Back in the frame

I’m looking forward to my return to work tomorrow, which comes exactly two weeks after my recent surgery. I’ve been following the consultant’s advice to listen to my body and ease myself into things gradually and have been going out for a walk on a daily basis. On Thursday I got behind the wheel of my car for the first time since the op, and headed out on a couple of errands. There were "no dramas," as the Aussies would say, and it was good to be back in the driving seat once more.

Later that afternoon, I took a walk down to the Nelson Arms, in order to meet up with a couple of friends. I hadn’t seen one of them for quite some time, as he lives overseas for part of the year, returning to the UK when the weather becomes unbearably hot in the part of the world where he resides. He is also moving away from Tonbridge, in order to buy a property on the south coast.

So with the catch-up arranged by our other friend, who lives locally, and several other friends and acquaintances of our south coast pal turning up to say their farewells and wish him well in his new abode, we ended up with quite a crowd of us in the Nelson. There was a good line-up of beers on the bar, with two offerings from Salisbury-based Hopback Brewery topping the bill. 

Hopback, of course, are best known for their Summer Lightning, a very pale coloured and heavily hopped beer, which was one of the first “Golden Ales” to grace the bar tops of the nation’s pubs. Nelson licensee, Matt, had gone one better, and rather than having Hopback’s best known beer on sale, substituted two other beers from the same brewery. These were Crop Circle – another pale beer, clean-tasting and very refreshing, whilst the other was Entire – a rich, dark stout, packed full of roast malt flavours.

Of course, I had to have a pint of each, interspersing them with a pint of Buxton Best. The latter was pleasant enough, but if I’m honest, not really in the same league as the two Hopback beers. The conversation and general banter was good, with the pub nice and busy for late afternoon-early evening. Amongst the clientele were two former customers of mine, from the days (16 years ago now), when I ran the Cask & Glass off-licence, in Tonbridge. It was encouraging to see that neither had lost their appreciation of good beer!

By this stage of the proceedings, I needed something to help soak up the beer, so after asking at the bar, and confirming that food was available from 6pm onwards, I ordered myself a “Ruby.” I’m sure I don’t need to explain the rhyming slang meaning of a “Ruby,” but there is a little twist involving the curries offered by the Nelson.

I remembered this from past meals at the pub, but for the uninitiated, the Nelson’s curries are not served with rice, but instead come in a bowl, with a large, side-helping of crisp, naan bread. I opted for the chicken curry. It might have been a Madras, as it was certainly hot enough, but more importantly, it was tasty and there was plenty of it.

As the session wore on, people slowly began to drift away. The second of the two friends whom I had originally arranged to meet up with, had to shoot over to Tunbridge Wells, or Rusthall to be precise, as the West Kent CAMRA social he had helped to organise, was taking place that evening, and his presence was required. The other friend also had to leave, to catch a train back to the flat he is currently renting on the south coast, as he waits for a completion date on his new property.

I sent son Matthew a text, as he had already kindly offered to come and pick me up. He happened to be close by, so as I hadn’t finished my beer, I thought I’d better buy one for my chauffeur. Matt went for a pint of Paulaner Helles from Munich, whilst I also squeezed in a quick half of N.I.P.A. (Northiam Imperial Pale Ale), from Rother Valley Brewery. The latter company are based at Northiam, on the Kent-Sussex border, and brew a diverse range of interesting, traditional ales, that are available throughout West Kent and East Sussex. They will be celebrating their 30^th anniversary next year, so must be doing something right.

The N.I.P.A. was certainly in fine form and was a good beer to be finishing on, especially on a hot evening. My enforced lay-off from drinking hadn’t dented my enthusiasm, and despite knocking back four excellent pints of southern England’s finest, I felt right as rain the following morning.

 

Olden is pure golden, and the scenery takes some beating too!

Just when you thought we had finished with posts about cruising, up pops another one. This one highlights the spectacular beauty of the Norwegian fjords, and it was a desire to experience some of this amazing scenery that led to Mrs PBT’s and I choosing a cruise to Norway in the first place.

It’s not until you look at a detailed map of Norway’s lengthy western coastline, that you realise just how rugged and deeply indented, the shoreline is in these parts, and the narrow inlets of the ocean, between the cliffs, are known throughout the world as fjords. They were formed at the end of the last Ice Age, when the glaciers began to retreat, allowing the sea to fill in the remaining space. There are over 1,100 fjords in Norway, and they are famous the world over for their stunning natural beauty.

