Wheatsheaf, London

After a wee trip up The Shard, we headed to Borough Market, where we saw all sorts of delicious things to eat.  We chatted to a lovely chap, who worked there selling Borough Market shopping bags, about the recent terrorist attack there.  I was pleased to see that it seemed to be thriving once again after this atrocity.  It could have happened anywhere.

It was busy and full of people and we were really just looking for somewhere quiet to sit down, have a pint, and satisfy our rumbling bellies.   Right next door, we stumbled upon the Wheatsheaf.  I'm glad that we did.  This quirky wee place has a lovely hipster pub vibe to it.  It has tire swings and old car seats to sit in the covered over outside area.  In the end, we settled down inside, which has slightly more of a traditional pub feel.  Long wooden tables with benches to sit on - that would do us nicely.  

We each had a pint of the local beer, the name of which escapes me, and it was very good.  Since it was Sunday, I ordered a roast.  Slow cooked brisket - yum!  Alan had roast chicken.  

Before long our food had arrived and our eyes lit up.  What was placed before us was way beyond our expectations.  The Yorkshire pudding was unreal.  I can't stress enough how good this tasted.  The brisket fell to bits, the veg was perfectly cooked and buttery and the gravy.....oh the gravy!

I like to go to new places each time I'm away from home, however, this place will definitely be on my list of places to return to.  

The Newsroom, Edinburgh

We have visited The Newsroom a couple of times now, it's conveniently located just off of Princes Street.  This time we were here for a late lunch, a pint, and to escape the torrential rain.  We sat near the window and enjoyed watching the people outside get soaked as we were cosy inside, drinking beer and listening to the great soundtrack which was being played.  The guy next to us kept over-enthusiastically singing into his wife's ear, much to her annoyance and to our amusement.

Alan, as ever, had trusty old fish and chips (£12).  I must admit, I struggled to find something on the menu that I fancied.  A lot of the dishes on the menu just seemed a bit heavy for what I was after, considering we were eating quite late and would have supper in a few hours.  These are the sort of things Alan doesn't worry about.  He's always hungry, no matter what.

I settled for chicken wings (£6) with a side of chips (£3.50).  Neither of us were disappointed.  Our food arrived quickly and was hot.  The wings were tasty and juicy, covered in sticky sauce.  The chips were fat and fluffy, just as you would expect in a pub.  Good old 'pub chips'.

The cocktail menu looked really good with lots to choose from.  Next time I think we'll treat ourselves to a tipple or two.  We'll be back.

Aberdeen Country Fair, Belmont Street, Aberdeen

I've been wanting to try Little Squares of Heaven for ages.  This a a local, family run business based in Aberdeen and they make brownies using almond flour, which I am led to believe is the best flour for the job!  Today I picked some up at the Belmont Street Market.

"One of each flavour please...oh wait, can we have two of the caramely ones please?"

They are delicious!  It's awesome that they can send them to you by post too!  Look, LOOK, LOOK!

Next to their stall was Keith Brewery.  The chap selling the goods pushed the hard sale on me,
"Can I tempt you with some beer to go with your br-"

"Aye, of course!"

Poor guy.  I've not actually tried it yet, it's on my to-do list for today.  What a tough Sunday eh?

Capurro's Restaurant and Bar, Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco

We only had approximately five hours to explore San Francisco and in this short space we did our best to take in the scenery, the most important part for Alan being the Golden Gate Bridge.

The very, very kind man..
Shame I can't remember his name (I must be getting old).
Please excuse the blurry photo.

After eventually managing to take the BART (with a little help from a very, very kind man) from Oakland to centre of the San Francisco, we walked the rest of the way.  I'm glad we did.  I loved seeing the arty buildings, and the hilly streets are just like they are in films.  I must admit though, some parts we walked through were a little grubby and could have been done with a bit of a scrub.

We reached the water and had a stroll up the Aquatic Park Pier to see the Golden Gate Bridge.  Unfortunately, we didn't have time to get any closer but we made the best of our visit and , luckily, the weather stayed on our side.

We saw Alcatraz too but didn't really get any great photos of it as it's so far away.  We would both love to go back and explore San Francisco more thoroughly.  

