Jus' Checkin'

On arrival in Bristol we almost always drop into the Barley Mow.  It's like slipping on a comfy pair of slippers.

The journey up wasn't as relaxed as usual simply because we accidentally left home 5 minutes later than we'd planned and from then on things got out of kilter:  we missed the Eastbourne to London train by about 2 minutes.  It was cold so instead of sitting on the platform for 30 mins we decided to get a train to Brighton and go that way instead.
That worked well, but as we arrived at Victoria we learned that they'd changed the way you get to the Victoria line and it takes about 5 minutes longer to get to the platform.
We narrowly missed a Bakerloo train at Oxford Circus and so we were convinced we'd miss the next train from Paddington.
As it happened, we tore up the stairs and got on the train with about 15 seconds to spare -panting and knackered, but quite smug we'd done it.

That's all by way of explaining why, by the time we arrived, we just wanted to settle down with a pint with low stress.

We had a parcel to collect from near the pub so we did that and ambled around.  I have to admit to a bit of minor irritation when we looked at a group of 4 people taking up three tables but as there was an alternative we kept our grumbles between ourselves and sat elsewhere.  Fortunately, the group left fairly swiftly suddenly making the pub feel so much emptier.
We decamped to our "usual" corner and shared a joke about it with Harry, the manager.

From then on in we totally relaxed.  Beer was good (both cask and keg) and, as it so often the case, it felt like we'd never been away.  We chatted about the upcoming opening of the Left Handed Giant taproom which will be about the same distance from the flat as the BM is.

But as himself put it - "I can't see it changing the number of times we come here..." - and of course he's right.  Pubs remain the best way to enjoy beer for us (I've said this a number of times, I know).

Last night we decided we'd venture just a little further afield - first to the Naval Volunteer (or the Vollie) which was pleasant with good beer and nearly empty.  Last time we were up we said we probably ought to check out the Zero degrees bar.  So we decided to try it out then and there.

It's probably in excess of 10 years since either of us have been to one (me, the Bristol one, him the Blackheath one).

The pizzas were nice enough (good dough, good sauce) although the toppings were nothing to write home about and the beer was fine.  Much, in fact, as I think it probably was the last time we went into one.  Service was pleasant and despite there being a big party in, we never felt neglected - although the warehouse space encourages noise to become quite oppressive.

We were really glad to have checked and it meant we got to stretch our legs on the walk there and back...but we both agreed, we don't need to go back on our own account.

Another place I'm glad exists, and glad it seems to be doing well but it's not really our thing.