Staying in the house

For the record, I would just like to make it clear that I *did*, in fact, go to 31 new places in August! Where I got lazy was writing about them. But, here is a list. And some pictures. I think this list is best read at very fast speed in a single breath, like the names of the evil Haman’s ten wicked sons in the Megillah (that we should not waste more than one breath on them). I have been blogging-blocked for months because I didn’t write up that whole project. Let us not waste more than one breath on it.

1. Milan

2. Bologna Ghetto

3. A sleeper train across Italy

4. The Secret Garden Party

5. Huntingdon Swimming Pool

6. Ravenna (yes yes, out of order already)

7. Hotel Chocolat factory shop. They would not let me take a photo inside. You can imagine a Willy Wonka factory if you like, but it really wasn’t. Here was the outside.

8. Camp Bestival

9. A strange place up a hill in Poole

10. Ripping Yarns second hand bookshop

11. Corfe Castle, and a hotel in Corfe Castle where they made me feel the most embarrassed I have ever felt about wanting to have some dinner alone.

12. Green Valley grocery on Edgware Road, for the full Ottolenghi grocery experience. Here is a man making pita bread.

13. Dockland’s Light Railway

14. Billingsgate fish market. This was awesome. Would visit again.

15. Cabot Estate chocolate shop

16. The Old Operating Theatre

17. Whitechapel Gallery

18. Rudyard Kipling’s old house

19. The House of Lords

20. The Chelsea Physic Garden (clue: it’s pretty, but not worth the trip unless you know the Latin names for plants and will get all excited to see rare ones in real life). Cloudmakers might like this, though:

21.The Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh

22. Behind the scenes at the Edinburgh literary festival

23. 86 restaurant in Hendon. It’s kosher.

24. The Ivy Club. Oh yes.

25. Secondo: Bar/retro clothing in Clapham

26. BBC Media Centre. Had never been! (Have been there a lot since. There will be an exciting project to talk about next year.)

27. Holders Hill Park (another one of those ’round the corner from me, crazy I haven’t been’ places)

28. The Roald Dahl Museum. With my friend and her children. *Adorable*.

29. The Prince of Wales in Putney

30. Hmm. Now I know I had a list somewhere but it seems to run out at this point, although…

31. I’m nonetheless sure I finished it.

Oh well! I think we can *all agree* that I did a hell of a lot of things in August. And we need say no  more about it. Now just to get onto putting some account together of a talk I gave in Playful back in September. Hurrah!