Had a wonderful weekend in Reading (yes, I know, should one admit that?) staying at the Novotel in Reading and generally taking a break from just about everything. Didn’t get up to much other than taking advantage of the swimming pool and steam room, the free movies and the 5pm checkout on Sunday. Ate by the riverside and wandered back slowly via Guildford and now preparing for the next four day week (the last two Fridays I’ve taken off, and this weekend is Easter so it’s been a short month for me!).
I’ve only been to Reading once before, and that was to film an interview with author Kit Berry for the now defunct Friends of English Magic. Didn’t get to see much of Reading back then (after all, I was carrying around a fair bit of video kit including tripod, a £3k camera, radio mikes, lights and the whole caboodle), so it was good to have a chance to explore it in a bit more detail. Reading strikes me as being like Kingston-upon-Thames before the chavs took it over – middle-class and full of teenagers with plenty of money to spend. We lived in Kingston for just over 3 years (one and a bit was spent living a house owned by none other than Lawrence Dallaglio – yes, this guy) and found that it soon went down hill fast. Which is a great shame.
Speaking of which, there was some kind of flashmob today (Sunday) in which a whole group of teenagers were stood, statuesque, in the middle of the pedestrian shopping area. No idea as to how long they were standing like that for, as we made our way to the riverside, but it certainly amused the passers by.
So a good weekend. A most excellent Kick-Ass preview on Friday, and a nice little break away in Reading. Next week: building desks and doing the lawn. And probably breaking things.
