Tag: food

Day 9 & 10 – Saturday & Sunday 18th & 19th May 2024 – Going home from our Cornish Staycation.

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We set off from Par at 9.00 am Saturday morning. We headed to Liskard and then through some wonderfully scenic villages and countryside onto the A38 passing over the Tamar Bridge at a cost of £2.60, towards Exeter and the M5.

We stopped in Kingsteignton, at my sisters, for coffee and cake. A very welcomed break. We were expecting the next section of our trip to be very busy, because the annual Devon County Show was on…..however we had a good run through, stopping at Westbury Station for our picnic lunch. John took a couple of train related photos.
We continued our trip to our overnight accommodation. We had decided to stay at The Schoolhouse Restaurant and Hotel. This quaint hotel is set in a Victorian building which is 2.8 miles from junction 16 of the M4, and 3 miles from Lydiard Park. It is an ideal stop off for dinner and accommodation enroute from Cornwall back to Bedford. The hotel is situated in Hook, a quiet hamlet surrounded by peaceful countryside between Swindon and Royal Wootton Bassett.

The former schoolhouse was built in 1859 and was the village school up-until 1965. In 1989 the School House Restaurant was expanded to include hotel accommodation. The restaurant seves it’s meals in the old school dining hall. A lot of the historical features were retained and these make it the quaint and quirky place it is today.

The Schoolhouse Hotel and restaurant are a small family run establishment . The first time we visited was in 2017, we were greeted by Fred, the dog, and Karen , while Tonny was in the kitchen preparing his delicious food. This time we visited and we were greeted warmly by Karen. Unfortunately Fred had passed away the week before, he will definitely be missed not just by Karen and Tonny, but also by returning visitors. Karen showed us to our rooms. Dad was in The Bedfordshire, whilst John and I were once again in The Eton. The rooms are a throw back to olden times in terms of furniture and decoration with all modern comforts such as tv, iron & board, kettle, USB ports etc.
Our evening meal was served in the old school dinning room.

The food which has a European influence, is cooked to perfection with your plate looking non fussy but very artistic. We each had a a main course and a desert.
My main course was Breast of duck served in a bacon and strawberry jus.

John had a beef bourguignon with rice.

Dad had Fillet of Pork with backed apple in an apple jus.

All were each served with a delightful side plate of perfectly cooked vegetables.

For dessert John and I both choose a sort of large spring roll stuffed with apple at each end and goats cheese in the middle….it was so yummy. Dad had a very tasty Bread and Butter pudding with custard……

Wow!!! it was a really lovely meal…if we lived nearer we would use this restaurant more regularly …a great place to enjoy really good food. We have eaten in Mitchelin Star restaurants on lots of occasions and the food at The Schoolhouse restaurant ranks as some of the best we’ve ever had……..if you’ve not been you need to go.

We retired to our rooms with the warm glow which comes when you know you’ve had a great meal. We all had a good nights sleep. Breakfast is served in the hotel entrance hall….the choice is varied to meet all tastes. We all went for The School House full breakfast…..bacon, sausages, 2 beautifully poached eggs, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, potatoes, black pudding and fried bread……I swapped my beans, black pudding and tomato for toast….wow ….we also had a 10/10 cup of coffee ( the first of the holiday !!) and some orange juice….

Shortly before 10am we waddled out to the car and headed for home. We had been going to stop for lunch but we were so stuffed from breakfast that we didn’t want to eat again.

What a great last night to our week in Cornwall……a lovely holiday …opps sorry I meant …staycation. Thank you John and Dad for yet another lovely week exploring our own country.

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Day 7 – Thursday 16th May 2024 – Par to Looe – Cornwall Staycation.

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We left the house, in a blaze of sunshine (Yeah!!!), at 10.15am in the car, I dropped John, Dad and Little Betty (dads little mobility scooter) at Par station, and went and parked up the side of The Royal pub. John got the tickets to Looe, he got a group ticket which worked out at £5.70 each…this was the cheapest way for us to travel in Cornwall….this was different than earlier in the week because then we were going across county bounties into Devon as well as Cornwall, so individual tickets were cheaper. John carried Little Betty over the bridge and we were soon on the train to Plymouth….3 stops later we were at Liskeard. We’d never really realised how many Rhododendrons there are lining the railway line as well as the little lanes in Cornwall. So the short trip was very colourful. We disembarked at Liskeard and walked across the road to platform 3 to catch the branch line to Looe. John managed to pull Little Betty very easily….it was her first time on a train so it was all a bit trail and error. We waited only a few minutes for the little two carriage train to arrive….

……it’s important to remember that if you prefer a forward facing seat start with your back facing down the line because after just 5 minutes it’s stops and the Train Manager puts a key in a junction box which instructs the signal department in Exeter to change the points. The driver walks from one end to the other and the train starts again going in the opposite direction so you are then facing forward. It is an entertaining trip, we saw a deer. A grass clearing, sheep, cows and calves. The train runs along the east side of the River Looe, which is tidal with lots of water bird life on the mudflats when the tides out.

