John Barrowman in concert... Royal Hall, Villa Marina, Isle of Man

John Barrowman in concert... Royal Hall, Villa Marina, Isle of Man. Last Thursday. It's taken this long for me to sit down and type it up, and goodness knows a lot of my notes (written in the dark, while entralled by what was happening on the stage) aren't particularly legible. Still... the memory is still fresh and exciting.

( When my tickets... )

Harrogate: Graveley's, Betty's and pikelets...

Yesterday was Catherine's birthday, so I offered to take her out for supper - her choice of location. She chose Graveley's fish and chips on Cheltenham Parade, so I could experience a classic fish and chips place, and then we went to Berry's for tea and dessert. See, I'd been telling her about the Cream Tea at the Chateau Laurier, where we went on lunacy_gal's birthday.

Best fish and chips I've had since... I think... visiting Penzance in 1981. Swoon. I had the traditional mushy peas, too. It was a beautiful sunny evening, not too hot, and we ate outside.

Then Betty's - maaseru's comments were incentive there, too. It's an elegant place, too posh to really be elegant, but with just the right touch of humble dignity. The waiter was cute, and helpful in answering my questions. The piantist was lovely, and smiled said 'good night' as we left. She played some of my favourite tunes: "She" and "Memories" and "Maple Leaf Rag". (She played "My Way", too, not so much a favourite.) I was curious about everything on the menu, especially the Yorkshire specialties I'd never tasted nor heard of. I succumbed to Strawberry Shortbread Hearts because they were so pretty, and I know what wonderful things the English can do with strawberries and cream. And they were good.

But Catherine ordered something I was curious about and had never had, pikelets. When they arrived, she let me eat a bit of hers to see what it was like. I fell in love on the spot. After eating my Strawberry Shortbread Heart I threw away all restraint and ordered pikelets for myself. Wikipedia seems to think pikelets are merely pancakes, which is missing the point. They're like pancakes in shape and style, but... It's like saying a fine wine and grape juice are related. They are, but they aren't the same.

This, with perfect Earl Grey tea. You'd think it was my birthday.

They also have a great display of tea-pots.

Skipton: the chateau du jour...

Skipton Castle. Catherine and I went there by bus from Harrogate, and it was a gorgeous view all the way. We went through classic Yorkshire farmland and dales and moors, and I said, "Should I be imagining Heathcliffe calling to Catherine?"

"That would be about twenty miles that way," said Catherine, pointing.

Close enough for me.

When we got to Skipton, we went for a ride on a canal boat. Fed ducks and swans while waiting for it. Then went down the canal, under the walls of the castle rising high above us. One of the men on the boat was using a net to pick floating conkers out of the water for the children. Many flowers.

Then we went up to the castle and I was thrilled to see we could get the printed material about the castle in any number of languages, including Esperanto. So Catherine took the English version and I took the Esperanto, which begins:

Bonvenon al Skipton-Kastelo! Jen la cxefa pordego, kiun defendas kvar fortikaj turoj. Alte super la krenelaro staras cxitie en sxtono la fiero defio de familio Clifford, DESORMAIS (normand-franca por Ekde nun!).

I wondered if the Cliffords of Skipton were related to Rosamund Clifford, the Fair Rosamund who was the lover of Henry II. The oldest bits of the castle were Norman, dating to 1090, and of course the oldest bits were my favourite part.

We wandered all the rooms and it was gorgeous. Unlike most castles, this is well preserved, with floors and ceilings. It was not destroyed by Cromwell's armies - the Royalist troops surrendered after a three-year siege, and little damage was done. Much of it was done over in Tudor times, and we saw the famous yew tree (taksuso) planted by Lady Anne Clifford in 1659. Looking good for its age.

Then we sat eating ice cream in the gardens till it was time to catch the bus again.