Mini Pub Crawl

Last Wednesday it was cloudy, chilly, and I was down in the dumps. I had been stuck in all day and missing home, so when Andy got home from work, wanting to make me happy, decided what I needed was to get out. There are tons of pubs right down the street from us in Old Town Poole. Andy looked at me and said, "Get up, get dressed, we are going out!" and we set off for a pub crawl around Poole!

The first pub we stopped in, literally only a two minute walk, if even, from our front door was the King's Head. We stepped in, got a pint of ale and thought, "hmmmm this isn't going to be our local pub, nice but not for us". While we were drinking our beers, we felt as if we were in an old lady's living room. The walls are fashioned with a cream and gold floral pattern wall paper and the seats are old rose plush with quite a bit of unknown stains. Andy sat on those while I decided, for my clothes sake, to sit on the wood chair across from him. It even smelled of stale roses and moth balls! As we laughed at the state of the pub and finished our English ales we gathered our coats and headed to our next pub!

Next on the list was The Foundry Arms. I liked it before we even stepped foot in the door. The thatch roof pub was at the end of the street lit up with old time street lamps looking like we had gone back in time. When we walked it it kept the same old feel with dim lights and low wood-beamed ceilings. We went to the bar to order our ale and cider when the bartender told us this pub was one of the oldest buildings in Poole dating back to the 14th or 15th century. It was much bigger, connecting to the building across the street, now the Poole Museum, and has been a merchants house, an inn for travelers and housed a number of families. He told us the upstairs is most like the original building. As he said this my face lit up thinking of all the history of just this one building and he asked it we wanted to see it. Umm duh, yes of course we do!!! It was a small banquet room covered in old dark wood and a huge fireplace at both ends. We were told it can be rented out for events and dinners (FUN!) and on the weekends a live band plays. I can't wait for that night out! He then gave us a book on Poole and it's history to look at as we had our drinks!

Our next stop was on the Quay. We headed into The Portsmouth Hoy. This was the best one yet! From the minute you walk in it has that warm feel of a small pub filled with people laughing, drinking and eating. It felt perfect! And to make it even better at the table across from the bar was a family having dinner with their border collie laying on the floor next to them! I can't wait to take my border collie to the pubs with me as I cozy up next to the fire drinking cider!! We sat down and decided this was out favorite pub in Poole. Nestled across from the harbor in between two other pubs and only a three minute walk home through cobble stoned allyways, this was going to be our local pub!

On the way home we went into one more pub called the Angle. This was the first pub I went to in Poole. It is next to the town hall and old church. This was our local, as Andy says, until our little pub crawl and the discovery of The Portsmouth Hoy. We drank our beers and I couldn't help but think how lucky I was to have Andy! When you are feeling blue he takes you out on a Pub Crawl!!

Becoming Betty Crocker

After a bit of Facebook stalking I was inspired by Kallen's amazing food pictures! The girl not only made gourmet meals but also made her own pasta, from scratch!, baked pies, crust and all, while she whipped up homemade cakes! I thought with all the time I have on my hands I would give it a whirl, surprising Andy with my domestic ways and try to redeem myself after the egg incident. I decided to bake muffins, thinking this was fairly easy and safe ( maybe one day I will work my way up to Kallen's Top Chef level!). I also had hand picked blackberries from our walk over the weekend. These muffins were going to be as homemade as you get. I searched the internet for the best recipe I could find and one that would make my muffins like the ones you buy at Starbucks or a fancy bakery with the sugary crusty tops. After finding a recipe I thought would do, being sold on the name "Best of the Best Blackberry Muffins", I went out and gathered all my ingredients along with a whisk and and muffin pan. After about an hour of mixing in the ingredients and looking up baking terms, such as creaming together butter and sugar, I was pouring the mix into the pan, popping them into the oven, and awaiting my masterpiece to be done! And what a masterpiece! They looked amazing, if I may say so myself, and tasted superb! Andy was quite impressed and even took them into work to share! The muffins were devoured with the guys saying "She must be American because these are amazing!" Haha they don't know how to react when they get a bit of flavor! 