Looe is a coastal town in south-east Cornwall, England, with a population of around 5,280. It is 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth and seven miles (11 km) south of Liskeard divided in two by the River Looe – East Looe and West Looe are connected by a bridge and the two town centre are separated by the harbour and quaysides of the river.

It is renown for its lovely Sandy beaches.
The train station is a short distance from the East Town Centre. Dad hoped on Little Betty and we were soon on our way.

We prefer the East Looe side and we weaved our way down the predominantly pedestrianised main high street. I stooped off at one of my favourite shops ‘Whistlefish’ to pick up a little something extra for my sisters birthday. It’s a lovely shop and I always call in to buy something, basically because it’s nice seeing shops like this survive in these hard times.
Looe remains a fishing town, and has retained a fish dealer operating from the East Looe quayside. It has a fleet of small fishing boats returning their catches to port daily, Looe has a reputation for procuring excellent fresh fish. The town is also a centre for shark fishing. When you walk along the quayside there are lots of adverts for fishing trips and boat trips, also lots of shops selling ‘crab lines’ and pople stood hanging their lines over the harbour edge. We crossed the road from Whistlefish to the dock side where the fish shop is. I purchased 3 dressed crabs for tomorrow nights supper…..I naively thought they would be cheaper than in our fish shop at home ….after all the ship offloads it’s catch here so there is no middle man or transport costs…but my husband says I don’t understand the basic rules of economic business so I was flabbergasted hat 3 crabs were £29.96…. Nearly £10 a crab…I hope they’ll be tasty !!!!!

We continued along the quay to the end where the Life boat house and shop is. Behind it is a lovely area with the Pier Cafe both an indoor and outdoor eatery. We chose to eat inside and all 3 of us had Fish Goujons chips, we had 2 Pepsi Max and an apple juice which cost is £52.00 …it was really fresh and had a lovely taste…a very nice meal.

After lunch we used the public toilets which were a very good standard and we sat enjoying 5he sun watching people swimming in the sea and playing on the sand.

We retraced our steps back to the station, stopping at one of the many cake shops to pick up a tasty morsel to go with our sandwich for supper.
We were quite impressed that Dad managed to get all around Looe on this little scooter, although the pavements are quite narrow he is a skilful driver and the pavements have drop down kerb’s in all the strategic crossing places. We were very pleased we had taken the scooter with us because by the time we got back to Par I had done nearly 7000 steps….far too many for these little legs!!!

A lovely day out in such a pretty, typically English seaside town.

Day 3 – Sunday 12th May 2024- Par, Cornish Staycation.

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Big shout out to Pendeen Holiday House….lovely comfy beds, windows which open to allow air in and heat out and a shower powerful enough to easily get shampoo out of hair!!!! The former and later are rarities in many holiday home rentals……so a great nights sleep and a slow leisurely breakfast. After which we drove around to Snowlands fishing lakes……we were walking down memory lane as John and I used to bring the motorhome/RV here. We had a nice walk around one of the lakes, seeing some Canadian goose goslings, late bluebells and lovely yellow irises.

We had already decided to have a slow day. So after our walk we dropped John at the Roselyn Bus garage so he could take some photos for his flicker transport site, and we nipped to the CoOp to get Dads paper and a small bag of sugar for his coffee, as I’d forgotten to order it. We drove on around to the St Blazey level crossing so John could take a photo of an unusual working….it was a little late but both Dad and John enjoyed seeing it.

Then it was time for the beach…..we parked up at Par beach and walked over the dunes onto the beach…it is always good seeing the sea and people enjoying the sand, sea, paddle boards etc makes you realise that Summer is well on its way…we’ve had 3 marvellous days of sun.

We stopped at the Cognitive Coffee bar in the beach car park……we all had Americano Coffees….unfortunately the warm brown water scored very lowly on our usual ‘how many out of 10’ coffee tasting….. Dad gave it a generous 4/10 and John gave it 1/10…I refused to be drawn because you can’t give a negative score !!!!! At £9.30 for 3 cups of dishwater we defiantly felt had!!
We had booked Sunday Lunch at The Welcome Inn in Par….it’s diagonally opposite to Pendeen House and we soon learnt that they are the owners of the Holiday Rental. I was delighted to see a whole array of ciders on tap…..I don’t usually drink but I occasionally have a nice cider and their Thatchers Gold Cider was delicious. We had a choice of 3 different roasts…Lamb, Turkey or Beef…we all opted for beef….Dad had what was called a small plate for £9.00 and John and I had Standard plates at £11.00……it was a real feast…I think I counted 10 different vegetables plus the meat, Yorkshire pudding and stuffing…..all beautifully cooked. Absolutely full to bursting we waddled back to the house for a lazy, sleepy afternoon and maybe a game of Rummikub later…if we can be bothered!!!

What a lovely relaxing day we have had ….more planned for tomorrow.

Day 21 – 25th February 2024- Sun, sea watching, pool and not a lot else.

