The Tri-City Tour November 2021: Preston

[Gill H]

<<Travel Day 1 - Llantwit to Preston


I’m going to run the Preston days into one report, as frankly we didn’t do much interesting stuff! Mostly wandered round town, ate a lot and watched TV.


Preston Day 1 – Monday 8 Nov

Peter’s sister Sharon had gone to work by the time we got up. We lazed a while with a coffee and checked out the 80s video channel on TV. The classic Bucks Fizz song ‘Land of Make Believe’ came on, and we wondered, not for the first time, why such a jolly tune had such very dark lyrics. I mean, think about it:

“Something nasty in your garden’s
Waiting patiently till it can have your heart
Try to go but it won’t let you
Don’t you know it’s out to get you
Running, keep on running...”

Please, somebody do a dark and brooding metal cover version!

We left the house just after 9am and got the bus into town. We wanted to try out a new café called Saladishy, which we soon found. It was very lavishly decorated with pink and gold everywhere – let’s just say if Miss Piggy opened a diner, it would look just like this.

The staff were friendly and the menu was interesting, concentrating on healthy food and many Turkish dishes.

I decided to try the ‘Turkish eggs’. The dish consisted of poached eggs, Greek yoghurt, mint, pine nuts, pomegranate seeds and chilli oil (which I asked to be served separately so I could judge how much to add), and was supposed to come with wholemeal pita bread. However, when it arrived there was wholemeal toast instead, which was fine.

Peter had the pancake stack with fruits, raspberry coulis and pistachios. This was supposed to come with Greek yoghurt but I had evidently taken the last helping of that, as they had none left, so they added maple syrup instead.

Both meals were delicious, with fresh, zingy flavours, and we were particularly impressed with the presentation. Since the café was new and, like everywhere else, struggling with supply issues at the moment, we weren’t expecting everything to be perfect yet. But this is definitely somewhere we would come back to. Their lunch menu concentrates on build-your-own salads, wraps, poke bowls and ramen, and prices are generally very good. That said, if you so wish you can have a ‘gold’ salad bowl including caviar, salmon, crayfish, mango, kale, kimchi, asparagus and edible gold, for the princely sum of £26. Er, no thanks, think I’ll stick with a filled bagel for a fiver.

[Gill H]

Once we left Saladishy, we headed to St George’s shopping centre where we were due to meet some friends. We were surprised to see a small military band in the centre, and even more so when they began to play the Last Post and announced a two minute silence. We observed the silence, of course, but were rather surprised that it was happening, as it was neither Remembrance Day nor Remembrance Sunday. We didn’t see them again that week, so perhaps they were elsewhere on other days.

Our friends Julie and Jane arrived and we chatted for a good while over a cuppa in Costa in the shopping centre. After they left, we walked up to the indoor market, as there was something we just had to see – the new Wallace and Gromit bench!

After a stroll through the market, we tried to phone the hospital to see if Peter would be allowed to visit that day. No-one was answering the phone at that point, so we had a look round the shops until it was time for lunch.

We decided to have lunch at Bistrot Pierre. We’ve eaten there before and found it pretty good, and since the Cardiff branch closed down it’s the only one we are likely to get to. We both went for the prix fixe menu and chose deep fried brie wedges as a starter, and steak frites for our main course. Sadly I don't seem to have taken any food photos but here is the restaurant!

When we had finished I nipped downstairs to the loo and was most surprised to get a phone call from Peter within seconds - he had spotted some friends of ours, Corrina and Eddie, who we hadn’t been able to meet up with for several years! They are big fans of Florida and all things Disney, so we had a great chat with them catching up on each other’s news, and discussing our forthcoming trip.

Once we said goodbye to them, we phoned the hospital again and managed to speak to someone who said they would call back and let us know whether Peter could visit tomorrow, but it certainly wouldn’t be today.

After such a big lunch we knew we wouldn’t want much to eat that night, so we got the bus to Morrisons which was on our way home. Here's a view of the docks at twilight - actually taken on a different day but hey...

At Morrisons we bought a selection of cheeses, meats and crackers which could do us for several meals over the week, plus a bunch of grapes and a bottle of wine. And just as we were waiting for the bus home, the hospital phoned to say Peter could visit tomorrow.

Back at the house, we relaxed over the usual early evening TV and had some of our cheeses, meats and crackers, and half the bottle of wine, along with some of the grapes. Sharon got home around 7.45 and we chatted until bedtime.

[Gill H]

Preston Day 2 – Tuesday 9 Nov

As yesterday, Sharon had left for work by the time we got up. She had bought us some chipolatas and tomatoes so we cooked those for breakfast. We then lazed around a while before Peter did a lateral flow test in preparation for going to see his mum in hospital. Fortunately it came back negative, and we headed into town for a visit to Starbucks and a WDW planning session.

It would be our ADR booking day the following week, so we needed to make some plans. Our last visit was 2014 so there were lots of new places we wanted to eat at. Eventually we managed to draw up a list including Steakhouse 71, Homecomin’, Wine Bar George and Toledos. Without the DDP, that was going to take its toll on our wallets, but we were determined to get to as many places on our list as we could manage to fit in.

After our planning session we strolled over to the bus station and got a bus to the hospital. Since I couldn’t visit, I went across the road to Booths (lovely supermarket and the reason Waitrose hasn’t really made it in the North-West yet) and settled down in the cafe with a cuppa and a book. I had hoped to charge my phone, but I had to wait a good half hour as the only table near a socket was being occupied by two very chatty ladies! But the minute they left, I grabbed their table and plugged in my phone.