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-of-the-Best-Blueberry-Muffins/Detail.aspx  The recipe link

Durdle Door

On Sunday Andy took me on another adventure in the English county side. The sun was shinning, meaning a perfect day for a mini hike around Lulworth. We drove to Lulworth where there is Lulworth castle, absolutely stunning (I couldn't wait to see the inside), Durdle Door and a few country pubs. He said just recently a hotel in Dubai was sued for using pictures of Durdle Door claiming it to be a beach at their resort in Dubai. A bit hard to believe since Dubai is scorching hot and England isn't really know for its extremely hot, cloudless days but guess the picture was taken on an outstanding English summers day. Who knows?! Anyway, we parked in a field parking lot and walked down to the coast get a few pictures and explore some more. There were loads of people out and about taking pictures of Durdle Door and going on walks around the coast. Andy originally wanted to go on a few mile walk to Durdle Door but, thank God, we couldn't find the beginning of that walk. It would have been miles of, as Andy calls it "The Roller Coaster", constantly up and down on really, really steep hills. After taking a few pictures, and me eyeing the ice cream trailer, Andy some how convinced me to go up one of these hills. I don't know if I could have made it up multiple hills...and for miles! In the end, as always, it was worth it with a phenomenal view and a few extra calories burned! Guess thats better than an ice cream cone. :-) Then, as we usually do after these walks, we went to a local pub finishing the afternoon with an ale and cider!

Exploring Bournemouth

Friday Andy had the day off work after, for him, a long week! Wednesday he went on a 30k run up and down hills with a 60lb backpack and Monday he was at work until 1am, stuck on a rocking boat in the English Channel. And since he had these two "stressful" days he decided Friday to take the day off work and show me around Bournemouth. Bournemouth is the town directly west of Poole. It is only a 5 to 10 minute drive away. Those of us Jacksonvillians would call it another area of town. Bournemouth is the place to go shopping in Dorset, being the biggest of all the towns and villages, as well as the place to go out on the town!! I haven't done that yet, but keep looking for I am sure it is not too far in my near future!! Bournemouth is also home to Bournemouth University. It was the perfect day to get out and explore! We strolled around the center of town with me window shopping and Andy pulling me along. We shopped around the small open French market, straight from France, smack dab in the middle of the shops. There were tons of delicious cheeses, sausages, fudge and pastries (Jennifer, you would be in heaven! The biggest chocolate croissants I have ever seen!) We got some super stinky moldy blue cheese, herb crusted sausage and fudge.... YUMMMM! Guess what I picked haha. I can't wait to visit France if just for the food! We then headed into a small local Irish pub and had a cider. When we got home we got take out... Indian, surprise, surprise, drank wine and watched Forrest Gump!

Saturday we attempted to walk around Poole, but after that bit of wine, decided we were much better at vegetating and watching an array of college football, soccer and rugby while eating fudge, cheese, and sausage.

Second Week in England and Burning Eggs

Not a whole lot to report about my second week in Poole. I spent my days setting up this blog, which took much longer than it should have. Hint for anyone who wants to set a blog up: google blog backgrounds. It is much easier than trying to change everything yourself. I went to The Cutest Blog on the Block. They have a ton of cute backgrounds and are super easy to apply to your own blog.

Other than blogging I went on a few runs around Poole, along the harbor and the Poole Quay. The Quay is lined with shops, pubs, restaurants and ferries to different areas like Old Harry (where Andy took me the first few days). The weather has been amazing and perfect for just wandering around getting to know the area. When the Quay ends the path continues along the harbor for about a mile or so. You would be shocked at how many people have a dog in Poole!!! Everyday I came back and commented on the fact that everyone in Poole owns a dog. It is as if it is a requirement of living in Poole! And guess who is not for-filling this requirement... ME! Then one day on my way back down this path I saw the sign "Poole dog walk and park". :-( Guess you don't have to have a dog to live in Poole.

