Today was the start of a weekend in London with my Godson (GS), though we only got as far as Kingston upon Thames today as we visited the impressive Hampton Court Palace. Here we signed up to become a member of Historic Royal Palaces, saving £10 by setting up a direct debit and gaining 15 months membership instead of 12. We have a number of properties to visit before it expires. Hampton Court Palace was the main home of King Henry VIII, and easily the grandest...

Today I was one of a group of 8 who headed for a day of thrills at Alton Towers. The group included my Godson, his mother and another family of our acquaintance. We were not only able to take advantage of this being the first day of Godson's half-term, but a number of 2 for 1 vouchers. We were also lucky as the weather stayed dry, was in the midteens and the sun even popped out for a bit. Alton Towers had started this year's Scarefest, which meant that the rides...

Last Thursday, a friend and I were pondering whether to go and see the comedian Rob Newman at the Cheltenham Town Hall. Well, that very evening I received an email offering 2 tickets for the price of 1. Not wishing to fly in the face of destiny, we duly bought our tickets for the whopping price of £9 each, including fees! The event took place in the Town Hall's Pillar Room. A room which has several pillars holding up the ceiling, and where the seats are unreser...

Tonight, Mum and I spent a delightful 3 hours at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking in the company of Michael Palin....though it's fair to say there were quite a lot of others there too. Palin has published three volumes of his diaries which span a period of 30 years. The show was him talking about his experiences during that time, augmented by a few clips and photos. He is a very entertaining speaker and kept the attention of the audience throughout. He starte...

Tonight, my friend and I ventured to the O2 Academy in Bristol to see the utterly marvellous Hot Chip. Before the gig we popped into Stables, which specialises in pizzas and pies. It being Tuesday, we were able to take advantage of their Tuck in too Tuesday offer of a pizza, side salad and drink for a tenner. We both chose an Hawaiian pizza, which was fantastic. We then arrived at the Academy about 20 mins before the doors opened, and joined the massive queue w...