Caffe Vergnano

The best coffee in the UK is Caffe Vergnano. It is an Italian coffee shop in Charing Cross and now they have opened up a restaurant and cafe at Southbank, which is very convenient for Waterloo. The coffee is fantastic, just like you get in Australia, so I intend to visit as many times as possible.

Yesterday I remembered that I had a loyalty card, so I dug it out to add a few stamps, assuming that I might get a free coffee once I reached ten. Wrong. You don't get a free coffee after ten, you don't get a free coffee at all. What you do get is a set of designer coffee cups and saucers. But I read the details and it tells me that I need six cards completed before I win the designer cups. That's a whopping sixty coffees, you think. No, you are wrong. Each card has 15 spaces for stamps on the front, and another 15 on the back. In total, I would need to drink 180 coffees or hot chocolates to win the cups.

So, not only do you get free designer cups, but you get a designer heart condition to go with them.

Snow 2009/10

According to the media, the country was paralysed by snow over Christmas and New Year. But to most people, it was beautiful and welcome. These pictures show West Didsbury, Surbiton, and central London from December to January.