Dear Diary... September 2026
Sunday 27th September - Sunday Slow Down
The Love In My Heart had a well earned lie in overnight, and I got up and made myself a coffee, but also then watched something on Youtube I had wanted to see this week. It followed Jon Worth as he attemtped to head from the furthest point east in the European Union on mainland railway (somewhere in Finland, a mere 25km form the Russian border) and then head to the furthest point south and west, which was Lagos in southern Portugal. This did mean that the journey would take around 125 hours and 31 minutes, as there were some delays getting through Finland and Sweden, but it was an impressive watch nonetheless.
I sorted out myself and The Love with a nice breakfast of bacon, scrambled egg, mushrooms, hash browns and also some plum tomatoes for The Love, with some toast too. It was nice to enjoy that together with the Celebrity Yorkshire Auction House in the background on the telly, with former Hi De HI actor Jeffrey Holland finding out that there were collectors of the annuals that came out, along even with some furniture he and his wife had across their property. Always interesting to see what exactly sells at auctions, and of course who is actually buying that sort of stuff. One person's trash is another's treasure, as they say.
We did also watch the Graham Norton show that was on Friday night, as The Love had gone to bed early before watching it and we knew that we could catch up on iPlayer. Needless to say she was very pleased as Tom Cruise was on talking about the new film Digger (the prermiere had taken place in central London earlier this week) and also John Bishop talking about his new Saturday quiz show too. Musically Emeli Sandé performed Read All About It with just piano backing, which was rather good, so tune of the day - she is touring her debut album 15 years on next year which I am sure will be of interest to those who are diehard fans of her music too.
We headed off later and got the train to Farringdon, and had a welcome pint at The Castle and a good chatter, before heading over to Euston Square and then to the Crown and Anchor on Drummond Street, one of our favourite places and certainly a popular spot for us for Sunday lunch. As usual, the staff recognised us and we had a chat with the manager, and as the Landlord Dark was not on (boo) I did have the Kirkstall Brewery's raspberry blonde ale, Ripple Effect, which is stunningly nice. The Love had the Camden Hells and we had a good natter and had some lovely lunch.
The Love went for the Sunday Roast pork belly, with plenty of carrots, parsnips, Yorkshire pudding, greens and gravy and looked really good, and I went for the fish and chips - with a nice crispy batter on the haddock, lovely white fish inside, along with some minted peas, chips and some lovely tartare sauce to go with it. That was all great and we sat outside later with The Love having a glass of wine and me a Gipsy Hill Hepcat ale, and just chattering about all sorts before we headed to Euston to make sure The Love got her train home - and in standard premium too which she of course was super happy with. A lovely and chilled weekend!
Saturday 26th September - Strictly Ansbacher
The Love In My Heart was coming down to see me this weekend, which is always nice, and last weekend we had checked out what we could do this weekend. What I did spot was the Anspach and Hobday brewery was having its own Oktoberfest event, complete with some new beers being launched, and also some food being available to be in theme too. Best of all, the tickets were a mere £5 each and that included your first pint, so it was a good way for them to get numbers but also be able to know how many might be turning up too, so I got the tickets last week and all was well for the day later on.
I sorted out the flat in the morning and even had time to write an article for one of the Commodore 64 printed magazines that I contribute to, so that was all well planned in advance and ready to go - it made sense to get that done and have some good words written, but also meant that I was ahead of schedule and so could spend some time working on other things I had planned too. Forewarned being forearned and all that. I also then checked over the trains and all was good for The Love's train - she had her standard premium freebie on Avanti West Coast this weekend thanks to the Club Avanti loyalty scheme so obviously that was going to be nice for her - comfy seat, less people and more civilised generally!
The Love got to Euston fine and messaged me when at Victoria and heading for the train to East Croydon so I could walk to the station and meet her, and then walk back to mine. All was well and her journey had been lovely, so we got ourselves a cold drink back at mine and were all ready to go for later. Thankfully where we were going was reachable by the tram from me, so we simply walked from mine to the tram stop and headed in the direction of Wimbledon, getting off at Therapia Lane, and walking down the industrial estate to where the Anspach and Hobday brewery was - and it was already looking pretty busy outside too with benches all set up an adorned with blue and white tablecloths.
We got to the bar and showed the staff the booking receipt - and so had the first pint free of charge. The three festival beers were called Ansbacher (assumedly a nice German sounding name for Anspach and Hobday) and this included the regular lager, which The Love had, the Rauschbier (smoked lager) which I had, and also the Festbier, a stronger lager, which I would try later on. It looked very nice indeed and they even had glasses with that German name on for them all, so was good. We soon did manage to get the end of an outside table when a couple left to head homeward - bear in mind it had started at 12 noon so people could have been here all day - and it was nice to enjoy the nice weather and a drink.
In fact, I did try the Festbier later and that was nice - The Love gave it a quick taste test and found it was good too. They did have someone on an accordion and someone else on a guitar playing some traditional German pieces reminiscent of being in somewhere like Munich, which was nice, and we got chatting to a couple of people who lived in South Norwood but enjoyed good beers, so mentioned the Westerham and Titsey breweries and they were well worth the trip out. We did also get some food too - we both went for the bratwurst, cooked fresh and in a nice baked roll and had some potatoes on the side to share as well. That went down nicely, and later I had the London Nitro Porter that they do too which is awesome.
We had been there for a good three and a half hours and had enjoyed the atmosphere, and headed off for the tram to head back to mine. We had some nibbles in for later and we knew on BBC iPlayer we could do a rewind and watch from start and so watched the first live show for this yeatr's Strictly Come Dancing. For us both, we thought that having three presenters does not work and that Josh Widdicombe might have been better in the Claudia type role, where his more down to earth sense of humour would work well. Johannes Radebe of course knew all the fellow pros but was often too early on autocue as the contestants were making their way up, and it looked messy to be fair.
As for the celebrity dancers, some were better than others to be honest. We were pleasantly surprised at John Nellis and Katya Jones doing the foxtrot, and indeed the dog trainer Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley's dance to Hound Dog by Elvis Presley - make that tune of the day. Shaun Wright-Phillips was sadly not very good at all, and perhaps even worse was Dame Sarah Storey and Julian Caillon - just did not feel it. The other nice surprise was Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu, and they powered and styled it out with both of them showing they could do the lead with the other. I do like Nancy as one of the pros, so it was interesting to see that combination work well. Time will tell if three hosts work but The Love and I did have similar thoughts.
