During the evenings I have stayed in Newbury, I have visited a french restaurant here, Prezzo, Ask and an indian place (where I took takeway).
The french restaurant/bistro is in the square. There is the choice of a set menu. The food there is nice and very filling. I have tried the fish and the crème brulee. When I went there alone they sat me in the middle of the restaurant (!). I guess this restaurant can be considered a romantic restaurant as when I was there, later on in the evening – a number of (only) couples where there… I have been there twice, but it is a bit/relatively pricey at about £17 for 2 courses and a drink.
Prezzo is a chain and I have been to Prezzo in Newbury twice. Both times I have tried the pizza – the first time it wasn’t so good as the base was hard and difficult to cut through, but the second time I actually thought the pizza was good (probably the best pizza in a chain store so far in england) – as the base was light and still soft and you were able to cut it!
I went to ASK once and didn’t like the food at all and wont be going there again. I had a pasta with a tomato bases sauce which I didn’t enjoy to much as I didn’t like the chargrilled flavour of the veg in it and I didn’t like the wine either.
At lunch I normally go to the supermarket and pick something up – something that you never do back in Oz! – but I have gone a number of times to the small place called lunch express I think near the station. This place is great as they serve warm/cooked food for lunch! They make thai noodles (noodles stir fried with chicken, veg and a curry sauce) which I thought was strange at first (cos of the curry sauce – the first time I had noodles stirred fried in a curry sauce I think), but I have grown to like it and order it when there is a spare seat (there are only 2 small tables inside) inside, when I actually make the effort to go there! They also have sandwiches there and toasted paninis which are good as well.
Friday, 26 January 2007
my accomodation in Newbury
I often spend one night a week here in Newbury and normally stay at Pilgrims Guest House which is about a 10 minute walk from work and £52/night for a single en suite room.
I think the Bed and Breakfast business in Newbury is very lucrative.
Tariffs are high and so are occupancy rates (often booked out).
I guess the demand is from contractors working for Vodafone (I am not sure what other companies are here) and then are other other workers and visitors.
I have stayed in 3 different b and bs in Newbury. What is most important to me is that place is quiet, the room is ‘cosy’ and as I don’t have a car, easy to get to – preferably walking distance.
I stay at Pilgrims which is the closest and I think the best of the 3 but also the most expensive. Pilgrims guesthouse is quite large, and it is like a big ‘house’. There are 3 floors. On the ground floor there is the dining area and a kitchen next to it and at least one room which is a family room I think. On the second floor there are 8 rooms a mixture or ensuite and non-ensuite rooms. I am not sure what is on the third floor – whether there are more rooms or its private.
On the ground floor there are 2 rooms set up for breakfast dining. They have 3 choice of cereals, orange juice and grapefruit slices. For breakfast I normally have the veg version of the full breakfast, and I get mushrooms, tomatoes, fried egg and baked beans and toast. They do a full english breakfast (with sausage and bacon) and eggs on toast and beans on toast.
The single rooms are quite small. One room I stayed in didn’t have a wardrobe and just 4 hooks and hangers - which I ok as I am only there for one night – but this is the first place I have seen which didn’t have a wardrobe. The double room I stayed has a wardrobe. Generally the place is very clean and the bathroom is clean and ‘modern’ apart from the showerhead which is fixed. You get 2 small bars of soap and a satchel of shampoo which are impossible to open.
Pilgrims is a ‘guesthouse’ and doesn’t really feel like a b and b, and it is run or owned by a ltd company.
Addendum to Pilgrims :
Yesterday night was my last night that I had booked to stay at Pilgrims and I have changed my view on that place. My contract is finishing up, so I wont be staying in Newbury anymore, but it I had to stay longer , I would try to find somewhere else.
I did have the feeling that the place was bigger than I had seen and before I had only seen rooms on the ground and first floor of the house but yesterday I was in a room (£62 for a double) in another section of the place. There is an extension on the right hand side of the house towards the back – there are 2 rooms on the ground level and 2 rooms on the first level. The extension is actually attached to the house but you don’t enter through the house but from side. The room was bigger but was much noiser than the rooms inside the ‘original’ house even though the rooms are no closer to the street. I could hear traffic throughout the evening and morning. Also I can hear noise from the room next door – I didn’t hear talking or the tv, but I was able to hear switches being turned off and on and doors opening and closing. There was also noise from the water system or something in the bathroom. In my rooms in the ‘original house’ I didn’t hear traffic noise at all or much noise from adjacent rooms. I slept in later than usual and so I didn’t get to the breakfast room until around 845am and was told they finish serving breakfast at 830am! So I missed out on breakfast which I wasn’t pleased about. I find the hours they keep for breakfast is too strict (they told me today it was 715am to 830am (I guess I should have asked them the night before or earlier) ) and they wont budge on those time at all – they wont serve any breakfast any earlier or any later ( even if its only 15 minutes! – and I have stayed there many times!)…
...
