Our Local Pub

August 30, 2026 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

In my last post I mentioned the great value entertainment versus the effort input that I get from our visits to our local pub, The Hog At Horsley. We have visited on Friday evenings and most Sunday afternoons in August as per our normal routine and I have continued to attend men’s Talk Club there on Tuesday evenings. Our quiz team also won the monthly pub quiz this month despite the specialist round being cat breeds about which my knowledge has moved from minimal to something.

In addition, there have also been a couple of special events to enliven our mainly sunny August.

As last year, the landlord at our local pub, together with his recently married wife, organised a pub crawl for charity. The charity benefitting from our walking, drinking and fund raising this year was Alzheimer’s Research UK. Thanks to some exuberant charity bucket proffering by the landlord and his brother, over £1,500 was gathered – even more than last year.

Kicking Off The Charity Pub Crawl - 10.30am At The Hog — *^{Kicking Off The Charity Pub Crawl – 10.30am At The Hog}*

The event started and finished – for those who lasted the full distance – at The Hog and encompassed visits to 10 other pubs along a journey of about 11 miles. It was a hot, sunny day so we certainly needed the ‘hydration’ on the way but I know my limits and I ducked out after 8 stops.

Pub Crawl Vistas And A Walking (And Very Warm) Shark — Some Pubs On The Way

I certainly got my steps in for the day, met a few new acquaintances and had a few interesting chats. I even had a pint at Kings Head, in Kingscourt which I had never been to before. It was a full and fun day.

As I write, the August Bank Holiday Weekend Hogfest (one of two Hogfests each year) is in full swing. I have started to sample some of the 50 beers and ciders on offer. I don’t plan to work my way through the list but I’ll focus on my favourites like those from The Kernel Brewery and other IPAs. There’s music and pop-up food vendors on offer and plenty of conversation to be had with fellow locals; all good vibes although an unfortunately timed break in the long hot spell and a few prolonged, heavy showers will undoubtedly dampen the usual ebullience.

Running a rural pub in the face of rising taxes (business rates for The Hog doubled this year) and operational costs such as bar staff wages and power to keep the beer cool is a constant struggle. I therefore hope that Hogfest is a success despite the weather. The village needs a thriving pub. It’s a hub for the community, gossip and business contact. But we have to ‘use it or lose it!’

Other retiree preoccupations beyond the pub in August have been the start of the football season, preparing a planning application for solar panels on our ex-stables roof, and clearing our small field of cut grass.

The New Lawn, Forest Green Rovers' Current Stadium — *^{The New Lawn, Forest Green Rovers’ Current Stadium}*

Forest Green Rovers, the football team I support, have lost their last two games without scoring so we are clearly not going to be tearing up trees this season. Whatever the result, I enjoy the process of preparing for games, watching them and then talking about them. This process carries a lot of tension and frustration which sometimes feels a bit daft given it’s only a game, but it’s one of my great pleasures nonetheless.

Trying to get planning permission for solar panels on our stables roof has been a lot less fun! We now realise that we should have just gone ahead and installed them and faced any consequences later, but I wanted to follow due process and do the right thing. Now I’m caught up in all sorts of technicalities that are outside my comfort zone. Not engaging an expensive professional was probably another mistake I made given the hours I have probably wasted.

The Walk From The Local Planning Department - The Only Upside To The Planning Process — *^{The Walk Back From The Local Planning Department – The Only Upside To The Planning Process}*

Raking up cut hay, weeds and wildflowers in our field after having it cut by a professional has been more satisfying. It’s the sort of repetitive, lightly physical task that I like. There is a lot of mindlessness but also some relaxed thinking time. More than I would like of that time has been taken up with tortured thoughts about Forest Green Rovers’ recent, poor performances and my planning permission frustrations. Ultimately though, there is satisfaction in looking back at a cleared field with little stacks of hay. Now the only question is what to do with all of those – I need a new compost heap!

Our Cut Field — *^{Our Satisfyingly Cut And Raked Field}*

Summer has been pretty good. The need to water the vegetables during the drought was a minor downside to the weather. All else about the persistence of sunny and warm/hot days was fine by me. Hopefully, we are now looking forward to prolonging our summer with a trip to the French and Italian Riviera. I’ll miss our local pub while we are away but think our drinking habits might be a little more exotic for a while.

Value: Home and Away

August 2, 2026 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

My life in retirement is one of pleasant routine interrupted – maybe I should even say disrupted – by occasional events. I get up at about the same time every day and have one of two breakfasts every morning; either fruit and yogurt with a bit of nut butter or, on days following the purchase of the best local sourdough (currently Leola in my opinion), bread or toast with homemade jam or Marmite. Lovely!

When at home, I have the same lunch every day; crunchy salad with feta and toasted seeds. Dinner is more varied since I only do about half the evening cooking and Jane, my wife, likes variety, but baked salmon filets or a two-day batch of dal are almost guaranteed by me each week.

*^{A View Near Ruskin Mill On The Walk To Nailsworth}*

After breakfast I do the 30 minute or so walk into the local town of Nailsworth for the day’s shopping and my, and a neighbour’s, newspaper. Jane can’t believe I’m happy to do this every day but there are about 8 different routes to take so this aspect of my routine does have variety.

*^{Another View On The Way To Nailsworth}*

There is also variety in the activities in late morning and the afternoon. These include regular but short periods of volunteering, gardening, administration of my simple affairs, more walking, reading about current affairs (and almost always snoozing for a bit during that) and, of course, occasionally writing this blog. Then at 5pm Jane and I, almost invariably, have tea and do the Guardian Quick Crossword together.

During the football season all this has to fit around Forest Green Rovers games (it’s so good to get back to proper football after the political and financial extravagances of the World Cup!)

