Tag Archives: beer

Summer Holiday – Part 1

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I know I haven’t posted here in a while so I thought I’d post about our holiday to Holland and Germany. We had visited Holland before and been to Amsterdam for a weekend in Winter and it was cold! So this time I wanted to go back longer, in Summer.

We stayed outside of Amsterdam this time, in a place called Muiden. Muiden is a really nice little waterside town around 30 minutes by train/bus from Amsterdam and easily connected by public transport. It is full of history and was part of the defence line. It’s got a castle, which is why we stayed there. The Muiderslot is well worth seeing and you can get a self guided audio tour in several languages.

Classic Citroen DS parked in front of one of the old fortifications, now converted to offices and public loos.
One of the fortifications arround Muiden – this is now a museum

We started our trip by going to the Heineken Brewery Tour which was really great and recommended for any beer buffs. The roof top was open when we went so we could have a drink with a view.

Heineken Experience – Amsterdam

The weather was unbelievably warm when we visited, which is great for a beach holiday where you’re not on the move but when you’re sightseeing it did take it’s toll after a while and my girlfriend was suffering. On the upside the beer was cold and tasty 🙂

We did go back into Amsterdam to go the Hard Rock Cafe, something I had wanted to do from before. Unfortunately I was rather dissapointed with both the food and the experience. I felt like we were rushed through (they were very busy) and I got the feeling they were just trying to shift as many bums on seats and people moved on again as they could. The kebab we had had earlier in the Red Light District was tastier and more value for money!

As part of our trip we took some time to visit family in Hamburg, so I’ll write about that on Part 2.

Where have all the good pubs gone?

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This is a really frustrating topic. Since moving to Northampton I have been striving to find a local pub. In hindsight, I should have checked before moving but four years ago it wasn’t so much of a priority.

It turns out that I don’t have any “locals”. I did go on a bit of a hunt of the local area a year or two ago, and found that all the pubs nearby have closed, many due to antisocial behaviour.

One had been closed, and turned into a block of flats. On a plus side a barbershop has also opened there, so I no longer have to queue to get my hair cut; you win some – you lose some!

The nicest pub we did find was the Elwes Arms in Little Billing, but at 1.3km away it’s not exactly local and walkable in 10 mins.

Pubs near me
Arrow marks where we are, the faintest of the markers is now a CoOp

I have had a look on WhatPub for the concise list of pubs, that also serve ale (not a real pub otherwise, right?) This is the list

In the village my parents still reside, the olde world pub, The Musgrave Arms has recently closed again after the landlords only spent 6 months there. With high maintenance costs, rent and little help from the brewery (Greene King) sometimes it just can’t be helped but for them to close. The pubs that do survive have to diversify and move into food to maintain good revenues throughout winter.