The Best Day Ever! By Hayley, Aged 23 1/2

It is true, I experienced the Best Day Ever (TM) last Sunday. Come under the veil, let me show you the wonders I found.

Admittedly, the action didn’t get going till around six at night, though I had spent the day happy pottering around slowly as one should do on a Sunday, having an extended lunch and buying children’s books and whatnot, building up a congenial feeling of contentment with the day. The real excitement came as I met up with Jen for an evening of nosh, cocktails and comedy.

Having learnt from our previous drinking adventures, we prepared overselves with a fortifying visit to Lord of the Fries to chow down on stomach-lining chips and vegan nuggets. Oh lordy, those vegan nuggets. I don’t know what kind of soy-based product they make those things out of, I only know that they are delicious. Having thus armoured ourselves, we made our way to 1806.

1806 is a swish cocktail bar that I’ve see reviewed all over the place to pretty much universal praise and delight. It’s cockmail menu has won awards and everything (lawks!), and I was enamoured reading their online menu just purely for all the historical stories behind each of the drinks. Sunday night seems to be the time to make a visit, too, as it was nice and quiet as we strolled in, meaning not much of a wait until we were supping delicious concoctions.

I started off with a Pimms Fizz, as I cannot refuse something that involves Pimms (it is an addiction). It came in a glass the length of my forearm, garnished with wedges of lemon and a thick slice of cucumber. It was envigorating and refreshing as only Pimms can be, though I have to cheekily say that I think I prefer my own Pimms punch concoction better (though that may only be because I prepare it in a jug, meaning there’s a lot more of it!). Jen ordered a Peach Sour, which was appropriately named, being tart yet still pleasantly refreshing.

For our second and last round, I went with a Manhattan, purely because it came with a marischino cherry and I am an utter sucker for those. Usually I don’t do well with bourbon-based drinks, and although this one was strong as all get out, it left me with a little warm fire that burnt happily away in my belly, very pleasant. But Jen came away with the drink of the night, the Bitter Chocolate Orange Martini. Probably very similar to the opening cocktail we had that time at Cafe Vue, it was a blend of chocolate, gin, Campari and orange and oh goodness it was good. Subtle on the tongue at first, then delivering an absolute kick to the tastebuds. Divine.

Happily treading water in alcohol, and loudly voicing our intention to return to 1806 repeatedly in future, Jen and I made our way down to the Town Hall to join in some Comedy Festival fun. We saw Josie Long in her show All The World’s Wonders (Shown in Detail). I was a bit over-anxious for it to be awesome, because since I’m going to Europe at the end of this month I have zero spare dollars and really could only go to one comedy fest show, rather than going mad like I usually do and seeing as many as possible. BUT, I should not have feared, because it was all a gorgeous and enchanting affair. Anyone as wonderfully infectious and enthusiastic about learning as Josie was (because the show is all about the thrill of learning and discovery, and how we do, and especially collect, the strangest things in order to preserve knowledge) charms me in a second. Because who doesn’t love learning stuff?! (Nerds, represent) And it also features one of the best and most magical instances of audience participation I’ve ever seen, and was lucky enough to be a part of.

So bootle down and see Josie while you can, particularly if you’re sore about missing the blink-and-they-were-gone Daniel Kitson shows, because this show is the perfect balm, with the added bonus of having less bleakness and more jokes about stealing promotional pens (with accompanying mime! Oh yeah!). Also if you are feeling like a comedy tart, try to catch the Bedroom Philosopher and Hannah Gadsby too, because they are both super awesome and I wish I was seeing them. The end.