retiredmartin

June 2024. Sheffield. It’s 5 years ago we lost Richard Coldwell, a mainstay of many a pub crawl in the early years of this blog. Richard wasn’t a great fan of Burton’s beers, but would have had intelligent things to say about the Thornbridge “saving” of the Burton Unions this year. You’ll know I couldn’t… Continue reading JAIPUR FROM THE UNIONS

June 2024. Citta Alta. Bergamo. Last set of Italian holiday snaps before, you’ll be delighted to hear, it’s back to pubs and curry in Sheffield, Cambridge, Stockport and Grenoside, which is about as good a run as you could hope for having left the cappuccino and croissants of Bergamo. I wasn’t quite as keen as… Continue reading UP THE HILL WE GO TO BERGAMO

June 2024. Bergamo. From San Marino we took the bus back to Rimini (fortified by the New Radicals “You Get What You Give”), the fast train to Milan (fortified by Tiramisu wafers), and then the slow local train to Bergamo, an hour spent worrying I should have exchanged my 6 euro on-line ticket for a… Continue reading “No real ale, it’s too hot” says Bergamo.

June 2024. San Marino. You really need the “scratch and sniff” version of this blog (Patronised readers only) to fully appreciate the steepness of the hills from Low Town to High Town in San Marino. Or look on the 3D map view on Google yourselves. Mrs RM’s hotel pick (Hostaria da Lino, £59) is in… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – CABLE CAR BAR, SAN MARINO

If Rimini was unexpectedly brilliant, then we had great expectations of Mrs RM’s 41st European tick, largely based on Sirs Quinno and Doris; Our own view of the city was altogether different in the midsummer sunset. It had looked magical in the distance on the train from Milan, and the excitement on the bus was… Continue reading SAN MARINO. “Rather magical, actually”.

June 2024. Rimini. San Marino was to be the big country tick, but we were almost as excited about a first visit to Rimini on the Italian east coast. I’d booked the bus out to San Marino in 3 hours time, surely enough to do justice to an unregarded seaside city of 149,000, smaller than… Continue reading REMARKABLE RIMINI

June 2024. Milan. Day 3 of the micronation tickathon. From Milan we’d head to Rimini on the coast, and then to Mrs RM’s 41st and penultimate euro tick in San Marino. But first, let’s admire the central station for an hour, having given the Duomo and epic cemetery a miss. It’s a gem of a… Continue reading SCORING THE CASK AT MILAN CENTRAL STATION

June 2024. Milan. Our lone night in Milan before trundling east to San Marino had us staring across at one of the world’s great football stadium. The first time we’d seen the San Siro in daylight, too, our previous visit coming in Christmas 1996 when Mrs RM and I turned up from Bologna at 8pm… Continue reading JOHN SMITHS AT THE SAN SIRO

June 2024. Vaduz – Milan. Day 2 of our 4 day raid on the micronations; a 4 hour coach ride from Vaduz into Milan, the UK equivalent of the train from Llandrindod Wells to Swansea, with the splendour of Lake Lugano and Flix Wi-Fi the highlights. Then umped at Lampugnano bus station, a seedy suburb… Continue reading THE OLD TENCONI, MILAN

June 2024. Vaduz. Liechtenstein. Monday morning in Liechtenstein, coach off to Milan in the afternoon, a few hours to see what makes Vaduz vital (or not). I’ll say this, they do a good healthy breakfast in that Youth Hostel. Fresh bread, a cheese board, bircher muesli with fruits, four espressos, and that view. Vaduz, like… Continue reading VITAL VADUZ