Monday, March 20, 2006

Viva Italia

I went to the Italian exhibition yesterday with Miss S. Lots of free goodies to nibble on. Then we bought vouchers for little lunch plates in the "piazza".

The most interesting thing I ate was a sebada. It's Sicilian. Gran padano cheese mixed with mint and lemon rind, stuffed in a little pastry case and deep fried, then sprinkled with honey. Mmmmm.

Then we went on to the wine-tasting. 3 quid for a (crystal) glass in a neck pouch. Two aisles of wine. I overheard some bottles were worth 45 or 60 pounds. I tasted 3 reds and one white. Surprisingly, even though two of the reds were well-aged, very woody and 14% alc. - and I drank the equivalent of half a glass total - it didn't go to my head as usual...

Miss S went home and rather than take the bus from Olympia to South Kensington, I decided to walk. Up Ken. High Street, along the park, up Queen's Gate, along Cromwell Rd to the station. Of course, with diversions to take photos of interesting things, such as some trees and sky and rooftops on Melbury Rd (near the house of the Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward, Lord Leighton) - a very pretty neighbourhood, although while I was walking up there I thought, "It's not too different to St John's Wood." No wonder so many of those artists lived in both neighbourhoods. The last time I was there, at his house, I wasn't living in SJW yet.
My other diversion was near Queen's Gate road, I saw the actual Queen's Gate. Looked sort of Queen Anne-ish.

Along Ken. High St., there was a PC World! I have needed to go to one for months now. Hi-speed internet has burned out my USB cable, which isn't meant for the purpose, and resulted in lots of disconnections lately - but it's all I had at the time. Now I have a proper extension cable and it's longer.
I also bought a program to try and fix my ailing laptop since I can't afford a new one.

[Hate to admit this, but "I can't afford" has never been part of my vocabulary...But now, my dad is getting fed up with me...I'm getting fed up with me too...]

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I watched Poirot: Cards on the Table last night. He always says things that make me laugh, but yesterday's rant topped them all:

Poirot: The question is, can Hercule Poirot possibly by wrong?
Mrs Lorrimer: No one can always be right.
Poirot: But I am! Always I am right. It is so invariable it startles me. And now it looks very much as though I may be wrong, and that upsets me. But I should not be upset, because I am right. I must be right because I am never wrong.



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Some of you are waiting for the Volcano post. I will do it separately later today.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

What wines did you taste? From what regions in any case?

Olivia said...

Ooooh I can't remember, and I forgot to pick up a guide! There were so many people there I wanted to scream, and I read so many labels they all got blurred.

Let's see. The white was a Traminer. The strongest red a Barolo 2001. The middle one either a Valpolicella or Montecino...the other one I forget...

Olivia said...

Oh I found a list in the magazine!

The 2004 Traminer was from Friuli.

The 2001 Barolo from the Piedmont.

The Montalcino from Tuscany.

Still can't remember the first red, which was also strong, but it may have been from Abruzzi and may have been a 2001 Montepulciano.

Olivia said...

I want a sebada, I want a sebada...
*drool*

Steli - if you are never wrong, Poirot might get jealous.

michelle said...

I think wine is ok, but what they really need is a beer, even better a wisky tasting fair!!!

Anonymous said...

Hey, was it a Brunello di Montalcino? That is superb wine?

Nice one. Aah, I love a good wine!

Leilouta said...

I didn't know the difference between wine and beer until a few yeas ago:)

Anonymous said...

On the whisky fair note: I once went to the whisky heritage centre in Edinburgh. Fascinating. We did a 10am tour and then were offered free samples. My my

sanity index said...

Uh oh. I hope the laptop holds up until you can afford a new one...in the same boat here. But London IS expensive.

Geez, that sebada sounds so good right now...

-merserene

Olivia said...

Wow, I can't believe I didn't reply to these!

Jia Li - Whisky fair? You definitely lived in Gaelic lands too long...

Steli - Not really into Portuguese wines, though the liqueurs are fine. But as I've never heard of Vino Verde, it might be worth trying.

Rebecca - YES it was a Brunello di Montalcino. :)
Of all the wines we could have chosen, eh...
DId you stagger out of the whisky fair or walk out in a straight line?

Mers - this medic program is really working hard to keep things under control, and doing a good job.

Leilouta - ahhh really? Now there is no mistaking the two is there?

Michelle said...

You have such a glam life Olvia!! All I do is work and listen to music, I would love to nibble on fine cheese and sip wine. Oh my!

The best I have going for me at home is a nice supply of berries.