Obviously, the Crown had opened when I rejoined the (non-existent) queue at 11:45. Grrr. All the booths will either have been taken or reserved (boooo !) by now. No ! I grab the last one, dashing the hopes and dreams of Martha from Michigan and Helmut from Hanover. And they really did look angry as… Continue reading THE LAST BOOTH IN THE CROWN LIQUOR SALOON
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In an unexpected turn of events, I take Mrs RM’s advice.
11:35. No sign of movement in the Crown. The gaggle of foreign tourists seemed to be blaming me, who’d been waiting outside the historic entrance for 28 minutes already. “Let’s go in the pub next door while we’re waiting for the pub” said Mrs RM. Robinsons Bar, also known by the more traditional Fibber Magee… Continue reading In an unexpected turn of events, I take Mrs RM’s advice.
WAITING FOR THE CROWN TO OPEN
They couldn’t work out how to get up early on Saturday morning after a night out on Bangor, though, so Mrs RM and I headed out to Great Victoria Street with a plan to queue at the door for 11am opening and nab a booth. No-one else ? Oh, well take some pics. A few… Continue reading WAITING FOR THE CROWN TO OPEN
COCKTAILS IN TEA POTS IN THE RABBIT ROOMS
Nearly forgot, I did have a beer in Bangor (N.I.). but the Rabbit Rooms is one of a host of inviting little places where you can here fiddly music, eat Strangford Lough mussels and drink Guinness £2 cheaper than in Dublin. OK, it’s no Crown Liquor Saloon, but the beer range is very typical of… Continue reading COCKTAILS IN TEA POTS IN THE RABBIT ROOMS
BANGOR (N.I.) IS AN ENERGY
I have to add (N.I.) to any posts about Bangor (N.I.) or Patrick from Bangor (N.Wales) will wonder why I didn’t visit his wonderful pub. This Bangor is Belfast’s seaside town, the Margate of the west, with its street art, kiddie “funpark”, urgent warnings to repent, and micropubs. OK, not micros (yet), but lots of… Continue reading BANGOR (N.I.) IS AN ENERGY
A NAGGING DOUBT ABOUT DONAGHADEE
Fairley’s in Coleraine was my final Northern Irish tick. Like the aforementioned Hillside in Hillsborough, it had recently been booted out of the GBG in a “booting out ceremony” in Dundonald, due to the crime against nature of not serving real ale. But what if it DID start serving cask again, hmm ? Like, a… Continue reading A NAGGING DOUBT ABOUT DONAGHADEE
MRS RM SEARCHES FOR ME IN THE WRONG COLERAINE PUB
Even if we hadn’t had the Giants Causeway on the Belfast To Do list, we’d have needed to hit the northern coast as Coleraine was home to my final Northern Irish tick. Look carefully at the GBG map and you’ll see more breweries than Guide entries outside Belfast. The withdrawal of Spoons from the North… Continue reading MRS RM SEARCHES FOR ME IN THE WRONG COLERAINE PUB
London(s)
Originally posted on Wait until next year:
Tired of London. Not necessarily tired of life, as the old maxim goes, but that’s a story for another time. Tired of London, but not a Leaving of London, where someone pens a farewell to their city, I’m not going anywhere yet. This is just a tiredness of…
ON THE GIANTS CAUSEWAY
The big question, of course, is does Giants have an apostrophe ? I tend to think of plural Giants. Mrs RM was definitely going to drag Matt and Emma to the Causeway, even if they would have preferred to laze on Bangor beach drinking cocktails and contemplating how Dublin can be so expensive. It was… Continue reading ON THE GIANTS CAUSEWAY
BASS CLICKBAIT ON THE ANTRIM COAST
Friday was designated “Antrim Coast”, the day we did the Giant’s Causeway, the Game of Thrones sites (no idea why) and (by luck) my last Northern Ireland tick. 180 miles, and all of them on far better roads than we have in England, an absolute joy. Shame about the drizzle. A notable absence of coffee… Continue reading BASS CLICKBAIT ON THE ANTRIM COAST
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