Sunday 20th September - Topsy Turvy
The Love In My Heart and I had a little bit of a lie in, with Brian the cat purring in approval as he snuggled up to his Mummy, and was all well with the world. The Love made us some nice breakfast, including some nice bacon, mushrooms, mini hash browns and some egg, and that went down well with the toast and orange juice to keep us going until later on. I was heading off to watch Manchester City v Sunderland, and The Love would have Little Miss E and Little Miss O together with their Mum come to visit, which would be lovely and I am sure that they would give lots of happiness to The Love.
I got myself all sorted and headed over to the Etihad, having a Guinness Zero on the concourse before the gae to get myself all ready to go. City do have a good record against Sunderland, but they've had a win in the Europa League in mid week and also pushed Arsenal very close in a previous league game, so they definitely have the nouse and the players to cause problems. I did think it would be a good test and so getting some early goals in would be key to settle the game down. The weather remained cloudy but dry and we were all set to see the mighty Blues hopefully do the business.
City got a free kick early on after Iliman Ndiaye was fouled heading down the right wing. The free kick was taken by Enzo Fernandez, who spotted the Sunderland keeper Robin Roefs off his line slightly and that meant a gap to shoot at, and the opener was ours. Lovely finish to be fair, and would have been even better had City remembered how to defend. Instead, the ball was cut through the City defence and Brian Brobbey pounced expertly to shoot into the bottom corner for 1-1. Fair play, they came out to play and all game they were going for it, such a change to teams sitting behind the ball constantly and parking the bus, and their skills would be applauded by their fans.
City went back forward in an end to end game and after the ball broke loose, a poor pass across the box from Antoine Semenyo found Rayan Cherkli who managed to slot home into the bottom corner for 2-1. All well and good you may think, but no, Sunderland were at it again, sprang the offside trap superbly leaving Brian Brobbey with the simplest of tap ins for 2-2. That was not the end of the half though as the ball ran across the box, Marc Guehi tried to claim it but the ball bobbled back to Semenyo who smashed it home for 3-2, with an excellent finish. There was still time for Ndiaye to unselfishly square it for Erling Haaland who missed from six yards, aaaargh. What a half of football!
I spent half time getting my breath back somewhat, with some nice tunes that had played before the game and now in my head including New Order's seminal Blue Monday (so tune of the day) , and on with the second half. Cherki passed a ball through which confused the two Sunderland defenders, it broke to Semenyo who smashed it bottom corner for 4-2 (so two goals and an assist from him, very handy for my Fantasy League team let me tell you!) - and again Sunderland came forward, and after the ball broke loose in the area and with Gianluigi Donnarumma flapping a bit, it ended up being an easy tap in for Brian Brobbey for his first ever senior hat trick, and deserved to be fair.
City had some more pressing forward, Sunderland could have scored at the other end too, but finally Jeremy Doku came off the bench, released Josko Gvardiol and he squared it for Haaland to make it 5-3. So we thought, as it had been ruled offside. But a check showed that Gvardiol was onside, and so the goal stood, and that was how the score remained at the end despite there being some good chances from Sunderland late on to pull another goal back. Relief all round, but five wins out of five, top of the league by three points? I'll take that all day long thank you very much.
I got back to The Love's place and to my delight Little Miss E and Little Miss O were still there. They insisted on me playing the pairs card game with them as well as us then heading to find Brian the cat, and they were being both adorable and lovely. It soon became a full house as their Daddy (The Love's son) arrived from the game himself and plenty of chatter ensued before they headed off, with hugs all round from the girls, which was nice for The Love and for me too. We settled in later with some nice telly and chilled out, and it was good not to have to face the train home!
Saturday 19th September - Cheadle Hulme and Strictly Start
It was an early rise for me this morning and off to London Euston to get on the 0813 train to Manchester Piccadilly. Originally I had planned to go up this morning and back down tomorrow night, but I had an email from Avanti West Coast explaining that Network Rail were doing an emergency bridge removal on the Sunday, finishing around 4pm, and that all trains were going to be affected til then, with other trains most likely being rammed. Sensibly they had already allowed the ticket to be used on the Monday or Tuesday instead, so easier to bring the work laptop, work from The Love In My Heart's place on the Monday and then head home - so made a lot more sense to do so.
The train did get delayed between Watford Junction and Milton Keynes Central (plenty of tunes on including Penfriend's Seasons, tune of the day) and further so outside Stockport, and so it ended up being sixteen minutes late as I got to Manchester Piccadilly, so delay repay would be kicking in. I took the tram over to The Love's place, and all was well with her and Brian the cat. She got herself ready and we had some breakfast before her sister popped over for a while and had a coffee with us. The Love had new wooden shutters fitted to her windows at the end of this week and I have to admit they looked really classy and nice. Brian is still getting used to being able to see out betwen the slats and so can see the likes of Sammy the Squirrel outside, but it was still nice to be able to see he was working his own ways out.
We headed off in the afternoon towards Cheadle Hulme. For some reason, the traffic in and around Longsight was busy, and heading down Kingsway towards Parrs Wood, that was busy too. It transpired there were some road works after Parrs Wood before the road heads over the M60 and has the start of the M56 there, so I suspect that it was probably Saturday shoppers heading to John Lewis and added to the road works meant poor traffic - and parents dropping their kids off at university and heading back home before the start of term on the Monday too, so plenty of reasoning I guess. In any case, we got past Cheadle and on to Cheadle Hulme in good time.
First stop was Homebird, where we had a good look around and noted some Halloween related homeware in stock, but also it was good to pick up a card or two there, and then we headed across to the Sir John Millington pub, a place we both like. It was a little too windy to be sat outside but the inside had some nice tables, so we went in there. I had the fish and chips which was lovely, and The Love had the bacon steak with pineapple and egg, and that was also good. The ale I had was their seasonal one and that was a lovely light ale too, so definitely a positive all round. We headed back homewards later and then fed Brian the cat his tea and gave him a fuss and cuddles.
We settled in to watch the opener of this year's Strictly Come Dancing. Of course, no Claudia Winkleman anymore (boo) but I know she did comment on how well the new hosts did, so that's a good indicator. It'll take the three of them time to fully be up to speed, but Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe, switching the dance floor for presenting, seemed to do reasonably well. The pairings were also interesting - I did want Shaun Wright-Phillips to get Jowita Przystal, but he did get Alexis Warr, and that was fine. Two of the new pro dancers got celebrities too so that was good to see, and it'll take some time I think to bed in, but signs were at least promising. And with Brighton and Hove Albion tonking Arsenal, might prove to be good for Manchester City tomorrow.
