Under Fire

It’s a Bank Holiday today and chance to get our breath back after Helsinki.

I take the boys on Wollaton Park where some May Day fair is taking place. This includes some sort of battle re-enactment complete with cannons, which issue forth some rather loud explosions. Blanks I hope but all the same Doggo is not well pleased. A warning sign on the gates along the lines of ‘beware loud explosions might cause your dog to bolt at short notice’ might have been in order. MD however, doesn’t seem to notice anything unusual and gets rather annoyed about the break in our ball games as I attempt to cover Doggo’s eyes and ears, whilst shuffling him gently towards the exit gate.

In the evening we go out to celebrate L’s birthday which is tomorrow. We head into town without a precise plan. We have a pleasant drink in the Ropewalk and then another in the Major Oak. Daughter says she’ll come down and join us when we’ve stopped doing normal things, by which I think she means drinking in bars, as opposed to park benches or somebody’s bedsit. Clearly we are well out of touch.

We are certainly well out of touch about which is the best Thai restaurant in Nottingham. We had decided to go for a romantic meal for three at the Pretty Orchid which always was the best Thai restaurant in Nottingham and has been over the years one of my favourite places to attempt to impress and/or woo many a gullible young lady into a shallow relationship with me (pre-L of course), usually without success.

Seemingly it’s not the best Thai restaurant in Nottingham any more. It’s shutdown and boarded up. Damn and how sad.

Instead we stick with the Thai theme and go to the terribly named ‘Thailand No 1’. The place used to be called ‘Siam Thani’ but its new names makes you think it’s going to be to Thai food what Nandos is to chicken but actually it’s really nice. The food is great and they have the posh-est looking menu and napkins, I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t too pricey either, despite having the Sheffield branch with us.

A taxi back bumps up the cost but by now it’s chucking it down with rain and the buses are running to a Sunday timetable plus obviously we have an eighteen year old with us, and they need a lie down every 100m, so walking isn’t an option either.

(Monday 7th May)