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After a wonderful nights sleep, listening to the large waves rolling in we had a slow start to the day and meandered down to breakfast just after 9.00am. We selected a table at the edge of the deck closest to the sea.

I must say that although breakfast was very pleasant it was slightly under par compared to Sea World Botique. We were offered either a plate of fruit or a fruit juice, we’ve been having both since we arrived in Sri Lanka. The plate of fruit was nice and today it included half a passion fruit along with a small banana, pineapple, papaya and a rather dry quarter of a tangerine type fruit. This was followed by toast and the usual jelly type jam and a small pancake wrapped around another banana with coconut honey and coloured sprinkles…..all wash down by an undrinkable cup of coffee.

Breakfast ended and my what’s app pinged………Sue and Steve Turner who used to teach PE in Bedford, have been working in an International School in Sri Lanka for the past 12 years. They were staying just down the road over the holiday weekend……they walked along the beach to us and we spent an hour or so catching up and having a drink…not having seen them for about 14 years it was nice to exchange news. After they left we had a swim, sunbathe, and watched the people strolling along the magnificent beach….its such a shame we couldn’t go in the water but the waves are pretty massive, it’s quite a steep drop and we were told that there are some strong undercurrents……hence the reason we hadn’t seen anyone swim on this fantastic stretch of golden sand.

Soon a siesta was needed back in the room…..it’s so tiring doing absolutely nothing !!!!!

We succumbed to a late lunch, I had seafood Tom yum soup and John had a cheese and tomato sandwich…which actually arrived as one cheese sandwich and one tomato sandwich!!!! We repeated the morning activities again – swim, sunbathing, people and seascape watching…

It didn’t seem long before we were returning to our room to shower and ready for supper…looking in the mirror I find that my usual Rudolf impersonation ( with a sunburnt nose) has progressed to one of a lobster impersonation ( sun kissed whole body !!!!), whilst John is just turning an enviable shade of bronze.

Once at supper, the chef showed us a fresh red snapper he had…but knowing how bony they are I declined. He also had barracuda which I’d never had so I went for it. John had battered calamari. Both were excellent, thoroughly enjoyed my barracuda a tasty fish not as firm as tuna or sword fish, but meatier than sea bass or white mullet. John also enjoyed his.

After such a busy old day!!!! …time for bed.

Day 3 – 7th February 2024- A once in a lifetime experience.

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A much better nights sleep was had by us both and we readied for the excitement of new experiences with another lovely breakfast sat on the verandah overlooking the nicely manicured garden and pool.
Suminda picked us up promptly at 10 am and we headed off to view the sites of Colombo. We saw lots of former colonial buildings, the floating market and street markets.

We also stopped and had a walk around one of the largest Hindu temples in Colombo.

We continued to see several other temples both Buddhist and Hindu and an array of churches and other religious places of worship.

After much sightseeing Suminda headed for his home in the small town Kesbewa. We picked up a small bunch of flowers and I had selected a gift from the presents I had brought from home which on arrival I gifted to Disna, Suminda’s wife. It was so wonderful to meet his family- Methika whose birthday it was today is 19 years old, Minuka is 16, and Senithi is 10 years old. We were also joined by Stanley and Grace, Disna’s parents, who are on either end of the middle group picture. Suminda also introduced us to his mother.

We tried hard to get the formalities of greeting each other correct, hopefully we succeeded without causing any offence. We were given a drink, then asked to touch a plate with a drink on it which Disna held out to us. This is a traditional invitation to eat some food. Wow, wow, wow …Disna and her mother Grace had prepared a feast for us. We sat down with Suminda to a real feast of plain and pilau rice, jackfruit curry, jackfruit seed curry, chicken curry, Dahl, potato curry, bean curry and a grated coconut and onion sambal it was absolutely delicious. We had never tasted some of the dishes before and they were fantastic, spicy and flavoursome without being chilli hot. We have to admit to being totally overwhelmed by this magnificent spread and the effort which had been put into its preparation. This was followed by us tasting buffalo curds for the first time…very similar to thick yogurt …delicious, and Sri Lankan cherries, pomegranate seeds and an array of fruit…

After lunch we stood around Methika and sung happy birthday whilst he cut his cake. He then took a piece to each member of his family to take a bit from and we were included in this wonderful celebratory tradition. As we were leaving Disna gifted us a very useful notebook and a wonderful carving of an elephant which we will treasure for a very long time.

What a wonderful experience we have had meeting Suminda’s family and enjoying the feast they prepared for us and celebrating Methika’s 19th birthday…what a privilege and an honour thank you so much Suminda.
For those of you reading this and thinking of visiting Sri Lanka, we can thoroughly recommend Suminda as a driver and guide..a true gentleman.. Suminda Dissanayake can be contacted at Suminda711@gmail.com. or what’s app/ phone number is + 94772279050

Our drive back to the Ayubowan Guest House was about a 1.5 hours drive Suminda told us it was the first time his family had met foreigners in their home, we felt doubly privileged.

Arriving back we decided a dip in the pool was required to cool off before what has become an habitual and necessary siesta/ rest.
What a truly wonderful day.