The summer months, between May and September are the best times to experience the fjords, as the long days are ideal for sightseeing. This applies equally, when viewed from a boat or on one of the various excursion stops on the mainland. In addition, due to the warming influence of the Gulf Stream, the Norwegian fjords experience a mild climate, and remain virtually ice-free, all year round.  Despite their contorted and rugged appearance, the fjords are home to many small communities, some of which are quite isolated. This means that travel by boat is often the easiest way to get around.

We visited the towns of Ǻlesund and Stavanger, along with the port-city of Bergen – the second largest city in Norway, after the capital, Oslo. Most of these settlements weren’t that far inland, although the approach in and out of Bergen was nothing short of spectacular, but the place I want to describe in more detail, is the tiny cruise port of Olden, which was the third place we visited in Norway.

Situated deep within the Nordfjord, Olden is a sleepy little village that is just a 10-minute walk away from the quay where the cruise ships dock. We enjoyed a scenic, early morning voyage into Olden, noticing on the way the snow that was still present on the tops of the mountains. Despite the bright sunshine, there was a distinct chill in the air, so much so that we both thought that a fleece would be a good idea.

We stepped ashore mid-morning, well aware that apart from the spectacular scenery, there wasn’t that much to do in Olden Cruise Port. That wasn’t quite true, as a number of shore-based excursions were available – either pre-booked, or just turn up on the day. We were content though, to just have a wander around, visit one of the souvenir shops, and then grab a coffee at the small, quayside restaurant; or better still have a beer!

Despite our earlier concerns about the low temperatures, it was surprisingly warm onshore; a situation no doubt helped by Olden’s position at the head of the fjord and sheltered by the surrounding hills and mountains. We headed off along the road, in what I thought was the direction of the village, but once again having failed to procure a map, we ended up going in the wrong direction. Eventually this dawned on me, although I didn’t say so to Eileen, and instead we just retraced our footsteps back towards the quayside where our ship was moored. We then dived into the larger of the two souvenir shops, where I bought a T- shirt, plus a bottle opener for Matthew. I’m not certain what Mrs PBT’s purchased, although it was probably some type of fashion accessory, but by then, thirst has got the better of me.

We crossed the road, to the Molla Guesthouse, located in a former mill overlooking the fjord. The building is also home to the local tourist information centre, as well as acting as the booking centre for various independent activities. We had left it a little late, but I rather fancied the trip to the foot of the Briksdal Glacier. The latter is the most accessible offshoot of the giant Jostedalsbreen, the largest glacier in Europe.      

Promising myself to be better organised in future, I went and ordered our drinks from the outside stall, whilst Eileen found a seat. Coffee wasn’t a problem, but a beer was, as the keg had just run out. The lady running the bar, called inside for assistance, and a colleague came rushing out with a replacement, but as luck would have it, the first couple of pints poured, came out looking decidedly murky.

Despite not wishing to sour Anglo-Norwegian relations, I was about to ask the lady to keep pouring until the line cleared, but fortunately she’d reached the same conclusion and eventually I was presented with a reasonably clear, but by no means bright pint. Whilst this was going on, I’d asked whether the beer was a local one, and she assured me that it was, despite it being dispensed into a glass badged as Rignes Pilsner – definitely NOT a local brewery!

Whatever its origin, the beer was cool and refreshing, which was most welcome in the, by now, rather warm sunshine. The small outside beer garden was a quite a suntrap too, dispelling any thoughts of us being too cold, and we enjoyed our drinks whilst chatting to a couple of Americans, who, like us, had just got off the boat. I have the drinks’ bill somewhere, and to my mind at least, it wasn’t too dear. It certainly dispelled conceptions that Norway was ultra-expensive.

We returned to the Queen Mary 2 for lunch, given that food onboard was all-inclusive, and later that afternoon, we watched our lengthy departure from Olden, from one of the upper decks. A smaller, Fred Olsen cruise ship was anchored a short distance off shore. The QM2 had either beaten this vessel to the mooring, or pulled rank because of her size, but we watched with interest as passengers wishing to leave the smaller vessel were ferried ashore by means of a tender.

Our ship slowly manoeuvred towards more open water, and then from the comfort of the balcony outside our cabin, we were treated to some spectacular scenery, as the captain followed the convoluted route of the fjord, as it slowly made its way towards the sea. Leaving Olden, it’s easy to see how the power of glaciers has, over thousands of years, scoured and shaped the landscape, leaving behind the fjords, glacial lakes and waterfalls that are an essential part of the imagery of Norway.

