That’s £19M to you sir…

We were invited to the London Boat Show by Richards little sister and attended as special guests of their business.

Growing up on the coast and living within an island nation I have never considered attending such a show (especially as are current location is now land locked). It was nice of them to invite us and we took the opportunity to spend the day with them and to check out how the yachting fraternity live.

I cannot really explain the size of the show as it fills most of the ExCel Exhibition Centre on London’s Docklands. There was also the Outdoor Pursuits show taking place (as its so big) but this was a fraction of the size.

Anyway… we were very lucky as we had VIP tickets into the Sunseeker display and to board their top of the range yacht the Chiqui which at £19M is not for the faint hearted and actually already owned as it was on its way to be delivered to the owner.

The boat has four decks, 6 bed rooms, all have en-suit facilities (the master having a sit down shower), dining room, two living rooms, three external decks, full-sized kitchen (not a galley by any means), bar, serving area, garage, jacuzzi and (my favourite bit) a dumb-waiter so the crew could deliver the food to whichever floor you happen to be dining on. There are stacks of photos but I cannot emphasise the quality, the size and the space on board. In fact on the Chiqui the master bedroom was bigger that the one in our house.

We also attended the VIP area in the exhibition centre and viewed another Sunseeker – a more modest three deck cruiser. It had just as many mod cons and craftsmanship throughout the boat and I believe it was my favourite of the Sunseekers we saw.

For a country and a global economy in decline I am amazed just how busy the show was but being a trade show at heart you really could buy anything from £19M yachts right down to tacks and rope for your sailing dinghy. Talking of which Richard and I did check out some dinghies as I would love to try such a thing. Living by the coast I never really took advantage of the sea when I was young and would like to pick up the opportunity while I can.

It’s amazing how much distance you cover in the arena and by 3:30 we were all flagging. We took the opportunity to enjoy a coffee and a sit down but this was a challenge as the place was packed.

The original plan was to stay and eat with everyone we knew at the show but they couldn’t get a table until 22:00 so we said our goodbyes around 4:30 as we’d have never got home.

Thanks to being at ExCel we hopped on the DLR and the Jubilee Line and made our way over to North Greenwich and the Dome where we had a well-earned break to watch The King’s Speech.

Richard read early reviews of the film months before all the Oscar hype started and we have wanted to see it for a while now. It’s only just been released and we had an aborted attempt to see it on Wednesday due to work commitments.

Thankfully we booked tickets yesterday (on the biggest cinema screen in Europe) and we were not disappointed. The film is an absolute joy and possibly one of the very best films I have seen in a very very long time.

There is a fantastic cast of chameleons who all morph from film to film and all act to the very best of their ability. Colin Firth really does deserve lots of praise for his role as Bertie but so does Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter and Guy Pearce who all play their roles wonderfully.

I cannot fault the film (save a few minor historical inaccuracies) it truly is a British masterpiece. There is a poignant part of the film where Bertie is talking about his life and mentions Prince John who was kept away from the public gaze due to his epilepsy. At this point I was starting to well up.

The premise of the film is a very simple one yet it’s been written, shot and directed impeccably and the cast do a wonderful job of making you feel the anger, the humiliation and the humility of Bertie whilst also respecting the family (or the firm) in which he belongs and the responsibility he holds as King leading his country and his Empire through one of it’s darkest periods.

If you seen only one film in 2011 you should see this.

Following the film we planned to go to Gauchos in the 02 for dinner but could not get a table for two hours! We decided this was ridiculous and made our way into town for a bite to eat.

The 02 was over run with spoilt teenage girls (tweens) and very camp gay men as JLS were playing the stadium. Those of you who don’t know JLS are a manufactured band from X Factor here in the Uk who are such marketing whores they have put their faces on anything from t-shirts, tooth brushes and condoms.

We enjoyed alight dinner in St Paul’s where we reflected on our busy day and chilled out with a lovely meal and a drink before heading home.

A very different weekend for us with some new experiences but great ones. Now it’s Sunday. The day of rest. The house is clean. Richard is at the supermarket and I am about to jump in the bath for a soak. I like weekends like this.

I hope you have had a good one?

Oh I must say thanks to those who commented on my paintings via the blog, Twitter and Facebook. I have made a decision and will fill out the paper work later today. I will let you know in the week what work is to be entered (;