1. Visit London
Everyone but everyone is on holiday; you hardly notice the tourists; hire a Bike (free for first 30 minutes) and pedal around the centre; check out
www.toptable.com for deals in the best restaurants (about £20 a head with a glass of champagne); visit all of our national treasures (museums and galleries) for free but don't forget the British Library part of the North Bank close to Euston and King's X.
2. Eat at www.pescatori.co.uk 11 Dover Street
Try the grilled squid.
3. Get Up to Speed on all things Palestine
Now that the Quartet has again "sprung" into action you have a year to understand why the Middle East has been so messed up by the UK Government and why the current Foreign Office is so pro-Israeli.
Try:
The Balfour Declaration: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Jonathan Schneer (Bloomsbury)
One State, Two States by Benny Morris (Yale)
and
Palestine Betrayed by Efraim Karsh (Yale)
My solution? One state: two parliaments.
4. Watch the Oscar award winning The Secret in their Eyes
About an unresolved murder case in the 1970s - already a classic.
5. Book to see Yes Minister (the play)
Transferred from Chichester to the Gielgud it starts on 17th September.......