesting, for very different reasons. Ian Curtis's story was rather sad; M&W was funny (Robert Webb won the Red Nose Dancing program, remember?). I finished my book (David Peace, Red Riding 1974) just as we landed. Good timing!

We got a pre-booked car from the airport to the hotel. The photo shows Juggie leering from the back window!

The hotel is nice. I have a nice river view plus two double beds and an enormous bathroom - see the other photos.

We're not very close to central Washington. Apparently, the convention centre and neighbourhood were built recently on reclaimed land on the side of the Potomac river. It's a funny area: just rthe convention centre, hotels, touristy shops, and restaurants. No sense of community here. Anyway, it's nice and clean and new, and the sun is very bright - though not quite as warm as the brightness would suggest.

Washington

I arrived in Washington yesterday, had dinner with Steve M, Steve O'D, Juggie and Jag. Nice breakfast this morning, and I've now registered for the conference and found a wi-fi area.

Monday morning again

Just leaving Leigh Delamere. Heading to Severn bridge and payment of £5.40. Yes, you have to pay to get into Wales along this route. But there's no charge when you leave :)

Having paid £4.50 for coffee and cake, I shall be £10 down before I even get to the office!

Sorry to see J was ill last night. I hope you're feeling better this morning