Women who visit London with us in May: don’t drink wine in your hotel room. Our company is an expert in London. There are plenty of un-daunting places for a solo woman to end a travel day with a glass of wine. On our London/ Countryside trip, we’ll talk during dinner at my home on May 15, and recommend some historic pubs. In Britain, pubs are friendly and welcoming. They can be small and intimate or loud and bawdy with a ‘football’ game on the ‘tube’. In 43AD Romans brought drink shops to Britain; they were patronized by the troops. If the drink did not help the cold, Romans bathed in hot mineral waters in Bath.
Roman wine was slowly replaced by British ale. Today pubs serve wine plus any other drink you can imagine. Non-drinkers: do not worry or feel priggish, pubs also serve non alcoholic drinks. Some fun non alcoholic drinks are made from fermented dandelion, lime juice, ginger (ginger ale is not at all like what our mothers gave us when sick). A midway drink is Shandy: half lager beer and half sparkling lemonade. PS Lager is light; ale is heavier.
Unlike in the US bars, UK women commonly go to pubs alone. Pubs never had the stigma of the traditional American bar. Historically pubs were an extension of your living room. People had their neighborhood pub and were loyal to it. In fact, even today many Brits call their neighborhood pub: ‘the local’. When I lived full time in London, pubs served some food; mainly skinny white bread sandwiches, traditional items like Scotch Eggs, meat pies, or packaged potato chips. British potato chips are another full blog post yet to be written. The Ploughman’s lunch is still served and I recommend it: a hunk of bread, good Cheddar and pickle on the side. (A Scotch Egg is a hard boiled egg, surrounded by sausage and breadcrumbs then fried.)
For us as travelers to Britain in May, there is one great change for the fully vaccinated, (besides the no testing anymore as of Feb 11), smoking is no longer allowed in pubs. Another change is the proliferation of outdoor and back garden extensions to pubs. And a third great trend is the Gastropub and the addition of more tables to dine at in the pub.
Although many pubs have been eaten up by chains, there are endless Gastropubs to try in London and Bath. They will offer you a good meal usually at a very good price. Some serve pre made Indian food or fish and chips. Others might offer a full range of organic farm-to-market dishes. Some only serve British cuisine. Some now French or Italian. Near where I live is The Grazing Goat which also serves brunch replete with every fashion magazine and newspaper for brunchers to enjoy. Brits took the word Brunch from us… In all cases you can look up a few of the better ones here:
Hotel bars can be boring but safe. They will never give you the experience of a pub especially a historic one with stain glass windows, wood walls, old prints and a chatty publican. Here are some historic pubs to try in London. And here are the ones The Telegraph lists in Bath.
On the first list is The Guinea patronized by the rich and famous and where we used to go for a good steak. PS it is also next door to famous Bond Street shops.
So don’t drink wine in your room. Walk around the block from our hotel and try a pub. If you a nervous traveler (and most of us are a teeny bit), ask Phyllis to join you for a pub drink.
For more information about our London and Countryside trip, click here.
Call Phyllis at 646 309 5607 if you prefer.
