InsaneJournal

Current mood:	complacent
Current music:	Secret Bird (Sean McGullan)

Petersfield - Halstock
No spoiler warning for any O'Brian necessary


I set out from Petersfield at around nine to take first the A3, then M27 and then 31 and 37, ending with a few minor roads. That was what I thought, but the traffic thought otherwise. So much for getting through without a hitch! The M27 was blocked due to an accident at junctions 3 and 2 and so I had no chance to reach the A 31 round Dorchester. In short I had to paddle back to Winchester, go via Salisbury towards Blandford and then make the laborious cross-country way on three-digit A roads with a touch of B and minor. Halstock itself was easy to find and the Quietwoman is a lovely b&b.

The room was huge and has one double and two twin beds, so my friend and I will have enough space between us.

At the time I was there they were redesigning their website because the owners had changed. If you are ever in the area, I can only recommend you look out for this B&B, it’s charming.

I walked to the local Village Shop because my friend had told me they had an ‘internet café’ and I simply wanted to know how far it would be to check on my mails in the morning. The owner was thrilled as I was the first tourist ever to use the internet connection and we soon developed our own shorthand
"T’was for a pound"
"See you tomorrow the, love"

In the evening I wanted a hot meal. Now, in this little village there was no inn and I definitely did not want to get into the car again. Then the landlord suggested the restaurant at the local golf club and handed me a torch, because depending on when I would get back, it might be dark and there were no street lights. It was only a 15 minutes. They were essentially fully booked, but if I wanted my dinner now, the cook could fit me in. I wanted now and so I had a close look at the menu. There wasn’t really much on offer. Everything on the black board had been for lunchtime.

My choices were sandwiches, salads or steak, steak or steak. Or maybe steak? So I chose a sirloin medium with chips and fried onion rings. First came some warm crusty bread and butter (always nice), then tomato and basil soup, nice and creamy, in a small espresso cup as an amuse geule. This, the fried onion rings, fish in a white wine cream and some prawn cocktails were probably their contribution to the heights of haute cuisine. (Or maybe I’m being facetious). Next was the sirloin medium with braised tomatoes, a side dish of chips and the fried onion rings. The meat was as tender as could be wished for and the chips were fresh. Everything was fine.

It was still light enough when I returned, so I did not need the flash. When I passed a telephone box, I called Mum, just to let her know that I was fine.

Having returned to my room, I spent some time planning tomorrow, another one of my (hopefully) Aubrey-Maturin outings, watched the news and then went to bed.