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Thelastpenmon: A winner at Al Bacio

Thelastpenmon: A winner at Al Bacio: After working most of the new year, and missing all the celebrations, i was over the moon to find out from the nice people at Manchester C...

A winner at Al Bacio

After working most of the new year, and missing all the celebrations, i was over the moon to find out from the nice people at Manchester Confidential, that i had won a meal for two at a moderately new
Italian restaurant Al Bacio.
I had won the meal via twitter, sending a silly picture of myself replicating the chef on the restaurants
logo, my good lady suggested that we hit the sales on the friday and then relax with the meal early evening.
Once we found the place down the back street just off Deansgate and Bridge street we had every table bar one to choose from, this generally sends alarm bells off with me, as i find a good turn over of food is usually better that food waiting to be used.
We had four fantastic waiters to choose from and if that wasn't enough the owner came over to as how we were. I found them all very nice and impressed them with my Italian, learned from Gregory's girl or course " Bella Bella".

The wine list reached for the stars but not being a huge fan of Italian wine we plumed for the house red,
this was a light Montepulciano d'abruzzo and not bad at a tad under £16.
I know screw top caps are helping save the planet now, but i must admit it kills the atmosphere,splendor and tension as the waiter watches to see if the wine is corked or not, i sometimes feel like saying " this wine is screwed" as they ask me to try it.

We ordered king scallops for starters and whilst waiting took in the decor, the interior is beautiful with fabulous chandeliers and well set spacious tables, but i feel the only letdown is the transfers of the chefs giant hands touching the finger and thumb, as the the italians do " mama mia "

The starters came obviously quick and were served in their shell, they were aptly named kings as they all most filled the shell, once eaten we were left with quite a lot of sauce left and that was the only thing i felt was missing from our table Bread! There was a brand new stone oven in the corner so i think they are missing out on filling the air with the aroma of fresh bread.

We made a little conversation with the other couple in there but we didn't have much time to chat as our mains were with us in minutes, i had the veal in a rich tomato and red wine sauce and karen had a creamy mixed seafood pasta dish, both dishes were fantastic and the accompaniment  of seasonal vegetables went really well, i had learned from my lack of bread starter and ordered a side order which mopped up the excess sauces wonderfully.

We did have a small break and a chat before waiter number four asked if we would like to try a dessert,
as any good lady does she orders the Triamisu while i decided to try the Grappa, at this point i was feeling guilty as i had not informed them that this was on the house but hey ho you don't win treats every day, the Tiramisu was a made in a small glass and i must admit i think a slice from a large home made one would be better but it was ok never the less.

We asked for the bill and then showed them the email, i think its only fair we go back and try a few more dishes in a couple months, but until then i must put to bed the phrase " No such thing as a free meal" and thank everyone who made our new year special.   www.al-bacio.co.uk

Three Tweeters meet up at last

After Shaun made a balls up booking Thorney How hostel last month i did the honorable thing and went on both trips, The first was superb as you can see in my last blog, so knowing the company was going to be good i started to plot a route from Windermere to Thorney how in Grassmere.
The plan was to get the catch the train with dick mooney aka @owdbum and meet up with shaun aka
@shaunbades the following day in Grassmere.
We set off from Bolton on the direct train to Windermere enjoying a coffee and talking rubbish as usual , we decided to walk down into little china { bowness } and catch the car ferry to the other side of the lake, the weather was cloudy and a bit nippy { no pun intended } but once into our stride we would soon warm up.
Once we had landed across the lake we simply followed the signed path around the shores, taking in the views of bell isle and the surrounding hills, we ate as we walked and only stopped to take a few snaps of Wray castle and watch the woodpeckers feeding outside the castle windows, Dick wanted to walk over to Elterwater but not wanting to blog about going to Randy pike with him i convinced him to go to Ambleside instead.
It only took a few hours to do the walk and although no high peaks some of the views are fantastic, we got to Ambleside with an hour to spare before the bus would arrive to take us to Grassmere so we tried a couple of pints in The Golden Rule, its Amblesides best secret and a must for real ale enthusiast's, no music allowed just good old conversation which seems to be popular as the pub was packed.
Once the bus had dropped us off besides the art gallery in Grassmere we followed  the Helm crag signpost  to get to Thorney How, we were welcomed by Taylor the proprietor and given a room overlooking the front garden and Rydal fell { which was nice }, most of the hostel is under construction  so there was only the odd guest staying so having space to do our own thing we bought a few beers from Taylor's well stocked bar and settled into the communal lounge. We watched the footy and flicked through a few books in the library before heading for our bunks.
The following morning i opened the curtains at around 7am only to see a roe deer keeping the lawn trim, people can't understand why i get excited by nature when i shoot and eat some of it but believe me i do.

