Planning a Relaxing Weekend at the Pub
Modern life can be very stressful, and for that reason, we tend to cling to any moment when we can take a break, and get away from the things which keep us so busy. Heading away to a countryside pub for the weekend is an excellent way of unwinding, but, like most things, the experience tends to be that little bit better, if you do some advance planning, to make sure that everything goes smoothly. In this article, we’ll give you some tested tips and advice, to help make your next trip run like clockwork.
Choosing the Best Place
As tempting as it can be to head off and explore further away areas of the country, it’s often better to choose somewhere which isn’t that far from where you live. This might not feel much like a holiday, but it also reduces the amount of time that you will have to spend travelling before your trip actually begins. Open the map function on TripAdvisor and see what there is in your local area; you may well be surprised by how much choice there is.
While you should consider the reviews which you find, remember that most B&Bs and pubs with rooms don’t set out to offer luxury standards of accommodation and that not everyone takes this into account when they are writing reviews, so take the most negative ones that you find with a pinch of salt.
What to Do When You’re There
If you are going to be spending more than a day in your destination, then take a look at what activities are on offer, and think about how you’re going to get to them. If you don’t drive and are going to rely on taxis to get you to and from the pub, then your expenses might start to mount up more quickly than you expect! If food and drink is your favourite thing, then the English countryside is genuinely a great area to visit; there are all sorts of cafés, pubs and farm shops to explore, many of which offer food for taking away, which you can continue to enjoy when you get home.
Remember that the infrastructure in the countryside tends to be a bit more basic. Public transport will stop earlier in the day, and access to medical facilities doesn’t tend to be as convenient. For this reason, it’s worth having an app such as livi.co.uk on standby in case of any problems.
A little bit of preparation is all that it takes for an enjoyable and relaxing trip to the English countryside, which will help to relax you, and set you up for whatever challenges may lie ahead in the rest of the year.
Black Pearl, Melbourne
The Australian bar Black Pearl was opened 15 years ago and has been named the Best Bar in Australia a number of times at the World’s 50 Best Bars Awards. The bar has also been ranked at number 22 in the world in the list overall.
The current head bartender is Chris Hysted-Adams, who has worked at the bar for a number of years and is responsible for helping keeping the bar’s reputation as one of the best in the world.
The Black Pearl has a reputation of being a friendly, easy-going bar that is welcoming to both tourists and regulars, an important part of any bar’s reputation.
The bar serves a numb
er of locally brewed beers, as well as having an extensive cocktail menu, their cocktails are inspired by the large number of Asian alcohols that are prevalent in the region, such as their Harajuku Highball cocktail, which uses Hakushu distiller’s reserve Japanese whisky as its main liqueur. One of their other main cocktails is their “Three Drop Swizzle”, which consists of Qanqueray number 10 gin, lime, pine, and becherovka. Although their cocktails have been considered by many to be on the pricier side, most who have visited the bar maintain that they are worth the money.
The bar also serves home cooked food instead of traditional bar snacks, with their sausage rolls being a particular favourite amongst bar visitors. As well as western style foods, they serve some eastern style snacks as well, and are known for their baba ghanoush bar snacks.
Tavern
A tavern is a place of business where people gather together to consume alcoholic drinks as well as be served food. A tavern is different from a bar, in that a tavern typically serves actual meals, instead of a bar which typically serves just snacks. Taverns also very commonly offer lodgings to travellers, and taverns that are licensed to do so will host any guests as lodgers. The word derives from the Latin word “taberna”, which originally meant a shed, workshop, or pub.
Taverns have been present in some form in every alcohol consuming country in the wo
rld, but some of the best known come from either Europe or America. Famously, the first shots ever fired of the American Revolution happened at the Buckman Tavern in Lexington, Massachusetts.
Taverns have also been important social gathering points throughout history, with a number of professionals making contacts through taverns, notably working-class jobs.
