Fullsome weekender

Well I say full, full of pubs really. Friday night we stayed in, so as to have more energy for going out on Saturday. We had a trip to Canterbury in the day (and you'll never guess where we had lunch), no actual christmas shopping, but we went in a couple of different pubs for a change, the Cherry Tree and the Buttermarket. Both are nice enough, the Cherry Tree feels a bit dated and rough really for Canterbury, there are plenty of better places to go but it was worth checking out for a change. The Buttermarket is much nicer, no decent beers on unfortunately but we sat and had coffee and read their newspapers until it was time to head off for the bus.

Saturday night we went to Hythe for the first time in a long time, and it turned into a bit of a crawl. We decided to make the most of our Canterbury bus tickets (an "Explorer" ticket is the same price as a return and takes you all over Kent and Sussex, as if you would have time to go very far in one day) and get the bus out to Hythe, the timing of which meant time for one in Folkestone. We tried Keppels, but it was shut for a private do so we tried out The Bay Tree (the bar underThe Burlington) for the first time ever. Deathly quiet, but very nice, and really no quieter than any of the hotel bars nearby (like The Clifton or Keppels in The Grand), I'd go back again.

The bus to Hythe was full of kids, being kids, actually being quite awful kids. They were skaters and of some indeterminate alternative youth cult, and Clare and I would both love to believe that this makes you OK and a better person than if they were more mainstream in appearance, but it's just not true. I suspect that alternative is the new mainstream now, or something. They weren't just annoying and loud and spread over several seats making other people stand (though they were annoying and loud and spread over several seats), I forgave their youthful high spirits until they made racist remarks about another passenger, very poor.

Hythe was quite good, we looked in The Globe which was dated and working-mans-club-like like The Cherry Tree was earlier, but it gave it a feel of traditional pub. Then on to Earl Brownes to meet people, nice to sit around and chat, but that bar closed early, not because of us I'm sure, t seems to have declined in popularity since it first opened. A couple of other pubs along the street also stopped serving when they saw us coming, only The Kings Head was brave enough to stay open, and I think that's where all the pictures are from.

Sunday didn't do much, but did spend a stack of money. Booked a hotel for Brussels where we're off to in December for a christmas market weekender. Thought at first that we could easily get a five star hotel there at a knock down price, but on a second look it seems all these cheap places are in the EU district, half an hour's walk from the town centre, so we've gone for a Novotel right in the centre of town instead. Also booked tickets to see the Magic Numbers at Festival Hall in a couple of weeks. It's a midweeker, but I think I can do it easily leaving right after work, as it's so handy for Waterloo. Will be bleary eyed the next day, but what's new.

Got lots lined up before christmas now, we are busy bees...

2007 :: Comment / reply

What's on here and across the Channel?

Well someone just emailed to suggest picking up a copy of "Coast To Coast" magazine (does it have Fred Dinenage and Fern Britten on the cover?) but you can also see what's going on the homepage of the Gerald...

MORE than sixty summer festivals and events are listed in the latest edition of Coast to Coast, the seasonal guide published jointly by the Discover Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh tourism partnership and its across-Channel counterpart, Le Boulonnais.

Twenty thousand copies - 10,000 in English and the same number in French - have been produced for distribution on both sides of the Channel.

The guide is one of a number of initiatives by the Anglo-French public and commercial sector partnership to boost tourism to, in and between destinations in the 'Channel region'.

The project, part-funded by the EU, was co-ordinated by the Boulogne Shepway Co- operation Organisation (BOSCO) whose members include Shepway District Council and local authorities in and around Boulogne.

Discover Folkestone manager Chris Kirkham said that the guide aimed to encourage residents and visitors on both coasts to discover the great variety of attractions, festivals and events on offer at resorts on the opposite side of the Channel.

The guide can be picked up locally from Shepway District Council and Folkestone Town Council offices, Discover Folkestone information points, public libraries and some shops and hotels.

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Kent Festival weekend

Why would they organise Booshstock and zoo+thousand for the same weekend? They're both fairly close (Hythe and Tonbridge) and obviously aimed at the same indie kids, this is like putting Glastonbury and Reading on the same weekend.

We're not going to either, thought about it, but it clashes with a party in London we'd planned to go to. Maybe next year, if either of the festivals survive.

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