Onward To Ljubljana
This was an uneventful journey in a comfortable train, but the weather seemed even worse, so there was no serious photo opportunities.
At Ljubljana, I changed a few notes into Euros and got a taxi in the rain.
It might have been a memorable journey through beautiful countryside, but with the rain and the dark, I couldn’t tell!
By Ljubljana, I was hungry and as my comfortable hotel had no choice of food I fancied, I walked a few hundred metres in the rain to the city centre and bought some chips and an orange juice from McDonalds.
I don’t think that the journey from Split to Ljubljana had been successful, but then it isn’t supposed to rain in the Balkans, when I’m on holiday!
Disappointing Bristol
On Thursday last week, I went to Bristol with the aim of perhaps doing a bit of a wander around some of the local railways in the area.
I know the centre of Bristol quite well and I’ve visited the usual attractions and walked along the Avon. After a previous visit, I wrote Walking Around Bristol. I’ve have also visited the SS Great Britain a couple of times, but it is not an attraction, that you can walk past and enjoy, like say HMS Belfast or the Cutty Sark in London. After a previous visit, I wrote The Disappointing SS Great Britain.
I had thought, that I might go to Severn Beach, as I’d read that the trip is one of the most scenic of railways.
But trains were only every two hours and I’d just missed one. How visitor-friendly is that? Anybody going on the off-chance would love to be stuck at Bristol Temple Meads station for two hours.
Services like those to Severn Beach should be at least twice an hour and preferably four times to attract passengers to the route.
I couldn’t even buy any gluten-free food, as the only place to buy anything was WH Smith. The nearest Marks was in the Centre. As there are no shops at Paddington at the moment due to rebuilding, I was starting to get hungry.
It’s also quite a boring and long walk between Bristol Temple Meads station and the City Centre. So I wondered if there was a local bus that could be used to get to Cabot Circus, where I might have some lunch. But there was no information, that I could find.
So, I did what my family always does at times like this. I did a runner! In this case to Bath!
Bristol may be getting new electric trains all the way to London, but they need to think seriously about providing a more welcoming experience for visitors.
I certainly wouldn’t recommend to anybody going to Bristol by train for a day out! Portsmouth, Liverpool, Cardiff and even Birmingham are so much better.
If Bristol was in Europe or had a bit more ambition, which I’ve always felt the city lacks, it would have a tram system.
This Google Map shows the City Centre.
Bristol City Centre
Bristol Temple Meads station is in the middle at the bottom. Only one other station is shown on the map and that is Lawrence Hill station in the North-Eastern corner of the map. Wikipedia describes the station as having minimal facilities. This extract from Wikipedia, describes the services at the station.
As of the December 2013 timetable, Monday to Friday, three trains every two hours run along the Severn Beach Line from Bristol Temple Meads to Avonmouth via Clifton Down, with one extended to St Andrew’s Road and Severn Beach. Most services start at Bristol, but one evening service to Avonmouth begins at Weston-super-Mare. On Saturdays only two trains per hour each direction call. Sunday sees an hourly service to and from Bristol, with only two services extending to Severn Beach, except during the May–September timetable period when all services are extended. The first and last Sunday trains towards Bristol are extended to Taunton via Weston-super-Mare, and there are similar workings in the other direction.
No wonder, the station only has minimal facilities, that level of service will struggle to attract the proverbial one man and his dog.
If as I believe there should be at least a two trains per hour service on local lines, then if the Severn Beach Line and the service to Avonmouth had this frequency, then there would be four trains per hour service across the eastern side of the city centre.
Bristol is trying to organise MetroWest, but compared to say Cardiff, Liverpool and other large cities, it has a distinct lack of rail lines and stations in or near the City Centre.
Talk is of a start in 2019, but I doubt, anything will start until the late 2020s, at the earliest.
In 2014 I wrote Is Bristol Left Behind? After my visit on Thursday, I can’t help feeling that the City is the most disappointing one in England.
My First Wrap
Like probably many on a gluten-free diet, I’ve never eaten a wrap.
Especially, as I’d probably never actually seen one before I was diagnosed in 1998.
These pictures show a gluten-free Piri-Piri Chicken wrap, that I purchased this morning from the Marks and Spencer’s in London Bridge station.
I will certainly be buying another,
A few months ago I pointed out to Marks, that I was disappointed, that they had discontinued the gluten-free ham roll, which was easy to put in a pocket or a small bag, whereas traditional triangular sandwiches are not!
This new product would fit!
There was also a Three Bean wrap, for vegetarians or those who like to have wind!
A Small Cooking Spoon I Can Hang Up
There are two types,. of designers in the world; those like Kenneth Grange, who will never accept second best and then their are all the others.
I strive for perfection and only accept second best, when the best is impossible.
These pictures show my quest for a small cooking spoon that I can hang above my cooker. Where else is there to put the tools, you use to actually cook the food as opposed to prepare it.
My mother had a small wooden spoon, that was always used to stir beans or in a small milk saucepan.
I have been looking for one for myself for about ten years now and I’ve never found one, quite small enough.
I did find the red spoon, shown in the first picture, in John Lewis and I use it a lot. A small one like it, in blue, would be ideal, as it fits the IKEA hooks above my cooker.
So I decided to make it possible to hang the smallest wooden spoon, I’ve got alongside.
I just drilled a hole in it, with my trusty pocket drill and attached a cable clip.
It seems to work.
Three Good Gluten Free Links From The Londonist
I was looking for some gluten-free teryaki sauce and found these pages in The Londonist.
- Where To Buy Gluten Free Food And Ingredients In London
- London’s Best Restaurants For Gluten Free Dining
- London Pubs That Serve Gluten Free Beer
I shall be exploring.
Combined Food And Power
I suppose it sounds too good to be true to produce both food and power from the same industrial process.
But look at this page entitled Combined Food And Power on the Orthios Group web site.
The company might have something.
Serial Cooking – Lemon And Spinach Cod Gratin
This recipe is another from Lindsey Bareham in The Times.
Lindsey called it a speedy gratin, based on an idea from a reader.
I made it as one large one for two helpings for myself.
Serial Cooking – Smoked Haddock And Curried Rice
This recipe is another from Lindsey Bareham in The Times.
Lindsey called this an incredibly lazy twist on kedgeree. I have tried to make it even lazier.
Note.
- I started with a single Marks and Spencer’s smoked haddock. Just two pounds and no bones or skin.
- I hard-boiled an extra egg for the fridge
- I used an onion instead of shallots.
- I didn’t have any fresh chives or coriander
I rather liked it for a New Year’s Eve supper.
Is This Tube Advert Going To Upset Nicola?
I saw this advert on a Metropolitan Line tube train today.
Is This Tube Advert Going To Upset Nicola?
Are some Scots, going to dislike the advert?
A Christmas Gluten-Free Sandwich From M & S
I was looking to buy a sandwich for my lunch tomorrow in Marks and Spencer in Islington and couldn’t see any bright green packets.
The reason was there were only two and several of these Christmasy sandwiches.
A Christmas Gluten-Free Sandwich From M & S
I’ve seen gluten-free Christmas puddings and mince pies, but I’ve never seen a seasonal gluten-free sandwich before!
Perhaps things are getting better!
The Anonymous Widower 