One last bit of excitement from last week was my attempt to make eggs. Everyday I eat toast for breakfast and decided to mix it up and cook scrambled eggs. I got out the wok, we didn't have a skillet and I saw Andy use this monstrosity to cook his eggs, put the heat on high and scrambled my eggs in a bowl with cheese. As Samantha told me, I let the pan heat up, precisely why I had the heat on high. So there I am with an all metal wok, fully heated, scrambling eggs thinking "Yumm no toast for me!" I pour my eggs into the wok, forgetting to turn the heat down and remembering I forgot to spray non-stick in the pan!! So I quickly got the Pam and sprayed. The entire kitchen and living room filled with smoke!! As I start to try and mix my eggs in the wok, which are not only black but stuck to the pan, the smoke alarm goes off! I was freaking out! I grabbed the metal handle to the wok, which was WAY hot, dropped it on the floor, black eggs flying everywhere, and the smoke alarm screaming in my ear. Terrified the fire department would turn up, I scrambled to get the smoke out opening all the windows and doors. I then attempted to turn the alarm off on my own. I grabbed the only thing we had I could stand on, the trash can with a metal lid, and twisted the alarm toward off denting the trash can. It didn't work, it was still beeping outrageously loud! Then I thought maybe I should call someone like Andy or the fire department or the apartment people, when I realized not only do I not have any of these numbers, I don't have a phone to call them on!!! Right as I was giving up the alarm went off. Did you know the smoke alarm goes off when the smoke is gone!?! Who would have thought!

Pub Golf!

My first Saturday here Andy and I went to Horsham to play Pub Golf with his friends. I had no idea what to expect from Pub Golf. I was told to wear golf attire and make sure I came with a visor, golf tee, golf glove and a mini golf pencil. So I did as told, but Andy and I couldn't find visors so I wore a feather in my hair instead! I figured something was better than nothing! Then we went to meet everyone at the first pub. There were about 20 people playing Pub Golf with Barry as the judge and referee. Everyone was  all decked out in sweater vests, argyle socks and visors!! We looked absolutely ridiculous and I LOVED it!! My first night out as an Englander was going to be great....

The rules of Pub Golf (handed to you on a score card with the required drinks and pubs/bars where we will drink them):
Aim of the Game: You must complete the course, without loosing your stomach en-route, ending on as few strokes (the number of drinks to finish your drink) as possible.
Terminology:
Stroke - sip/gulp of the beverage
Par - The guideline amount of gulps a drink must be downed in
Water Hazard - An establishment whereby the players are allowed to visit the toilet
Pro - A person partaking in the actual drinking game
Scorer - your partner with your scoring card


Rules:
1. All drinking must take place in front of at least two other pros in the group.
2. Pros must drink with their gloved hand, golf tee behind their ear.
3. One drink substitution can be made; this incurs a 4 shot penalty.
4. Any player caught being sick is instantly disqualified from the game.
5. Players may only visit the toilet on a water hazards (W) [marked on other side of the score card at designated pubs], failure to adhere to this rule results in a two stroke penalty [shot] and/or a drink penalty.
6. Any player spilling his/her drink must go and get a refill immediately, if a player spills another persons drink then he/she must get the refill and drink it himself.
7. The loser of the game will have an extra drink from the group.
*international drinking rules applied: No saying drink, no cussing, no pointing, must drink from gloved hand.

On the front of the card were the list of Holes (Pubs/bars), the Par (#of drinks a drink must be taken in), the Drink (example: Shot and mixer, wine, cocktails) and Time at each bar (thirty minutes at a pub/bar). There are 9 pubs/bars and Par 21.

Let the Games begin!! The first stop was the Queens Head. All the girls started off strong, each one finishing her drink (a shot and mixer) in 1 par. Then it was onto the Crown. Here the drink was a vodka mixer for the girls. All strong again taking it in 1 par. I am thinking this is a breeze! We were ahead of schedule a the next pub, B52's, where we had to stay until caught up with the time schedule. This is where it began to go downhill.... As everyone was sitting around the table talking it seemed at least everyone, some more than others, were throwing around "drink", cussing, and pointing. Shot time!!! I pointed earning myself a shot. I chose Sambuca and just about threw up!!! Everyone is saying "get Sambuca you'll love it, it is delicious, Yummm", blah blah blah.... It taste like black licorice!!!!! I thought that would be the end of Sambuca for me, then Pub Golf continued and Sambuca and I became BFF.
We traveled on to the next Pub where it was all starting to get a little more wild. People were taking shots left and right for penalties! A few got penalized for using the bathroom. At this pub I believe is where my downfall began. I made the "wise" choice of social drinking. Note to anyone who plays, never drink unless you must!!! Then before we left I heard a snicker and turned around to find out some of the guys "tainted" another's drink; he didn't want to get penalized by a toilet break!! GROSSSSSSSSS

By the next bar I was starting to go down and fast! I made it to that bar and still was able to take my drink in 1 par but all the social drinking was catching up. I made it through all the rest of the pubs in a haze dodging drinks such as whisky shots and trying with all my might to stand instead of lay on the floor. This was the hardest part of the night! By the end I was out for the count with the floor being my preferred place to be. It was time for me to leave Pub Golf and there I went on Andy's back to be put to bed. As he told me in the morning.... you play with the big boys you will get hurt!!

