Breakfast in Durham -- in the company of Cuthbert

Breakfast in Durham...in the shadow of the cathedral.

As the sun creeps up over the horizon, over the North Sea, we drive south from Whitley Bay, Northumberland, through the Tyne Tunnel, to the Cathdral City, Durham, in County Durham.  Climbing the hill we find ourselves alone on the ancient ambling streets.   

The grey sky holds back any hint of the now-risen sun.  The great arch doors stand open, welcoming us to the 8:00 am communion service.  No photos allowed inside...

Dean, Canon and Monk guide us through the words of the ancestors, the words of today, the words of the Book of Common Prayer designated for this day, for this morning, for our ears.  The host is shared, and finished.  

The thick Norman pillars rise above us, as they have risen above the faithful for 850 years, their decorative patterns of dogtooth, chevron and lozenge a Durham innovation. The ribbed vaults cross-cross the ceiling, now a familiar architectural style, were first built here -- cutting edge in 1200.

The shrine of St Cuthbert, where his bones lie peacefully after their journey from Lindisfarne, fleeing the Vikings.  In company now it's the skull of King Oswald, great King of Northumberland.  The shrine once enjeweled and gilt with gold, now plain, stripped by King Henry VIII's henchmen.  The question on the sign board... Would you prefer the shrine be shiny with jewels or plain as it is?  

The choir for the later service enters, practicing their procession and recession patterns.  Voices lifted to heaven.  We find the tomb of The Bede, the 7th century writer of Christian history.  

This is a place of pilgrimage.  We add our footsteps to the procession of pilgrims who have trailed their fingertips in the folds of this curtain to the divine.  The procession that trails back almost 900 years to when these stones were raised in glory.

Fed in spirit, our bodies now need nourishment.  We find the local Wetherspoon pub and enjoy our shared large breakfast -- 2 sausage, 2 bacon, 3 hash browns, 4 fried eggs, 3 pieces of toast.  (Yes, we substitute 2 eggs and 1 toast for the mushrooms, tomatoes and beans.)

A stroll along the river, looking up to the castle begun in 1072 for William the Conquerer.  It seems he built the many castles to protect the many cathedrals (and the land he now claimed) that Henry VIII later took apart stone by stone.  One man's cathedral or monastery is another man's rock pile!  One person's extravagant gift to God is another person's source of funds when the treasury runs low.  

The windy streets of Durham have now filled with University students.  Nourished in body and soul, we take leave of this holy place, grateful to leave our footprint on these cobblestones and beside this river.

Best Brekkie Down Under

After this long hiatus...and two children married...we've just enjoyed the best brekkie -- translation: breakfast-- ever...at the Corner Cafe on Main Street in Greytown, New Zealand, in the magnificent broad Wairarapa Valley.  We're here for a wedding at which we're officiating.

After a 64 hour trip from London (including one cancelled flight and an unexpected mini-sleepover in Auckland)...and 8 hours of sleep...off to the local cafe which opens at 6:00 am.

Eggs and toast has never tasted so delicious! Scrumptious homemade bread, made "from scratch" by a "lady out back," light and airy crisp toast. Scrambled eggs that are firm and yellow...quite different from the British variety that tends to be white and runny. Bacon cooked on a griddle, tastes like "the pig lives/ed in the garden, so fresh!



Mr. Patel, Shahzin, the proprietor for about 18 months, greets all with a broad smile.

Ceiling fans twirl, though the sun has not yet risen above the trees. The day is set to reach 32C like the day before.

Breakfast is so delicious, we bring the whole family back at 10:00 for brunch. Nigel's French toast with bacon, banana and maple syrup is a work of art with an aroma to die for. The triple decker delight is formidable, but Nigel manages to enjoy it to the last bite.

The Greytown Corner Cafe proves to be a great way to kick off our visit to New Zealand.


Our visit's highlight is the Hewison & King wedding in an olive grove on the Hewison family farm in Carterton.

We enjoyed a town art fair and attended church at St Andrew's Union Church in Greytown.

The bride and groom joined everyone to a visit to Aotearoa Stonehenge, a stone circle constructed by a local resident astronomer connected to the Carterton Observatory in Wellington and the Phoenix Astronomy Society - fascinating time piece (not a replica) on the scale of the Stonehenge of Salisbury Plain, near our UK home.  http://www.awapress.com/products/published/books/newzealand/geaotearoathecompleteguide

The sunsets spread dramatic displays across the heavens each evening -- a magical time!

Pre-wedding rendezvous with the rellies at the Fiero Cafe in San Mateo, California

Breakfast in Britain goes to California! The old Rendezvous Cafe re-born as Fiero Cafe sits on El Camino Real in the heart of San Mateo. Clean, quiet and free wifi. Upscale and up-price, but great location for an easy walk from the rellies.
The Rendezvous closed unexpectedly in April 2015.  It has opened under new ownership and a new name. Filipo, the proprietor, chats cheerily and proudly as we admire his efforts at revamping the joint.

The cafe remains retro, but the grime has been scrubbed away and the interior sparkles with newly painted walls and shiny counters.

Food options (and prices) are shi-shi -- no eggs and toast in this world. Rather we order crescents with scrambled eggs and bacon.  I request that each item be laid side by side rather than built into a sandwich.  Tasty.  Happy son-in law enjoys a hearty omelette. 
Another enjoyable breakfast on the road -- a pleasant rendezvous with the rellies pre-wedding.           

