Out again...

We went out with Paul & Sam tonight and hit a number of pubs on the High Street in Ryde. We started out at Wetherspoons. Wetherspoons is a part of a franchise, but where it lacks in old time charm, it exceeds in variety of real ale. Wetherspoons maintains around 8 Real Ales and rotates 3 of those with other guest ales on a regular basis. Fear not ladies, although Sam is pregnant, she is pictured below drinking a non-alcoholic beverage.

Here is a shot of Wetherspoons as I descend the stairway. Hey, what's that guy looking at! You can readily tell that it is quite different that most of the other pubs I have talked about. A lot of purists do not like this type of pub, although the pub itself has gained good standing because of their choice of beer and their embracement of local culture. I have been told that Wetherspoon is the name of a local Ryde supporter of CAMRA.

This evening was nice, because it gave Zoe and Paul a lot of time to catch up and talk about growing up. In the UK, Sam gets a year off for maternity leave, 6 months paid and 6 months not. I am sure with the twins, that time will fly by.

Paul, like Bob, works as a letter carrier for Royal Mail (The UK equivalent of the USPS). It is funny hearing another public employee talk about his experiences with people. Paul's route is at one of the dodgy ends of Ryde, so you can only imagine his stories.

After Wetherspoons, we walked to the Yelf's Hotel. I had never been inside the Yelf's, but found it to be quite nice and a little posh. After getting drinks, we sat by ourselves in a conservatory off the rear of the building. Seeing that my bladder is the size of an overgrown peanut, I ventured to the bathroom three or four times through the evening. Here's a question for you: What is the last thing you want to see when you head to the bathroom and go through the Gent's Door? If you answered, "The stairs", then you are correct! Yup, I rounded the corner after opening the door, almost tripped after I realized that the urinal was not as close as I thought it was. Rest assured that I won't fall for that surprise again!

After spending some time at Yelf's, we walked down to Joe Defloes. For those music buffs, Joe Defloes was started by Isle of Wight native Mark King who is a member of the musical group Level 42. Level 42 was popular in the 80's (surprise, surprise) and is still recording today.

At Joe Defloes, Paul wanted me to try a new White Ale from Kronenberg. It was quite nice although I am not too sure about the word "fruity" on the top of the pint glass.

It was wonderful hanging out with Paul & Sam. It is nights like tonight where we realize that it is unfortunate that 3000 miles separate us.

To end the evening, we stopped at the Kebab shack so I could pick up a "Large Donner Kebab"...whatever the hell that is. All I know is that it is damn good. It is basically a Gyro on steroids. As with all things international, the Kebab shack is run by foreigners to the UK, in this case, Greeks. So, you can only imagine trying to give a Greek an order with an American accent who is used to speaking to the Brits. After the careful construction of my Kebab, he asked me something that I didn't quite understand. When this happens, I do one of two things. I go with the last thing I heard or I refuse politely whatever it was that I was being offered. In this case I refused. Well it turns out I refused any kind of topping for my Kebab. We got home and I found a slab of lamb in a pita with nothing else. Oh well...it can always be worse and afterall, it was still really good.