Under The Bridge

Hello there!

Sorry I've been a bit awol - I've been a bit 'meh' about blogging of late and am trying to kick myself up the proverbial to get going again.

So, this  weekend Lovely Man and I took ourselves off on a weekend away to the pretty little village of Ironbridge. It was our anniversary weekend and we felt that it was about time we gave ourselves a treat. Now not having the luxury of our own transport. as usual we travelled by train.  It was a bit of a jaunt, from Stourbridge, to Smethwick and then on to Wolverhampton and onward again to Telford, and then a mahooooosive yomp from the train station to the bus station in the rain. Sigh.

After a bus ride through the wastelands and all encompassing building site that is the outskirts of Telford, we were eventually dropped off at Park and Ride stop, whereupon we decamped and got A. Nother bus (free this time) which would take us into Ironbridge itself.  (Are you tired yet?).

To add insult to injury, in the space of half an hour we experienced brilliant sunshine, cloud, absolutely bloody TORRENTIAL rain, sleet and a hailstorm.  We should have turned around and gone home at this point, however as we were now treating this little outing as an endurance test, we soldiered onwards.

After a short walk through the rain, we found the place we were staying - which was HERE  and checked into our room.  We were pleasantly surprised - our room was very light, airy, and clean - and very warm!  There were lots of towels and free toiletries.The disgusterous coffee and minging UHT full fat milk was a bit of a let down but I guess you can't have everything! And of course, we were only using the room as a base!  We stayed in room two - which had the creakiest floor boards known to man and would have thwarted even the most stealthy of individuals!  However this is only to be expected due to the age of the building I guess.   For £49.00 for the two of us with one of the best 'hotel' breakfasts we've had in a while, it really was a bargain and I'd have no hesitation in staying there again.

So - onto the next crisis.  Ironbridge is a lovely, relatively unspoilt Victorian village.  But a word of caution - if you visit, please make sure that you have enough cash with you for any fripperies you may desire!  There are the sum total of TWO Link-type cashpoints in the village.  One is in a pharmacy which was helpfully closed at 3pm in the afternoon.  And the other was in a tiny newsagent's shop - which was helpfully broken! We visited several establishments up and down the town including the tourist centre and two other pubs apart from the one in which we were staying - and none of them would do cash back.  We had the sum total of £10.00 in cash with us and needed to keep this back to get back into Telford with the next day.  I have to admit to feeling just a tad put out and really was beginning to think that we should have stayed at home.  I know this may seem a little OTT, but to be in such a situation without a car made me feel extremely isolated indeed.

LM, however, as always was Mr Cool in such a situation, and although it cost us close to £10, he jumped in a cab and made a return trip to a garage some way out of town and was able to use their cash machine.  Phew!  After coffee and cake in a lovely little cafe up the road, my equilibrium was restored.  And the sun came out which helped!

Later that evening we treated ourselves to a meal in an Indian restaurant, which despite it's very grand exterior and quirky decor (an ex-police station) and claims of "exquisite and contemporary Indian cuisine", served up rather bland and mediocre (and expensive) meals.  For contemporary - read a slice of strawberry, kiwi fruit and a grape on your salad!!  It wasn't cheap either at £52 for the two of us.  Do you feel another sigh coming on?  Here's a link if you would like to have a look at the decor etcetera. Pondicherry It was indeed very nice inside but was very disappointing in the food stakes.   I think that coming from a town which has some of the best Indian restaurants in the Country we tend to judge those elsewhere quite harshly. For two starters, two mains, accompaniments and freebie poppadums, chutneys and onion salad which come as standard, we never pay more than £25 for two and the quality really is top notch.

A romantic walk by the river in the late evening sunshine more than made up for the rather stressful day before we gave up and turned in for the night!!

Here are a couple of photographs for your ... erm.... delight and delectation.  Even the camera was in a sulk!

And so the weekend came to a close.

The best part about it was that we spent some time together, had a giggle at the mad situations we found ourselves in, and were able to relax in relative comfort.  It took us three hours to get home despite a lovely friend collecting us from Ironbridge and depositing us at the station.

And we missed the morris men performing in the Black Meet on the bridge on Sunday morning.  This was a lucky shot on the way past just as they were setting up.

Tsk.

Next time I have a bright idea please poke me in the eye and tell me to go and lie down in a darkened room until the idea goes away.

Until next time! xxx