TOP 100 PUBS – THE ROBIN HOOD, PECKET WELL

May 2025. Hebden Bridge. £13.35 your off-peak return from Sheffield to Hebden Bridge, so you’re going to want to walk 13,350 steps, consume 1,335 calories, and drink NBSS 13.35 worth of beer, I guess ? It’s a glorious town, just a bit overwhelmed with day-trippers, the Matlock Bath or Bewdley of the North. Plenty of… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE ROBIN HOOD, PECKET WELL

“Can you eat the flower ?”. Wine tasting at Castel Mimi

March 2025. Castel Mimi. Moldova. One thing I should add about these Moldovan excursions; they weren’t cheap. Not surprising, as you’re basically hiring a private taxi for the day, and the vehicles weren’t shoddy Ladas. So it’s important you get your VFM from 50p pints and 10p donuts. Our fellow tourists (from Kazakhstan) had forgot… Continue reading “Can you eat the flower ?”. Wine tasting at Castel Mimi

I SHOPPED THE SHERIFF (TRANSNISTRIA)

March 2025. Bender. Transnistria/Moldova. Yes, dangerously close to the Ukrainian border. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office advised us not to travel to Transnistria, a breakaway Moldovan territory without consular assistance or valid insurance, but Mrs RM insisted. “It’ll be fine !” said our guide Lily, who then seemed to mislay her passport at the border,… Continue reading I SHOPPED THE SHERIFF (TRANSNISTRIA)

“Early to bed, early to rise…”

March 2025. Iaşi. Romania. Yes, we’re not in Kaunas now, Tonto. Iaşi has its share of brutalist housing estates (this one facing the Opera House), but it’s also packed with gorgeous buildings housing smart shops, and speakeasies. There’s some money around in Europe’s fastest growing economy. I always aim to explore the streets of a… Continue reading “Early to bed, early to rise…”