I have stayed Ingeldene (£45/night), which is about a 40 minute walk, across and on the other side of town. This place is a bed and breakfast and I thought it had the cosiest rooms (although the toilets are pump operated…). The reason I don’t stay here is that is it on the main road and the ensuite room faces the road and it is really noisy. This place is doing well as they are building more rooms on the site behind the main house.
I have also stayed at Livingstone(£45/night) which is close to the stations – what I didn’t like about this place was I was in what could have been a garage – a small ‘building’ next to/behind the main house. I would have prefered to have been in the main house. The bathroom was very open (as it is also for wheel chairs) and so I felt really cold when having a shower and the water wasn’t hot enough.
One thing I noticed as that both the above b and bs both had an extra employee (not family member , overseas woman) to help out, so they are not just a wife or husband and wife business.
I think the Bed and Breakfast business in Newbury is very lucrative.
Tariffs are high and so are occupancy rates (often booked out).
I guess the demand is from contractors working for Vodafone (I am not sure what other companies are here) and then are other other workers and visitors.
I have stayed in 3 different b and bs in Newbury. What is most important to me is that place is quiet, the room is ‘cosy’ and as I don’t have a car, easy to get to – preferably walking distance.
I stay at Pilgrims which is the closest and I think the best of the 3 but also the most expensive. Pilgrims guesthouse is quite large, and it is like a big ‘house’. There are 3 floors. On the ground floor there is the dining area and a kitchen next to it and at least one room which is a family room I think. On the second floor there are 8 rooms a mixture or ensuite and non-ensuite rooms. I am not sure what is on the third floor – whether there are more rooms or its private.
On the ground floor there are 2 rooms set up for breakfast dining. They have 3 choice of cereals, orange juice and grapefruit slices. For breakfast I normally have the veg version of the full breakfast, and I get mushrooms, tomatoes, fried egg and baked beans and toast. They do a full english breakfast (with sausage and bacon) and eggs on toast and beans on toast.
The single rooms are quite small. One room I stayed in didn’t have a wardrobe and just 4 hooks and hangers - which I ok as I am only there for one night – but this is the first place I have seen which didn’t have a wardrobe. The double room I stayed has a wardrobe. Generally the place is very clean and the bathroom is clean and ‘modern’ apart from the showerhead which is fixed. You get 2 small bars of soap and a satchel of shampoo which are impossible to open.
Pilgrims is a ‘guesthouse’ and doesn’t really feel like a b and b, and it is run or owned by a ltd company.
Addendum to Pilgrims :
Yesterday night was my last night that I had booked to stay at Pilgrims and I have changed my view on that place. My contract is finishing up, so I wont be staying in Newbury anymore, but it I had to stay longer , I would try to find somewhere else.
I did have the feeling that the place was bigger than I had seen and before I had only seen rooms on the ground and first floor of the house but yesterday I was in a room (£62 for a double) in another section of the place. There is an extension on the right hand side of the house towards the back – there are 2 rooms on the ground level and 2 rooms on the first level. The extension is actually attached to the house but you don’t enter through the house but from side. The room was bigger but was much noiser than the rooms inside the ‘original’ house even though the rooms are no closer to the street. I could hear traffic throughout the evening and morning. Also I can hear noise from the room next door – I didn’t hear talking or the tv, but I was able to hear switches being turned off and on and doors opening and closing. There was also noise from the water system or something in the bathroom. In my rooms in the ‘original house’ I didn’t hear traffic noise at all or much noise from adjacent rooms. I slept in later than usual and so I didn’t get to the breakfast room until around 845am and was told they finish serving breakfast at 830am! So I missed out on breakfast which I wasn’t pleased about. I find the hours they keep for breakfast is too strict (they told me today it was 715am to 830am (I guess I should have asked them the night before or earlier) ) and they wont budge on those time at all – they wont serve any breakfast any earlier or any later ( even if its only 15 minutes! – and I have stayed there many times!)…
...