Tuesday 15th September – Smoothly Does It
The Love In My Heart and I had one final breakfast at the Feels Like Home Urbano hotel, and the temptation to have plenty was there, but resisted. I was tempted to have scrambled egg to be fair, but the continental cheeses and ham had won me over already – but I had to be mindful to make sure I cut back on cheese again when back as too much dairy is not that good for me anymore. We did the final bit of checking and packing as needed when back in the room and checked out. The staff we met at the hotel had all been lovely, and were all kind, friendly and warm and welcoming. That meant a lot and definitely for me if you want to stay in Lisbon, choose one of their places – there is even one right by the Santa Justa lift if you so fancy.
We left and headed off to Terreiro de Paço station, this time making use of as many lifts as we could to get to the platform for the blue line Northbound, heading to São Sebastiao. Once there we then navigated the lifts and made sure we were at the start of the red line, on the right side, as two platforms are in use, and was able to easily get the Metro from there to the airport. It was a lot quieter than the rush hour we had experienced on the way in (and would have avoided had the case turned up on time incidentally!) and so that was worth noting. We soon took the lift up to the check in halls and were soon at the TAP Portugal check in, where you used a touch screen to print off your own tag, attach it to the case, and then dispatch it in the next step. All well, but we did wonder if that meant we would make it back with the cases in one piece. But that did mean our own tags and names on so no mix ups!
Once through security and to the gates for the EES checks, we were at least at the international departure gates (ie: outside of the EU). We did find a nice café to have a bit of lunch at, and once we had enjoyed a sandwich and even a Sagres preta in my case, which I had not seen all holiday before then, we made our way in good time to the departure gate, ready to board. Boarding was smooth and as we thought, a bus to the plane. Ours took time to leave as they were waiting for one late passenger, which did have me a little anxious, but all was good and we got to the plane fine. I can only imagine those on the first bus which had left for the plane thinking what had happened to us, or some magical mystery tour somewhere!
The flight departed around 25 minutes late but amazingly made up good time and so much so we were only 5 minutes late when we arrived in Manchester, having had one final drink on the plane to enjoy and some Pringles that we had got from one of the shops airside before we boarded, having much more time to do so this time around. Passport checks were quick, we got to the baggage claim and The Love’s case came out first, with mine only a few minutes after that. Phew! That was a lot better overall and that did mean that we could effectively leave arrivals. Whilst lots waited for the lift to head out, we knew there was another lift elsewhere, and got that straight away instead of all the queueing. Hehe. We got to the train station, and straight on a train back to Manchester Piccadilly followed by the tram to The Love’s place, where Brian the cat was waiting and wanting plenty of cuddles from his Mummy as you would expect.
We settled in with some food and watched the grand final of The Great British Sewing Bee. For the first challenge, the three finalists, Beth, Emma and Anna had to make a cummerbund and bow tie, and when they had completed it, an inspired choice of Roxy Music’s classic Love is the Drug, and so tune of the day for me for that one. We saw the transformation challenge and then the final made to measure, based on an idea for the Met Gala. We both thought that Beth’s was by far the best and she was in with a shout of winning, but I was super pleased that Anna won, she’s been so consistent all the way through the series and her designs have been inspired and a little bit of goth in parts too which is always appreciated by me.
Monday 14th September – Castles, Trams and Turtles
This was the only day of the holiday where The Love In My Heart and I would do something that we had done before, and because it was eleven years since we visited Lisbon last, it would be a nice thing to do on the final full day in the city. Plus, it also worked out well for the travel card situation in that we had enough to do the things we wanted today and have enough for the ride back to the airport tomorrow, so all was good on that score. We tucked into a hearty breakfast and some nice coffee before being ready to hit the road, and after doing some research, we found we did not have to walk far to get the bus that we needed – the 737, which took you as far as it could up to the entrance to the castle – the Castelo de São Jorge no less.
Once at the castle, there was a small queue for tickets, but that was quickly sorted, we paid to get in, and then explored around, including part of the museum that housed the former royal palace, the upper terrace of that palace, and the views over the city from the side as you headed up. Peacocks were plentiful here and one did make an appearance as we walked along, which strutted its stuff well as we ascended. Once inside the castle walls, I was going to head up to the main wall and tower battlements, but The Love didn’t fancy that and instead headed to one of the cafés for a cold drink whilst I explored the upper section.
In fact, I noted the central Ulysses Tower had the camera obscura, which I went in on a tout – it is a maximum of 20 but I counted and I was all good, so that was pleasing. I soon was able to head inside and see the different images of the city, all live, with the periscope and mirror effect showing off the views, which were pretty ace. It was dark in there but I had to laugh as someone’s phone went off and started playing Money Money Money by ABBA, so that has to be tune of the day – even the guide heard it and said that someone was clearly a fan of the band which was a good ice breaker and made everyone giggle away. In any case, the views were really good and that just enhanced the feeling more when exploring the castle walls and all the history behind them.
Once back on terra firma I joined The Love at the 1147 place for a drink overlooking the city, and we relaxed there for a while before we then followed the route to the far end walls and the archaeological site, which you can only fully access with a guide. Nonetheless, it was good to see more of the history and we left via a different gate – previously it was the same way you came in. We walked around, found one viewpoint entrance but it was shut for lunch, and then followed the passageway to a road which would take us uphill towards the district of Graça. Two reasons: one, to see the church and the viewpoint, both of which were really lovely, and second, to get the classic 28 tram for the ride over to where we wanted to go next.
In fact, we did note that all trams were turning at the Graça terminus, with a shuttle bus taking the passengers the rest of the way over to Martim Moniz, due to road works. And if the road works are that which a tram runs on, it can’t run that way. We did note when the tram arrived at the terminus, some passengers wanted to stay on, but the signage within and the instructions from the drivers told them that they had to get off, and then wait in any queue for boarding. I think that is very fair and means that you cannot just hog the tram for the sake of it but actually be able to board the same as everyone else. As a few trams were all there at once, we did not need to board the first one (in fact, the drivers did not allow standing from the start of the route so they had some room to get people on) – and when we boarded the second, we could sit together! There was a German couple in front of us who were also happy as they had stopped people queue jumping (rightly so!) and so were able to enjoy their ride too. Of course, Navegante cards work on the old trams too (they have a reader) and so again, much cheaper to do it this way, and take note.
We rode the 28 tram back down through Alfama, past the Sé cathedral, along the city centre to the back of Baixa and along to the square at Luis Camões (close to the Barrio Alto area) and then along up and down hills, heading West out of the city. It certainly is a ride in itself just to see the tram take the hills. We soon arrived at where we wanted to be – Estrela, where the park and gardens there were a welcome respite from the sun with the shade and a very nice little café. We did have a late lunch there, we both had some fries and also some little meat croquettes, which did the job nicely. In fact, we stayed there for a second drink because the atmosphere was so relaxed and chilled out and we were in no rush whatsoever.
