Tag Archives: Europe

Cambridge Beer Festival.. this time with pictures!

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After 2 days of loitering around and getting in for free, yesterday Luke and I finally got some work at the beer festival – and work we did. We started at about 2pm and worked through til nearly 10pm. We started off on the mead and wine counter, then did some glass washing, then when the festival reopened at 5 we were back to the mead counter but then Luke was taken away to serve beer after a bit.

The indoor area before opening. Over 200 ales on tap.

I had a great time with my lovely manager (actually the deputy but the real manager never showed up while I was there) Jo who was really friendly and thoughtful and organised. At the end of the night I told her what a great manager she’d been and she looked shocked ‘Really? What did I do?’ but it’s hard to put into words just how good it is working for someone who isn’t a raging ego maniac, a control-freak micro-manager or useless hippy – like half the people I’ve worked for at Rainbow (an Australian festival).

Working on the mead counter was very enjoyable. My knowledge of mead has gone from zero to better-than-most in one day. I tried nearly all the meads we sold. They ranged from very light to dark and there was a Christmas mead, which tasted exactly like Christmas, if Christmas was made of honey. There was also a blackcurrant mead, which wasn’t bad. We also sold perhaps 10 wines, all made in the UK. I didn’t even know wines could be made in this sort of climate.

The mead selection with the tiny wine (all English) fridges below. Uncorking wine was my least favourite job.

I think our stall was different to most, in that nearly everyone who came up hadn’t tried mead before and wanted advice. This was a bit daunting as I didn’t know anything, but all people really want is to try a couple and decide for themselves. Quite a lot of people were shocked or disgusted by how sweet it is and made funny faces, particularly a group of Japanese people.

A pork pie and a cheese plate. There was a terrific selection of cheeses – sadly not all were put out simultaneously. I’m still waiting to try a scotch egg. Toni – tried a Wensleydale with cranberries. Delicious!

I’ve saved up my tokens that we get for working and bought a few more in order to acquire a couple of bottles of mead for myself. I think there’ll be one to send home (at least!) and one to have here when a bunch of us get together in Edinburgh in July.

Clonakilty

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My computer is having a heart attack, so the long and detailed post I’ve written on Dublin will have to wait, along with the long and detailed post about our weekend in London with Rowan and Kerry. Instead, here’s our adventures in Clonakilty and a few photos.

Look at that weather!

Our plans for Ireland had been pretty loose. I’d wanted to see what Mum wanted to do before putting too much work into research and so we left Dublin with a idea of seeing some gardens and the Waterford Crystal factory on the south coast.

We left Dublin Thursday morning, stopping only to fill up with petrol and let a pigeon poo on Luke’s head (tee hee!). I wish I had photos but you’ll just have to imagine his look of dismay.

The drive south was pretty dull – the view from motorways is rarely good and I wished we’d had time for some shunpiking (my new favourite word – it means avoiding major roads) as our drive through Wales had already proven that back roads get the best views.

We found the Waterford factory pretty easily and had lunch in their sparkly-chandeliered cafe. Probably the best chandeliers in any cafe in Ireland, unsurprisingly. The showroom, where you wait for the tour, was like an art gallery of glass. Lots of pretty things but I couldn’t help thinking that, much like sea shells, when you take these things out of their natural environment (in this case a dazzling black and white room) they just look tacky and accumulate dust.

The tour was pretty good – definitely worth doing if you’re in that part of the world. They take you through the actual factory and you get to peer at the workmen close up, like gorillas at the zoo.

Mum, looking like she’s accepting an award.

We saw the moulding, glass blowing, cutting and etching and some incredible examples of what can be done with glass. We got to hold some huuuuuge trophies and one guy even got to smash a large imperfect bowl – the glass all goes back into the melting pot. One of the other guides ran up and said ‘not that one!’ just as it smashed, which was quite funny. Even the guides seemed to find it funny and they probably heard it 20 times a day. Although causing people to look momentarily terrified would be the highlight of my day too, if I had the power. Which I do because I’m a teacher. Hrm.

Me, actually accepting an award. For writing this blog, obviously. No idea how they found out, but I’m not one to turn down several kilos of lead crystal. Thanks Waterford!

Anyhoo, we then headed along the coast. We’d though to go to Blarney but the day was getting on and we wanted to get out of the car so we headed to our accommodation in Clonakilty, a cute-as-a-postcard seaside town. I’d booked a night at An Sugan guesthouse, which had a bar and seafood restaurant. The rooms were unexpectedly delightful and so was the hobbit-esque bartender who had the most theatrical way of talking I’ve ever come across. He was extremely entertaining to watch and listen to. In fact we liked the place so much we decided to stay two nights.

The next morning we enjoyed the best breakfast I’ve had since Bangkok (why have I not thought to put smoked salmon in scrambled eggs before?) and then headed to Garinish Island, which is accessible only by boat. No one mentioned that we’d see dozens of seals sunning themselves on rocks on the way out – so adorable! We rushed to the sides of the boat to take photos. Speaking of photos, we’ve been extremely lucky with the weather here and we had some brilliant blue skies and sunshine on this day.