Peter managed to FaceTime me on his phone so I could say hello to his mum, which was lovely as I knew I wouldn’t be able to see her in person this trip. In fact the hospital staff told Peter he couldn’t go again after today, as they were limiting visitors as strictly as possible due to covid. So he was glad to have been able to get there today, at least.

Making our way back into town on the bus, we discussed where to eat that night. We had noticed yesterday that Bistrot Pierre was having a special ‘gourmet menu’ event this evening, so we decided hey, why not?

We started with French onion soup for Peter.

And wild boar tortellini for me.

For our main course we both chose the duck.

For dessert, Peter had the iced praline nougatine topped with peanuts and pistachio with a dark chocolate sauce.

I love a cheese board, so I went for the ‘selection of French cheeses with artisanal biscuits’. I think this is where the supply issues kicked in, because unless Mr Jacobs has started employing artisans to chisel the firm’s name on their crackers, I think ‘artisanal’ was a bit of a misnomer.

It was good to relax over a lovely meal, and by the time we got home it wasn’t long before we headed for bed.

[Gill H]

Preston Day 3: Wednesday 10 Nov

As usual, Sharon left early for work, and we had a lazy morning watching Hot Fuzz on TV. We’d seen it before several times, but it’s always a good watch - and as someone who moved to a small rural town fairly recently, it rang a lot of bells for me. Yaaaarp…

Eventually we went into town to get some lunch. On a previous visit we had enjoyed a meal at a Korean cafe called Kimji, so we decided to go there again.

They had a lunch deal which consisted of their ‘KFC’ (that’s Korean fried chicken) and chicken noodle soup. The soup was lovely and the generous portion was very filling, but the star of the show was undoubtedly the chicken. The sauce had a kick without being overpowering, the chicken was tender and the crispy coating just right.

This place is tiny - just a few seats upstairs and downstairs, and some outside when it’s warm enough - but definitely worth seeking out, if only for the KFC. The staff are lovely too though. And we aren’t being sponsored, honestly (although if they’re reading this…)

Lunch was followed by another wander round town, including the rather lovely but sadly under-used Miller Arcade.

Feeling the need for something sweet, we then visited Heavenly Desserts. From the decor we guessed that this place probably had the same owners, or at least the same designer, as the previously mentioned Saladishy. Pink and gold were again the theme, although this seemed much better suited to somewhere offering decadent desserts than healthy salads.

Peter went for a chocolate sundae.

I investigated the ‘croffle’ which, as its name suggests, is a waffle made with croissant dough. Mine was the Lotus biscoff option, and while I know that flavour seems to be everywhere these days, in this version it was truly amazing.

After that it was home on the bus for an afternoon snooze, and when Sharon got home I walked round to the local Chinese to get us a small meal to share. Unfortunately their idea of ‘small’ is very different from mine, and I didn’t even make a dent in the foo yung dish I shared.

That night, being Wednesday, we tuned in to the Great British Mickey Waffle’s live weekly broadcast. This week we weren’t taking part ourselves (although next week we would be broadcasting live from DLP - of which more later…) so we joined in the chat on Facebook and YouTube.

Fearless Wafflers Ben and Becca were in WDW at this point, and broadcasting from Hollywood Studios. It was so amazing to see members of the team actually in the place where we had all spent so long planning and hoping to be.

After the broadcast we headed to bed before our last full day in Preston.

[Gill H]

Preston Day 4: Thursday 11 Nov

Just for a change, Sharon wasn’t working today (she works 4 days on and 4 days off, which does my head in trying to keep straight) so we hung out with her for a while before she headed off to do some shopping and visit her mum.

Meanwhile we went into town again, as there really wasn’t much else to do. We had decided to try a new restaurant for breakfast, called Bob and Bert’s, which was opening that day for the first time.

It was modelled very much on American diner food, but with a quirky Irish feel (it’s an Irish chain). There was quite a queue to get in, but it wasn’t long before we’d placed our order and found a seat. The staff were really friendly and the place was buzzing with excitement. Although perhaps they should have double checked their Christmas decorations...

I had gone for French toast with bacon and maple syrup, which was delicious.

Peter chose a bacon and egg muffin.

Over our breakfast we hatched a plan. Sharon had been thinking about getting a tablet to replace the old laptop she was currently using. As Christmas was coming up and her birthday is in January, we decided we would combine the two and buy an iPad for her. So we headed to the local Apple seller (which is not a greengrocer…) and soon managed to sort out the gift.

This was followed by more mooching around town until lunchtime. We weren’t very hungry but decided the chicken at Kimji’s was worth another trip. So we headed over there and ordered one portion of the ‘original’ and one of the honey barbecue, with a portion of dumplings to share. This was all delicious, though we found the honey version rather too sweet and would definitely stick to the original next time.

After this we headed home for a rest, and then when Sharon got home we gave her the iPad, which she was really pleased with. Peter set it up with her while I packed our suitcases for the next leg of the trip. The evening ended with us finishing up our remaining cheeses and meats in a sandwich, chatting, watching TV and bed.

Join me tomorrow for our next travel day, when we head for That London.

INDEX

[P&S]

What a lovely few days of just doing whatever you wanted, food all looks lovely and how lovely Peter got to see his mum

I love the Wallace & Gromit bench

[unixgirl]

What a lovely thing to do for your sister in law. You’ve found lots to do while you’re there.