Fun, London

Crime Scene Live at the Natural History Museum – How to solve a double murder case in 4 hours

1 Comment

A couple of weeks ago, Mr B & I finally made it to Crime Scene Live at the Natural History Museum, which has been successfully running for more than two years. What is Crime Scene Live? Crime Scene Live is an immersive experience at our beloved Natural History Museum, involving actors and real-life experts, where several hundred paying customers are tasked with the investigation of a double-murder and the theft of a famous gemstone, which have just taken place. This murder mystery game is in part similar to some escape rooms, in part it resembles a treasure hunt or Secret Cinema. The event is being run in collaboration with Wet Picnic, an experimental theatre group.    We had not been aware that there are fully functional forensic laboratories and research centres at the NHM which assist the police in criminal cases. For the evening, these experts volunteered their precious time, […]

Continue Reading

You may also like

Fun, London

The Game Is Now – The Official Sherlock Holmes Escape Room Experience

2 Comments

Ms B & I have finally done the ‘The Game Is Now’ escape room experience ten days ago with two friends of ours, and what a great afternoon it was! Created by the two guys behind the popular recent Sherlock Holmes TV series, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss (the latter known by most as Mycroft Holmes, whom he impersonates in the series), as an official franchise together with escape room experts Time Run, no expense was spared. It is the actual world-famous actors like Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Scott, and Martin Freeman who speak to you over audio and video from pre-recorded tapes. Considering that two of our group were so-called Cumberbitches, you can imagine the level of excitement. Not my choice of words, just to mention it, this is the ‘scientific’ term; you might not YET find it in the Oxford dictionary, which will show ‘cucumber’ as first match, but […]

Continue Reading

You may also like

England, Fun, Water sports

Kayaking with ‘New Forest Activities’ – Fair bit of exercise, fabulous fun, and you get to see jellyfish!

7 Comments

Last summer Ms B & I decided to venture to the New Forest again as it was the start of the pannage season when local farmers have permission for two months to let their pigs roam free around the woodlands. The idea is that the pigs eat all the acorns that are harmful for other animals like the free-roaming ponies, horses, and donkeys (in principle the acorns are harmful to pigs too, but these smart badasses simply spit out those bits). Anyhoooo.. didn’t see a single pig, so resorted to other activities. Besides horseback riding (post here), the most fun activity was our 3h kayaking trip with New Forest Activities (£39.90 per person). The starting point is at the beautiful Buckler’s Hard Maritime Museum (open air, admission included) on the banks of the Beaulieu river.     At the start of the 18th century a highly ambitious and (following his […]

Continue Reading

You may also like

England, Fun, Water sports

Deep Sea Fishing for Congers off Brighton with Grey Viking II

4 Comments

Ever since I first went fishing for gobies with my buddy Marcel as 7-year olds while we were camping next to the Adriatic Sea with our respective families, I am a fan of this sport, even though I hardly ever get a chance to practice it. It’s relatively relaxing, certainly doesn’t usually require enormous effort, you’re out in nature, enjoying the sun, and maybe best of all, you get yourself some nice dinner onto the table, what’s not to like. It’s got something archaic to it like hunting, mountain-climbing, boxing or foraging. While polo is perhaps best left in my view to the Camerons, Borises, and Rees-Moggs out there, surely fishing was for me, the common man (or equally the common woman, if she likes; Ms B is not very fond of it though). I’m saying this despite a horrific fishing incident outside Dallas, TX, in 1991, when I sat […]

Continue Reading

You may also like

Fun, London

Bonhams London to Brighton Veteran Car Run – 400 Cars from Before 1905 Racing to the Seaside

No Comments

Earlier today, for the first time in all the fifteen years that we’ve lived in London, we finally managed to watch the Bonhams London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. In the past we were either travelling abroad on the day or we were too lazy to get up before sunrise. The event is unique in that it only allows entries of pre-1905 automobiles. Every year it takes place on the first Sunday of November. We started out from a location in the Mall opposite Buckingham Palace, no more than 10mins walk from Berkeley Square, then made our way across St James’s Park to Westminster Palace. The weather was perfect, cold but sunny. We were surprised not to see more people along the Mall cheering the drivers and passengers on. There were probably no more than 120 people lining the Mall when we arrived, just a small fraction of the number […]

Continue Reading

You may also like