For me, the flat-bottomed, steep-walled, U-shaped valleys, carved by the glaciers, were classic features, straight out of a school geography text book. I could relate these back to a school geography field trip to North Wales, where we had studied the effects of glaciation on the local landscape, and the wide, flat bottom, “hanging valleys” left behind when the ice sheets eventually retreated. Seeing this, on a much grander scale, really bought home to me the power and awesomeness of nature, and even Mrs PBT’s, who is normally one for the shops and the bright lights, could not failed to be overawed by this spectacular landscape.

Given the, at times, forbidding nature of the landscape, there was a surprising number of houses and small farms in place. Some were shoreline settlements, but the farms, often high up in the hills, reminded me of Alpine practices, where the cattle are sent out to graze the high pastures in summer, before being rounded up and returned to lower ground before the onset of winter. Again, these images were straight out of that geography textbook, proof that I did pay attention in class – at least some of the time!

So as not to miss any of this spectacular scenery, Eileen contacted room service, and we enjoyed a rather good Thai Red Curry, from the comfort of our balcony, without missing any of the views. I cracked open a couple of the cans of Pilsner Urquell, that I had brought on board with me at Southampton, and they were a very fitting accompaniment to the curry.

As we moved towards the ocean, in a mainly westerly direction, the mountains slowly became hills, and the land generally became flatter. After eventually reaching open water, the pilot who had been guiding our vessel through these twisting and winding channels, was dropped off, and the captain then turned the ship towards the south, towards Bergen, our final port of call in Norway.

We didn’t reach this thriving city, surrounded by both mountains and the sea, until the following morning, and that joy of waking up and finding oneself in a different place, is one of the real pleasures of cruising. With Norway ticked off – but only until next time, we left Bergen later that afternoon. We headed back to Hamburg, where there is one final installment of the cruise for me to tell you about, and that was the excursion made to the lovely little, medieval town of Lüneburg. So, until next time, it's Auf Wiedersehen!

A new look

On a day of record temperatures, and the promise of even higher levels tomorrow, it’s been a day of staying indoors, with the windows open and the curtains closed, in an attempt to keep cool. I did venture out for a short walk, first thing this morning, before the mercury climbed too high, but traffic levels were considerably down from what they normally have been at 9am on a Monday morning,

I only walked as far as the post box, at the end of the next road, but it was sufficient to bring me out in a sweat. I have been walking as much as possible, following my discharge from hospital to both aid my recovery and restore fitness levels to where they were, before surgery, and it’s hard to imagine that it’s only a fortnight ago that I hiked those nine miles along the North Downs Way.

On the other hand, it’s only a week since the operation, and with each passing day I am feeling that little bit better, and that extra bit stronger. My final thought, before getting on to the main topic of this post, is how grateful I am that the procedure took place last Monday, rather than today!

The topic, which should be immediately apparent to regular readers of the blog, is the new, simplified and quite pastoral theme I have adopted. Better laid out, easier to read as well as easy on the eye, It’s been more than a few years since I last tinkered with the appearance of the blog, and as anyone who has followed these pages since the beginning (14 years ago) will know, I have experimented with a number of different themes and layouts over the years.

Blogger – Google’s dedicated blogging platform, make it incredibly easy to make these changes, and in fact they are all achieved at the click of the mouse. What’s more, you can “try before you buy,” so to speak, except there’s no buying involved, and if for any reason, you are not happy with your choice, you can either revert back to the previous theme, or try again with a different one.

Of course, there are choices of different themes on other blogging platforms, such as WordPress, and this applies to both the more popular WordPress.com version and the self-hosted WordPress.org variant. I know this from the experience I had with my now defunct, Paul’s Beer Travels website, but with the latter there were probably far too many options, and too much choice isn’t always a good thing.

Somewhat ironically, Bluehost – the company I chose to host my website, emailed me today with an offer to have “my site built by a pro.” Under different circumstances, such as having significantly more free time, I might be tempted to explore their offer, but the wisest course would be to “park” their offer, and come back to it, should things change in the future.

That’s it then, for the time being  at least, but do let me know what you think of the “new look” blog.

Enthusing over cruising

Once the tugs had manoeuvred us out from our berth we had an interesting voyage out of Hamburg on the Queen Mary 2. This was on the third morning of our recent cruise, but unfortunately I didn't get to see the first section of the 80 mile journey along the Elbe river, and towards the sea. I didn’t know I would be missing something special, and it was only after meeting up with Mrs PBT’s after our individual breakfasts, that I learned I hadn't seen the best part of the river. This was because as our boat let go of the tug lines, and we slipped into the mainstream of the river, I had left Eileen in the cabin, getting stuck into her cooked breakfast – courtesy of room service.