We had a walk around and noted the peacocks were out strutting but also the lovely and super cute turtles were in their little pond, resting or having a little swim with the ducks. The park is popular with families and many of them were sat in the shade with a picnic blanket having a relaxing afternoon, and the little library was not open but showed the books you could read, and the statues of the poets as well as the green space made it a relaxing place to be. We got back to the tram stop and this time took another classic tram route back – this time the 25, which takes you down from Estrela towards Santos and then along the back streets towards Cais do Sodre, the Corpo Santo and on to the Praça do Comércio where we could get off and have a nice little walk back to the room.
We did spend some time getting some wine and beer, and then did most of the packing, leaving out what we needed for tonight and tomorrow. The Love looked gorgeous in her outfit especially tonight, and she had been looking so lovely all the week, and we headed to Nosolo Italia for some well-earned food. This time around, we had a voucher we got last time from Wednesday for 20 per cent off the bill, and so that was good. I had the salmon tagliatelle which was ace, and The Love had the tagliatelle with cream, mushrooms and bacon which was very filling and nice too. I even had space for their semifrio with berries and lemon for dessert, which went down very well. It was a nice way to have a meal, and we ended back at Outro Lado where I had the Letra red ale first, then a Helles afterwards, and The Love had some wine. It was a good way to wind down and we both did feel a sense of sadness that things were soon ending on the holiday.
Sunday 13th September – Cristo Rei and Ten Men
After a nice breakfast, The Love In My Heart and I had a plan of action. Her friend had been to Lisbon a few years back and had headed over the river to the Santuário de Cristo Rei, which is a tall plinth with a church at the bottom and the statue of Christ which looks towards Lisbon from the South bank of the River Tagus, being high above the river. I did a few checks of transport and found that we needed to get two buses, the second taking us over the river on the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge, and then we’d be able to walk the rest of the way. As it turned out, one bus was not far from the hotel, so we got the 711 bus to Marques de Pombal, and it was the same stop we had got off that we’d need to get the 753 to the stop for Cristo Rei. As it transpires, the Navegante system has an Oyster-like Hopper Fare built in, which would mean that we’d be able to use two buses for the one fare. And that was a win!
We got off and walked up the hill and over the bridge that took you over the dual carriageway that had taken us over the bridge, and then a walk along to the road which we took to head uphill. This was a gradual hill but even so in the heat we took it slowly, before arriving at the entrance to the complex that housed the Santuário de Cristo Rei. Admission to the site and to see the statue from the outside was free, but if you wanted to head inside, go up in the lift hidden away in one of the four legs of the plinth and then climb some spiral stairs to the balcony just below the statue, you paid for that – and considering the sizeable queue already for the lift, I thought that was not worth it, and neither did The Love, although she did suggest that I could do it alone if I wanted to. But no, too much.
We did admire the view from the cliffs and noted the fourteen crosses along the edges of the cliff path. The Love explained this was the depiction of the crucifixion, and that if I was religious, it would mean more to see that in person, and I got that from her own perspective. Generally, this is called the Stations of the Cross, the idea being you stop at each of them and reflect as you take in the story, which we also would see in a church on another day, so made more sense there as she had explained it. Nonetheless with the midday sun heading over the statue itself, the light made for some holy reflection and really did look inspiring to see it all up close, and resting there looking over the bridge and the river did feel a good experience. I was glad that we did that and The Love I know appreciated it.
It was a walk downhill (thankfully!) back the way we came, this time going down a different ramp to the main dual carriageway and the bus stop for the 753 bus back to Marques de Pombal. Instead, when we got there, we decided to walk down the tree lined Avenida da Liberdade as it’s all downhill from there, and we admired the market stalls that were all the way down, with many lovely wares on offer, including a tote bag with cats on that had The Love’s name all over it, and yes, she did purchase it for €5. We also noted a Bananacafé half way down close to the Sofitel hotel we had stayed at on a previous visit, and were also able to take in the relaxing scenery and all green trees around, with a drink and a little side dish to tide us over until the evening. We continued down the Avenida after this, and at the bottom in the Baixa, we nipped into an Ale Hop and got the present for Little Miss E as well, so that was sensible to to before we got back to the hotel to drop anything off.
It was to the beer museum and yes, they did have the football on, and once we got sorted with a table and a blonde beer each, we counted down to kick off. No sound from the telly though, just background vibes with Sadé’s Your Love Is King being key, so tune of the day there methinks. We did also note some of the crowd were Manchester United fans, so needed to keep shut, but observe what was happening. I was nervous and The Love was nervous for me as she knew I might get excited if City did the business at some point. Although when Phil Foden got rightly sent off for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes and going down to ten men, I did wonder if it would be a long afternoon.
Yet City got to 0-0 at half time and United were not at the races, and the further the game went on, I thought “one chance, just one chance!” The ball was passed along the left, Josko Gvaridol passed it into the box, and although Enzo Fernandez missed contact with the ball, Erling Haaland did not, and struck it home. The linesman flagged offside, which to be fair was the right decision, and yet it seemed to take an age, as VAR kicked in. I wonder what they were looking at. In the end it turned out that Erling Haaland himself was onside, being played on by the foot of a Manchester United defender. But surely Enzo Fernandez’s attempt to get the ball would have been interfering with play? Well not this time. The TV screen was drawn by the referee, Haaland did his yoga pose and it was 1-0 City. I have to say I don’t think it was a goal, but considering the Marcus Rashford way offside that was not given offside a couple of seasons back, claiming the same non-interference, well karma has kind of kicked in there.
City held on and could have scored more, and the 1-0 win had all the United fans crying off quickly whilst I just silently took it all in and thought inside “YES” as the win was shown with Haaland celebrating in front of the City fans, and of course the Blues singing proudly “We’ve only got ten men” really rubbing it in. Take it Mark Goldbridge (or his real name of Brent di Cesare), take it Wayne Rooney, take it Rio Ferdinand, take it, take it, take it! I was loving that and more so the fan reactions I would see on Youtube later where it was clear that there were some very happy City fans to say the least, not the least of course me! It was definitely a good thing, and we headed back to the hotel before heading out for the evening.
We walked up and along the classic 28 tram route and back to somewhere in Alfama we had been earlier in the week, and off to Sol with the lovely view that it had. This time, no case to think about if it had arrived, but instead the sunset and a drink as we enjoyed a nice meal together. I had the pasta special of the day which was more like a carbonara, and very tasty, and The Love had a peri peri chicken dish complete with some wedged potatoes and salad. All was well, and we were tempted to stay there longer but we headed back down towards the Sé and enjoyed the night air and the downhill walk back to the hotel, and the day had been a good one!
