Snowdonia: A Holiday in the UK

Well aren’t I a lucky devil, I have just returned from my second holiday so far this year. This time we went a little off-piste though and holidayed in the UK, with a trip to Snowdonia with our beautiful little pooch-faced babychops (Lexi).

Here she is in case you’ve forgotten how stunning she is:

Lexi on Harlech Beach

Usually we go further afield but we really wanted to find somewhere dog friendly to explore, so we rented ourselves a little house in a coastal village called Harlech, packed up our impractical BMW coupé and off we went.

What a trip!

If like me you haven’t really holidayed in the UK since you were a small child, I highly recommend it. We saw some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, my phones had no signal most of the time and we had loads to occupy us. I can’t remember the last time I felt so relaxed. That’s not to mention the fact that our little girly LOVED it and had a wonderful time getting the sand in her paws.

Here are some snaps / highlights in case you’re thinking about a trip (these are just phone snaps; imagine the colours in real life!):

Craggy, waterfall-y goodness at Fairy Glen

This is how clear the water is in the streams; my dad tells me some people have this pumped directly into their taps. We drank it, we’re alive

If you like history, there are castles galore. This one is Harlech Castle

Feeling gluttonous? Why not grab an ENORMOUS pancake over at Scoop in Caernarfon?

Or you can head over to Tu Hwnt I’r Bont tearoom in Llanwrst

Need a beach? We had this place to ourselves. Port Iago (in the middle of nowhere after a lot of driving in circles but so worth it – following images are the same place)

Throw in some zip lines, lots of delicious food and a steam train ride and you have yourself a holiday. I can’t recommend visiting Wales, especially the traffic-free, stunningly beautiful Snowdonia enough.

Much love! x

 

 

Where to Eat (Posh Pub Grub) – Berkshire

I’ve had an absolutely fantastic couple of weeks and finally I have internet and TV again so I can finally update you on what’s been going on and pass my recommendations on to you!

Last week my lovely dad took me out for dinner, partly just because he could and partly because  he was lonely while my step-mum was away. It was kept secret from me until we arrived but his destination of choice was Anthony Worral Thompson’s The Greyhound which is just outside Reading, Berkshire. I’ve heard from friends and family before that the food there is good but had never got round to actually going myself so I was quite excited.

The Bar Area Where We Sat (Taken from The Greyhound website)

Once inside, the venue is split into a bar area and a restaurant area; we were sat in the bar area because they allowed dogs in there so we took my parents’ little bear with us. (He was missing his mummy even more than my dad was!)

Firstly, I must say the service was fantastic, our waiter was really friendly and attentive from the moment we walked in the door. Although, and I must make this clear, I didn’t feel like I was being watched or under pressure as I sometimes do with waiters who are overly attentive. Not only that, but a plastic tub of water was brought out for the dog almost immediately which is a thoughtful touch; often you have to ask for that.

Secondly, we had AWT himself in the kitchen which was nice to see. So many celebrity chefs open establishments and I always wonder just how often they even get round to visiting them. Thirdly, there was live music; we had a singer with a beautiful voice singing Nina Simone, etc. which really added to the atmosphere, making it really relaxed and also ensuring you could have a conversation without feeling everyone else was listening.

Finally I must of course mention the food! There was a set price menu which you could have 1-3 courses off, all 3 was only £14 which is great value. That’s a bit of an early bird deal before 8pm though. There is also the proper restaurant menu and then there is the pub grub menu. Sadly I didn’t think to take any pictures but I can remember what we had and it was delicious!

To start we shared the Chilli-Salt Squid with Spring Onions from the main menu which was amazing! The squid wasn’t chewy at all, the chilli was strong without being overpowering and there were a lot of other flavours also thrown in to make it just that bit different to everywhere else. I highly recommend!

For mains, dad had a fish curry which had fish cakes and big juicy prawns in it. Even the rice was really well flavoured! I had a steak and ale pie with mash, veg. and gravy and it was divine. The pie had a lovely, rustic, homemade feel to it and tasted like love had been put into it. I can’t find those on the website menus so not sure which menu they came from – I think it was the pub grub menu which is only available for lunches or on Wed and Thurs evenings.

I’d like to say we stopped there but we did have dessert. Again, our menu differed slightly to what’s on the web but dad had an almond panettone type thing with custard. Not the sort of thing I would ever order but it was fantastic. It was sweet and full of homely flavour whilst also remaining quite light so it didn’t sit too heavy.  I however, went down the fully chocolatey route: chocolate brownie with chocolate tart and chocolate ice-cream! It was rather rich but all very tasty; the tart was my favourite as the base was really sweet and cut through the richness of the chocolate somewhat.

All in all, it was a very pleasant meal and somewhere I would love to go back to for a lazy Sunday lunch. If you are in the area, I would highly recommend a visit. For the quality of food, the pricing is very reasonable so you should definitely check it out. Oh and don’t forget, it’s dog friendly too! x