Another Rail Less Travelled

 Generally we have an obsession with "efficiency" when we're travelling by train.

By far the most efficient route to Bristol from Eastbourne is Eastbourne - Victoria -Oxford Circus - Paddington - Bristol

We've practiced it for years and we know where to stand on the platform on the Underground to make each change pretty efficient in their own right.

However, at the moment we're still trying to avoid the germ-laded, unmasked, snot monsters on the Tube so we're accepting less efficiency.  We've done the "via Gatwick" route a couple of times and it's good but travelling back this time, on a Monday, I realised with some chagrin that Ninkaci wouldn't be open when we landed at Eastbourne.

For me, the arrival beer is a really good way to chill out after the journey and delay the inevitable thinking about the week of work which was going to be exceptionally busy.

So, instead I suggested we travelled back via Brighton. There's one train a day directly from Temple Meads and it arrives in Brighton at 4.15pm.

I didn't need to suggest to the boy that a trip to the Evening Star would be nice.  It's not something we need to discuss.

Since the FUBAR with Dark Star being taken over by Fullers and Asahi, successively, we no longer love the old beers that were groundbreaking at the time.  Regular beers are now brewed in Chiswick and they're just a shadow of their former selves.

Thankfully, though, the ES still brims with plenty of cask and now 12 keg lines.

We had a very relaxed couple of pints and enjoyed the largely unchanged atmosphere of the pub.  Then we got on the train for the last leg home. 

On Wednesday, I left work and headed around to Bottle Grove to meet the boy there.  On the way I noticed that the promised new taproom/craft bar was now open in Bolton Road.  I reckon that will get tried this week!