The Pryordurkins

Posts Tagged ‘cambridge’

In all my time living Up North, both before I moved to Cambridge and on my return with Paul, I had never been to the Jorvik Viking Centre on Coppergate in York.  This museum and tourist attraction has been open many years and has become a favourite with the many tourists who queue up everyday to get in.

Yesterday as we finished off a trip into town for lunch we passed the Jorvik Viking Centre, only this time, on the spur of the moment, we went in.   We paid our entrance fee of £8.50 each and I also gift aided that fee so an extra 28p in the pound could be reclaimed by the York Archaeological Trust who own and operate this museum attraction.

We entered down some stairs and then went into a room with a large video wall for a quirky introduction to what lay ahead.  After that, we were gently carried around (Disney style) in seats that travelled through the recreated sights, sounds AND smells of York 850 – 950 AD.  Climbing out of the seats we then had the opportunity to wander through the museum itself where a number of artefact’s and information points were scattered around for you to read up on the history of the Vikings and what part they played in York.  It was actually quite interesting and our only minor complaint was that it is quite small and we were left feeling that the £8.50 entrance fee was a tad excessive.  However I suppose the old supply and demand rule kicks in and given they always have queues, you can understand why they charge so much.  Of course having allowed them to claim the tax back on our entrance fees, we do now of course have the right to re-enter the museum free of charge for the next twelve months.

Pryordurkin rating. 4 stars.

UPDATE:  Tickets go on sale for the 2009/10 Berwick Kaler Pantomime.  More Info Here

If consistency is a sign of quality then Berwick Kaler has it all.  Following our first visit to the pantomime at York Theatre Royal last year where we saw Sinbad the sailor (read our review) we returned with much anticipation this year accompanied by my Sister, Brother in law and kids from Cambridgeshire.  Arriving at the theatre at around 7pm last night the place was packed to the rafters.  The bar and cafe areas on all floors were full of eager punters like us who are now hooked on the Berwick Kaler York Theatre Royal pantomime experience.  Celebrating his 30th year the show included many an actor who have themselves been coming back year after to year to play at York.  David Leonard who we last saw starring in a Man for all Seasons, has now notched up 21 years as the baddie!  Martin Barrass celebrates 23 years playing the fool and Suzy Cooper has 14 previous appearances under her belt.  The upcoming Vincent Gray, who is very pleasant on the eye remarked during the show that he would like to return to York year after year after year.

Anyway, the show started and with the now familiar style, we were hooked from the outset.  You simply can not stop yourself from having a smile on your face from the moment the curtain goes up until well after you get home following the show.   There is little by the way of plot, but this only adds to the fun which you might think is all chaotic and made up on the spot, but is in fact very well rehearsed and outstandingly professional.  The actors and I use that word, because they are true to their art, play their parts extremely well indeed.  You could easily be forgiven for thinking these people are for real.  They link with the audience with ease and Berwick Kaler seems to have a knack for gripping the attention of everyone in the house.  His Amy Winehouse sketch met with rapturous applause and calls for more… more.  David Leonard plays the role of baddie as mentioned before but pulls it off in such a way, that he must be one of the most loved baddies every portrayed on stage.  He seems to have the crowd in the palm of his hands whenever he is on stage.  Which is quite a lot as he humorously remarked in a throw away comment.   Suzy Cooper who slowly turns into that well known Dick Turpin character of a bat! is a real class act.  Her demeanour and her voice are so versatile that along with Berwick Kaler and David Leonard, she would hold the stage as her own.

The show ended a stroke after 10.00pm and with two and half hours of professionally produced and acted mayhem loosely coupled around the legend of Dick Turpin, we were once again delighted to have joined many a regular fan of York Theatre Royal pantomime for a great nights entertainment.  The kids even managed to get the heavily sort after Waggon Wheel, who the Gaurdian reviewer (read it here) has been trying to get himself for a many a year gone past.  The kids must just be plain lucky.

If you haven’t seen it yet, it runs to the end of January 09, but to be honest the likelihood of getting a ticket now is slim.  These shows have been sold out for weeks if not months.

Pryordurkin rating 5 stars.

Remembering last year that the Christmas wreaths we bought from Jo’Anns Florists on Middle Street in Blackhall, we much better and half the price of the one we bought in York, I returned yesterday to pick up two of them.  One to put on pops grave and one for our front door.  At £25 each, they were as is now usual; excellent.  This shop over the many years we have now bought flowers from them has consistently supplied good quality, nicely presented seasonal flowers.  They have always been very competitively priced and with a second florists in the same village clearly keen to remain that way.  Living so far away as we now do, my sister in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire and myself in York, we usually ring up to have them delivered but as in this case, you can also pick them up in person.

Give them a go; they are worth the travel and certainly great value.

Pryordurkin rating 3 Stars.