She’d enjoyed breakfast in the room every morning except the last, and that was only because it wasn’t available for those departing the ship that day. She’s been a fan of “room service” for as long as I’ve known her, but I’ve always preferred the slightly more formal option in any hotel or B&B, of going down to the dining room, and enjoying my breakfast in the company of other guests. Apart from the odd acknowledgement, I don’t normally chat much to other guests, as most people are a bit bleary-eyed in the morning, it’s just that I like getting away from the bedroom and breaking my fast in different, and rather more ordered surroundings.

So that Wednesday morning, I headed for the ship's Britannia Restaurant, to enjoy a “silver service" breakfast.  This wasn’t because I like being “posh,” or showing off, but largely because Scottish kippers were on the menu but, as I soon discovered, the excellence of the kippers, and indeed the experience itself, was soured by the company I was seated with in the restaurant. The two old reactionary duffers, and their rather dull, nodding wives, were, I would guess, a decade or so older than me, and seemed determined to share their negative views on an array of varying subjects, amongst anyone within earshot. Number one on their list of bête noires, was the Germans, and their former chancellor, Angela Merkel. This didn’t really seem the wisest of moves, given that German nationals made up at lease half of the passengers on board, but perhaps that was their intention from the start.

They then moved on to slag off Tony Blair, even though he’s not been involved in UK politics, for a decade and a half. Blair was blamed for what they saw as the folly of granting university places to all 18 year olds who wanted them, irrespective of whether there was a job for then, at the end of it. There may have been a grain of truth in their argument, but it was the way they put it across that annoyed me. It was like the Monty Python sketch with the “Three Yorkshire-men.” “We had it tough, growing up, but try telling that to the youth of today!” One individual said that his children had gone out and found themselves proper jobs, rather doing some “airy-fairy” degree, such as English Literature. I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to nod, or even clap in approval, but he’d obviously obtained this story from one of the more rabid MSM publications. I remember noticing a headline, along similar lines, a few days before.

The final and most contentious point was brought to the conversation by the same individual, who was definitely the more vociferous of the two. I don’t know where he picked this one up from, or what facts there were, if any,  behind it, but the story revolved around what he saw as the “Conspiracy to take us back into the EU.” If only, I thought, but the pair were getting into the realms of fantasy, by this stage, and to engage with them further, would have been a complete waste of time. I was on holiday with the aim of relaxing, pampering and enjoying myself – hence the kippers. I certainly didn’t want to get involved with a couple of silly old duffers, who came across as fully paid-up members of UKIP!

The breakfast experience was saved by the excellence of the food, plus the other guest - a 90 year old American from Massachusetts. Thankfully, this fellow traveller had no interest in UK politics, and despite his age, seemed a person determined to enjoy life to the full. He said he was heading off to the gym as soon as he had finished his breakfast, something that put us all to shame, especially the other guests at the table. I didn’t let this poor experience put me off, as a few days later, and determined to experience another silver service breakfast, I returned to the restaurant, but this time I asked to be sat on my own.

For some reason I uttered the words, that I didn’t like the people I’d been placed with last time. Thinking this had sounded rather churlish, and also feeling slightly ashamed of myself, I tried excusing my behaviour by saying, “That sounds rather awful, doesn’t it?” To my surprise, the tall, slim, east-European maître d', who up until that moment had seemed rather aloof, broke into a smile, and answered, “Not at all. It is your holiday and you should be able to sit where you want and with people you feel at ease with!” She found me a convenient table, just for one, and I enjoyed another piscine breakfast, this time opting for smoked haddock, poached in milk, served up with plenty of toast. On the way out, I made a point of engaging this lady in conversation. She informed me that the food served up in the restaurant was exactly the same as that dished up in the buffet, a few decks above.

I mulled this over, but when I thought  about it further, I concluded that whilst this may have applied at breakfast, I am certain it didn’t hold true in the evenings, especially when it came to the posh, black tie, affairs that are a regular feature on cruise lines such as Cunard and P&O. I had reached this opinion on the second night of the cruise, when Eileen and I, got ourselves dressed up in order to attend one of these posh, gala evening dinners. As things turned out, it was the only such event we attended, but as the only extra items of  formal clothing I brought with me, were a business suit, plus a couple of shirts, not to have worn them didn't really affect me. The lady of the house had done the complete opposite, despite my gentle teasing, and brought more than a few formal dresses, plus accompanying shoes and other accessories. I even had to find space in my case for all this extra paraphernalia!

What I am hinting at is these formal evenings were really her idea, so after attending that initial one, I was somewhat surprised when she seemed less keen to go to any more. I wasn’t bothered and ironically enough her reluctance centered on the rather dull company we were placed with. For the third cruise in a row, we were allocated the first sitting, which starts at 6pm. This was despite a request on out booking form for the later 8.15pm sitting. The earlier time can be quite rushed, with restaurant staff anxious to ensure all three courses are served, consumed, and the plates cleared away, before the guests are ushered out, and tables made ready for the second sitting.