After dinner, when there isn’t a Forest Green Rovers game, Jane and I watch streamed TV series. Usually, our mutual choice settles on European crime series in which there is a gory death in first few minutes (often followed by others) by a serial killer that needs to be found by a police man or woman with terrible personal issues. We are currently watching a Greek thriller of this ilk. At least the subtitles force us away from constantly looking at our mobile phones.

On Sunday’s and Friday evenings and on the monthly quiz night, we visit our local pub. (Incidentally, our Quiz Team insisted recently, and against my protests, on changing our longstanding team name to ‘Paul Hates Change’. Actually, I dislike the prospect of change rather than change itself but there was sufficient truth in the name that I couldn’t argue against the update.)

I think I’m gradually getting better at coping with the unexpected but I love sticking to all of my routine and our Friday evenings in the local pub are special. We go confident that there will be at least someone who we will meet and have a great conversation with; and the beer is great.

If We Don't To The Pub We Can Always Enjoy The View From Our Field's Seat — *^{If We Don’t Make It To The Pub, We Can Always Enjoy The View Of The Route To It}*

I bumped into one of my best local friends earlier this week to ask if, he was going to be in the pub on the coming Friday. He said yes and pointed out that of all the activities we undertake, going to the pub for the informal meeting of a few locals provides one of the best ratios in terms of effort input and value returned. I agreed and his summation got me thinking….

Over the last several years, Jane has made our garden wonderful. Despite the lack of rain over the last couple of months, it has matured and is still full of colour and insect wildlife. It is a pleasure to sit in with a glass of wine on sunny evenings. Of course, we lack the chat and gossip of pub-goers but Jane and I celebrated our 41^st wedding anniversary last week (rest assured that my daily routine was pretty much unchanged that day!) so we have plenty of shared history, offspring and other stuff to talk about. Perhaps this garden lounging is the lowest energy input activity matched against considerable value.

We recently went to the RHS Badminton Flower Show. It was great that such a prestigious flower show was just down the road from us this year. It was good too that we got there as it opened and before the most intense crowds of visitors.

*^{Flowers And Gardens At The RHS Badminton Flower Show}*

The gardens and the flower and plant tents were inspiring. This was especially true of the extensive show garden by Tom Stuart-Smith that was a reflection of the garden he had designed with Julia Rausing at Lasborough Park (which, in another outing and break from the routine, we had visited last month).

Tom Stuart-Smith's Garden At The RHS Flower Show — *^{Tom Stuart-Smith’s Garden At The RHS Flower Show}*

The show included a themed garden by a garden designer who lives in our village which made me feel good. But it was very hot and became increasingly crowded and, after a couple of hours, I’d had enough. It was a break from routine and I know I should do more to get variety into life. However, Jane’s garden feels as good as the individual show gardens at Badminton, its cheaper and easier to get to and a lot less crowded!

Jane's Recently Renovated Potting Shed — *^{Jane’s Recently Renovated Potting Shed}*

One other recent break from routine which was very enjoyable was to meet up with Youngest Son and his wife in Oxford. They had been over from Belfast to attend a wedding the previous day. We met up for coffee and then a very pleasant and sunny lunch on the roof of the Ashmolean Museum. We checked out the famous exhibition of Egyptian mummies and other relics in the museum and then had a good walk together through the Jericho area and along the Oxford Canal.

*^{Views Of Oxford: Bodleian Library, University Church And Divinity School}*

Next month we are having a more complete break from the norm. We are off on a rail trip to France and Italy. That will definitely be high effort and cost input but, of course, the pleasures promise to be huge in return.

I enjoy holidays more than I did when I had the pressure of work at either end of them. Nonetheless, I’m increasingly thinking about how I will cope out of my home comfort zone. Will the trains run on time? What about climate change and wildfires? Given we are staying in a series of hotels, will we have to eat out all the time? How many pairs of socks and other items of clothing will I need to take? Where will we do our laundry? Can I watch the Forest Green Games that I’ll be missing online?

It’ll be fine I’m sure but I’m already looking forward to the first Friday after we return and a reunion with local mates in the pub over a proper English beer.

A Tough Month For Alcohol Targets

June 4, 2026 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

In 2005, when I was working hard, doing a lot of work-related socialising and then coming home at weekends to unwind, I started to plot the number of alcoholic drink-free days I was having. I’d read that one’s body (the liver especially) needed rests from alcohol to recover. I realised that I wasn’t managing those rests well and so started monitoring alcohol free days.

By 2017, when I retired, I had progressed from about a quarter of days being alcohol free to about a third. However, what I noticed after retirement was that, on the alcohol days, I was drinking more than I probably should. Guidelines had been issued by health bodies saying that 14 alcohol units per week was the approximate safe level of drinking. I felt that achieving that would be too ambitious but I started pairing the tracking of alcohol-free days with counting of alcohol units I drank each day.

By 2018 my target was to drink alcohol on no more than 50% of days each month and to restrict myself to 100 units of alcohol per month. That was much more than the guidelines but still challenging for me. My monitoring was helped by the MyDrinkaware App which helps calculate the units for each drink I consume. The advent of half-decent no-alcohol beers has also helped!

I have achieved both self-imposed targets since January 2021 and I’m pretty proud of that. However, even though my progress has plateaued, I am not inclined to push myself further.

It’s harder to achieve the targets in some months than in others. Months with 31 days mean I have to be alcohol free on 16 of those to achieve my target. Also, some months have more weekends than others and, despite retirement, the weekend is still when I tend to reach for wine and beer most frequently. Some months have Bank Holidays too. Plus, some months contain big celebrations or holidays. The May that has just passed was one such tough month.

May this year not only had its usual 31 days but there were two Bank Holidays, five weekends, my birthday and a brief holiday in Pembrokeshire to celebrate it, plus a ‘Hogfest’ beer festival at The Hog, Horsley, our village pub. I managed to achieve my targets but doing so was quite constraining in the last week of May and it got me thinking about whether I need to be so diligent.