Taverns have also been a part of maritime culture for centuries, with the first thing that many sailors do after reaching land being to visit a tavern. Although there have been criticisms of taverns over the years, they remain popular today.
Beau-Rivage Palace signing of the Treaty of Lausanne
The Beau-Rivage Palace is one of the oldest hotels that is still in service in Switzerland. The hotel is famous not just for its architecture, but also as being the location for the sighing of the Treaty of Lausanne, which took place on the 24th of July, 1923.
The Treaty of Lausanne was an agreement to settle the conflict that had existed between the Ottoman Empire and the Allied French Republic, British Empire, Kingdom of Italy, and a number of other countries where hostilities had existed since the onset of World War I. Originally the treaty was written in French, but translations are available in nearly all major world languages. The treaty was the second attempt at a treaty after the first, the Treaty of Sevres, failed. The Treaty of Sevres originally failed because the Kingdom of Gree
ce and the Turkish national movement fought against the previous terms which included serious loss of territory. The newer Treaty of Lausanne ended the conflict and defined the borders of the modern Turkish Republic, in the treat itself, Turkey gave up all claims to the remainder of the Ottoman Empire, and in return the Allied western nations recognised Turkish sovereignty with its new borders.
The treaty was ratified by Turkey on the 23rd of August, 1923, and all original signatories ratified the treaty soon afterwards, with the treaty ultimately coming into force on the 6th of August, 1924, when the instruments of ratification were officially deposited in Paris.
The current president of Turkey, Erdogan, is seeking revisions in the treaty, although it is unknown if this is political posturing or if he is genuinely seeking to improve the lives of Turkish peoples.
Jimi Hendrix Suite – Cumberland Hotel, London
Jimi Hendrix’ favourite hotel was the Cumberland Hotel in London, which he often referred to as his ‘home away from home’. The hotel would also become the site of his death, after he took an overdose of barbiturates, dying on the morning of the 18th of September in 1970.
The Cumberland Hotel is currently listed as a luxury hotel, with a large reception area that is decorated in marble and glass, covered with lime-tinted lighting. It wasn’t always so prestigio
us, and back in the 1970s was a lot simpler and was more appealing to the rock stars of the day seeking a simple room to relax in after touring or playing a concert.
In the case of Jimi Hendrix, one of his closest friends and confidants told press that the hotel was where Jimi would take various young ladies in order to keep them away from other young ladies that he was seeing at the time. Although nothing is provable at this point, his friends have speculated that the stress of his lifestyle at that time was unsustainable for him, and led to his frequent, and eventually fatal, drug use.
Brown’s Hotel, London
One of the oldest hotels in London, Brow’s Hotel, was established in 1837, by James and Sarah Brown. The hotel has a total of 115 rooms, and 33 suites.
The hotel has had a number of famous guests over the years, including historian John Lothrop Motley, well-known Victorian writers Oscar Wilde, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Bram Stoker. One of the most well-known events to ever take place in the hotel was the first ever telephone call made in the entirety of Europe, when the hotel hosted Alexander Graham Bell. The hotel has also hosted a number of European royals over the years, including Empress Eugenie, and Elizabeth, Queen of the Belgians.
The Brown’s Hotel is best known for its traditional Victorian era style, fused with a contemporary feel. The bedrooms were design
ed by Olga Polizzi, and combine modern features with traditional furniture, with each room being individually decorated.
The hotel features several restaurants, including The Restaurant at Brown’s, which was previously called The Albemarie, which is an informal A La Carte restaurant that serves seasonal British cuisine. The Brown’s English Tea Room serves afternoon tea and light snacks and has done so since the middle of the nineteenth century. The hotel also features The Donovan Bar, which was named after British photographer Terence Donovan. The bar is lined with over 50 of his black and white prints, furnished with wooden floors, and has black leather seating and dark country check banquettes. The bar is known for hosting a number of celebrities over the years, particularly those in the literary world, such as Stephen King, Agatha Christie, and Rudyard Kipling visiting on more than one occasion.