I have stayed Ingeldene (£45/night), which is about a 40 minute walk, across and on the other side of town. This place is a bed and breakfast and I thought it had the cosiest rooms (although the toilets are pump operated…). The reason I don’t stay here is that is it on the main road and the ensuite room faces the road and it is really noisy. This place is doing well as they are building more rooms on the site behind the main house.
I have also stayed at Livingstone(£45/night) which is close to the stations – what I didn’t like about this place was I was in what could have been a garage – a small ‘building’ next to/behind the main house. I would have prefered to have been in the main house. The bathroom was very open (as it is also for wheel chairs) and so I felt really cold when having a shower and the water wasn’t hot enough.
One thing I noticed as that both the above b and bs both had an extra employee (not family member , overseas woman) to help out, so they are not just a wife or husband and wife business.
Wednesday, 24 January 2007
Snow!
This morning there was a (thin) layer of snow on the ground that fell overnight. It was a nice dry (fresh) snow. I find snow interesting (having not grown up with it around) - and enjoyed walking on it and hearing the crunching noise - and also making snowballs! - the snow was perfect for it!
This is the first snow this winter.
This is the first snow this winter.
Newbury : The commute to work from home
I normally commute and on average it can be about 5 hours a day. That's on 2 tubes and 2 trains. In the mornings, I get on the Victoria line from Highbury and Islington to Kings Cross St Pancras and then either a Circle line or Hammersmith and City line train to Paddington. From Paddington I catch the First Great Western train to Reading and then another train from Reading to Newbury. About once an hour there is a direct train from Paddington to Newbury - but the times are not convenient for me...
I leave the house around 6:45am and get to work around 9am. Work is approximately a 15 minute walk from Newbury station.
I find the commute pretty hard going sometimes, as there are often delays on the trains (and sometimes the tube). I am probably getting used to it now as I dont notice it so much, but I remember the first week I was here I was late into work twice - one cos the tube station was closed and another time was there were delays on the train.
I leave the house around 6:45am and get to work around 9am. Work is approximately a 15 minute walk from Newbury station.
I find the commute pretty hard going sometimes, as there are often delays on the trains (and sometimes the tube). I am probably getting used to it now as I dont notice it so much, but I remember the first week I was here I was late into work twice - one cos the tube station was closed and another time was there were delays on the train.
Newbury, Berkshire
I am currently working in Newbury.
My first day at work was my first time in Newbury.
Newbury is where the Vodafone HQ is based and there are Vodafone offices throughout the town as well. I am working in offices just at the edge of the town centre which is good as I could walk here from the train station, and also have stuff to do during lunch.
It is a nice town with pretty much everything you need - all the supermarkets (Waitrose, Sainsbury, Tesco, M & S...) , a butcher, shops and there are some places to go out and eat and lots of pubs!
There are markets on Thursday (and Sat I think).
There is also a lock.
On the 'river' there are white swans.
I haven't done any sightseeing here as I am only here during the week for work and when I stay here in a b and b or guesthouse for the night during the week.
My first day at work was my first time in Newbury.
Newbury is where the Vodafone HQ is based and there are Vodafone offices throughout the town as well. I am working in offices just at the edge of the town centre which is good as I could walk here from the train station, and also have stuff to do during lunch.
It is a nice town with pretty much everything you need - all the supermarkets (Waitrose, Sainsbury, Tesco, M & S...) , a butcher, shops and there are some places to go out and eat and lots of pubs!
There are markets on Thursday (and Sat I think).
There is also a lock.
On the 'river' there are white swans.
I haven't done any sightseeing here as I am only here during the week for work and when I stay here in a b and b or guesthouse for the night during the week.
chocolates from William Curley (Richmond)
Last night I tried some of the chocolates I bought from William Curley on Saturday.
I tried a truffle and caramel chocolate.
The truffle was log shaped. With truffles, I don't normally like the dry powder on the outside, but this one was ok as there wasn't too much of it. The chocolate was really good - soft and fresh tasting.
