It's Chi-Chi-Chichester!

Our inter-nation travelogue continues and this time we landed at the West Sussex gem - Chichester! A swift 70 minutes transit from our BH HQ, we parked up and look what faced us; only a cotton picking, cowboy themed, eatery of the highest order, aka Smith and Western.

Genuine country music spilling out the speakers, Cowgirl Charlie serving our every need, cactus and boot wall paper, ribs, loaded skins, wings, corn and ranch beans - check, check, check! We were a happy pair of yahoo's foot tappin and a'stomping all day after this brilliant culinary experience.

Steeped in history and dripping with fine architecture, including the Cathedral (complete with a Knight's tomb) and the 16th Century Chichester Cross. Every place of note must have a Butter Market and Corn Exchange and Chichester does not disappoint. History alert - like many places in England, the name derived from "caester" meaning Roman settlement. In this case the Saxons who arrived following the Roman withdrawal were led by a man called Cissa, hence Cissa's Caester which became become Chichester.


Not only does it fulfil our culinary and architectural desires, Cissa's Caester also helps us empty our pockets with a selection of wonderful shops. Alongside some of the regular high street players like Clarks (incredible customer service - so friendly and managed to persuade us, somehow, to purchase a Christmas present - and made us feel lovely about it as well) and Moss Bros there's a wealth of charming and fine pieces of independent shoppery including:

The upcycling Number 43 and the best vintage shop in the country, One Legged Jockey. Tracey got an original Ladybird, part cape/part extra long body warmer in green and it is a large piece of awesome.

With our guides to Northampton, Southport and now Chichester, we're highlighting some alternative places on our fair isle which deserve a little time and exploration outside of the classic visitor-laden places. Up the Chichester!

Big Car Boot Bargains

Ah, Sundays. We absolutely heart Sundays here at Orange and Cyan HQ. Every morning is a musical celebration as we loudly sing our heads off to Abbo's show "SoundsTracks" on Forest FM, then after gulping down some milk and checking if the sun is shining, we head off to the car boot.

This week there were dozens of old Xbox's on sale and the first thing Tam picked up was the original C.S.I game as she likes to pretend she knows complicated and impressive things about solving murders. Moving swiftly on, we then bagged a retro delicious 10p Tron Video, a yellow glass fish dish, a beautiful mustard yellow cowboy tobacco tin (perfect size for kirby grips) and a blue sewing needles pouch in need of some Tam T.L.C.

There are actually 2 car boots in the area - you can see the other over the road from whichever one you're in so swinging our carrier bag of bargains, we hit car boot number 2, stuffed ourselves with broccoli and mushroom quiche (from the tasty polish run cake stall - massive slices for £1 - we love it) followed by Strawberry and Lemon cakes. Charged with sugar we hit the stalls, haggling over a lovely little invaluable and instructive 'Love, Courtship and Marriage' guide for the romantically inclined from the Hugh Evelyn Victorian Library. We rather like the morbid advice under the section of 'Etiquette for Husbands and Wives' that states you should always leave home with a tender good-bye and loving words as they may be the last...

Next Abbo snapped up 3 gorgeous Bus Driver ties for 75p each that we can't wait to show our friend Nursey Bang Bang as she is currently working on a Gentleman's range of tailored ties (we got a sneak preview this week and love the new range). Some Citadel Combat card games, cheap greetings cards and cheaper postcards later, we finally grabbed 3 loose tea spoons for 10p each that with a bit of spit, polish and elbow grease, will make excellent gifts.

Sunday afternoons are spent remembering what we've bought and playing pooter games. We're currently reviewing LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean, Gatling Gears, Section 8: Prejudice and trying to finish Portal 2 - that's if you can tear Tracey away from Dragon Age Legends on Facebook!

Bliss :D

Sound Tracks - Triple Special

This is an official audio announcement...

This is an official audio announcement...

This is an official audio announcement...

This is an official audio announcement concerning the weekly broadcasting output by Mr Ian Abbott.

The next 3 radio shows will be deviating from the normal, bypassing the sensational and travelling to the outer realms of aural heaven.

We would recommend, locking your dial to Forest FM for Sunday 27th March, 3rd and 10th April at 9am to take part in a soundtrack experience to get your feet tapping and mouth smiling. 

We shall be highlighting some of the finest slices of cowboy inspired scores, celebrating the 5 time Oscar winner John Barry and having a delightful time picking through the rich ears of Mr QT.

We thank you for your patience and if you would like to imbibe further information concerning these future sonic events, please head directly to the Sound Tracks blog.

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