Went out for the afternoon, a rare occurence these days. The occasion was that my son has his Norweigian friend over for a visit (they are mutually "not in love" , wrt which that old 10cc song comes to mind ) so a friend of mind (with whom i am really not in love, mutually. we've just known each other for 40-odd years, and he's practically part of the family by now) had the really nice idea of driving us all to Stratford-upon-Avon for afternoon tea. ("You won't like this idea..." said my friend , menacingly, before suddenl;y realising how that sounded; then he flusteredly explained that was on account of my food sensitivities, thus i might have to make do with a baked potato minus trimmings , or just a soya milk latte, as usual)
The soya milk Latte is actually a great way of packing a bit of actual nutrition into my non-lunch, non-tea, or non-dinner, and of making myself feel as if i really am having a treat. So i was up for that. I decided in advance to forgo the freaking baked potato. Even with my increasing ataxia etc. , i am still totally capable of scrubbing up a potato and bunging it in the microwave, so I totally resent paying some chef to do that for me.
The target venue was a somewhat upmarket little restaurant that turned out to quite a bit further from the carpark than i can safely manage, normally. But I managed it, making judicious rests along the way, because I happened to feel pretty good that day, and I didn't want to spoil it for everybody by forcing a change of venue. And the place turned out to be really impressive, cosy old -worlde feel to it, good food and good service. My latte only cost £2.60 - which is not above standard English prices. What's more, they turned out to have something other than baked potato I could have- their homemade tomato soup. Not much, i know, but it really was nice soup. and a very welcome change.
My son and his friend had a traditional English Tea for Two, with Proseco as an optional extra. The food came in three tiers (literally! on a 3-tier silver stand) comprising sandwiches at the bottom, scones with butter, jam and cream on the middle tier (the best scones my son had ever tasted) and four mouthwatering little cakes at the top. Thatlot cost him £26 i noticed (plus an extra £10 for Proseco) ; not the sort of money either of us would spend lightly, but given the quality, presentation and great service, not to mention nice venue, I figured i was actually pretty good value
Son's Norweigian friend was suitably impressed, and thrilled with the whole experience ("I feel as if I'm in Legoland" she exulted, pointing at all the quaint buildings along the way). And even I felt I'd had a really nice day out