I normally do not buy caramel chocolate, but I think I would have picked up this as it won an award (as tagged in the shop) - It was much better than any caramel I have tasted. It was smooth with a good viscosity/fluidity - it wasn't too sticky, with a good flavour and not too sweet! On eating this chocolate you can taste and feel the difference between a well hand made chocolate and a mass produced caramel choc bar from the supermarkets...
I tried a truffle and caramel chocolate.
The truffle was log shaped. With truffles, I don't normally like the dry powder on the outside, but this one was ok as there wasn't too much of it. The chocolate was really good - soft and fresh tasting.
I normally do not buy caramel chocolate, but I think I would have picked up this as it won an award (as tagged in the shop) - It was much better than any caramel I have tasted. It was smooth with a good viscosity/fluidity - it wasn't too sticky, with a good flavour and not too sweet! On eating this chocolate you can taste and feel the difference between a well hand made chocolate and a mass produced caramel choc bar from the supermarkets...
Tuesday, 23 January 2007
Borough Market
Last Saturday I went to Richmond and to Borough Markets.
At Richmond I went to the shop of William Curley, a british patissier and chocolatier. I bought 2 individual cakes, a bar of chocolate, and a number of individual chocolates.
I really enjoyed the chocolate bar the taste and the texture. The chocolate was very smooth and not too sweet and there was a filling that had a nice crunch to it.
On of the cakes was an upside cone shaped and the other was a tart with salted caramel.
Both cakes were delicous. The cone shaped cake had a thin chocolate coating and was was interesting was on cutting through it, the cut is clean and the rest of the chocolate coating doesn't break. In side was chocolate and white chocolate mouse, choc sponge and raisin.
The tart was a shortcrust type pastry, with the caramel on the bottom and some layers on top of the that which also contained some hazelnut chocolate on top.
We enjoyed eating the cakes and there was no after taste as well.
I also went to Danieli Gelateria (close to the park in Richmond) and had a scoop rocher gelato. It was a dark chocolate gelato with hazelnuts in it.
Borough Markets sells nice flowers, but they are over priced - I picked up one stem of yellow orchids for £7 as a birthday present for a friend.
I really like eating pasta and picked up a 300g pack of salmon filled ravioli (£8) from the Fresh Pasta Company (based in Wales). I had them last night and they were yum. The pasta was delicate and soft (the pasta is made from '00' flour) and you can really taste the salmon filling. They were triangular shaped and flat. One side was pasta with squid ink (and so was black) and the other side was the normal plain (yellowish) pasta color. It does look quite nice on the plate. I dressed it with just a bit of extra virgin olive oil.
I also picked up some fresh Mushroom pate(£3.50). This pate is vegetarian and doesn't contain any animal products. I had it with ciabatta last night as well and was very good.
At Richmond I went to the shop of William Curley, a british patissier and chocolatier. I bought 2 individual cakes, a bar of chocolate, and a number of individual chocolates.
I really enjoyed the chocolate bar the taste and the texture. The chocolate was very smooth and not too sweet and there was a filling that had a nice crunch to it.
On of the cakes was an upside cone shaped and the other was a tart with salted caramel.
Both cakes were delicous. The cone shaped cake had a thin chocolate coating and was was interesting was on cutting through it, the cut is clean and the rest of the chocolate coating doesn't break. In side was chocolate and white chocolate mouse, choc sponge and raisin.
The tart was a shortcrust type pastry, with the caramel on the bottom and some layers on top of the that which also contained some hazelnut chocolate on top.
We enjoyed eating the cakes and there was no after taste as well.
I also went to Danieli Gelateria (close to the park in Richmond) and had a scoop rocher gelato. It was a dark chocolate gelato with hazelnuts in it.
Borough Markets sells nice flowers, but they are over priced - I picked up one stem of yellow orchids for £7 as a birthday present for a friend.
I really like eating pasta and picked up a 300g pack of salmon filled ravioli (£8) from the Fresh Pasta Company (based in Wales). I had them last night and they were yum. The pasta was delicate and soft (the pasta is made from '00' flour) and you can really taste the salmon filling. They were triangular shaped and flat. One side was pasta with squid ink (and so was black) and the other side was the normal plain (yellowish) pasta color. It does look quite nice on the plate. I dressed it with just a bit of extra virgin olive oil.
I also picked up some fresh Mushroom pate(£3.50). This pate is vegetarian and doesn't contain any animal products. I had it with ciabatta last night as well and was very good.
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