Thursday, April 17, 2008



Another trip to one of my favourite cities....
The contro versial Birmingham architecture...with rain fast approaching...


before lunch we visited the famous fish markets and were amazed at the different strange things on offer...not only the fish...


and the fresh crabs (my favourite). We had some little tubs of crayfish and welks to "keep us going til lunch" whilst we ambled round...



but what about this.............



at the back of this cabinet is....yes that's right...anyone for goats head stew????!!!.....(yuk)!!!!



and then there's the nasty stuff...(Not that High F-W would agree of course)


Some of the quality of the fish was a bit disappointing,
but there was a massive choice - meat and fish and frozen stuff...


But this was why we were here....there was even grouper!!


Anyway, when we'd had enough of walking around this smelly place, we headed outside to the open air market to buy (the biggest) stuffed olives you'd ever seen. And the woman selling them was so obsessive about them (understandably) she wouldn't allow them to be mixed together when they were sold - so we ended up £16 worth of half a dozen bags of various varieties (which inevitably ended up all in the same bowl in the fridge when we got home (well, all the ones that were left, that is;) there was a long train journey remember)!

On the basis that the wonderful, marvellous Teppanyaki is closed for lunch (why oh why?) and that shockingly, Le Blancs place has now closed (why oh why? - one of my favourites!), we headed to the next best... The Bank. Inevitably, it was very busy, but at least the menu is good. There wasn't too many screaming kids (thank God).



Unfortunately, despite it's friendly but corporate atmosphere, the food was a bit disappointing. We've been there a few times and this was by far the worst. L is allergic to coriander (poor love) so I made a point of telling the waiter. But... you guessed it, the chef just couldn't help himself, could he? There on top of the starter was a giant sprig of (to L was..) "the evil-looking green stuff". Did he not understand? The other starters were fine. Mains weren't...J had steak (of course) which was fine, L&C had the veal (too much sauce I think - not particularly appetizing-looking). I had the roasted halibut - which had been so over cooked it had gone completely dry and lost all taste. It was sitting on some asparagus which (a bit too early in the season for UK stuff) when questioned had apparently come from the same place my (lovely) new bear originates from...



We decided to share the "puddings for 2" (x2 of course) and they went down very well.
Later, I had a chat with the manager, Brett - lovely guy from South Africa. I think they just had a bad day. And the menu is desperate for a change - he agreed.

Next weekend we're off to the wonderful city of .....Bradford (!!) Oh, I can't wait!!

Saturday, April 05, 2008


What does Egypt conjure up in your mind? Pyramids, sand and creepy, smelly, dark-skinned men in white galabayas shouting "Baksheesh"?
MMmm, yeah, maybe. And yes the hassle for all the tips can be a pain. But the warmth of that amazing sun and the clean sea and the amazing food? It's definitely worth it - not least because it's so cheap. And the people have an amazing sense of humour!


This was the view from our room - lovely pool...



This is the view from the hotel's beach bar - perfect! So quiet and private - behind you just miles and miles of desert sand....We had to drive through the desert from Sharm El Sheik (about an hour) with an armed guard of course (you never know where those terrorists are) past the Bedouin camps. Sad to see the influence of Western culture has permeated even these isolated communities...brick houses instead of tents and plastic water tanks outside each house...







The mad chefs at one of the regular BBQs by the pool. Enough whale-fish (whatever that is)! beware the bones....

Below is what they did to my bear! Poor Burton!



The trick is to bring some pound coins with you. Their Egyptian Pounds are worthless (about 11=£1), give away a couple of quid (to strategic people) and they will be your friends for your stay - anything you want is there - I mean it too! These people literally can't do enough for you. It's in their nature to be as hospitable as they can. Not like anything you experience anywhere else in the world...