Barry the referee

                                                                                                                               Dani, me, and Fin

Corfe Castle

Friday the 11th Andy took me on another walk in Dorset. The weather was stunning, again! We parked at a pub in a tiny village where there was nothing but a church, built in the 1100s, a few cottages, and lots and lots of people with their border collies and spaniels going on the coastal walk!!!! SOOOOO JEALOUS! We started off with the intentions of walking all the way to Corfe Castle!! HA HA yeah right! It is a 19k walk! Not sure quite how many miles that is, but it is a lot! I started off very optimistic ready to do it thinking "I did the other 'walk' I can do this one!" Well five miles into it and not even close to Corfe and many many more hills or as I call them mountains, we decided we better turn around and drive to Corfe. Good thing we did since Corfe Castle would have been closed by the time we got there and then dark by the time we got back! Not to mention Andy would probably have to carry me back!

At Old Henry

Inside the Church

Breaking to eat Subway

Pulling up to Corfe Castle was astonishing! As you drive up to it you come around a corner, on a "two" lane country road, only big enough for one car, come to a stop sign and there it is: the old ruins of Corfe Castle sitting on top of this huge hill. It was stunning! When we got inside and walked around it was just mind boggling the history in this place. The castle is 1000 years old and lived in by numerous kings through decades of change and history. The more time you spent looking around the more you just couldn't comprehend all this castle has seen!

Once we were up in the top of the castle ruins in the keep (the main living quarters of the castle holding the banquet halls, king's living area, dungeon and the most protected area of the castle) we looked down at the village of Corfe. We walked around Corfe, which only takes a few minutes because it is so small, looked at the few houses, restaurants and many tea rooms! We had planed to have a cream afternoon tea (still not quite sure what the cream part means) but as we passed a pub I saw a Pimm's signs and thought "hmmm Pimm's I have heard this is good!!" So we ditched the boring tea and went for my first Pimm's! It was delish!! It is made up of Pimm's liquor, or it might be a liqueur, soda water, and tons and tons of fruit! I had strawberries, cucumbers, lemons, and cherries in mine. I think I drank it all in a matter of seconds! It was very very very tasty!

Entrance to Corfe

The Keep and it's King

   

Corfe Village

Mr. Muscles!

First Days Living in England

It has been one week since taking the flight across the pond. It has so far been an adventure. Andy got an apartment in Poole, England, right in the middle of town (perfect since at the moment my main means of transportation is my feet!) We are close to the water and Old Town Poole; the historical district. Old Town is paved with cobble streets and lined with old homes and pubs.

I arrived on Tuesday September 8. First thing we did was buy a couch (first furniture buy... how grown-up!) then had Indian take out and ate together on the floor of our first place. I think there is more Indian food in this country than there is in India!! Right outside our apartment, literally next door to each other, are two Indian restaurants! And when you would like a frozen meal or dinner recipe or take out your choices are Chicken Tikka (Indian), Chicken Korma, (Indian), and Chicken Jal frezi (Indian). I have had all three.... in just this one week! Someone has got to tell these Brits there are so many more types of food out there!!!

Other than eating Indian and smelling of curry, Andy and I have explored the country side in Dorset (the county in which Poole is located). It is absolutely beautiful! Andy took me on two coastal walks in the countryside. The first "walk" is a route they run in the military. It started off beautiful. We parked next to this gorgeous old pub called the "The Smugglers Inn" nestled right on a cliff looking out at the ocean. I couldn't wait to start our "walk". The sun was shinning, it was warm and everything just looked so English! There I was, pumped up, super excited, then we started! It was more like a mountain climb, beautiful, but a mountain climb! I am dying, wheezing for air, trailing behind super fit chatter box Andy. The whole way up these, as he calls them "hills", he is running, jumping and talking about the area like we are on a stroll and I was just trying to breath and not collapse! But after all this climbing and walking the view was to die for! The fields and farms were bright green and then backed right onto a cliff of deep blue water. The contrast of the piercing blue water with the green was breathtaking! I'm loving it here already!!

Andy in the woods

catching a breath, looking at the view

The Smugglers Inn where we had a much deserved pint! YUM!