Saturday 12th September – MAAT and Music Festival
The Love In My Heart and I had a very nice breakfast in our hotel, and we were all ready to head out for the day. I had looked at going to the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) before we had set off for Lisbon, and the main gallery building with its sweeping architecture certainly looked the part for us both. It did also mean we could have a walk around Belém and maybe even go to the proper custard tart shop and have the pasteis de Belém whilst we were there, so that has to be something at least. It definitely felt like a good option to have and we were able to head out on the 15 tram too which was not far away!
We headed to the Praça do Comércio and off to the tram, and that also meant the much cheaper Navegante fare of €1.72, so a win. There is a designated stop close to MAAT, so we got off there, and followed the path that takes you to a bridge and crosses the railway line and the main road, and over to effectively the roof of the MAAT Gallery building. And wow, what a roof that is. It is a real sense of sweeping curves and the view of the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge, but also the view along the River Tagus was also special too. In fact, we just stopped here and admired the view, and went down to the river side where we saw the restaurant and café which looked lovely as well.
The main gallery was not open, hence the ticket we had was half price (€8 instead of €16). This still got us into the MAAT Central and the garden, and the central part did have a number of modern art exhibitions which were all good, and certainly interactive too, so spent some time looking at those. The main bulk of that building was the former Tejo Power Station, and as such this did mean that it was preserved as what it had been, with a full exhibit called The Electricity Factory taking you around all of that. It definitely was well worth it, with the boiler room showing how the steam would have been like in there with the intense heat, the coal trucks being fetched on rail tracks with manual labour, and the pipes all round feeding large generators across the whole building. That alone was well worth the admission fee to look around and The Love said it was fascinating to see, so if it pleased her, then that was a good sign in my view. The gardens were small and lovely, and that did really help round off a nice visit.
We walked along the river side in Belém, passing two harbours along the way and some nice restaurants, one of which did not allow you to stop for just a drink which we thought was a bit snobby to be honest. However, their loss was someone else’s gain as we did find a really nice bar by the river instead, called 38º 41' - and the staff were lovely. We had a drink in there and were sat by the river, and the vibe was cool and chilled out. Definitely the right move, and that showed what the other one missed out on. In fact, we could have had lunch and stayed there for most of the afternoon to be honest, but we headed over the walkway before Belém Tower and over to the main part of the district, stopping at the gardens near the monastery and also popping in to the café part of the Pasteis de Belém for a coffee, the proper tart (be rude not to!) and that was quite nice to do so to be honest.
We headed back on the 15 tram and noted that the trams were stopping at Cais do Sodre and not going fully into the city centre. We sensed that as the Festa Na Praça was on in the Praça do Comércio, they were stopping the trams and traffic running by there to ensure safe passage for those attending, which made sense. So, we did pop into the Time Out Market close to Cais do Sodre, which was rammed, before then heading to the festival to have a look around. Plenty of beer counters, and a scheme where you would get tokens and try out five different wines from the various wine stalls for €10 which we thought was an excellent idea. As it was, we also spotted people in costume, and the first act, Kiko is Hot, was on. It turned out the performer was a man who looked androgynous and indeed dressed as a woman, and a champion of the LGBT+ community as we researched later on. Whatever tunes were being spun in DJ mode, the crowd all knew the words and were singing and dancing along, and the vibe was very much a part mood, so kudos for that to be fair, it was lively!
We did head over to the beer museum where I had to have the bachalau (as it’s legendary from there) along with the dark preta beer, whilst The Love had the blonde beer which was all good and a beef sandwich with fries which really did hit the mark nicely, and you got plenty of it for the price too which was good to see. It was a good way to see and listen to the acts of the festival for a bit whilst being close to the action, and noted too that they had a TV screen with football on, so there was a possibility of the Manchester derby being available to watch tomorrow if we felt the need to (and The Love did want me to see it more than I did to be fair!)
Later on, after a trip to Pingo Doce up the hill for me and getting wine for The Love and also a little Super Bock Stout for me, we headed back out for the evening and the rest of the festival – which was free, so you could come and go as you pleased. The restaurant tonight was almost opposite the hotel, called Prima Pasta, and I have to say, it was really good and well worth the price, especially as it wasn’t even that dear either. The Love had the canneloni which was roasting hot in its baked pan, and she said it was her favourite meal of the trip. I did their pizza which was the ham and mushroom one and it was also lovely, and wholesome too, so that definitely was a positive and we both enjoyed the time in there. We left later and it had started to fill up nicely, and does have a good reputation we found later, and with good reason!
It was back to the Festa Na Praça for us, and with the sponsorship from the supermarket chain Continente, we had a walk around and noted the main act of the evening was now on stage, the singer Mariza (full name Marisa dos Reis Nunes) and she had a mix of songs both soulful, and in the more traditional Portugese fado folk style. Either way, she did have a really good voice, and was belting it out on stage for an hour and three quarters or so overall, so you got your value there. We had got a table in one of the drinking areas and so the Super Bock was ours, along with the chilled-out evening vibe. Out of the songs that Mariza sang, I think my favourite was (if I got this right) O gente da minha terra, so that’s tune of the day. She’s actually playing the Royal Festival Hall in London in November, and if you’re good enough to play there, you have to be decent!
Friday 11th September – Carcavelos Coolness
It was a beach day today as The Love In My Heart deserved to be relaxed and sunbathing, and having some some research, it made sense to head out West to the beach at Carcevelos, around a half hour train ride away on the local train. The other reasoning was that we would be able to get there and chill out, and there were bars and cafés for anything we needed too. I had the iPod readied in good time and that meant I could chill with tunes, and The Love had readied her swimming costume for a little splash in the sea too. It also was not as far as Estoril or Cascais on the same line, which we had been to before.
It was a shortish walk along the main road to Cais do Sodre station, and using our Navegante cards meant we could get on the train. We walked to the far end to make sure we got a seat as everyone was piling on to the first carriage (and also did mean if we were going to Cascais we’d be at the right end for getting off). The train headed along the shoreline past Belém, Algés and Oeiras before then getting to Carcevelos, so that was something. We followed the way out, tapped the card to exit and noted it was €2.05 for the journey which was not bad. We then followed the road downhill slightly and before we knew it, it was onto the promenade and beach at the West end of Carcvelos beach.
We found a spot for the beach towels and relaxed there for some time, with the surf classes going on in front and the tide slowly drawing in. The surf lessons looked good and the place was known for being a good place to try it out, so that added to the vibe. The iPod played Frank Black’s ten-minute epic called Surf Epic, which I love, so that had to be tune of the day for me. It felt a very chilled out place overall, and a short walk to a bar later to get a cold drink was just the refreshment we needed, with us both taking time to be all relaxed and all well with the world.
