Category: Food

A Busy couple of weeks

2/10/2011

It has been two weeks since my last post, sorry !!!

As the title of this post is "a busy couple of weeks" you might understand that I've just not had the time to get organised. I have gone from full time employment, (I was the senior audio visual technician at the RBS conference center, Gogarburn), to being freelance again and I'm busy but enjoying the work.

I have managed to fit in a few visits to a brewery and some pubs over the last two weeks. One of the highlights was a visit to Stewart Brewing, at their brewery in Loanhead on the outskirts of Edinburgh. I was visiting another company in the area about freelance work and took the opportunity to pop in. I met Jo Stewart, co owner of Stewart Brewing, and she was kind enough to give me a guided tour of the brewery, which I filmed. Check out the clip below:

Last weekend was the start to this years six nations rugby. Scotland were playing France, (in France), so I decided it was a good excuse to go for a few beers with my mate John. We decide not to go into Edinburgh this time as there would be no rugby supporters there, so we went to South Queensferry. This small town has a lot of history behind it, with some of the pubs dating back to 1683 and others being mentioned in famous novels by the likes of Robert Louis Stevenson. We started at one end of the old high street and steadily, (well steadily at first), made our way to the other side. The first pub we went to was the "Hawes Inn". Check out the clip below:

After the dissapointment of the Hawes Inn we moved along the high street to a small pub, (its a snug really), called the "Anchor Inn". This bar was small, its about the same size as a large living room from an ordinary house, but I liked it. It was full of locals talking, reading the paper and relaxing. There was no music but it had a decent sized screen for watching the sports and the bar maid was very helpful. I ordered the round, spoke to john and just as I was taking my jacket off she brought the drinks over to us. We only had one drink here, (I wanted a few screens to watch the rugby), then moved onto the "Ferry Tap". Check out the clip below:

The rugby started, we watched the first half, Scotland were not playing well - at all. We then decided to go to a bar with smaller screens as we didn't want to see the game in any detail. We went to the bar at "Orocco Pier", (this is also a restaurant which is well worth a visit). It was a different atmosphere all together, more up market and aimed at coffee drinkers during the day and couples at night. It was also by far the most expensive round of the night - not a problem to me as it was John's turn to buy !!! Check out the clip below:

We stayed here for a while then moved onto two other pubs in the high street, the "Stag Inn" and the "Moorings". The Stag is very much a down to earth locals bar with the standard range of drinks and a friendly enough feel to it. The Moorings was OK but a bit run down. I believe it is about to close for refurbishment. There are clips filmed in both of these pubs, but as it was now quite late in the evening they were not very good, even I can't make out what I was saying !!!

I am looking forward to next weekend as Scotland is playing Wales at Murrayfield - Anybody fancy a pint in Edinburgh ?

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What A Great Weekend !!!

12/8/2010

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About 10 years ago Christine, me and another two couples decided to go for a Christmas night out. It was to be a proper dress up occasion with a meal and an over night stay at a good hotel. A real chance to be grown up and enjoy Christmas. I can't remember where we went that first year,but I remember that we really enjoyed it, we told all our friends about it and vowed to do it again next year.

We did do it the next year, and the year after, and every year since then ! The only difference now is that there are about thirty of us that now go and the only rule that has been added is that all children remain at home and us adults get some quality adult time !!!

This year we battled through the snow and ice and went to the Queen's Hotel in Perth. Saturday 4th / Sunday 5th Dec.

We arrived at about 4.00 pm and went straight to the hotel bar, which is where I was sure we would find a lot of our friends, I wasn't disappointed !!!

We had one drink here then I headed into town with David to catch up with some more friends at the "Sandeman". Christine decided to do some last minute shopping and said she would catch us there later. The hotel is quite close to the town center and the "Sandeman" is in the town center, so we thought it wouldn't take long to get there, but with deep snow and ice under foot we took about half an hour, slipping, sliding and cursing the weather all the way. However when we got there we were rewarded with a great pub !

