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Fake Stag 2013/14

Gateshead - Lincoln lost. :-(
Stayed in the Travelodge Newcastle Central
Ted, Will, Tom, Al, Goldsy, Harrison and Shep.

• The Schooner
• Quayside
• Crown Posada
• The Bodega

North of the border

Long weekend in Edinburgh with Steve and Patricia.

• Saw Gary McAllister on the train - got his autograph :-)
• Stayed at the Hilton Grosvenor
• Beers in the Jolly Judge
• Edinburgh Castle
• Ghost Bus Tour

Spa Break

Celebrated Martin's birthday with a pub crawl around Woodhall Spa.

• Railway Hotel
• Golf Hotel
• The Inn
• Smarties Bar
• The Mall
• The Petwood

Family weekend in Bath

Had a great weekend in Bath with Keren's family. Travelled down on Friday afternoon via the A46, M5 and M4 - traffic was light but rain was heavy. Martin and Charlotte had come via a more westerly route but we arrived within a couple of minutes of one another.

After checking in we had an early dinner in the hotel (Hilton Bath City Centre). Food was good but service was a bit haphazard; Flo's high chair collapsed causing shock but luckily no injury. Penny and Philip took Evie to bed while M, C, K and I stayed up for a few more glasses of wine. Flo fell asleep on K.

Saturday dawned somewhat drizzly but, undeterred, we carried on regardless. We had an open top bus tour around the city, then a look around the Abbey and then the Roman Baths. It was all topped off with a Bath Bun from Sally Lunn's. It was my first visit to Bath for about 20 years and I really enjoyed it. The Pump Room was especially good, their excellent audio guide was voiced by Alice Roberts and featured contributions from Bill Bryson.

Later in the day, we walked to 6 Nelson Villas which was a former home of Philip's parents. K surprised P&P as she had arranged with the current owner for the family to have a look around which brought back many memories. M&C then took the kids back to the hotel for a nap while the rest of us had tea and cake. That evening we had a great dinner at Café Rouge followed by a late drink in the hotel bar.

On Sunday, despite the continuing wet weather, we walked to Royal Victoria Park and the kids had a play. The train really started to come down so we took a bus back into the city and had afternoon tea at the Pump Rooms before heading for home again.

All in all our was a very enjoyable weekend. Bath is one of the most beautiful cities I've been to in the UK and I hope it won't be another 20 years before I'm back again.

Living Life on the Edge

K and I celebrated Martin's birthday this weekend by joining him on a pub crawl along the Lincoln Edge. For the uninitiated, the "edge" is the limestone hill that runs north/south through Lincoln.

We started at the Hare & Hounds in Fulbeck. This was a new pub for me and I really liked it. 17th century building which was very tastefully decorated. It certainly seems to be more about food than anything else but the beer (Cumberland Ale) was good and I'd like to go back for a meal sometime.

Next it was on to Leadenham for the Willoughby Arms and the George Hotel. Catastrophe! The Willoughby was closed with a "To Let" board displayed. It seems to be so difficult for pubs these days, so many closures. The George, happily, was open for business. It specialises in whiskies, with over 700 different varieties on offer. The lads all had a pint with a whisky chaser - it seemed rude not to. I had a pint of Goosey Gander and a Maker's Mark.

At this point our merry band was up to nine in number. Me, K, Martin, Char, Clint, Ted, Goldsy, Phil & Jon. We adjourned to the next pub, the Joiner's Arms in Welbourn. This was very quiet and a bit more rough and ready than our first two venues. I had another pint of Cumberland and we embarked on a game of Killer darts. I've never been much of a dartist and I was out pretty early but it was certainly fun and Ted was our eventual winner.

After Welbourn it was off to Wellingore and our first double pub village. The Red Lion was the first stop and it was dead. Only the TV, showing a film (!),was providing any atmosphere. Luckily, I was prepared for moments like this and had written a quiz. Never leave home without a quiz is my motto! So we had ten multiple choice questions all about the pubs and villages we were visiting. I kept another ten up my sleeve for later.