The trouble is that the longer the period over which I have achieved the targets – over 5 years now – the more it seems a shame not to continue to meet them. As with all things, there is a balance to be struck. My physical health is almost all-important and all the evidence suggests that alcohol is bad for it; I’m lucky to have lived this long but I want to live healthily for longer. On the other hand, holidaying, socialising and relaxing with a glass of wine or chatting with mates in the local pub over a few beers is restful and, I think, healthy for the mind.

June, July and August are always challenging for me in terms of meeting my alcohol targets because it is often tempting to capitalise on the relatively sunny weather with a glass of wine in hand in the garden. But September is going to be the next really tough month for me. Then, we are off on a holiday in Europe where eating and drinking in cafes and restaurants will be a constant temptation – indeed, a requirement.

I’m determined that I will remember that the alcohol targets are self-imposed and are not incontrovertible. Maybe I’ll continue to meet them, but maybe short-term aims for a happy social life will get in the way.

Edinburgh Highlights: Eating, Drinking

March 3, 2026 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

Continuing the highlights of our month long stay in Edinburgh…… here the best of ways we found to sustain ourselves between our sightseeing.

Dinners

Restaurants in Edinburgh are worthy of a capital city; there is both high quality and diversity. The best are also very popular and we couldn’t get a suitable booking at a couple of the restaurants on our wish list. It seems from the evening restaurant experiences we did manage (in between more basic meals back at our rented accommodation) that the clientele is dominated by young professionals. It seems that either the cost-of-living crisis is a fiction for this group. Or perhaps they are spending their discretionary funds on the short-term pleasures of dining out rather than accumulating savings in the face of whatever jobs crisis Artificial Intelligence is promising to create for them.

Little Capo was my favourite evening dining experience. The food, especially the burrata, was excellent and our seating at the bar put us in the centre of a buzzing atmosphere. The service was excellent – friendly, attentive but not too quick.

A close second was a meal at Vinette. A tiny entrance led to a rather labyrinthine space where, again, the service was very good and at a very comfortable pace. Our table was somewhere between a corridor and a room and Jane had to spend the evening looking at a fridge of hanging beef which wasn’t ideal. However, the food was unusual (we didn’t choose the steaks) and very tasty.

Lunches

As we had when we visited Edinburgh for a month last year, we had lunch at The Port Of Leith Distillery. This held some nostalgia for us since, last year, coming to the bar in the distillery had been our first real outing together after Jane had broken her shoulder. It was interesting too to see the result of the demolition work we had a ring-side seat for last year. My lunch was excellent but Jane said hers was too tepid to be really enjoyable.

*^{View From Port of Leith Distillery: Last Year (Top) Versus This Year. Royal Yacht Britannia To The Right}*

Better for lunch and with an equally good view was Cafe Calton. This is on Calton Hill and is very popular with residents and tourists alike. We started with a shared, very tasty Scottish Rarebit and my chicken burger was very good with enough unusual touches to raise it above the ordinary. The efficient, smiling staff seemed to be having a good time and so did we.

I know I wanted to avoid a list but I have to mention Sunday lunches at Brown’s of Leith. This has only been open for a few months but it is already hugely popular. It was perfect for informal lunch with a large canteen style dining area with three or four pop-up type food and drink providers around the edge including seafood and pizza. We went twice and I will go again next time we are up.

Coffee and Wine

In my mind, Smith & Gertrude just trumped our old favourites from previous Edinburgh visits: Cairngorm, Toast and Spry Wine Bar and Ante Coffee. I thought that Ante had the best coffee but they gave it to me in a cup with no handle so I couldn’t drink it easily while it was as hot as I like without burning my fingers; style over function in my view.

Smith and Gertrude with its turntable playing classic vinyl, lovely cheese and wine selection. On one day, we dived in there as it opened at 4pm to have a swift glass of wine before picking up FG from nursery. The frisson of mischievousness on our part from being 10 minutes later than usual in picking him up was memorable.

Pubs

One of our longer walks took us through the residential area of Trinity which is full of 18^th and 19^th century villas and solidly built terraced houses. Just beyond, was the Firth of Forth and The Starbank Inn which provided a view of the sea and good food and beer.

The Firth of Forth Outside The Starbank Inn. Gloomy Day But Nice To See The Sea! — *^{The Firth of Forth Outside The Starbank Inn. Rather A Gloomy Day But Nice To See The Sea!}*

Although it was just over the road from where we were staying, we only managed to get into Teuchters Bar & Bunker, the scene of my rather unfortunate seating failure during last year’s visit, once.

Because Teuchters majors on the rugby I called upon the outstanding knowledge of Eldest Son’s parents-in-law for suggestions for a venue to watch an Arsenal football game with Youngest Son (he’s a big Arsenal fan) on a rainy Sunday night. They came up with Platform 5 which turned out to be perfect; a sports bar with a telly showing the Arsenal game in a sea of screens showing the (Glasgow) Rangers versus (Edinburgh) Hearts game in front of dozens of energised Scottish football fans. The atmosphere was great, the cheering was raucous, broken glass was on the floor, the bar staff were working flat out and Arsenal won (but Hearts lost); great evening!

As usual, Edinburgh had much to offer. There is still a lot that we have left to do there – I’ve still not been to a music concert there for example. We love it.

*^{Sunset Over Edinburgh And The End Of Our Stay}*

Betwixtmas in Belfast

January 4, 2026 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

The period between Christmas Day and New Years Eve appears to have a new name (new for me, anyway): Betwixtmas. These few days at the end of December can feel like a strange little lull. Christmas Day is such a climax of social interaction, celebration, eating and drinking. Then, although we no longer stay up to see the New Year in, the advent of a New Year is another cause for celebration and new hope. The days in between often feel calm but can also feel like filler.