In the picture above me, David, James and Kenny had had a couple of drinks and were joined by our wives. In the picture to the left Christine has joined us after her shopping trip, ( I still don't know what she bought but I'm sure I will be shown something expensive soon !)

Sandemans itself is a great pub. It is a wetherspoons and is set in a large old ornate building with lots of space and light. It has a good selection of beers and spirits and the bar staff were friendly and helpful. As with all weatherspoons there is a large selection of food at reasonable prices. I also think it won Perth's pub of the year last year - there will be a review on the web site in a couple of days with more pictures.

Christine and the other wives all headed back to the hotel. The boys however made one more stop, at The Perth City Sports & Social Club. This club was on our way back and we couldn't resist going in for a drink and a look at the place.

I would describe it as a Perth Institution ! I loved the old school atmosphere of working man's club with a jukebox that time forgot, (the only songs I heard being played were "Lady in Red" and "Come on Eileen"), and Tartan Special on draught. There will be a full review of this pub with lots of pictures on the web site soon.

We only had the one here and headed back to the hotel for the party night.

The party night was great ! With lots of good food, dancing and great drink !

The next morning a lot of us met back in the Sandemans pub and relaxed with a few drinks and some food. Again the girls went shopping and the boys propped up the bar, then we all met back at the pub before heading back home

When we got home we picked up our children from my mum and dads then went to James and Gillian's for an India. The children played together, we ate, and had a glass of good Rioja. It was a great end to a great weekend.

I'm already looking forward to next year !

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Birthday and Rugby

11/15/2010

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It's Monday night and I'm watching "around the world in eighty days" with Rachel and Hannah as Christine is out. The weekend is now long gone, but it was good one !

Christine and I went to the "Scotland - All Blacks" rugby at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh. We went with some work mates and started our day out at the Corstorphine Inn, (there is a review of this pub on the pub page), where we had a few drinks and some lunch.

Christine and me at the Corstorphine Inn

The gangs all here !!!

Later we moved on and headed to the Murrayfield hotel. We started to walk but ended up getting a bus as we wanted more time at the bar. When we got to the Murrayfield hotel there was no chance of getting to the bar as the place was absolutely packed ! Neil suggested we go to the bar at the Ice Rink so we moved on there.

The queue to the Bar at the Murrayfield Hotel

Neil, (on the right), at the bar in the Ice Rink

A couple of drinks later the time had come to get into the stadium. The ice rink is right next door so it took us all of 5 minutes to get in and find our seats. It was very cold day and the wind in the stadium didn't help, but the atmosphere more than made up for it. For me, the best part of the day was before the game started, when the crowd sang "Flower of Scotland".

Kate, inside the Stadium

After the game, (I don't want to tell you the score, too embarrasing), we all went our separate ways. Christine and me headed into the center of town, walking up the main road surrounded by thousands of other supporters. We went to one of my favorite bars in Edinburgh, Teuchters in William Street, (there is a review on the pub page of the web site). It was packed ! we had to try a few rugby tackles to get to the bar, but it was worth it.

Teuchters

A little later we wanted a quieter pub so we moved onto The Oxford Bar. This is an old traditional Edinburgh pub that was made famous by the Inspector Rebus books, (written by Ian Rankin). We stayed there for a while and talked to some of the locals and had a few laughs then hunger kicked in and we moved on. I'd show you a few photo's of this bar but I forgot to take some, sorry.

We went to All Bar One on George street and had a meal, it's an OK pub with reasonable food which we enjoyed. We were lucky to get a table as it was very busy but the service was still quick and friendly.

After the meal we headed home via the bus, running along Princess Street to catch a No 22 !!

A great day, which was followed on Sunday by my birthday and a family get together at home.

Roll on next weekend and the next adventure !!! See you there - Alastair

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A Busy couple of weeks

What A Great Weekend !!!

Birthday and Rugby

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