I look like I’m freezing but I wasn’t. Much.

Garinish Island enjoys a warm, almost mediterranean micro-climate due to the gulf stream and so they grow plants there that would not survive in the rest of Ireland. The gardens are about one hundred years old and they are lovely but slightly overgrown. The views from the island are gorgeous but I think the boat ride was my favourite part.

About as cute as something can get when it’s shaped like a slug.

Next we stopped at Bantry House, a grand building in which we saw rooms preserved as they had been a long time ago. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside but some of the rooms were quite incredible… and in some cases incredibly garish. Follow this link to see what I mean. Check out the painting frames at the back of the room.

We drove back to Clonakilty and had a drink in An Sugan but decided we couldn’t stand the music being played and walked up the street to look for somewhere more lively. Luke had read about another pub in town that looked interesting so we headed there. De Barra is actually a very well-known pub as it not only has quite outstanding decor (walls covered in music memorabilia and a hall full of masks from around the world) but links to, of all people, Jimi Hendrix, as one of his guitarists was from Clonakilty.

Mum got chatting to a guy at the bar and got some tips on places to visit the next day and then we headed back for dinner at An Sugan. I tell you, Ireland has been good for my tastebuds but not my thighs. The food has been fantastic everywhere. The last couple of days we’ve been good – eating two meals a day instead of three to make up for the enormous breakfasts we’ve been having. Hopefully it’s helping!

Our guesthouse.

We’ve traveled back to Dublin today. We’d originally thought to travel around the south and circle back through the middle of the country but there’s not been enough time. We did stop in Cashel on the recommendation of The Man In The Pub. There’s a castle/religious ruin there in the midst of being rebuilt. It’s a lovely site with great views and we arrived in time for the tour. We stuck with the tour until Mum started to lose feeling in her fingers due to the cold. As long as you’re in the sun and out of the wind it’s beautiful here but the castle was just too exposed. Even the people who lived there centuries ago often moved into town after a while.

Back in Dublin we checked into our accommodation (same place as last time) and walked down the road to the Guiness Storehouse, a temple devoted to beer.

Old on the outside but almost distressingly modern within, most of the building is a multiple level display about every facet of beer manufacture you can imagine. Models of the ships that transported Guiness, old footage of the barrels being made, even a 3 metre high wooden sculpture of a pint of Guiness that had symbology carved into and screens behind it playing a short film on how the sculpture was created. You could pour your own pint, which Luke did. I used to work in a pub in Birmingham so I didn’t feel the need. You got a free pint with your ticket but Mum and I gave ours away. The bar at the top of the 7 floor building had a great view of Dublin but then we were done and headed to a much quieter pub for a couple of drinks and some dinner.

The pub we ended up at is the oldest in Ireland – built in 1198. dates like that confuse my antipodean brain. How can any functioning building be that old? And serve such good food? We had Guiness and steak stew in a giant yorkshire pudding.

Well played, Ireland. Well played.

Tomorrow it’s an epic journey back to Cambridge, which wasn’t terribly well planned since it’s also Mum’s 69th birthday. We’ll find something nice to do during the week… maybe back for some more chicken and camembert pie at the Golden Ball!

Embarrassing Confessions of the Financial Kind.

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But first..

The view from a bridge over the river Cam.

Yesterday Luke and I caught the bus into Cambridge (we’re in a little suburb that’s out along a freeway) and our first stop was a camping store to find an OS map. Now, even though Luke assures me that there is barely a handful of people in this world who are as interested in maps as I am, I’m going to explain that an OS map is an Ordnance Survey map. They were created by the army to help defend England in the 18th century by accurately mapping the south of England.

And when the army said they were going to ‘accurately map’ they didn’t muck around. OS maps are incredible. They have *everything*. They show every dirt track that is open to the public, small groups of trees (and differentiate between coniferous and non coniferous) and buildings, four kinds of rocky ground, about 30 types or buildings… it’s amazing and incredibly useful.

Not to mention hilarious.

One of the things I like most about England is that there are public footpaths pretty much everywhere. In Australia you just wouldn’t think to walk across fields (usually because there’s barbed wire to negotiate, deadly animals,  it’d take all day and there’s cars for goodness sake) but here it’s only a kilometre or two to the next village and the most direct route is through a farm, between two fields, past the pond and up a lane. It helps that it’s just so darn pretty too.

England is made for walking. Later in our visit I’m hoping to tick something off my bucket list by walking across England via Hadrian’s Wall, 80 miles of scenic countryside where Scotland and England meet. We’re going to cheat slightly and use a porter company that takes our bags from hotel to hotel while we do the walking in between. Pretty much my ideal way to get around.

But back to yesterday. We bought two OS maps, one for Cambridge and the other for Bar Hill and decided, since it was starting to rain, to head along the river to the Green Dragon a couple of kilometres away. The Green Dragon is a wattle and daub building that has been a hotel since medieval times. When I first moved to Cambridge Andrew and I lived just around the corner from it. They used to do the most epic Sunday roasts you could possibly imagine but the menu is a lot more generic these days and their lawn down to the river was being dug up by a gas company. A shame, but it was a nice walk anyhow and lunch was cheap.