Until quite late in my career, I usually drifted into work or ‘worked from home’ to get peripheral tasks done without using up precious holiday allowances. Because so many colleagues were out of the office for the holiday period, I could often get a surprising amount done. Later, I tended to take time off to chill out after Christmas away from London. Now I’m retired, there are even more options to relax into Betwixtmas.

This year we were lucky enough to be able to spend Betwixtmas in Belfast with Youngest Son (YS) and his wife. For us this year, Betwixtmas was busy and bright – certainly not ‘filler’. Our Belfast trip followed our first Boxing Day for nearly 40 years without any offspring. The uniqueness of that was tempered by a sunny walk, a very good lunch at a local and recently expanded pub (The Old Fleece), a brief visit to nearby friends and then an early night.

The weather in Belfast was very good for the time of year and the logistics of travel to get there worked. Once we were in Belfast, we had a really relaxed and great time.

^{Views From The Metropolitan Arts Centre, Belfast}

YS and his wife are a brilliant team. They are currently setting up a new osteopathy and Pilates business called Nellie Studio. This will be on a floor of a Victorian warehouse in East Belfast that they are renovating. They have grappled with the treacle of having to obtain planning permission and building regulations control for the listed building and are now pressing the letting agent and builders to get the space ready for income generating osteopathy treatments and Pilates workouts. Observing the way they are working together to achieve all of this was inspiring.

Billie Studio's Osteopathay Treatment Room Taking Shape — Screenshot

^{Billie Studio’s Osteopathy Treatment Room Taking Shape}

In between dashing across Belfast to source curtain poles and extra wood flooring, while we babysat their dog, YS and his wife entertained us with films and sport in their cosy lounge, trips to excellent restaurants and walks in surprisingly sunny weather. For me, the only blemish to Betwixtmas was that Forest Green Rovers (the football team I support rather too obsessively) failed to win either of the televised games in the period.

*^{Dog (Reggie) Sitting With A Very Relaxed Dog}*

Belfast is a significantly smaller city than Bristol or Edinburgh where our other sons live. However, it is developing quickly as the Northern Ireland Troubles gradually recede into history. Young entrepreneurs appear to be establishing new independent businesses and there is already a busy and excellent café, restaurant and bar scene. There are far fewer of these than in, say, Edinburgh; but how many does one need? Belfast has enough and is developing further between each of our visits.

Breakfasts are particularly well done. Cultura again stood out for me as the most outstanding breakfast but we also had a great brunch at DRIP and the best coffee was at Established which has long been one of our favourite breakfast haunts.

On an outing to the south of Belfast, we visited Fodder in the Woods for a burger lunch and then wandered around the associated gift and food shops and Finnebrogue Woods. It seems that, well beyond Belfast, young businesses are starting up everywhere.

*^{Fodder In The Woods And Finnebrogue Loch}*

We also had a treat of a dinner at the new Capparelli at the Mill restaurant that has been established by one of Yotam Ottolenghi’s ex-chefs. It is in a lovely building that has been expanded imaginatively and lovingly. The service and food were outstanding and I can’t wait to go again.

Capparelli Mill — *^{The Approach To Capparelli At The Mill}*

We ate very well throughout our stay. YS, his wife and her mother all produced great home cooking for us on successive evenings. We also visited a couple of pubs that we hadn’t been to before (The Jeggy Nettle, which had a lovely open fire, and Northern Lights, which had a range of twenty craft beers of the type I like). YS also gave us the first margaritas we could recall drinking – complete with salt around the top of the glass – all very innovative and special for us!

'Archer Fam' Chicken Pie By YS's Wife - Delicious! — *^{‘Archer Fam’ Chicken Pie By YS’s Wife – Delicious!}*

We squeezed some culture and some walks into the schedule. As on previous Belfast visits we strolled through the Botanic Gardens to the Ulster Museum.

Here, the exhibition on the origin and history of The Troubles is well put together and informative. We had seen this before but there is too much to absorb in any one visit and this time I focused on the videos spelling out origins of The Troubles. We have seen the excellent, recent TV series Say Nothing, Trespasses and (most of) Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland and the Ulster Museum provided another dimension to our understanding of the issues and the way they have been, at least partially, resolved.

*_{Collection OF Ceramics By Local Artists At The Ulster Museum}*

On our last morning, we popped into the Metropolitan Arts Centre (MAC) where there were exhibitions by William McKeown, Niamh Seana Meehan, Marie Hanlon & Rhona Clarke. Each one was diverting in their diverse ways and the building itself is interesting. I’m sure we will visit the Ulster Museum and the MAC again during future Belfast trips.

*^{Sea Skin By Niamh Seana Meehan At MAC}*

So, Betwixtmas was very successful for us this year. It came following a wonderful Christmas Day with Second Grandchild (SG), Middle Son (MS), his fiancée and her mother in Bristol. MS treated us to not only brunch but then a very tasty Christmas dinner of chicken, ham, pigs in blankets, stuffing and about six vegetable side dishes – my plate near overfloweth!

MS Was So Impressively In Control OF Chrismas Lunch (Ably Supported BY His Sous Chefs) That He Was Able To Take Us For a Walk Through St Werburghs, A Very Bohemian Part Of Bristol — ^{MS Was So Impressively In Control Of Christmas Lunch (Ably Supported By His Sous Chefs) That He Was Able To Take Us For a Walk Through St Werburghs, A Very Bohemian Part Of Bristol With Gaudi-esque Buildings}

Betwixtmas ends with New Year’s Eve. As we move past New Years Day and into the early days of the new year, there is a chance to think about hopes and resolutions for 2026. Maybe I’ll write about those New Year Resolutions later this month if I can sustain actually doing them for that long. Meanwhile, Happy New Year to all!

