black-ford in green-ford


All settled in, new home is adequate and comfy and M is back from Sweden. Normality returns, life is structured and spring is on it's way. Life is good.



We can plan ahead once again; trips, holidays, outings and even the next house move! I can't see us staying here for long, it's not our chosen area, but it'll do for now. Convenience rules!

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Ladbroke Grove

We drove to Ladbroke Grove earlier today, intent on stopping at Cafe Lisboa for a galao coffee and pastel de nata pastry. 

Being the area I went to school in, Ladbroke Grove (Portobello) always has a powerful impact whenever I return. It is more than simple nostalgia.The streets are so familiar even though all the shops have long since changed and modernised. The people are the same, the market traders of Portobello Market never seem to get old and die, instead they continue to sell the very same items I bought from them decades ago.

Cafe Lisboa

The winter drizzle kept the crowds away from Cafe Lisboa earlier today, as you can see from the pic. All the better for us, we were served instantly.

some of the Portuguese pastries freshly baked at

 Cafe Lisboa

Super Bock lager, a taste of home at the

 Sporting Club, W10

Then on to Sporting Lisbon Club for a beer, a Super Bock to be precise. If anyone knows of a better tasting lager than this Portuguese classic then please let me know. So good even Tesco sells it.

Upon entering the club I noticed Rui, the proprietor and old school pal of mine, sitting at the bar clutching a glass of wine. He looked the same as always, if slightly greyer, sitting on the same bar stool, gazing over the same business he started some 30 years ago. The business that has enslaved him night after night and year after year. The business that has provided him a good return and enviable life-style and has also robbed him of his personal time.

We greeted each other with a hug and handshake. We hadn't see each other since Paulo's funeral. Come to think of it, since leaving school we have met no more than a handful of times. Somehow it doesn't seem to matter, we greet like we always did  in days gone by.

Nothing really changes...the greetings...the market...the beer...the weather...the area...nothing changes...nothing, apart from me.

:)