We quickly moved on to the Marquess of Granby. It's only about 40 yards up the road but it may as well be on a different planet. It was buzzing with people and music. We fell very lucky at this point, not only were they serving Doombar (one of my favourites), but they were also offering an all-you-can-eat curry buffet for £9 per head. What's not to like about that? After several drinks and no food it really hit the spot.

The next stop was the Lion & Royal in Navenby. It was heaving! There were probably as many people in there as the previous five pubs combined. The reason was the live music that was on, the band was playing covers of some classic rock tunes. I seem to remember songs by The Clash and The Undertones but I could be wrong - I often am where music is concerned. what I'm sure of is that I had another pint of Doombar and that the drummer was wearing a t-shirt showing Animal from the Muppets.

Final call for the night was the King's Head, Navenby. I was flagging by this point so I passed on the ale and had a couple of orange juices instead. The birthday boy was still going strong and managed to polish of a couple of Drambuies, but not before setting light to them! We completed the other ten quiz questions here. Ted had left by this point so Phil finished off his answer sheet, and a good team effort it turned out to be as they won by two clear points.

It was then home with a certain giddiness. Our designated driver, Charlotte, had been brilliant. It's not easy putting up with drunken shenanigans when you're stone cold sober but she never once told us to behave.

What a great night. Roll on "Life on the Edge 2014".

I'm in love with my new phone

Had my new phone for a week or so now. Have to say I'm absolutely loving it and its rarely out of my sticky mitt!

If you want a big format smart phone then please check out the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. The "S Pen" makes writing stuff (for example this blog post) so easy.

Please look after this bear...

Watch "Paddington bear - Opening titles." on YouTube

Seem to remember Clint and I singing this in the pub last night.

l think it had something to do with Jon's duffel coat.

mmmm beer....

There are seven pubs that have been in every CAMRA Good Beer Guide since it started in 1974. We've decided to tick them all off this year.

In January K and I went to the Roscoe Head in Liverpool with Richard and Jen. Then, over our Olympic weekend in London, we found time for the Star Tavern, Belgravia and the Buckingham Arms, Westminster.

Today, we're in the Queens Head, Newton near Cambridge. That leaves us with three to go. We're going to try to tick off the Square & Compass, Worth Matravers (Dorset) and the New Inn, Kilmington (Devon) when we go to Dartmouth in October so that will leave just one.

I need an excuse to go to Netherton in Northumberland so I can visit the Star Inn. I feel a random day trip coming on...

London 2012

Just finished watching women's basketball in the Olympic Park.

Turkey beat Angola and then Croatia put up a strong but ultimately fruitless fight against the USA.

Then watched the Murray brothers lose to a pair of Austrian chancers. That was on a massive screen by the river running through the park. A nice lady from British Airways gave us a Union Flag rug to sit on. That's going straight up in the window when we get home.

Now enjoying an early evening bevvy, still in the park, just watching the world go by (have seen Ewan Thomas btw).

Portugal - Friday

Last full day in the sunshine :-( and we've spent it doing nothing :-) although we've been very busy doing nothing.

We started with breakfast on the terrace then followed it up with a 'triathlon' of snooker, tennis and swimming. We'd worked up an appetite so that meant some lunch (on the terrace again) and then an afternoon of reading and sleeping by the pool. I've now finished all three of the books I brought with me.

Now having a glass of wine while we get ready to go out for dinner in Vilamoura.

Portugal - Thursday

Today we headed East for the first time and visited the historic town of Tavira. We had a drink in the a cafe which made Fawlty Towers look organised. Three times we had to ask for some milk for K's tea - by the time we got it, the tea was almost cold. We were watching other tables and everyone else was also getting the same exceptional service - we just laughed about it... and didn't tip!

Tavira itself was very pretty and the castle offered some terrific views of the town; as well as a shady flower garden that K enjoyed photographing.

After Tavira, we headed along the coast to Santa Luzia and then Pedras d'El Rei. SL was a sleepy place but very pretty, we had a walk along the front then sat on a bench warming our bones. In Pedras, we walked out to and island nature reserve called Ilha de Tavira - it was very pretty and peaceful. The marshy land reminded us of a hot version of Blakeney!

