Open House, Open City

Normally closed to the public, the Arsenal in NYC’s Central Park was one of the buildings I visited as part of Open City in New York

Ever been having a stroll around London (do people ‘stroll’ in London?) and seen a house you’ve thought ‘that looks lovely.  Wonder what it’s like inside…’?

Well, now’s your chance to have a nosy around some of London’s best loved buildings, as well as somearchitecturally interesting homes.

Open House London is happening on September 18 & 19, enabling you to have a look around all these places for FREE.  There are over 700 buildings, architectural walks, cycle tours and more to keep you busy over the weekend.

I went to Open House in New York City once, and it was a really great way to get to know the city and find out some interesting nuggets of info on the buildings.

You have to book for some of the viewings/talks – so order your guide here to get the full listing of events and buildings.  (The guide costs £6.50)

Ping-a-ling

This weekend why not get outdoors and try out something different?

Ping London are setting up a load of ping-pong (or table tennis, if you’d prefer) tables around the city, ready for you to have a go! Bats and balls are provided so there’s no excuse.

Tables are all over the place, including Heathrow, The British Library and Soho Square. There will be classes available too.

The tables will be out and about until August 22 – plenty of time to turn you into a ping-pong champion!

Time Out have a helpfully created map of all the table locations.  Click here for more info.

The House Party

Tom supervises the BBQ

Due to unforeseen circumstances, both the wine tasting and the bingo fell through yesterday (don’t worry, bingo is on the agenda for a later date).

Instead, I headed off to a house party, surely the cheapest thing you could do when you’re strapped for cash but still want to socialize?

This, however, wasn’t just a house party.  This was Sausage Fest 09, hosted by my friend Dave and his housemates Jonty and Sarah.

Sausage what?!

Created in 2008, the Festival has grown up a bit over the last year.  After upsetting an entire street with the noise and late night antics of the partygoers last time, this year’s Sausage Fest was a more civilized affair, starting just after lunch time and with an official end time of 8pm (which we didn’t stick to, but it was still ok).  Even the neighbours popped over to sample the menu.

Dave shows off the Sausage Fest 09 Menu

Asked what compelled him to start up Sausage Fest, Dave said, ‘The first Sausage Fest was a great success…sausages and festivals aren’t always associated with each other, but we like having our friends in the same  place at the same time to enjoy the sausages.’

The festival came about over a drunken conversation in which Dave himself suggested the idea to some friends.  A few weeks (and a few more drinks) later, he bought a sausage maker off the internet for £90.

Homemade Menu

The party organisers make all the sausages themselves and are quite creative when it comes to the recipes.  This year, eight types of sausage were on offer, including:

Pork sausage

Thai Seafood

Full English (which was made up of sausage, black pudding, baked beans, bread, egg and mushrooms)

Moroccan Lamb

Vegetarian

Dessert Sausage (chocolate and banana)

Catering For Everyone

The vegetarian sausage always proves difficult to make as it comes out like a ‘smoothie’.  This year’s Vegetarian was an improvement on last year’s, which basically exploded everywhere as soon as it hit the BBQ.

All the sausages are hand made

To make sure that everyone can be involved with Sausage Fest, as well as offering a vegetarian option, the boys also use collagen casing for the skins.

The recipes are completely made up, but everyone seems ‘satisfied’ by what’s on offer.  Dave, Jonty and another friend Tom are the primary butchers/chefs.

Room For Growth

When asked if Sausage Fest will continue to run, Dave said, ‘Definitely.  I think Sausage Fest is definitely growing.’  Comparing it to the Secret Garden Party, Dave predicts that in 14 years time the festival could have up to 30,000 people attending (although I’m not sure what his neighbours would think of that)

The cost of this party is not cheap, coming in at around £150-200.  Attendees don’t pay or contribute in any way, other than bringing their own booze.

Although more expensive for the hosts, this was a really interesting and cheap way to spend an afternoon with friends.  There’s always an excuse for a party (it’s Friday!) but with Halloween almost upon us it would be rude not to utilize this cheap alternative to a night out.

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