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Evening Meal in Warsaw, Breakfast in Rome and Lunch in Guildford (Wizz Air Multipass)

Firstly, I didn’t quite intend this odd way of getting back to the UK, but I had gone to Warsaw for a few days and needed to get back for something. I’ve been using my relatively new Wizz Air Multipass, which I’ll post an update about soon as I’m rather pleased with it, and the only way of getting back was via Rome.

So, I started yesterday evening from Warsaw’s central railway station.

There’s the flight at 20:40.

Always a delight to be in the Preludium lounge, which is the Schengen lounge so it’s one I’ve only been in a couple of times over the years (and I think one of those was because of Covid and they only opened a couple of the lounges). Thanks to Priority Pass for this.

Boarding.

I had been randomly given an aisle seat, but a cabin crew member came over to me and said they were looking for an English speaker to sit by the emergency exit door. It’s always odd this, a Hungarian airline flying from Poland to Italy, but I was an ideal choice I decided. I certainly had enough space and the flight was less than half full.

Safely into Rome and there was a little collection of artefacts to look at.

I was genuinely impressed at Rome Fiumicino airport, it’s been well designed, it’s spacious, modern and functional. I have been to Rome before, but this reminded me that I haven’t been in several years and I must go back.

I found a seating area and I thought it was interesting that the police checked the passports of most people in the seating area. The airport says that only those with tickets can stay overnight, so perhaps this is their way of checking someone isn’t there rather too frequently. The police were very polite and the time passed quickly.

I went through security at 03:00 and it remained quiet in the non-Schengen zone for some time after that.

A rhino.

There are a range of times for the Plaza Premium Lounge and most suggested that it opened at 05:00. I meandered nearby so I knew where to go, but it seemed open at 04:40 and I asked about the opening time and the friendly staff member said I could come in immediately. Thanks once again Priority Pass.

I didn’t have any of them, but the hot food options.

Just delightful. I’ll write a fuller report of this lounge, but this is very much the sort of breakfast I was hoping for.

And then pastries came out, and they were delicious.

And a double espresso to keep me awake. Rich and decadent. With several meringues (I kept getting more) to provide the sugar boost.

Second flight and I was fortunate to have an aisle seat again, with no-one in the middle seat.

Into Gatwick Airport.

A quick coffee stop in Redhill.

And then Wetherspoons in Guildford.

All really rather lovely, but longer reports to follow for my two loyal blog readers.

January 20, 2025
Bremen – McRib

[This post was originally from April 2018, but I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image link. And, I know there has since been a lot of McRib content on this blog, but there we go, it’s the best thing they sell!]

I had to pop in once for the best thing on the McDonald’s menu – and something rarely on the UK menu. The McRib meal. It’s about the taste, not the presentation 🙂

January 20, 2025
Bremen – Wallanlagen Park

[I originally posted this in April 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

This park is the former line of the city ramparts, lifted up in the early nineteenth century. I walked around it in parts over the last couple of days, but I’ve now walked around all of it.

January 20, 2025
Norwich in 1727 – Don Quixote at the King’s Arms Playhouse

As I’m up at 02:00 waiting for security to open at Rome Fiumicino airport, I thought I’d look at some newspapers from 1727 as that’s great entertainment for an early morning. It’s one of the earlier editions of the Norwich Mercury, which was printed from the early 1720s until May 1949.

“Never play’d Here.

By the Norwich Company of Comedians:

At the King’s-Arms Playhouse on Monday next, being the 20th of this Instant February, will be Acted a COMEDY call’d,

DON QUIXOTE.

With the Comical Humours of Sancho Pancha his Esq; Teresa Pancha his Wife, and Mary the Buxom his Daughter.

The Parts to be perform’d as follow, viz.

MEN.

Duke, Mr. Duckworth.
Cardenio, Mr. James.
Ambrofio, Mr. Frisby.
Bernardo, the Chaplain, by Mr. Collier.
Mannel, the Civility Maſter, Mr. Green.
Pedro Rezzio, Mr. Morris.
The Page, Mr. Buck.
Don Quixote, Mr. Marshal.
Sancho Pancha, his Esq; Mr. Paul.

WOMEN.

Dutchefs, Mrs. Paul.
Marcella, Mrs. Frisby.
Rodriquez, by Mrs. Green.
Teresa Pancha, Mrs. Plomer.
Mary the Buxom, Mrs. Buck. With Dresses and Entertainments proper to the Play.

To begin at Six a Clock. Vivat REX.

And on Thursday next, being particularly desired, will be Acted the Provok’d Wife.”

Firstly, the King’s Arms Playhouse is something of a mystery and doesn’t come up on any searches. There have been ten pubs in Norwich with this name, but there’s only one which seems to have been open at this time and it’s a pub still in existence, now called Berstrete Gates. Don Quixote had been written just over 100 years before, so was an old favourite even back nearly three hundred years ago.