We headed to one of the beach side restaurants for lunch, and they had Super Bock Stout, so of course I was going to have that! I did also have the sea bass, which was a whole fish, so had to be careful with the bones and so on, but the fish was stunning. That came with potatoes and some salad (which The Love snagged!) and she had a burger with some fries which to be fair also looked pretty good. Whilst not the cheapest meal we’d have, totalling €58 including service charge, the vibe was lovely and the setting was gorgeous overlooking the beach and the sea, so a definite win all round there to be perfectly honest.
We took a walk along the seafront later, noting the beach volleyball courts, the setup of a stage which looked like a music festival at some point, and also the fort at one end, which I went and had a look at. Well, I would have done, only that these days it is also the home of the Portugese Minister of Defence, and as such is military access only. No can do, but did note another beach which looked nice as well. I made my way back to the beach where The Love had got back to and soaked up more of the sun, so we stayed there for a while, and my headphones were back on, and also had a drink at one of the bars along the way too so all was nice.
We headed back to Carcevelos train station and did have to wait a few minutes for the train back. That train was rammed and The Love disliked it a lot – primarily because it was so choc full. In fact, the train only stopped at Oeiras, Algés and Belém on the way back and straight to Cais do Sodre then, but it was not pleasant and a drink at Bananacafé on the way back was much needed. It did put The Love off another beach day unfortunately even though Cascais would have been first stop on (and so getting a seat) but nonetheless, being there was pretty nice all day and we did have a good time.
For the evening meal, it was another nice and easy local place to go to, and this time a place we’d spotted, Italian Republic. The Love had the carbonara which was good, and I had the chicken which had potatoes and a creamy sauce with mushrooms which was all good, and a good price for the beer too. We did then walk over to the beer museum and have a drink to wind down the day, and we had had a good time all round this evening. I did think of a couple of things for tomorrow but we did also note that the Praça do Comércio had a festival on too, so we did want to check that one out and see what the state of play woud be there.
Thursday 10th September – Pantheon and Panic Over
One nice thing about the Feels Like Home places are that you always get a nice breakfast selection. In the case of the Urbano, there’s a small space on the ground floor laid out with tables and chairs, they had two Nespreso Pro coffee machines, with all sorts of milk (including lactose free) and also a continental breakfast spread of meat, cheese, pastries, and also you could have some scrambled egg made up – which we did not notice until the last day or else I may have been tempted to have that. Still, that did mean we could have something lovely. To split things up, they do three times for breakfast, we did the 10am slot as this meant a lie in and also as a lot of Lisbon does not open til 10am anyway, made more sense to utilise the time. We’d change that for the day of leaving of course, but all good.
We decided to head towards the River Tagus and the little ferry station at Terreiro de Paco, with its lovely art deco exterior and inner tiled panels. It looked lovely, and the metro station next door had a pharmacy, so The Love In My Heart got herself some paracetemol as she had been feeling a little headachey and wanted to ward that one off. We then walked along the river bank East, heading along past some nice little marinas and docks, getting towards Santa Apolonia station where we would make our way upwards to Alfama and a potential visit the Pantheon, which had some significance based on our previous visit to Lisbon in 2015.
As we got towards the station, The Love’s phone started to ring – it was a courier and despite things being a little faint, we had worked out that they had found the missing luggage and The Love directed them to ensure it was delivered to the hotel – thankfully we had put the full address and postal code on the form yesterday. We hoped it was ours but the call was at least reassuring and meant possibly I did not need to do an out-of-town dash to clothes shops later. We carried on past the station, up some stairs towards the Portugese Beekepers Association (yes it is a thing) and then on to a square which had a large mural and all very nicely painted brightly – with tuk tuk drivers and passengers stopping there for many opportunities for pictures too – as they do.
We walked up and to the Pantheon, and paid the €10 fee each for entry. Once inside, the main church and its central cross pattern showed up to be really beautiful architecture, with the central dome looming large above us. The admission did include the terrace so we’d be intrigued to see that, but the good thing was that this was also when in 2015 we saw the legendary footballer Eusébio be moved here and permanently be sited in one of the lower rooms. That in itself was worth the admission to see, and I recalled many memories of him as a footballer (not least from those my father had told me about) and it was poignant. We did make our way upwards to get below the main dome and that was a high up view looking down, and then on to the terrace. And wow, what gorgeous views from there! It was nice and bright and well worth the admission alone for this too, and the view really did stand out as you could see over a lot of the Alfama district and Lisbon itself.
Once back down, we followed the streets back towards the centre of Alfama, and unlike some Americans who went the wrong way looking for a view point, my hunch of tracking down the tram tracks and following that road paid off. We noted the road was that narrow that it was only one lane for the iconic route 28 tram, and so signals had to be placed to ensure that it was safe. We did make our way along to the view point at Miradouro de São Vicente, and that was impressive too. In fact, there was a bar and restaurant, Sol, below that, so we stopped there for a drink and a little light lunch, with these meat croquettes and a mustard sauce which were lovely, and did the job well.
We walked back downhill following the tram tracks through Alfama, and also noted some other nice view points, the mural on Lisbon under a small tunnel next to a toilet, and also some iconic blue tiling walls too. We passed the cathedral at Sé, and before long we had made it back to the road where the hotel was on, and so we were able to pop in. And yes, the case had been delivered! The relief on my face was palpable, and it meant that I could now feel much more relaxed. I’d put things out of the mind this morning and thought “well it is what it is” after sleeping on it, but getting it back was a relief and made me feel happier inside. With that sorted, I was able to unpack, and then get changed into some shorts for the afternoon.
We took a leisurely walk around most of the city centre, including the squares close to Rossio and Restauradores, and then off to the Avenida da Liberdade, where the former Bananacafé that was our haunt was now a different place, but yet the debit card still showed up as that name for some odd reason when we had elected to have a drink there. We walked through the Baixa later on, and noted the Santa Justa lift was out of order due to maintenance, and the rather nice shop that is Normal (yes it’s the name) and that to me reminded me of a cross between Flying Tiger and Bodycare, mainly specialising in beauty and other products. They did also do something nice which The Love was to get for Little Miss O as a present, and we’d seen something in Ale-Hop which might prove to be good for Little Miss E, so that was a bonus.
We ended up at Praça do Município, where the city hall was. I went inside and there was a small exhibition of portrait photography, which included José Mourinho and a much younger Cristiano Ronaldo too. That was all nice, and we noticed Bananacafé there too, so a drink was ours and a relaxed and chilled out vibe too, including some nice tunes in the background, so definitely that hit the spot well – this included the first of many appearances of Sadé whilst away – this time Paradise, so tune of the day there. It was a short walk back to the hotel so we could get ourselves ready for the evening.