Dick had never been here before so i showed him a small walk though the woods which leads to the base of Helm crag, just enough to get your a appetite up for one of the hostels breakfast's .
We packed away shortly after breakfast and met shaun outside the hostel at around ten, we did our introductions and walked down the country lane which leads to Grassmere, the route we had planned was a walk over Silver How into Elterwater then across Loughrigg fell into Ambleside .
The starting point is easy to find just opposite the Thorney how signpost and leads straight up to Long howe, we did this with ease so a unanimous vote said that we would walk down into Elterwater and try a pint in the Brittania inn.
The Time was eleven thirty but there was still a few people milling around the place so we went in and sat opposite the roaring fire, the lure of jennings cumberland ale was too much for me and Shaun but Dick took the the continental route and had a coffee.
After refueling we took the road leading past the asylum looking youth hostel to the base of Loughrigg fell, to stop erosion the national trust have put a pathway all the way to the top which is handy until you meet a party of ramblers half way, i lagged behind only to take in the scenery and snaffle the odd jelly baby, this peak is only 356 meters above sea level but the views of Rydal water , Windermere and the Langdales are something else.
The top of the fell is like a spaghetti junction, a Wainwright nightmare of random paths, we headed straight across until an old dry stone wall leads you down a zig zag path littered with benches erected in honor of the country folk that once loved this beautiful county.
The path brings you out on the main road into Ambleside which is a culture shock after the quite fells, but i still managed to spot two roe deer near the old church and a dipper in the stream besides the road.
We made it in good time for the bus so we sampled a pint in the Golden rule and picked up a few cakes from the new bakery opposite the bus stop before heading back to the train station, i always get hungry on the train journey back so Booths is a god send for stocking up on sandwiches and the odd real ale, its also good to use the toilets to spruce up in as well.
Well i must admit i enjoyed every minute and have no regrets going on both trips ( apart from being skint now) its time to reflect and enjoy with a whisky now but my feet will be itchy again soon so here's to the next time.

Thorney How Hostel

 When Shaun "thomas cook" bades booked the wrong dates to go on a hike to Grassmere i feared the worst! I had booked the 7th March off but not the 7thFeb! But not wanting to let him down as he's not really safe on his own, i decided to finish my shift and try to grab a few hours kip on the way, plus he had booked the train tickets and would of moaned for the next thirty years if i didn't pay him for them.
He had booked us in at an independent hostel called Thorney How which is ideally situated at the foot of Helm crag.
We were not traveling alone , we had my English springer spaniel Lizzy in tow and luckily the owners said that she would be fine. We jumped off the bus near the gallery in Grassmere and walked up the road opposite the corner bookshop with the field to your right , at this point i must say a plusbus ticket is much cheaper if your coming to Windermere via the train. Anyway once you've walked past some picturesque cottages you will see a sign on the right saying Thorney How 400m , i think the guy with the trundle wheel had been on the wobbly bob or something as its a wee bit further than that but you can't grumble with the scenes your taking in.
We were met by the owner Taylor who gave us a guided tour and showed Lizzy to her deluxe kennel, the hostel is short of nothing and unlike many i've stayed in before it has a pub like charm and not that stuffy atmosphere, the study is a leather clad reading room for the map readers and thinkers yet the dinning room is were you can share stories of conquering the Eiger, both rooms have open wood burning fires which are fueled by locally resourced sustainable logs, We decided to walk to the travelers  rest pub in the evening and plot our route for the next day, its only a ten minute walk away but if there's a few of you i would stay in the hostel and chew the fat as your not missing much in the pub.

 We had a great nights sleep in the end upstairs room overlooking Fairfield and i decided to take our lizzy for a quick walk before breakfast, just as i walked down to her woodland kennel i spotted a roe deer walking back into the woods after its nighttime jaunt, we walked down a new pathway which leads you to the base of Easedale and some crystal clear streams, on the way back i saw a good number of birds including green and lesser spotted woodpecker which is remarkable seeing i had a 200 mph gundog on the loose.

 I must suggest that you fuel up on the full English here, the eggs couldn't be fresher as you can hear the hens from the dining room and both me and shaun didn't need to eat another thing until mid afternoon.We said our goodbyes to Taylor and his family which includes a very friendly cat , an  inquisitive tortoise and of course the hens, then ambled up Stone Arthur and then onto Great Rigg.
There is no shortage of things to do here and if you have done a walk once before then do it again in another  season it will look completely different. Thanks again thorney How see you again soon.

Christmas in Denmark 2012

Waxwing in Denmark at Christmas