I was hungry and my feet hurt, so we stopped in the Fisherman's Wharf area to grab some lunch before heading back to our hotel to collect our bags before continuing our journey home.  The first place we came to, yes we were really that hungry, was Capurro's Restaurant and Bar.  We had pizzas and beer.  Two of our favourite things.



Mother Hubbard always said if you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all, so I'll list the things that I did like about this restaurant -

• Nice outside seating area - we appreciated being able to sit in the sun and soak up as much of the San Franciscan atmosphere as possible.
  
  
• The beer was good - it was a local beer, the name of which I can't remember.  Can anybody help out?
  
  
• I loved the artwork on the outside of the building.

I think this may be my last honeymoon related blog post.  It's been a hoot!  Back to regular old married life now....

Waikiki Brewing Company, Waikiki, Hawaii

We have returned.  It's our last day and we have spent the morning wallowing in the turquoise water at Waikiki Beach.  It's thirsty work.

We visited here again to await our taxi to the airport as it's only 30 seconds from the flat where we have been staying and so ideally located for us to refresh ourselves before our flight to Oakland.  

I knew what I wanted - Jalapeno Mouth- and that's what I had.  

It's been great, Hawaii, we'll miss you.

Waikiki Brewing Company, Waikiki, Hawaii

We're finally in Honolulu.  We are off the ship!  Thank goodness!

We have discovered over the past ten days that cruising is just not for us.  I like to see things more thoroughly than you seem to be permitted to on a cruise.  We were only ashore in each place from around 8.30am until 4.30pm and, for me, this was not long enough to experience each place properly.  I love to try new food and drink, but the cruise itself was so expensive that you felt you really had to get your money's worth during breakfast, before disembarking for the day, which meant that by dinner time (lunch for you posh folk) you were still stuffed from breakfast.  It was the same with drinks.  The beer is 'free' on the boat, so why pay for it ashore if you can help it?  If only we were rich and could just drink all the beer...

We stayed in an Airbnb.  We have used Airbnb a few times and have been really pleased each time and this was no exception.  The view we had was awesome, and the place was conveniently located near all the things we wanted to see, as well as being almost next door to Waikiki Brewing Company.

We visited twice in our short stay as it was so good and really just a little too convenient.  We each had four wee beers to taste, making sure they were all different ones as I don't like to think that I'm missing out on anything.  The beers were awesome, my particular favourite being 'Jalapeno Mouth'.  I just LOVE chili beer and I now seem to be seeking it out wherever I go.  No luck so far though.  Brewdog did one called 'Chili Hammer' a year or so ago and it was really good but it's not available anymore.  I'll keep looking.  

Kona Brewing Company, Kailua Kona, Hawaii

Finally we are off the ship!

YAY!

Here is a picture of our very smiley faces to show how pleased we were...

It was a whole lot hotter than it looks in this photo.

We visited Kailua Kona on the Big Island today.  We rented a car and drove to what I keep calling the seahorse factory.  It is in fact a seahorse farm.

At Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm they breed seahorses for both conservation purposes and as pets.  We got to see many different breeds including sea dragons, some pregnant males and teeny tiny baby seahorses!  The staff at this family run business seemed very knowledgeable and I'm satisfied that the welfare of these beautiful creatures was of prime importance, especially given the fact that some breeds are nearly extinct.  We even got to hold a seahorse - an experience we will likely never get the chance to repeat.

Here is a photo of Alan's beautiful face...

One for the wall :)

We then toddled off to Kona Brewing Co. for a quick bite to eat and some cold, refreshing beer.

We both love beer and trying local brews.  It was an absolute treat to try these ones.  There are some that are brewed with tropical flavours such as passion fruit or coconut and we found them very appropriate for our first day in Hawaii.

We sat outside and felt like we were in a lush green paradise as we listened to the birds tweet singing around us.  My favourite beers were the Lemongrass Lu'au and Castaway IPA.

I tried my first 'poke' too.  I'm a particular fan of raw fish and the traditional Hawaiian dish was delicious.  I'm afraid I didn't get a photo of it.  Alan had pepperoni rolls which he refused to let me taste - I assume this means they were good.

Today was a breath of fresh air.  Here is a picture of a wee chap we found outside.