Later we ended up heading out close to the hotel and at a lovely place close by. The Love had some spaghetti bolognaise and I went for the codfish bachalau, which was all topped with potato and cheese and was baked in the oven. That was all lovely, and the meal was much needed after the afternoon of walking. We also then headed up a small incline to Outro Lado, a craft beer place, which met with my approval with plenty of good craft beer on tap and in cans, and wine for €5 a glass which was not too bad. The Love had the Fermentage 728 lager, which is based on the bus route which is close to their brewery just outside of central Lisbon, and I went for the Fermentage porter, which was so morish and lovely. Not cheap, but well worth a try out and we both did like the very relaxed vibe in there. We did wish our hotel room had a mini fridge so we could stock up cold wine and beer for the room, but we improvised as best we could and noted a small supermarket close by which did sell wine and beer in the fridge, so coud utilise that (as well as a Pingo Doce but that was uphill and not a shallow uphll either!) - but all was well and the day ended well too.
Wednesday 9th September – Lisbon Luggage Loss
It was a stressful day all round today, as The Love In My Heart and I were heading off to Lisbon for a well-deserved holiday for the two of us. What I did not factor in was the streess that today was going to cause, and to be honest, it does sort of knock your confidence a bit. So, let’s untangle the whole day. We left in good time, so we thought, to get to Manchester Airport a good two hours plus before departure. The sign that the tram was delayed arriving and then further delayed getting to Manchester Piccadilly due to being stuck behind traffic on the road sections may have well been an indicator for how the day was going to pan out.
Once at Piccadilly, having bought the tickets to the airport on my phone to save time, we knew that the 0849 departure was direct to the airport and would get us there fine. Except other trains which had been massively delayed were ahead of that one, and so we did not depart Piccadilly until around 0910, and then from there it was arriving at the airport around 0930, with the flight at 1100. Bear in mind the planned train would have been 0829 getting in at 0845 and that’s a sign of how delayed it all was. We got to check in where the member of staff was very rude and accused The Love of throwing her passport at him, which was not the case whatsoever. I smoothed things over as best I could and the cases were checked on.
Security checks took a while, and it looked like a shortage of staff, maybe due to yesterday’s fun and games with the air traffic control. We got to the scanner and I was fine, but The Love had to take her trainers off and then have them separately scanned, which was not great. That delayed further, and the gate was the furthest away it could be after we got through, and had to walk very fast to make sure we made it, which we did – and as it turned out, the same rude member of check in staff was there, so we made sure we used the other queue and avoided them. At least despite everything we had made the plane, and so that was a relief to be perfectly honest. We were not able to get any food and drink beforeand, so ended up geting those on the plane – not cheap of course, but needs must.
We landed on time at Lisbon Airport, and all seemed well as we passed the EES checks with relative ease, and then off to the luggage hall. The Love’s case came straight away and we noted that the tag number matched what was on my name, so it seemed that my case had the number and The Love’s name on, bizarrely. Anyway, we waited for a while, and more cases came along, and it stll showed delivering bags, but then panic started to creep in. What if the case was lost? We waited longer, and still no joy, so The Love queued up for the lost luggage desk whilst I kept eyes on the belt. The screen went off and so no more luggage, and joined The Love where she was starting to sort out the forms. We added all the information and requested if found in time that it was sent to the hotel. I was just by this time wanting to go home, being there for almost two hours was not a pleasant experience.
We got to the metro station, got the travel cards we needed too. Their Oyster-like card for occasional use is called Navegante, and means fares are much cheaper (trams, bus and metro are all €1.72 each – they call it Zapping, and similar system on the local trains also means it is cheaper too.) We made our way along the red line to its end at Sao Sebastiao and then down the blue line to Terreiro de Paco. From there it was a relatively short walk to the hotel, the Urbano, which is by the same Feels Like Home folks who had the one in Porto we stayed at – and was lovely. We’d had friends stay at this Lisbon one and they loved it, so made sense. We told the reception staff what had happened in case they had a case turn up, and we got the key card to our room, room 10 on the second floor. It was a lovely room wth aircon, comfy bed, decent telly, bathroom and good-sized wardrobe, although some drawers would maybe have been nice too.
We decided to shower and head out for the evening, and we did not want to walk too far so went over to Nosolo Italia, which we had been to before here (and the one in Porto too.) That worked out well as the mushroom risotto I had was lovely, and the pasta that The Love had was also good, and was able to have a beer there too. We did have a drink the beer museum too and it was nice to try the preta dark beer as well as The Love having a pilsner from the Letra brewery in a bottle. I was hopeful the case would turn up but if not, we did note that there was both a Decathlon and Primark out of town, and I could get what I needed there and claim it back if the case did not turn up, and go from there. Not ideal but that was a plan for tomorrow afternoon if we needed, so that was something. I just felt really down though and just wanted to go to sleep and forget about the day to be honest.
Saturday 5th September – Sent To Coventry
It was an early rise for me this morning and got myself ready to head up to Manchester. I was on the 0813 departure to Piccadilly in order to be there in good time for today’s Manchester City home game against Coventry City. Whilst some had thought it would be an easy win for us today and that many Fantasy League managers had triple captained Erling Haaland, I was not so sure. They had narrowly lost to Hull City last weekend and the opening game of the season against Arsenal was always going to be some form of a hiding to nothing when playing the defending champions. Therefore, I held the captain card close to the chest and did not play triple captain this time and hoped that Manchester City would win and not regret it.
Thankfully the train was on time today (and not subject to a day’s wait, see yesterday for context) and being on time did mean that The Love In My Heart very kindly came to collect me. We headed off to the local Tesco close by as we needed to get a couple of things for tea later and some coffee, which was thankfully on Clubcard price, so that was a good win. We had some breakfast later on, and Brian the cat was more than happy to get a fuss and a love from me and then sit by the window and watch the squirrel do his thing of running along the bushes and be on a search for anything that he had dug up and be ready to have an early lunch. Brian of course was on watch for this and he was very happy to be atop his pouffle and be a king on this throne. He was not for moving, let me tell you!
I headed over to the Etihad Stadium in good time and got some food and a drink and was all ready. Nico O’Reilly had injured his back in the warmup which meant that he had to drop out of the team and be replaced by new signing Enzo Fernandez on his debut. Iliman Ndiaye was already set to start too, so a very different line up in part, with Jeremy Doku still injured and Antoine Semenyo down the right – although I have to say I do prefer him central or left. The Coventry City fans were here in good numbers and the stadium attendance record was broken once again as the teams lined up for the kick off. Could my beloved blue shirted heroes make it three wins out of three and be top of the league?
