Groovage

I'm overdue in blogging what a fantastic day I had last Saturday. Many of you will know it was the grand knees-up in honour of my 28^th birthday. The plan for the day was to meet at The Anchor, head to Vinopolis for the tour, and then dash to the Horniman Pub (near HMS Blunderbuss) for cocktails at sunset.

It turned out to be a day that Dionysus himself would have approved of.

I won't go into the gory details of what was consumed in the name of hedonism, except that we drank wines from Thailand and China, as well as the more usual places. Instead, I'll tell you that if you like wine, I thoroughly recommend Vinopolis. I thought it was going to be a, "This is how wine is made," tour, followed by a brief tasting at the end. Instead we were sat down to be briefed in the art of discerning consumption, and then set loose on the cellars. Everybody got good nose, good legs, and I hope a little more appreciation of our friend the grape. I know I did. I also got to ride on the back of a Vespa with Brian. And no, that's not a euphemism for anything.

Much sampling, quaffing and sniffing later¹ and we were off to the Horniman to watch Slough be destroyed and await the remaining guests. And after a few drinks, the evening took an unplanned turned. I won't go into details - modesty and nettiquette forbids - but I was lucky enough to have a few long-overdue chats with some old friends. Some were cut short. Some went in positive directions I didn't expect. All of them meant a lot to me. As Fran so rightly points out, I have a wonderful bunch of friends. I was very grateful. I am very blessed.

Thank you, to everyone who made it. :D

¹ As well as a rather good Bombay Sapphire cocktail. Bombay Sapphire, Blue Bols and grape juice, before I forget the ingredients.