Dinner was in the hotel restaurant with a drink in the bar afterwards. I don't know whether it's the big meals, or the heat, or the fresh air, or a combination of all three but we're done in by the time we go to bed. Lucky we can lie in!

Portugal - Wednesday

We're relaxing around the hotel today, just finishing our breakfast on the terrace. Later we've got tennis, gym, snooker and swimming lined up! Last night I did 1km in the pool - my toes are starting to web.

Yesterday, we were in the mountains around Foia and Monchique. We just got up there before the clouds obscured the immense view. The rest of the sky was cloudless but there were a couple just covering the mountain peak.

Service round here has been fantastic. You expect it in the Hilton but it's across the board; everyone seems super-friendly and eager to please.

It's the end of the world as they knew it

This the view east from Cabo de Sao Vicente (Cape St Vincent) which is the southwestern point of mainland Europe. It's very bleak and windswept and deserves it's Portuguese nickname 'Fim do Mundo'.

Ola Portugal

Flight was very good. Jet2 seem to be slight less 'budget' that CryinAir or DifficultJet. Car rental company not so impressive, I won't be using GoldCar again but you live and learn.
Drive to the hotel only took about half an hour and we found it very easily. The Hilton is massive! Five pools, four restaurants, umpteen bars, gym, spa, snooker, tennis, golf simulator, the works. It's very quiet as the season hasn't started properly yet.
We ate in the main restaurant last night and it was delicious. Keren's already found a Portuguese dry white that she's partial to so it's all good.
We're having a quiet day today exploring the local area.

Bye bye to Blighty (for a week)

At East Mids waiting for our flight to the sun. Just had a very unsatisfying meatball panini, it was £4. If I wasn't in holiday mode I'd be kicking off! They've had a very lucky escape.

Happy birthday Richard!

Enjoying a selection of mini desserts in the Hilton Liverpool.

Sunshine and sea birds

Glorious weather today, we had a lazy morning (again!) before driving to Cley-next-the-Sea and doing the walk that we wanted to do on K's birthday.

It was a six mile circle via Wiveton and Blakeney. There were hundreds on sea birds on the marshes, I'm no expert but I think we saw a Curlew and a Little Egret amongst many others. Will need to get Philip to check the photos to be sure though.

We had a pint in The George at Cley before heading back to the cottage. Have just come back from another excellent dinner at Balthazar and now finishing the evening with a few hands of knockout whist.

Very sad to be going home tomorrow - we've really enjoyed our cottage in Norfolk.

A Broad on the Broads

Yesterday was K's birthday, her choice was to walk from Cley to Blakeney and back but the weather had other ideas so we reverted to plan B.
Kicked off the birthday celebrations with Bucks Fizz and a full EB, then took time looking around all the little shops in Holt (while dodging the showers). It stands apart from most places in it's lack of national chain stores. With the exception of Spar and a couple of banks, they're all independants. Later on we had our best meal of the holiday at a mediterranean bistro called Balthazar.
Today we've been sampling different modes of transport. We drove to Aylsham for a look round and a cuppa; then took a narrow gauge steam train for the 40 minute ride along the Bure valley to Wroxham.
Wroxham's known as the 'Gateway to the Broads' so we decided to have lunch on the river and hired a little boat. Weather stayed dry but a little chilly. We're currently back on the train, steaming towards Aylsham. Can't believe that tomorrow is our last full day ;-(

Fish, Chips & Drizzle

Not such good weather today but we're English so we carry on regardless.

Drove to Weybourne, deposited the car the walked along the Norfolk Coast Path to Sheringham. It was about 5 miles of beautiful clifftop views - when the clouds lifted.

Sheringham provided us with a hearty lunch of fish and chips in Dave's Cafe. Suitably sated, we got the bus to Cromer where the rain really started coming down properly. We adjourned to a seafront shelter and spent half an hour reading our books until the rain abated. Got the bus from Cromer back to the car and we're currently sat in The Ship having a swift one before dinner.