Great As It Is To Travel Away From Home, It Is Always Good To Come Back - Ruskin Mill In Winter Sun — ^{Great As It Is To Travel Away From Home, It Is Always Good To Come Back – Ruskin Mill In Winter Sun}

Birthday in Basel

May 8, 2025 / fgrtommo / 1 Comment

Unusually, my wife Jane picked up a copy of the Financial Times (FT) a couple of weekends ago. On Saturday’s, it’s a thick paper with a variety of sections – some more interesting than others. In the travel section, there was an article on Antwerp which we visited several years ago and, alongside that, an article on visiting Basel in Switzerland. Upon reading it, Jane suggested that we book a trip there the following weekend to mark my birthday. Within 20 minutes, we were booked into car parks, flights and a hotel and were set; retirement flexibility, a bit of money in the bank and the internet on our phones makes delivering on a whim so easy!

*^{View Of The Rhine on Our First Evening in Basel}*

We arrived late in the evening, checked in to our room and ventured out to a brasserie recommended in the FT article for something to eat. We chose simply – just a beer and a burger each – but were taken aback by the cost of restaurant food. Meal prices are about twice those in our part of the UK. It took us a couple of days to recalibrate our expectations as we picked up menus in a variety of places over the next few days. The food quality was excellent everywhere but the prices were eye opening.

Other aspects of the city break in Basel weren’t so expensive. Our hotel (Hotel Märthof) was very central, perfectly comfortable and decent value. The service there was exceptional and there were some useful addons, notably including the free BaselCard which all Basel hotels provide for overnight stays and which offers half price museum and gallery entry, and free public transport.

That last perk was very useful on our last afternoon in Basel when the weather was rainy, almost all the public buildings and bars were shut, and we found ourselves wanting to kill some time in comfort. We simply got the number Line 10 Tram, one of the longest tram rides in Europe and one of only five tram lines in Europe to span more than one country (in this case France and Switzerland). It was an interesting hour or so that enabled views of misty hills and nice, green French and Swiss countryside.

Our first full day in Basel was very sunny and warm. After substantial pastries at Bio Andreas, we walked a lot and got a feel for the old part of the town and beyond. We visited the Cathedral (Basler Münster) and took in our first daylight views of the Rhine that separates the two halves of the city.

*^{View From Basler Munster: Rhine, Bridges And Chestnut Trees (Which Were All Over The City)}*

The cathedral dominates much of the south bank of the Rhine but, inside, it is of a good scale. The extensive roof has pretty coloured tiles and, while the exterior walls are mainly red, inside the walls are a muted grey/brown colour. We both liked this colouring, the lighting and the simplicity of the interior. It was also clear even at this early stage of our trip that we were not going to be overwhelmed by crowds of other tourists; nice!

We walked on to the Tinguely Fountain which was an amusing array of mechanical, moving fountains and then to the nearby Offene Kirche Elisabethen. The nave of this church was (or at least seemed) taller than the cathedral and I loved the airiness and, again, the lighting.

*^{Tinguely Fountains (Created By Jean Tinguely In 1977)}*

Our hotel had a roof terrace and so we thought that we would try that out while the sun was shining. We enjoyed a couple of complimentary glasses of fruit infused water while perched over the market place, watching the market customers choose from the pricey but high-quality fare for sale and listening to the bells of the surrounding churches. This was all very relaxing but, with phones now recharged, we thought it time to find a bar.

*_{Panorama From Our Hotel Roof Terrace}*

Jane did a couple of searches on her phone and re-consulted the FT article. This led us over the main bridge to the north side of the city where we could see seating in front of hotels and bars on terraces leading down to the Rhine riverbank. These would have been fine I’m sure but we wanted something a little quieter and offbeat.

*^{View OF Basler Munster From The Main Bridge Across The Rhine}*

Jane found a description on her phone of a ‘quirky’ bar and, despite the significant distance to it, we set off west along the Rhine. The walk was delightful. It was initially between rows of lime trees with seating along the river on one side and some substantial houses on the other. Then the walk became indispersed with small pop-up bars and DJs with portable sound systems. Finally, past some rather run down industrial buildings and cranes, we came to Holzpark, an alternative cultural centre and play-space, and the quirky bar called Landestelle.

*^{Holz Park, Landestelle Bar and DJs Playing En Route}*

Landestelle was almost perfect for us. It was buzzy with interesting looking, local people but not crowded. The staff were friendly and the music choices were unusual but to our taste. The Rhine – already wide despite still about 1,000km from the sea – was right alongside. We watched huge barges slipping past and the sight of swimmers and divers on the far bank near modern offices and imposing factory chimneys. The only drawback for me was that the draft beer was so continental and lager-like – not the hoppy IPAs we have become used to in our local pub. Notwithstanding that, we felt as though we had found a lively but relatively undiscovered aspect of Basel. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the walk back to the hotel.

Our step count merited a nice dinner. Jane had already booked us in at the Volkshaus restaurant. The weather was still warm and sunny enough for us to eat outside in a charming courtyard under a canopy of heavily managed plane trees and next to a continuous tinkle of a fountain. I was braced for the price list by this time (and I wasn’t disappointed there!) but the asparagus soup and steak frites (with the steak covered innovatively in a tarragon sauce) was top notch.

*^{Volks Haus Restaurant: Courtyard Dining}*

Much of the rest of our time in Basel was spent indoors avoiding the increasingly heavy cloud then rain. However, we had planned for that and were very happy in the Kunstmuseum, with its very large collection of art from the 15^th century onwards, the Swiss Architecture Museum and, on the Monday when the rain was heaviest, Fondation Beyeler where there was an exceptional exhibition of paintings by artists’ works portraying the boreal forests around the Arctic. More on those visits, for those who are interested in art and architecture, in the next blog post.

We had a great break from our normal home routine whilst we were in Basel. Despite the impetuousness and short notice of our trip, Jane had done enough planning to make the trip full and thoroughly rewarding. I enjoyed especially the mix of good food (once I had adjusted to the price shock), relaxed drinking, friendly and helpful people, and the impressive galleries and museums we had time to visit. It was a very memorable birthday weekend.

