Rain, Relatives and Roasted Aubergine

Hello followers,

I have been a little 'tardy' with my blog updates, I have missed an entire day but I am a firm believer in a 'shit sandwich', intrigued ? Read on:
Saturday, after an early start, coffee and croissant at 'Pret a Manger', a few hours of assignment work for Wayne and a similar timeframe of 'candy crush saga' for me (yes, clearly I have an addictive personality, and given freedom this is what I do to relax - ok, I'm outed), we set off to the Westminster Reference Library, in search of Burne Place, Paddington - the address of Wayne's great, great, grandfather. He retired from the police force aged 48, his discharge papers indicated the reason being: burnt out. I found that very interesting, I would like to think employees are pacing themselves a little better nowadays. Our visit to the library was very rewarding and we were able to locate details of the address. We had lunch in Leicester Square, investigated the theatre opportunities, including a stage production of 'Relatively Speaking' starring Felicity Kendall - who we both fondly remembered from 'The Good Life'. Then made our way back to unpack, we moved from the hotel to the Tiny Apartment, so a bit of sorting was necessary.
That done, Wayne was now determined to visit Paddington, he would not be dissuaded (quite frankly I had to remind him these people were dead and would not be offering tea and scones if we visited).
Arriving by tube in Edgware Road, it is pouring rain, we navigate our way to the address, only to find it wasn't blown up in the war (which oddly enough would seem sad, but firmly embedded in history), instead it was knocked down to build the Marylebone Flyover! So at that point the image of two chubby Australians, soaking wet, glaring up at one of the busiest roads in London - seemed pathetic. To the faint hearted genealogist this would be enough to send them packing to the comfort of the nearest pub and a warm beer, not our Wayne we were off to the church, and better still the graveyard. Am I portraying this as if I was having fun, sorry to mislead you, it's all about me and as Wayne scampered from grave to grave, I took comfort underneath trees and tombs and made a mental note 'that when purchasing an umbrella it is important that the circumference is greater than that of your ass! Oh did I mention that I also had a blister the size of a small nation on my heel - I think you are detecting the middle of the sandwich. Finally as the light was fading, we hopped into a London Cab to head home. The cab driver was lovely, he was curious if Melbourne was near Noosa, and that he felt series 2 of Masterchef was great Australian TV! We climbed out, with our wet umbrella's, sore feet and still very weary - so much so that Wayne accidentally left his coin purse (cash only,no cards thankfully) in the Cab. We reported it, but won't hear anything till Tuesday.
Today we attended the Sung Eucharist service at Westminster Abbey, any visit to the Abbey is lovely but a service is so enjoyable, great singing, great organ performance, a bit of a story, a bit of exercise (sit down, stand up, sit down) more singing - definitely qualifies as one of best free events anywhere.
Then it was time........ drum roll.... to go to Ottolenghi for lunch. Yotam Ottolenghi is one of my most favourite chefs, his concept of great, healthy food, available for eat-in or takeaway, with a menu that virtually changes daily is to be applauded. We had a divine lunch, everything I hoped for and more. So on that note I shall refer to this paragraph as the slice of Ottolenghi's cornbread (a secret recipe, only prepared for the restaurant, not found in his cookbooks) and the final piece of our sandwich!