1 year, 228 days since the start of the 1st lock down in March 2020
Hooray - happy birthday Colin. Present and card opening first followed by low fat croissants and coffee. We then headed off for the stay I had booked at a lovely gastro pub - the Wellington Arms - mentioned in the Michelin Guide. It was a short hour long drive there and we arrived around lunch time. I booked the ‘Cart Room’ which is a lovely wood beams self contained space, beautifully decorated with great lighting and a well equipped bathroom. We had bought the remains of Colin’s birthday cake and enjoyed that with a cup of tea before we decided to head out for a walk with the last of the light of the day.
Silchester was literally 15 minutes drive away and it bought back memories of visiting there when I had visited when living at home. It is an English Heritage site and they had produced a podcast which we played whilst following the trail through the Roman town, alongside the walls of the town and to the remains of the amphitheatre. We even found some alpacas grazing by the farm which is where I photographed the birthday boy today.
We stoped by Aldermaston canal basin on the way back to the pub but is was getting dark and drizzling a bit so we did not spend too long.
Back in our room it was nice and warm and we were getting hungry before our special Michelin rated dinner at 7.30. We were given a nice table close to the bar and I enjoyed a G&T with a local tonic. Food was excellent (not cheap) and I tried out a glass of French Malbec to wash down my main course. The dessert of a hot Bakewell tart was delicious. At least we did not have far to walk back!