Resolutions, Resolutions

January 3, 2024 / fgrtommo / 1 Comment

Jane and I celebrated New Year Eve in our local pub but, I’m afraid to say, were in bed by 10.30pm. Despite not lasting out the end of year festivities, the turn of the year does always seem to me to be a highlight and a chance to think afresh about the world, and our actions within it. What better time is there to check on past personal resolutions, set some new ones and think as hopefully as possible about what lies ahead.

My New Year resolutions have largely been the same from year to year and have revolved primarily around walking more, drinking less alcohol and managing my weight. I’ve done ok in hitting targets in these areas and am not inclined to tighten the targets here. I walk enough, my weight is stable and I enjoy drinking beer, wine and whiskey too much to reduce my intake to, for example, the “UK Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) low risk drinking guidelines, based on up-to-date scientific evidence”. I may regret that one day, but not yet.

_{Beyond My Normal Walking Routes – An Old Cemetery in Woodchester, Near Stroud}

Another of the New Year’s resolutions last year was to do more day tripping with Jane. The idea was to capitalise on the flexibility of my retirement and her limited working hours to decide at short notice, when the weather forecast was positive, to go on a short excursion. We did manage that a few times – a big success, for example, was our day trip very early in 2023 to Clevedon. But our joint resolve petered out so this New Year we have renewed it.

*^{The Severn Estuary – A Totally Different Landscape To That We Are Used To}*

Once again, we have started well. Already we have made it to Frampton on Severn, embarked on a walk along part of the Severn Estuary in squally weather, and dropped into The Bell at Frampton on Severn for a drink in a previously unvisited (by me at least) pub. Now we have to keep that up and I’m definitely counting our trip to Edinburgh this weekend in the tally.

*^{The Gloucester And Sharpness Canal, Frampton On Severn}*

As targeted, I did manage to read one more book in 2023 than the paltry total I managed in 2022. I want to read more novels and will especially focus on easy-reading crime and historical thrillers. It is unfortunate for my resolution target that the book I have just started is a sprawling 560 page novel (by Philippa Gregory) with a tiny typeface. However, it is exactly the sort of historical novel I tend to enjoy so I hope to up my reading pace.

I have added a few more New Year Resolutions to the usual set. One is to watch, and listen to, less ‘news’. Its depressing, I tend to talk over it with my views and critique, and listening to it at breakfast, at lunch, before dinner and then again before bed is repetitive and needless: stop!

I really need to get out in the garden more. There is always so much to do and the build-up of gardening tasks is one of the things that causes me anxiety while, once I get out there, gardening is one of the things that really relaxes me. It is also good exercise despite being challenging to my back. To compensate, I have added a resolution to stop talking about doing my routine back exercises and just do them.

There are a couple of others that will be harder to track. I want to do something a bit more creative but need to think harder about what sorts of things that might entail (watch this space – maybe….). Finally, I want to do a better job of satisfying my wife Jane’s frequent desire to have a coffee in town on the days we walk in together. Being stuck in my ways, I always prefer the very hot, strong coffee we make at home but I know Jane likes the sense of occasion having a cup in a café for a change.

In the interests of transparency, here is the full set of resolutions with 2023 performance against those carried forward. The key will be to stay healthy so their achievement is possible and hope the world doesn’t go to hell in a handbasket in the meantime.

Belfast Christmas

December 31, 2023December 31, 2023 / fgrtommo / 2 Comments

Christmas in Belfast started at a furious pace. Youngest Son (YS) picked us up from George Best City Airport and whisked us off to an Asian small-plates restaurant in the centre of town called Yugo. We had an early, swift and tasty dinner there before zooming off again to traditional Irish bar in the old docklands, The American Bar. Here, we met up with YS’s future parents-in-law and had a catch-up chat while staying well out of the way of the regulars who seemed very proprietorial about their seats at the bar.

Then we crossed the road to the Dockers Club for a gig by George Houston who was an excellent warm up act for Joshua Burnside. Both artists were amusing between the enlivening music and they both had songs with interesting lyrics.

It was a great venue; apparently the gig was sold out but it wasn’t too crowded. The acoustics were great. I could make out all the words of the songs as long as I didn’t stand behind the enthusiastic woman who thought she knew them all and thought we’d benefit from bellowing them out. Plus, the Guiness was creamy and proper. Seeing a gig in such a lively, functional venue was a real treat.

It was interesting to see YS and his fiancé bumping into several acquaintances and friends. Belfast is small compared to London where meeting up at a gig would be unlikely unless planned in advance. It is clear that YS’s partner has a huge network of friendships in Belfast through living in the city through her youth and, now, through her work as an osteopath and as a Pilates and yoga teacher. It is great to see how settled – and successful – they have become in Belfast.

It was late by the time we got back to their house and Reggie, their one-year-old dog was suffering cabin fever and then overexcitement as we walked in. Let’s just say he had an unsettled night of whining and moaning…. To be fair, he was very quiet on the other nights of our stay and he has settled down a lot since we last saw him in Spring. He no longer chews the furniture and stairs – though his history of this remains evident – and he is a very gentle dog whose only anxiety seems to be worry that everyone in his ‘family’ are close by. I’m looking forward to even more maturity by the next time we visit.

After that exciting first evening, the pace slowed and became very relaxing. YS loves a bit of technology and he has a huge telly with surround-sound in one room and a (pretty awesome) projector in another. That meant that while YS and I could watch football in one room, his partner and Jane could watch a stream of Christmas holiday movies in the other. The latter included Bernard and the Genie which we all watched. I hadn’t seen it since our sons were very young and was surprised that, amid the hilarity, some bits are amusingly inappropriate for the young.