A blast from the past in Eastbourne at TJ Hughes

Remember the department stores of childhood -- not part of a chain, but the independent glamorous sparkling carries-everything-you-need store, owned by a local resident who lives in a mansion on the hill?  Like Marshall Field's Department Store on State Street in Chicago, once housed in the magnificent 12-story store built in 1902 for Field's merchandising business started in 1846.  And Carson, Pirie Scott and Company, also on State Street in Chicago's Loop, with it's dazzling Tiffany dome delighting shoppers for more than one hundred years.  Two favourite haunts of mine as a teenage shopper.  I also remember delighting in the Lynden Department Store on Front Street in Lynden, Washington.  It opened in 1897 and sadly was liquidated in 1979.

A few grand department stores still exist, or did the last time I visited... Selfridge's on Oxford Street in London, Haddon & Sly on Fife Street in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and the iconic Myer flagship store on Bourke Street in Melbourne, Australia. They continue to offer the all-inclusive shopping experience without being a mall.  And there is always a restaurant upstairs.

My mother's special treat was taking me and often an out-of-town visitor to lunch at the Marshall Field's store restaurant, a "garden" restaurant as I recall.  This week we found it's double...the Cafe at TJ Hughes Department Store in Eastbourne, Sussex.

Okay, not quite the Garden Room double, no waiters in starched shirts nor silver and china, but the echoes of days gone by and a cheery nostalgic experience.

We get a late start, so it matters not that the cafe opens at 9:00, for that is the time of our arrival. The breakfast buffet does nothing for our appetites, but the  the sunlight streaming through the tall Victorian windows, leaded windows overhead and domed skylight warms our souls.  And the friendly staff welcome us with smiles and conversation, even posing for a photo.  The large potted palm plants, hardwood floors and rattan chairs create a pleasant atmosphere.  We sit beside the corner windows which open to let in the morning warmth and provide a view of an ancient church tower and the sea at the end of the street.

We return midday and the place has filled with grey-haired locals enjoying tea cakes and fresh fruit scones. "Good morning ladies, tea cakes today?" is the refrain from the counter attendant, arms blue with tattoo designs, as he greets the regulars.  A gigantic fresh fruit scone, hot from the oven, with clotted cream and jam (yes, they are in packets) costs only £2.50.  A must if you are visiting Eastbourne!

And while you're there, enjoy the pier and the seaside promenade.  On a summer evening there's entertainment at the bandstand. We caught wafts of Big Band music as we passed.

Eastbourne is not on a main road to London.  Consequently it has taken us five years to get there.  But it is a well-kept secret of the south coast of England which we plan to enjoy again.  For it surely provided us with a memorable Breakfast in Britain!

PS  The good news is we had a wonderful experience at T J Hughes; the bad news is I've just found out, after writing this nostalgic reflection, that it is one of a chain of discount stores started in 1925.  As Wikipedia explains:
"T J Hughes is a British discount department store brand which first emerged in Liverpool in 1925 and had become a national chain with 57 shops by 2011. The business now consists of 12 shops around the country, following liquidation and rescue in 2011."

Sometimes our reality differs from the facts!  

Forest Hill & Dulwich Picture Gallery

Skipping out into the drizzly morning, we decide to hop on the P4 bus heading to Dulwich (dull-itch) Village.  Our short trip highlights a visit with Norma, a friend who volunteers as a Street Pastor in Lewisham -- inspiring work on the city streets after 10 pm.

Turns out she reads this blog and asks where we are heading for breakfast! 

Aware from a Google search that  Dulwich Village lacks a breakfast cafe, we disembark at Forest Hill and find the familiar "Cafe Open" sign at  BB & Friend Cafe celebrating its 35th anniversary!    

When we ask the proprietor if he's the original owner, he laughs and announces he's barely 35 years old! He had been head chef at the Peckham Cafe which was also owned by the previous owner, and 1 1/2 years ago he bought him out.  

It's a step above a regular cafe with printed menus,table service and seats for 64.  A bowl of shiny fruit on the counter makes it almost posh!  Five pen and ink sketches of Forest Hill High Street (2006 by Sivokorn, the artist)  and an oversize antique guild framed mirror provide tasteful decor.

But BB's is full of locals, and the tea is hot!  To top off a good experience, seeing us waver between wholemeal and crusty bread, the proprietor kindly offers us a slice of each. 

We meander through Forest Hill, past the new aqua centre and refurbished Victorian library, down Havelock Walk -- a series of artist's studios stretching down a side street.

Next stop Dulwich Village home to prestigious Dulwich College (frist grade through high school) started in the early 1600's as Alleyn's College of God's Gift by Edward Alleyn an actor and "theatrical entrepreneur."  The surrounding bustle of the city seems lightyears away from this quaint quiet village.  The Church of England primary school  (connected to the College) and the original hall of Dulwich's "College of God's Gift" remind the visitor of the prominence of education here.

Our attraction to Dulwich is the Dulwich Picture Gallery,the oldest public art gallery in London started with the collection bequeathed to Dulwich College by its founder in 1626.  We gaze upon Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Rubens and more now housed in a building specifically designed by Sir John Soane 1811.  A treasure indeed.  One favourite, we don't remember ever seeing before in art books -- "A girl at a window" by Rembrandt.
So, if you're in London and craving country life, drop in on Dulwich Village to step back in time, to slow down, and to enjoy a stroll among the masters.

Another brilliant Breakfast in Britain!
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