Telephone: 0191 586 4817

The trusty 20gb Ipod classic we bought many moons ago in the old John Lewis store in Cambridge has finally been retired after years of good reliable service.  This particular Ipod held fond memories because when we went into the old John Lewis store, we had to remind them that they were never knowingly undersold and having seen the same Ipod for a few pounds cheaper in Argos, they sent a Saturday girl running down the road to confirm this before lowering the price to us, so that it matched the Argos price.  (we do like a good deal)

Anyway, what brought about this early retirement is our music and photo library now exceeding 20gb which meant we could no longer keep all our Ipods in sync.  So this morning with the arrival of a slimmer younger, more stylish model, it was time to erase its memory, delete its profile and throw it to the back of the cupboard to gather dust for ever and a day.

The younger sexier model is now configured in Pauls name, has all the latest tunes and photographs installed and looks clealy eager to please Paul when he gets home from work.

It is nice to be working at home this week and not staying away in Hotels.  Paul is however in Cambridge, so we are again not in the same place.  Roll on the weekend where we have nothing planned other than spending time with each other

Dusty and I spent the weekend staying at the Crowne Plaza on Downing Street in Cambridge.  We checked in on Friday 26th Aug and were met my typical Cambridge service!  We had to ask the porters at the door to take our bags.  They didn’t offer.  This might have been because we weren’t exactly dressed smart, but nonetheless, they should not judge people by what they wear.  The reception staff were not much better.  Efficient and professional but hardly warm.  Our room was a King Size (they don’t do Queen) Superior and was very nice.  Equipped with a very large bed, lots of pillows and cushions, a decent mini bar and good views. Had air conditioning and while it was OK, it would have struggled if the weather was any hotter.

Breakfast (£15.95) was not the most relaxing.  The place was humming with people queueing and (almost) fighting over the buffet style fayre on offer.   My elbows are quite sharp being a seasoned hotel resident so this was not a problem and I certainly scored a few hits of some stuck up old cows along the way.

The bar was just as busy on Saturday evening, with the remnants of the earlier wedding party still downing cocktails and pints of lager.

Parking was easy, in that (when the porters did start to take notice) they offered a valet service at £15.00 per day which was great.

All in all a very nice hotel smack bang in the centre of Cambridge surrounded by good shopping areas and restaurants.  It is only marginally let down by the poor (it’s typical for) Cambridge service.

Rating. 3 Stars.

On Monday we discovered the Brasserie on the top floor of the new John Lewis store in Cambridge.  It was contemporary in design and could cater for up to 160 covers.  With views across Cambridge roof tops, it was a pleasant environment to spend some time in.  We ordered up a Traditional Breakfast (£6.50) for me and Eggs Benedict (£4.95) for Dusty.  To drink we ordered orange juice (£1.95) and fresh coffee (£1.95).  To our surprise the orange juice was concentrated instead of the freshly squeezed we expected.  The coffee itself was OK but nothing special either.  My breakfast was a little poor.  I again expected it to be freshly cooked but it seemed a little dry and stale to me. The egg had clearly being standing a while.  All in all, the bill for breakfast came to £21.30.  Bit of a disappointment really.

Rating:  2 Stars.

Last night having returned to Cambridge from London, we wanted to revisit The Gulshan for reasons of Nostalgia.  This was a favourite Indian Restaurant of ours when Dusty and I lived in Cambridge and our record of arriving, having Poppadoms, a Starter, a Main and a pint of Kingfisher and leaving was 27 minutes.  We hoped to better that this time. 

We arrived to discover our Gulshan has been taken over and is now called the Curry Garden.  We noted the decoration inside is still just as dodgy as we sat at our favourite table in the window.  Noticing this time that the table leans inwards ever so slightly; which after a few beers could be a disorientating.

Anyway the usual was ordered up,  Poppadoms, Onion Bhaji, Chicken Dhansak/Jalfrezi and two pints. 

We didn’t quite beat our 27 minute record but the food was very good.  Everything was fresh and they (unlike many other places we have tried) do use real chicken breast.

Rating.  3 Stars

Saturday gone us visiting Nando’s Restaurant on St Andrew Street in Cambridge with the family and kids for an early dinner.  The place was very busy and the service was very quick despite this.  Ordering up our fayre it arrived within minutes and given you know what to expect from Nando’s, it was bang on.  The kids were happy, we were happy and the prices charged were good value.  The only noticeable downside I could see to this place was (apart from wooden floors and paper napkins) were the toilets that could only be accessed (to the best of my knowledge) by stairs.  Not much use for anyone disabled or unsure underfoot.

Rating. 2 Stars.     Telephone. 01223 327908

Dusty and I would have been able to provide you with a review of Scudamore’s Boating and Punting in Cambridge yesterday.  However after spending two minutes waiting at the booking desk, while four ‘just out of school girls on work experience’ chatted instead of serving us, we walked off keeping our money in our pockets.  When asked by another member of staff why we were leaving, we of course explained the problem!

Rating.  0 Stars.