We walked back into town and did some shopping before catching the bus back to Bar Hill. I’d promised to make chilli for dinner so we bought ingredients and also a phone card to finally solve our bank issues. Feel free to skip the next bit unless you’re fascinated by tales of ineptitude. Anyone who knows what I’m like with money will not be in the least surprised.

Before we left Australia we decided that we’d deal with our finances in the following way:

  1. Cash: we’d spend from a shared pool of money. This has worked pretty well since we’re eating, traveling and staying together all the time. Much, much easier than splitting every single meal and hotel etc. I took out $1000 AUD each in baht, euros, pounds and US dollars before we left and Luke paid me for half or it. Then when we need to top up we get out cash in turns.
  2. Cards: I have three cards –  one 28 Degrees credit card that has no international fees and no interest if paid off within the month, and my regular NAB credit and debit cards. Luke has a 28 Degrees credit card, another credit card and a travel card.
  3. I’d record all our spending in my diary. So far we’ve written down nearly every cent we’ve spent but I haven’t yet tallied it all up yet. Our first 9 days in Thailand came to $120 a day each and we stayed in a 5 star resort for most of it, so not a bad effort.
  4. Budgeting: we are aiming for an average of $100 (not including flights) a day.

Our only issue so far has been with our cards. It takes 3 days for any money moved to Luke’s travel card to show up so we’ve had to plan ahead and keep an eye on when it’s getting low. The travel card has been our main source of extra cash because (to no one’s surprise, particularly my own) I’ve lost my debit card somewhere along the way and don’t have the pin numbers for my other two credit cards (yes. I know). To explain (sort of), I pretty much exclusively use my debit card or cash when I’m at home and only use my credit card online and, somehow, the need for a pin didn’t occur to me until we left. Luke (much more surprisingly since he is actually good with money and keeping track of stuff like that) also didn’t have the pin for his credit card.

On top of all this we had the added problem of sms id on my accounts, which means I can’t transfer large amounts of money without a code that is sent to my Australian phone number, and Luke’s bank changing their operations in a manner that was difficult to resolve from overseas and caused him to be unable to access one of his accounts.

So, between our stupidity and banks changing their rules we’ve been mildly inconvenienced and we couldn’t sort it out until we got to the UK because we were either out of phone range or didn’t know where to get international calling cards. Luke has an international sim in his phone but the rates are extortionate and there was no way we wanted to be several dollars a minute to be kept on hold for god knows how long.

To cut an extremely long and boring story slightly shorter, we bought a phone card that is a few pence a minute to Australia and we called our banks and sorted everything out. At no point have we been without money, and we have been able to use our cards to buy tickets and pay for hotels and meals so it’s been ok, I just prefer to have as many options as possible when it comes to paying for things.

I suppose the lesson in all this is that it’s good to have multiple cards and multiple accounts just in case and it’s good to travel with someone who makes up for what you lack.

Cambridge

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I lived in Cambridge in 2002 and coming back has been a trip down the proverbial memory lane. We haven’t actually been into town yet and I’m curious to discover how sharp my memories of the place are. Just being with Andrew and the whole Englishness of the suburb he’s living in is almost like déjà vu.

Last night we went to a lovely country pub owned by Andrew’s former boss and met up with a bunch of his workmates, quite a few of whom I’d met years ago. It was like a window into what life would have been like if I’d stayed. If the food at the pub was anything to go by I’d definitely be a lot fatter. Chicken, camembert and cranberry pie – so good!

The pub was called The Golden Ball and it was everything a pub should be. Lots of wood paneling and red carpet, a fire was going and there was the constant hum of conversation. There were even little pots of original edition Trivial Pursuit cards on each table. Sitting there, with a group of nice, funny people my age was just so comfortable.

We stayed til nearly midnight then Andrew decided to leave his car and a friend of his, Andrea, kindly gave us a lift home. We fell (gently) onto our air mattresses and had a solid night’s sleep.

….ooo000ooo….

This morning we walked back to the pub to pick up Andrew’s car. It was a beautiful hour or so’s walk through the countryside. We saw horses, a prize winning village and many daffodils. We couldn’t help but remark on how much better it was than walking in Slovakia, what with the easily-identifiable path and signposts and the general lack of snakes.

We decided to stop back into the pub for a quick drink and then drove into Cambridge where it was raining then sunny then raining then sunny and altogether quite like Melbourne. Everything looked pretty much as I remembered it. Including the hordes of people clogging the footpaths.

Luke got a long-overdue haircut, Andrew and I bought lollies at the market and then repaired to a charming, old-school pub for drinks. I found two ciders on tap that I hadn’t tried before and had a half pint of each before Luke came back.

 

We went for a wander around the city centre and now we’re back home at Andrew’s thinking about what to have for dinner and what our plans are going to be for the next week. Everything hinges on hearing back from Matt and whether we’ll have a car or not.