21 Presents

I had prepared 21 presents for Tom’s 21st which Bee and I got to hand over in person as we are up here in Newcastle. They included a postcard of Anthony Gormley’s baby sculpture along with the band that was clipped around his foot when he was born; his grandfather, William’s old pocket watch; a cork from the champagne we opened to toast his birth complete with an Italian 500 lira coin, and his English grandfather’s 1951 edition of the Kon Tiki Adventure. Aunt y Bee gave him a poster of Rome as a nod to his Italian heritage.

Others were a bit more pitched to his current life as a student - a cocktail shaker and some good white rum and other ingredients, an Ottolenghi cookbook and some of those special Ottolenghi ingredients like preserved lemons and pomegranate molasses which I struggle to imagine being bought on a student budget.

In the evening we went for dinner at Six a restaurant with amazing views along the river on the rooftop of the Baltic art gallery. The meal was outstanding, the wine terrific, the staff so thoughtful and made it a wonderful evening. We also met new girlfriend Sasha who seems lovely. A fantastic day all round.