The real issue, and here I could see where Eileen was coming from, was again the company, as hinted above. As well as allocating first or second sitting, the cruise line allocate customers with a table number, and whilst in certain situations this can be altered, people are largely expected to stick with their allocation. So if, like us, you get lumbered with Mr & Mrs Personality, you are pretty much stuck. Tables in the Britannia Restaurant are laid out with six places, but on that first night there was just one other couple. 

Without wishing to sound too judgemental, this husband and wife team really weren’t our types. The wife was pleasant enough, in a rather too sincere way. She was painfully thin and claimed to affected by all manner of bizarre food allergies. Her husband was just obnoxious – aloof, indifferent and seemingly intent on contradicting everything his poor wife said in a manner that was both condescending and belittling. We both felt for this lady, as the situation was rather embarrassing, so when Mrs PBT’s declined my hints about attending a further event, I was more than a little relieved. I must end by saying that the food, on the other hand, was something else. My main course of poached chicken was so tasty and tender, it just melted in my mouth,  and  the white chocolate mousse dessert was also right up there with the finest of cuisine.

So it was the Kings Court Buffet for the rest of the cruise, with the occasional pub lunch at the Golden Lion pub for a bit of variety. That wasn’t quite the end though of our flirtation with the Britannia Restaurant, as early one afternoon, after becoming a little disoriented, we accidentally found ourselves in said restaurant after deciding to take a short cut. A waiter approached us, and asked if we wanted a table, before pressing a menu into our hands. He explained that no formal dress code applied at lunchtime, so after a quick glance at the food offering, we agreed to stop there for lunch. We enjoyed a really nice slice of steak and ale pie, topped with puff pastry and served with mash potato and peas. With ice cream for dessert, followed by coffee, we enjoyed the whole silver service experience, without the formality of a stuffy dress code, and also with just ourselves for company, rather than being seated next to a freak show.

For the majority of the cruise, the buffet was fine with food offerings of the highest quality, laid out in front of you. There was a changing variety of dishes served up on a daily basis, with Indian, Far Eastern, Italian, and one evening, even German cuisine served up, alongside familiar staples from home, such as roast meats, casseroles, pies, and fish & chips. All incredibly tempting, and all too far too easy to end up eating far more than is good for you, that is except we didn’t! Things have changed in the buffet section since Covid came on the scene, and the days of cruisers piling as much food as possible onto their plates, have thankfully gone. 

Rather than customers helping themselves, food is instead ladled onto your plate, which you offer up beneath a protective Perspex cover, after indicating which dishes and/or sides you want. This does mean the provision of additional staff from the cruise company’s point of view, but it prevents people from breathing, or even coughing over the food! Portion size is thus, far better controlled, although if there is a dish you really fancy, you can ask for a little extra. At a guess, I would say the cost of the additional dining room staff is offset against the phenomenal amounts of food that used to get wasted, by greedy people, all with eyes bigger than their bellies!

It still holds that you will never starve on a cruise ship, and never go hungry. In fact, you can normally find something and somewhere to eat, throughout waking hours and probably well into the night as well, and if this still fails, follow my wife’s lead, and dial up room service! Whilst this all sounds like a good thing, please be aware there is a real danger of piling on the pounds, although without wishing to sound too smug, I can report that Mrs PBT’s and I didn’t! If anything, we lost a few pounds, despite enjoying three square meals, every day. 

We put this down to the aforementioned portion control, alongside choosing healthy options, some of the time, but not on every occasion - we were, after all on holiday. In addition, there is a fair amount of walking involved on a ship, especially if you take the stairs rather then the lift. A brisk stroll around the promenade deck will also help burn off some of those additional calories, with three lap’s equivalent to 1.1 miles, and two equating to 1.1 kilometres. It’s probably a load of baloney to say that all those lungfuls of fresh sea air, helps shift the additional calories, but even if they don’t, they make you feel good, as well as tiring you out, in a good sort of way.

I’ve probably said more than enough, not just about the food options available on a cruise ship, but have also given you an insight into the people and situations you want to avoid. Don’t forget, that as well as acting like a floating hotel that provides your food and lodging, your ship is also your means of transport, capable of taking you to a different destination every day – even if that is sometimes, just another position on an ocean chart. For both Mrs PBT’s and I, there is nothing more exciting than pulling back the curtains each morning, and finding ourselves in a new, different and exciting destination.