Travelling, food, and other bits and pieces.

We spent a week of the Easter holidays travelling the South coast of England, spending some time around Windsor (Legoland), Canterbury, and Rustington.

It was a lot of driving, but with the Polestar 2 it didn’t feel like it. The only bits that were a little hairy were getting from Legoland to Canterbury through several road closures and diversions miles out of the way. We even managed to stumble upon a farmshop with a beautiful view between Southampton and Plymouth. Check out Felicity’s Farmshop if you are passing. The café is great and the shop has a fantastic selection. Think Gloucester services but reasonably affordable.

The work week has been hectic, too, hence only sitting down to write on a Saturday night. I say write, but really I’m here to collect and curate photos of coffee and cake, including this stop off at Terra Nova Café during a trip to Devonport Library. The library itself is quite unique as it is housed within a building shared with a church with a split level arrangement. Library on the ground floor, church on the mezzanine. We are frequent users of the Plymouth libraries. When you have a small child, it’s a great way to read a variety of books without buying them and having them neglected through boredom shortly after.

The beautiful weather today brought us to another coffee spot. SATO by Minerva Café is located within Alma Yard, close to the Barbican Leisure Park (Vue cinema). We were walking a short part of the South West Coast Path and stopped in for coffee and a donut. It did not disappoint. Fully Charged electric bike shop is next door, and we did some browsing there as well. I considered buying my Tern HSD from Fully Charged but the Plymouth branch only opened recently. The unit is quite compact but has a good selection of high end e-bikes. The latest VanMoof made an appearance, but I won’t be getting another one any time soon…

I would like to point out that these photos span a two week period. Eating a cruffin, donut, and cake in one day would probably kill me.

The weather was beautiful today and there is nowhere better to be than walking the path. I mean, there are better places if I’m being perfectly honest, but it’s pretty good. Being this close to the sea is something we often take for granted, but it is a wonderful location on a good day. The paddleboards were packed in the car and ready to rock.

While getting organised and changed for watersports in a regular car, you can start to see the appeal of vans. They are everywhere in the South West and seem to be part of the identity of the place. Nevertheless we managed it and got a handy space in Royal William Yard close to the arch leading to Firestone Bay. Getting down to the water requires a little bit of agility, particularly when carrying paddleboards and battling with the wind. This is our second paddle since getting the boards and it was a little more challenging this time with the brisk onshore wind. It made for a safe time but it was a constant fight to keep from getting beached.

All that activity deserves a reward. This is the Bijou, a Negroni-adjacent drink, with gin, sweet vermouth, Campari, and green Chartreuse. It has a history dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. I’m not sure if it has overtaken the Negroni for me, but it was a bit more complex and herbal tasting. I may try it with yellow Charteuse next time.

There might be some time for a wee drop of whisky. I brought some glasses back from a tour of the Waterford Crystal factory when I was working over there last month. It’s a worthwhile tour if you are in the area and looking for something a bit different. Beware, you may be enticed into buying some crystal…

Following a near miss incident with my wallet (jammed down the side of the passenger seat of the car), I decided to invest in a tracker. I wanted one that was thin enough to be relatively unobtrusive, and with a rechargeable battery (there is enough electronic waste in the world as is). There are plenty of cheaper options for Apple Find My-compatible devices, but the Android equivalents come with a bit of a price bump. I settled for a VOCOlinc as it was reasonably well reviewed and priced. The ability to track the location of my wallet and play a sound to help find it is quite useful. Quite frankly I’m amazed how much they’ve squeezed into 1.6mm.

I will round off with yet more food. This time it’s Okinawan taco rice. We first encountered the dish while travelling in Okinawa. It came about following the introduction of taco seasoning by American soldiers, and usually includes rice topped with seasoned mince, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and (variably) salsa. It’s easy and quick to make, and delicious to boot. One of the best Okinawan exports in my opinion.