Monday, September 18, 2006

Long weekend

I played hostess to Chris this weekend. Which is only fair as he let me stay at the seaside for the week earlier this summer. Work kindly gave me a half day and I raced home to tidy up in his honour. Not that he was likely to notice, or think that it was especially tidy, but I assure you Chris that the fact there was visible floor space equates to tidyness in our house. It is really that bad, mainly due to the fact my mother is a hoarder!

Chris and I went to the Horse and Groom on the Friday night. The Groom, as my friends and I call it, is one of the nicer pubs in Westbury. It also has a small brewery attached, brewing real ale such as Early Daze and Bitham Blonde. Chris was disappointed that the Westbury Ales were off that night, but we settled down with a pint of Copper ale for him and Hertfordshire perry for me. The perry was lovely and complex to taste, almost like a sweet white wine at first, follwed by a creamy after taste. I was reliably informed that the Copper ale was similar to London Pride.

On the Saturday, we cadged a lift to Bath with my parents. The afternoon started with a round of adventure golf in the Royal Victoria Park. I won by one point, though I feel that was fluke as Chris was clearly of a higher standard than I. There was general mosey - ing around shops, purchasing of foreign currency for our upcoming trip to Amsterdam, and coffee and frozen beverages in coffeeshops. All very nice.

Six pm found us outside Bottelino's, a magic cave of an Italian restaurant. From the outside it looks little more than a charming shop front. Inside you are greeted by high ceilings and walls painted navy blue. These are complemented by white mouldings and decorations and huge mirrors. Our waiter was clearly the the 'daddy' of the establishment, and even though we struggled with his strong accent, his recommendations were excellent.

We shared a plate of Antipasto misto and garlic bread to start. This included prawns, hard boiled eggs, mozzerella, olives, salad greens, deep fried mushrooms and mozzerella and salami. All very simply served, but just the right amount for two. This could also be said for one of the mains! Both my mozzerella stuffed aubergines and Chris's pasta marinara could have easily served two. I am not ashamed to say that I did not clear my plate, or rather trough!

The lovely atmosphere in the restaurant meant we lingered rather longer than we ought, and had to run through town for our next adventure. Bizarre Bath is a walking comedy tour of the city. The standard adult price is £7, with student concessions being £5. Let me tell you now, I'd easily pay much more. I laughed and laughed and oohed and wondered. It was a mix of straight standup, magic tricks, local themed humour and some very small bits of history, and I loved it. Any future guests of mine will being going on this too. I won't go into too much more detail so as not to spoil it for anyone else but take my advice and give it a go.

Sunday saw me waking Chris up and making him walk a total of 5 miles, first up a hill and then down. I am a cruel hostess eh? We walked up Westbury's only landmark beside the cement work's chimney, the White Horse. Highlights included picnicing whilst gazing at the view, cider lollies, and Chris finally getting his pint of Early Daze on the walk home. :-)

3 comments:

Alexander Segall said...

Sarah Louise Parry said...

Alexander Segall said...