Duncan will know all about the strange allure of foreign football team names from your youth. Jeunesse D’esche, Nancy, Grasshopper, Shepshed Charterhouse… I’d always wanted to visit the home of Sliema Wanderers, the biggest team in Malta back in the ’70s, and now home to most of the island’s “beer scene” according to local expert… Continue reading A SLIEMA WANDERER
50 SHADES OF LACTO MILK STOUT
I’m not saying Matt and Mrs RM are keen to get home but we’ve arrived at Malta Airport 210 minutes before our scheduled flight. Never mind, there’s free WiFi, charging points AND a Hard Rock Cafe. No Spoons though. So time for a brief post, probably full of typos Russ will pick up. Marsaxlokk (above)… Continue reading 50 SHADES OF LACTO MILK STOUT
OLLY’S LAST PUB
Finally, a pub for Professor Pie-Tin to warm to. We took the bus into the tiny capital of Valletta on Carnival day. In Waterbeach, Mrs RM makes Feast costumes on an animal theme each year. In Valletta, they dress as Dante’s Inferno. And make papier mache models of Freddie Mercury. Valetta itself is a tiny… Continue reading OLLY’S LAST PUB
PUNK, BUT NO PUNK IPA ON MARINA STREET
A week in a place gives you time to get know most places, though A Year in Stockport (Penguin, £6.99) isn’t long enough to scratch the surface there. Due to teenage colds and Mrs RM’s “Borders burn-out” I’m a bit stuck in our apartment, and haven’t even made to Sliema yet, which does have craft.… Continue reading PUNK, BUT NO PUNK IPA ON MARINA STREET
CITY ARE ON THE TELLY AGAIN
I’m sure you have an image of me sitting on my sofa with a can of lager in hand, shouting at the telly. “Raheem Sterling, he’s top of the league” etc etc. Thought not. Watching football on TV is akin to drinking at home or asking for a sampler. I’ll say no more on the… Continue reading CITY ARE ON THE TELLY AGAIN
LIFE IN A SMALL MALTESE FISHING VILLAGE
I hope the post on the Maraskala Labour Club piqued your interest for a series of Maltese reports, as that’s what you’ve got till the weekend when I’m back in the land of real ale and sub-zero temperatures. It’s good to tick off Malta on my World Wall Chart, but that still leaves us… Continue reading LIFE IN A SMALL MALTESE FISHING VILLAGE
THE ONLY WAY TO START A HOLIDAY
Our week in Malta started with a 2 days deluge, and I did wonder if the pre-flight Spoons session was going to be the highlight. It’s not just the peculiar thrill of a pint at 7am, you can drink from 9am anywhere. Stansted’s Windmill is a joy in its own right. No less a… Continue reading THE ONLY WAY TO START A HOLIDAY
MARSASKALA LABOUR CLUB
Normally folk who request things on this blog get short shrift. Who do you think I am, Coldplay ? But because Professor Pie Tin from Ireland, Ireland asked so nicely, here’s some nearly live blogging from the Marsaskala Labour Club. I’m in no fit state to blog, so this will probably be a rare typo-free… Continue reading MARSASKALA LABOUR CLUB
ADVISING THE REVEREND AT ELY MINSTER
After a disappointing Landlord in Little Downham on Tuesday, I thought I might as well stop and enjoy the downpour in Ely before getting squashed against bikes on the train home. Ely Cathedral really is a wonder now they’ve taken the scaffolding off and put live ammunition in the cannon. As Paul Bailey wrote when… Continue reading ADVISING THE REVEREND AT ELY MINSTER
LITTLE DOWNHAM AND THAT NBSS 2 PROBLEM
Some really great writing about pubs on the blog recently. Mudgie (here) explored the falsehood that one buzzy new micro can be compensation for losing a handful of proper locals, while BRAPA (here) is drinking 30 pints on the Isle of Man and no doubt flies home to a hero’s welcome from Public Health England.… Continue reading LITTLE DOWNHAM AND THAT NBSS 2 PROBLEM
