I had a choice today. I’m away for work with one other. She hired a car for the week, so I’m taking a lift every now and then, and fining out what music the youff listen to init.

Our hotels are about 1.6 miles away and I could have called a taxi to take me to mine. Naturally, I decided to walk. Google maps showed that is was almost all straight down the Great Western Road. It was a very nice walk to begin with, followed by less good second half. At this time of year, there was a couple hours of daylight left.

On the way to my hotel I found a fantastic beer and wine shop. There were chocolates on sale, and I’m sure there was other good stuff too. The ceiling was high, and wine could be seen on shelves all the way to the top.

My prize was two small bottles of beer. The first (and now empty bottle) was a milk stout from the Campervan Brewery 330ml 4.4%, and TRAQUAIR House Ale 7.2% 330ml and still very much in the bottle. It’s 2214 now and I drank a can of Estrella with dinner, so that’s enough for me today.

The milk stout almost had to wait for another day. Hotel rooms generally used to have bottle openers. For some reason, I remember that they used to be fixed in to a wall in bathrooms. And thinking about it, that makes sense. If a bottle was a bit fizzy, there’s not too much harm to cause in a wet environment.

Imagine not finding a tool to open bottles. For a second I had a problem. Then realized that it’s much less of a problem than not having a corkscrew for a bottle of wine. It’s much, much less of a problem. House keys defeated the bottle top. Turns out they are not just good at letting me in my front door.

It’s great to be reminded that walking around a new city is the best way to see new places. I used to go running, but I know I’d overdo the first effort. I’ve enjoyed going out for team meals, but they don’t feed the soul. There’s a part of me that needs to relax and be me.

I’ll be really hacked off in the morning if the milk stout gives me a bad head. If it does, I’ll blame this morning’s stupid early start!