We played games. YS won at HeckMeck as usual but Jane and I were dominant during my first exposure to Articulate! We had a hoot with that! I was less good at Jenga 😊

^{Ormeau’s Bread and Banjo Bakery – ExcellentAnd The Best We Have Found In Belfast So Far}

We ventured out to the independent shops in the local Ormeau area primarily to get some very good bread and bagels. Then, for the first time, we visited Lisburn Road, which also has an attractive range of shops, and picked up sherry and some interesting wine.

*^{Maven – A Cool Home Decoration Shop In Lisburn Road}*

I dipped out of some of the perusal of shops to walk through pleasant but wintery Ormeau Park. That enabled me to get exercise sufficient to enable conscience-free consumption later

*^{Carved In A Tree Stump With A Chainsaw By Hazy In Ormeau Park}*

On Christmas Eve we had a lovely walk along the Lagan River and into the woods near the Stanmillis Sluice Gates.

*^{Stranmillis Sluice Gate On The River Lagan}*

On Christmas Day we strolled through the Botanical Gardens and past the Queens University Sports Hall. There is a surprisingly large amount of interesting green space near to the dense but attractive residential housing of Ormeau – much needed with a dog as big and energetic as Reggie.

On Boxing Day, the weather was excellent in the morning and YS insisted that we fulfil what is becoming a tradition when we visit him in Belfast: a sunrise walk on a beach. Fortunately, its winter so the need to see the sunrise was less demanding on our sleep patterns than in the past.

*^{Just Before Sunrise – Helens Bay, Belfast}*

We went to Helen’s Bay and Crawfordsburn Country Park and it was empty and gorgeous.

*^{Helens Bay With Reggie At Full Pelt}*

Fortunately, especially early in our walk, there were few other dogwalkers. Reggie the dog is gradually becoming more manageable with other dogs but he is over-enthusiastic and provokes fuss and bother. Amusingly, when he gets into a tangle with another dog, YS and his fiancé’s strategy is to run away as fast as possible – not to ignore the problem, but to lure Reggie away promptly. It sort-of works and some other dog owners found it funny.

YS’s Partner’s Pictures Of Reggie At Helens Bay

Finally, it being Christmas and all, we ate and drank well. YS had bought a selection of excellent beers with strange names from Boundary Brewing.

On the food front, a highlight, of course, was the Christmas dinner itself which included YS’s terrific pigs-in-blankets. We also feasted on a huge selection of local cheese that had been provided by YS’s next door neighbours in gratitude for tolerance in the last 6 months while they built a very substantial extension on the back of their house. (Hopefully, one day, YS and his fiancé will be able to build an extension too!). Then, on our last night, YS’s fiancé made a delicious prawn and orzo dish that I will try out at home.

^{A Full Plate Of Christmas Dinner – Lucky Us!}

It was a lovely Christmas. Three years ago, Covid broke the mould of the succession of Christmas get-togethers with all of Jane’s family at our house. Then, two years ago, we decamped to the Isle of Skye for a small family Christmas with those sons and partners without a baby. Last year was a relatively small affair at our house with sons and partners that focused on First Grandchild as much as Christmas. And now we have done Belfast Christmas.

Next year the plan is to host at our house all three sons and their wives, partners and fiancés plus what will be two grandchildren by then. It’s only a plan but it is clear that the time for extended 15 to 20-strong family Christmas lunch has, passed for us and, now I have retired and have no work constraints, I can envisage that we may be even more innovative in Christmas location and composition in the future. Long may that continue. Lucky us. Happy New Year!

Last Day In Ghent

October 25, 2023 / fgrtommo / 1 Comment

On the morning of our second and last full day in Ghent, Jane and I set off north again to the Museum of Industry. The sun was already shining again, the temperature was pleasant and we seemed to be finding, together, a good pace and combination of visiting the sights of Ghent and of casually taking in its atmosphere.

Gent is a significant industrial centre and, it seems, has been so for centuries. The museum focused on Ghent’s history in textiles and printing.

*^{Museum of Industry, Ghent: An Original ‘Mule Jenny’ Brought to Belgium Illegally From The UK To Spawn The Textile Industry In Ghent}*

There were working machines and technical descriptions but what was even more interesting were the accounts of peoples lives as the city’s industry developed. These were presented among relevant artifacts through short videos that I found very informative. This was an excellent museum.

*^{Museum of Industry, Ghent Including Some Very Large Looms And A Lot Of Old But Operational Printing Equipment}*

Following a quick stop for a revitalising coffee and off-the-beaten-track people watching at Peaberry, we used our trusty ‘CityCard’ to embark on a guided boat ride around some of Ghent’s waterways. The sun helped make this a very pleasant and novel excursion. The boat also took Jane towards another linen store that had been recommended at the Museum of Industry.

While she sought out the linen she wanted and then sat in another bar, I went off to visit the Bijloke campus.

*^{Bijloke Campus: A Mix Of Old And New}*

This campus is a monastery and hospital founded in the 13th century that is now a collection of buildings of various vintages that include the Ghent City Museum and a concert hall. I spent longer in the City Museum than I had planned – I found it very interesting and its contents dovetailed nicely into what I had learnt in the Museum of Industry earlier in the day.

^{Inside Ghent City Museum: The Monastery Refectory and Cloister}

By the time I got back to Jane, I was ready for a beer and planning for the evening. Guess what? More beer and another burger!

This time we ate at the Artevelde brewery and I cleared another item off my Belgian bucket list: drinking a sample tray of beers. All of the beers was good and the accompanying burger, almost overwhelmed by chips, was one of the best we had while in Belgium.

We had a final beer in the rather luxurious bar in our hotel. This time we got free beer and snacks courtesy of the fact that we had eschewed a laundry change during our stay – apparently a small encouragement to eco-practices pursued by hotel management. That was a nice bonus to round off our stay.

