So I've been back a month now and, frankly, I'm quite enjoying pottering around Essex doing Essexy things. Keeping it local. I took the foot ferry from Brightlingsea to East Mersea. How Essex is that?
It's been weird seeing what's changed and what hasn't. I was aware of some of the big changes (Bond Street) but it's the smaller changes that have perhaps been more surprising. I mean Baroosh has gone, that is a surprise. What happened? It was perpetually busy and overpriced, surely that's the dream combination for a successful business.
What else? The UB is a gin and real ale bar. The Snip is flat. The Saharan restaurant is now a Turkish restauant and the Co-op is about to be a turkish restaurant - who knew there was that much demand for souvlaki? Oh and a new Co-op has popped up to feed the student market.
I have had a sneaky London sneak too. Had to get my culture on - drinking craft IPA at the Bottle Bureau wasn't quite culture enough. Went to the Sir John Soane Museum. I hadn't even heard of that. And yet it:
A. was quirky enough to be right up my boulevard.
B. Had a Marc Quinn exhibition on. And
C. Had The Rake's Progress hidden in a cupboard. That's a proper famous painting. Hidden. In an obscure museum. How does that happen?
I doubled down on culture with that Tin Roof play. Didn't get it. It seemed too long and nothing happened. All the powerful character bits were undermined as I just didn't care about the characters. M'eh.
