March 2022

Of course I will start the round-up by talking about the most important thing, the war in Ukraine. I attended a few protests and I attended a talk at the university about Russia’s invasion. Also, my university, King’s College London, is aiming to bring hundreds of Ukrainian refugees to Britain by Easter, which makes me so proud. I had an unexpected talk with a Ukrainian refugee, I had my I Stand with Ukraine badge and they thanked me for my support, it was heartbreaking to listen to what they went through to escape.

I shared a lot of pictures from the march here.

This short clip, in English, of only 5 minutes, was made by Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) five years ago when they spelt out that Putin wanted to invade the countries from the former Soviet bloc. This clip was shown to the international intelligence community in 2017. It shows both what the SRI knew but also you can get a glimpse of Romanian culture and humour.

I found aubergine jam at the local Iranian shop and it’s so interesting. I highly recommend trying it, if you ever find a place that sells it.

Carrot-based dessert from the same shop.

We spent a night at Indigo Hotel in Durham, which I blogged about. It was a lovely stay and I love the city.

Buckingham Palace, the west wing and the pool on the far left, in a special tour. I was so wonderful to walk around the garden for about an hour and a half. The guide was so knowledgeable and the tour worths every penny.

Riding School at the Royal Mews, which was used by a police-horse while we had our tour. We saw the horses before one of them started his training.

Piers Morgan’s Tiers at Unity Diner. Their food was amazing, but just loved the name of this cocktail. Unity Diner is a vegan restaurant, of course.

I went to many restaurants this month, with my husband or with the veggie society. I will blog about a few of them next month. London is amazing for delicious vegan food.

Jam Delish pop-up restaurant was fab. It’s only for a short while so I took advantage that I was in London. We both liked the food, traditional Caribbean.

1. Off to London. 2. Mallow social with the vegan society. 3. Guards Crimean War Memorial, from the bus. 4. Standing with Ukraine. 5. Graffiti tunnel. 6. Ukrainian flag over Whitehall. 7. Vegan social at Tofu Vegan. 8. Lunch at the Farmacy. 9. Peace. 10. Food at university, so amazingly delicious. 11. Some lectures, beside the university ones, just for fun. 12. Vegan burger place in Covent Garden. 13. Vegan Kind lifestyle box for March. 14. Another puzzle done. 15. Arrived at the Indigo in Durham. 16. Open day at Durham University. The location of University College is within the castle! 17. Seminar work. 18. Enjoying The Betrayal of Anne Frank by Rosemary Sullivan. 19. Buckingham Palace, west wing. 20. Turkish carrot-based truffles. 21. KCL’s terrace. 22. Pastan, one of my favourite restaurants in London. 23. London. 24. Funny story about the coffee, in a big cup so I don’t spill it, something the guys from the university cafe remember me asking, each Thursday morning. 25. Reading in the park. 26. Slava Ukrayini. 27. Cute dog at the tube. 28. Mallow London. 29. Unity Dinner. 30. Hyde Park. 31. Books in March.

In March I read 9 books, which is great. I like all the books, as you can see from the rating. All but the last two are reviewed on my book blog, Coffee&Books. The Betrayal of Anne Frank is, apparently, controversial, but I talked about that in my review, so check it if you fancy reading the book.

Books I read in March:
The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer – 4 stars
History, Memory and Public Life by Adam Sutcliffe – 5 stars
A Brief History of the Crusades by Geoffrey Hindley – 4 stars
Greco-Roman Medicine and What It Can Teach Us Today by Nick Summerton – 5 stars
My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad – 5 stars
A Railway History of New Shildon by George Turner Smith – 5 stars
The Betrayal of Anne Frank by Rosemary Sullivan – 5 stars
Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss – 4 stars
Sex and Sexuality in Tudor England by Carol McGrath – 4.5 stars