Well, we did not start out convincingly at all. In fact, we almost conceded when Gianluigi Donnarumma let a back pass slip via his foot and he just about kicked it out before the ball had crossed the line – with the goal line technology not beeping to indicate anything. Thing is, he did similar against Arsenal last season with a disaster of a goal conceded, and he’s currently prone to too many mistakes like this – the sort that fans last season had vilified James Trafford for. In addition, Awoniyi had broken through and almost scored but shot wide, and we could have easily been 1-0 down within the first quarter of an hour – and would not have been undeserved either to be fair. We just needed to press on and get one good chance.
And after a couple of chances where Rayan Cherki had hit the post and Erling Haaland had forced a good save, we finally got a reward. Enzo Fernandez released Semenyo down the right, and his cross was perfect for Haaland to head it and smash it into the net for the opener. It was Haaland’s 300th goal in football by all accounts, and he went straight to Semenyo to thank him for the excellent cross, and certainly that did help. Haaland could have made it 2-0 before half time but the Coventry keeper pulled off an excellent save in a 1 v 1 situation and kept the score as it was. I was just relieved to be honest to be ahead, and may be a sign that the new signings may take time to gel into the team and be part of the setup that would be a stable one to win.
The second half was a little bit of pressing from City to get a second goal but to be honest we held on a little bit too much for my liking. Coventry did press forward and we had to thank a good save from Donnarumma to keep one shot out from close range, and a Marc Guehi defensive interception to stop another cross from coming in. Either way, it was tense and much more so than it needed to be , to be perfectly honest. However, as the time ticked past the 90 and into stoppage time, I felt we would have just done about enough to win, and it was a nervy one to say the least. Tune of the day is the classic 1972 anthem The Boys in Blue, because today they never give in, although it was a bit too close for comfort. Three points yes, but we will need to improve massively to play Porto in the Champions League during the week, that’s for sure!
Friday 4th September – A Day’s Wait
It was a busy day in the office today, but I was glad that I was able to use the time efficiently, chasing up those who needed to be with regards to legacy storage being used, and also have a number of team meetings in person with colleagues. I think too because Fridays are usually much quieter, we get more chance of getting a meeting room (understatement), and the transport getting in is also generally a lot quieter, so does not seem that much of a hardship to be able to get in and get home either. I was hoping there was a spare locker at work to put some stuff in and collect on Monday, but no dice, so I headed home first and dropped off what was needed to leave behind.
It was then on the train to London Victoria followed by the Victoria Line, which is always way too hot down there, over to Highbury and Islington station. I did of course have the right carriage so I could be at the right end for exiting out of the station, and with no football on at least, it was the usual Friday night crowd. That said, it is quite busy around there and with a gig on at Union Chapel and indeed a gig I was going to at Islington Assembly Hall, then I’d expect things to be busy in the pubs, and they were, but I managed to get a table and a seat, and have some food and a drink in comfortable enough surroundings, saving me the hassle of a takeout or anything like that. A bit more civilised too.
It was then the walk down to Islington Assembly Hall, and had the ticket scanned and was inside. It was the first gig I’d been to at this venue, and I think I’ve done around 35 different ones around London now (need to check my spreadsheet on this.) Only one of the two bars appeared to be open so did wonder if it was a full crowd tonight, and the bar prices were not cheap, £9 for a pint in some cases. I held out for a bit and then had the Guinness Zero for £6.25 but even that seemed a little steep to me. Granted, yes, it probably is Islington prices and all, but considering you’ve paid enough for the ticket already, it does make me wonder just how some venues can justify the expense. More need to take the lead of Holmfirth Picturedrome and Hebden Bridge Trades Club, where it’s a better drink experience all round.
On came the support act, Grace Calver. It was just her and the guitar tonight, and not the full band she sometimes has. I did get annoyed by those who just insisted on talking during her set – if you want to do nattering, head down the pub and come into the gig when you are ready to listen. I listened and quite liked her quirky indie pop tunes, which included one called Milk about a day going wrong and how that becomes something you forget to get along the way. Her recent single New Shirt also was aired too, which again was all wholesome, and biting remarks on the modern day dating and online world with the likes of Social Media Generation, So Last Season and Love Me Not. Definitely will be keeping ears open to how she gets on in future, and definitely the lyrics made me smile as we’ve all been there with some of those moments, right?
After a short break, on came Altered Images, with the band looking suitably gothic and dark. Clare Grogan had a really different outfit on, with the top layer covering the black mesh underneath, and she explained later that the outfits had been designed by someone she knew well, who had passed away as of late and wanted to wear them to celebrate her, which was a lovely thing. Clare did get emotional and so did some of the crowd too, which showed how much it meant. They had played the first song from the Happy Birthday album from 1981, which they were playing in full – and also in track order too. So this meant the intro and Love and Kisses had been played before Clare’s monologue, before then heading through Real Toys, Idols, Legionnaire (not difficult to get the words in that one), Faithless, and the superb Beckoning Strings, which really came across well. The band were tight and the same line-up I had seen during the Bite anniversary tour, so Mandy Clarke on bass being ace as per usual along with Gillian on guitars, Andrew on guitars – sadly I didn’t catch the drummer’s name but he was sound too.
With the first half of the album done, that of course meant the single version of Happy Birthday which had everyone bouncing around, before going back to the overall more darker goth tone that the album had, primarily due to Steve Severin’s production. Midnight was lovely, and A Day’s Wait also really hit home with its lengthy intro and then Clare bursting into life with the song. As much as I love that, the next track Leave Me Alone has long been a favourite of mine, and she actually nailed it perfectly, complete with the more desperate sounding of “Why don’t you care?” as the song goes on. Tune of the day without question, and certainly with that and then Insects as a real mood changer, they both were ace, and the little outro to Happy Birthday to complete the album in full. And yes, it sounded great.
After a brief pause Clare went off for an outfit change, a lovely all white sheer number with a white layer on top including flowing boa type arms, and she did the whole Sandie Shaw Barefoot Contessa thing on stage too. That of course allowed the band to do the extended intro to the twelve-inch mix of I Could Be Happy, which of course was really good. There were also lovely band versions of See Those Eyes, Love To Stay, Change of Heart (which Clare explained was big in Germany), Mascara Streakz, and naturally as she said herself, it should have been on the Happy Birthday album, so would have been remiss not to do Dead Pop Stars. Totally agree and having her blast out “Dead dead dead dead dead!!” at the end was just brilliant. There was even a version of The Slits’ version of I Heard It Through The Grapevine, and Clare also noted such female musicians such as Debbie Harry and Siouxsie Sioux. I must admit, I’d love Clare to give Happy House a go with her current live band! The set ended with Don’t Talk To Me About Love and was a lovely evening all told. If you get chance to see this tour, please do – you’ll enjoy it.