It’s rather sub-optimal that no first names were given, it’s too hard to work out who any of these early actors and actresses were. They were a touring company, as their names appear in locations across the region. Fortunately, a little more is known about the Norwich Company of Comedians, who between 1731 and 1757 made the White Swan Inn, near Peter Mancroft, their home. This pub started trading in the early 1600s, but the building was pulled down in the 1960s to make way for car parking. A sub-optimal decision…. Anyway, despite more being known about the company, there’s still no link between the names of the performers in this production and the history of the comedians, so that didn’t help much.

Despite my failures of research, it’s still a rather lovely little piece of Norwich history, a theatre company performing 300 years ago to surprise and delight the locals….

January 20, 2025
Stockport : Adamsons Ghost Sign

I can’t make the text of this out and it’s not helped that someone has punched four windows in the side of this building on Deanery Way. But, Google Gemini AI is my tool of choice here, and it’s fairly confident that the only word that this can be is Adamsons. It goes further and suggests that it’s a business run by Daniel Adamson (1820-1890) but he was an engineer and that doesn’t strike me as the normal business to paint up on the side of a wall. So that’s another little mystery as far as I’m concerned, but as an aside, I thought Stockport looked quite attractive architecturally.

January 19, 2025
Stockport : Stockport Railway Station

Well, where would we be without a little post about a railway station?

The first railway station in Stockport was at Heaton Norris, but it was a sub-optimal location and alongside the construction of the Stockport Viaduct, this became the next central station in 1844 when it was opened by the Manchester and Birmingham Railway. The company was taken over in 1846 by LNER and in 1865, the Stockport, Timperley and Altrincham Junction Railway connected with the existing lines, solidifying Stockport’s importance as something of a railway hub. In the early 2000s, there was a construction project to modernise the whole arrangement which included the building of this glass-fronted extension.

A sign outside the station which notes that in June, July and August 1940, Stockport welcomed over 1,200 evacuees from the Channel Islands. The children were cared for by local families until the liberation in May 1945. The Channel Islands were the only occupied part of the British Isles and that was an enormous number of children for the local area to take. Most were integrated into the local education system, which caused some capacity issues to say the least. By all accounts, the local denizens did themselves proud with the support and generosity that they offered to the children. There were some localised issues and it became problematic when Manchester was bombed, but there have been long-standing connections between Stockport and the Channel Islands since this evacuation.

And the platforms. When I left Stockport I went via Crewe and London, because the direct train to Norwich is fiercely expensive and really not very good. There’s still quite a Victorian feel to the whole station and there’s a Platform 0 because it opened in 2008 and rather disturbed the numbering system.

January 19, 2025
Bremen – Creamlovers

[Reposting this old post from April 2018 to fix the broken image links]

After lunch I thought, since it’s my last day in Bremen, to get a little ice cream.

Marginally larger than I had expected….

But beautifully presented. Friendly service, nice and cold outside, very lovely.

January 19, 2025
Stockport : Joseph James

This post is of little relevance, although that’s the hallmark of this blog, but for reasons unknown I’ve been shown on TikTok the videos of Joseph James for months. I’ve wondered what random algorithm gave me that given they have two stores nowhere near me, one in Manchester and one in Stockport, but it was a little bit of excitement to see one of their outlets in what was once the Debenhams building. I’m easily pleased… But, the videos are worth seeking out, a couple of people setting up a business as a furniture outlet.

January 19, 2025
Bremen – 1885 Die Burger

[I posted this in April 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

I remember going to Blaze Pizza in Pasadena in January and they had a set-up where you order pizza in a Subway style. They’re not the only ones doing it, but they did it well with excellent customer service and a high quality product.

Well, here is the German version, but with burgers. And it’s quite excellent, with the staff being really welcoming and engaging.

Whilst waiting, you can try the various sauces for free. The bacon mayo was of Greggs standard, world class.

I arrived just before 12 so it was understandably quiet, but I think it’s a generally busy restaurant judging from the reviews.

The counters where you can choose which items you want in the burger.

The finished product. I asked for the burger to be medium and perhaps it verged towards well done, but it was still tender with lots of flavour. The bacon mayo was evident in the burger and the roll had lots of texture to add to the whole meal. Crispy fries and a generous portion of mayo to go along with them. And, when paying, they give out free packs of Skittles.

Spotlessly clean restaurant, friendly staff and excellent food, I hope they go on to open more than the two restaurants in Germany that they currently have.

January 19, 2025
Bremen – Nelson Mandela Park

[This is a repost of an post that I made in April 2018 with the broken image links restored]

Bremen does suffer a little from graffiti, but it’d have been nice if they could have cleaned up this sign….. It was given the name Nelson Mandela Park in 2014, with the area not having a name before then. It’s the area of former common land which connects the railway station to Burgerpark.

This elephant was constructed in 1932 and was originally called the colonial monument, but was renamed the anti-colonial monument in 1989. I’m not sure if these name changes achieve much, but the important thing is that the structure is still there and there’s signage explaining a little about the background of its history.

Another graffiti ridden sign.

These red sandstones are here to commemorate the genocide of the Herero and Nama. This seems a more positive solution to dealing with the problems of colonialism, which is by placing something which invites further investigation. It comes from the rebellions suppressed by the Germans in what was then German South West Africa, but is now part of South Africa.

January 19, 2025