On our final morning, Jane did a bit more shopping while I took a farewell look at Ghent from the top of the Ghent Belfry (Belfort). Once again, the presentation of information – once I had found the way in – was very good. I was glad that I went early in the day though, since the stairwell was not built for crowds!

Our journey back to Brussels and then London and then home was uneventful. There was plenty of time to contemplate a very good city-break holiday and how, after all these years of going on holiday together, Jane and I have both compromised to find, I think, a good balance between sight-seeing and chilling out in cafes and bars. We must plan another.

More Sun in Ghent

October 20, 2023 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

Following our day in Bruges, we had two full days in Ghent. As in Bruges, we spent quite a bit of time just walking the streets. However, there were churches, museums and galleries we wanted to see and, to facilitate that, we bought a pair of Ghent ‘CityCards’. Despite the significant up-front cost, these proved good value and reduced the hassle around ticket buying and queuing. Also, they encouraged us to venture into a couple of places that we might not have bothered with if an entrance fee had been required.

*^{Ghent Waterways: (Quite) Early Morning}*

First though, we had to fortify ourselves with breakfast. On our way to Bruges the previous day we had passed a café, STEK, that had looked promising and we made the first of what turned out to be two visits there. The breakfast was excellent – rivalling the brunch we had had the previous day in Bruges – and again I was sold on the inclusion of peanut butter in my banana crumble. I have been adding nut butter to my breakfasts at home ever since.

^{Lovely Belgian Breakfasts: Blackbird (Bruges) vs STEK (Ghent)}

Our first gallery visit in Ghent was to the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art Ghent (S.M.A.K.) to the south of the city. This was only established in 1999 and, frankly, the collection betrayed that. The gallery has some big rooms – all white as is usual for galleries of this type – but there wasn’t a huge amount on show. I enjoyed the peace and quite of the place but we didn’t stay long.

We strolled over the road to the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK). This holds a vastly more comprehensive collection than S.M.A.K. It’s collection represented art across several centuries, a solid coverage of Belgian art and a diverse set of artists from Hieronymus Bosch (who I always find interesting) to Rubens, Rodin and Magritte.

*^{St Bavos Cathedral – A Painting By Belgian, Pierre Francois de Noter at MSK}*

I was initially impressed by the incredibly well-preserved colours in the medieval religious works, then flagged a bit through the portrait rooms, before reviving as I moved into the galleries of more modern art. The gallery has been renovated recently and it was very comfortable, quiet and well laid out according to chronology but also thematically.

*^{A More Modern Belgian Painting – ‘Skeleton Looking At Chinoiseries’ By James Ensor}*

Having had our culture infusion for the day, Jane and I strolled back in increasing sunshine towards the centre. We popped into Saint Peter’s Abbey but were confused by the lack of things to see and took what turned out to be a wrong turn into the attractive, but unremarkable, adjacent gardens and vineyards. It turned out that these were open to the general public and we were now locked out of the Abbey. It was not the only time during our stay in Belgium that a combination of our lack of language skills and dubious signage confused our sight-seeing.

We found our way back to the Abbey entrance but since there was no exhibition on, we moved swiftly next door to Our Lady of St Peter’s Church. This was part of the original abbey complex which was one of the earliest settlements that ultimately became Ghent. It dates back to the 12th century and was rebuilt in a Baroque style in the 17th century. It was impressive inside and out.

*^{Inside Our Lady Of St Peter’s Church}*

The sun was well out by now and we continued a relaxed walk along the Ghent waterways, past the new and radically modern-looking library to St Bavo’s Cathedral.

As expected, the Cathedral was crowded with tourists most of whom were seeking a view of the famous Ghent Altarpiece which was completed in 1432 by the Van Eyck brothers.

The altarpiece has survived clandestine sales of some of its parts, thievery, war and religious uprisings. It has been restored in recent years – indeed, we saw part of this process during our visit to the Fine Arts Museum. It is now largely back in St Bavos and is a huge tourist attraction, including a virtual reality tour (which I opted out of).

^{Inside St Bavos (With The Ghent Altarpiece To The Right)}

While Jane sought out places to buy Belgian linen, I visited St Michael’s Church and St Nicholas’ Church. In the latter, there was an ongoing service so I didn’t loiter.

^{Our Hotel (1898 The Post) And St Nicholas Church From St Michael’s Bridge, Ghent (From a Similar Angle to The Painting By de Noter Above)}

St Michael’s Church was rather lovely – probably my favourite of the churches in Ghent that I saw. It is another very old church; it was started in 1440 but its tower was only completed in 1825. Its internal brickwork was beautiful in the dappled sunshine coming into the nave past nearby trees and, although ornate in parts, it felt slightly less polished and more homely than some of the other churches we had seen.

*^{Inside St Michael’s Church; Empty, Airy And Beautifully Sunlit}*

Whoa! It had been a very full, long morning. By now we were ready for something other than churches and galleries. Food and Belgian beer beckoned.

I spotted that the brewery for the beer I had drunk on our first night in Ghent, DOK, was open for food as well as drinks. It was at the northern end of the waterways surrounding the centre of the city and we set off in what was by now warm, continuous sun. As we approached the brewery, we passed Bar Broei, a rough and ready looking bar that nonetheless sold good, homemade snacks and excellent beer. We chilled out there very comfortably and with a very personable barman for a couple of hours.

*^{Bar Broei – Rough And Ready But Just What We Needed After A Long Morning Sight-seeing}*

We resumed our walk to Dok Brewery and discovered that it was in an industrial area surrounded by a variety of street food outlets busy with, it seemed, mainly local residents. This was perfect for us and we tucked into more beer and, of course, a beef burger.

*^{Dok Brewery: Vibrant Eating And Drinking Establishments}*

Such meat eating was becoming the norm. So were the early nights back at the hotel, first in the bar and then our room. We still had another day in Ghent to go.

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