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Friedrichshafen – Ibis Styles

The final night of our European trip a few weeks ago was to Friedrichshafen and so the first port of call was the Accor operated Ibis Styles. I had rather expected it to be a little more centrally located, but if I had looked at a map before booking it that might have been helpful. Fortunately, it was still walkable, even for Richard, so we were happy with the location.

We were greeted at reception with this mention that we could phone someone for attention. I am most certainly not calling anyone, as I’m quite millennial, I’d rather have a nice WhatsApp link to chat away using text. Anyway, Richard then came clattering into the hotel with his big executive bag and so the receptionist heard us so that avoided that problem.

It was all bright and spacious in the hotel reception, the whole arrangement felt modern. The welcome at reception was also friendly which is always a positive start to any visit.

The seating area by the reception desk.

The walk to the room was along long corridors which took a little longer than ideal to actually light up as the sensors seemed to be rather sluggish.

I reached my room first and noticed the lack of welcome gift, but I was reassured when a few minutes later Richard confirmed to me that he hadn’t got one either. I wasn’t surprised, Accor hotels in Germany aren’t as consistently excellent as the ones in Poland. But I don’t go on about that. I would have gone to reception to complain if Richard had a gift and I didn’t though, as I’m like that….

I couldn’t understand why Richard left this when he got his coffee in McDonald’s earlier on in the day, but waste not, want not. So I had it as my own little welcome gift to myself.

We had our welcome drink after returning back in the evening and the set-up here is that they have a joint reception and bar. The staff member was friendly, engaging and welcoming, with the service always being personable during our visit.

I was surprised and delighted at the choice of beers that I could have as the welcome drink, I opted for the Benediktiner Weissbier Dunkel which is a dark wheat beer. This was decent, it was robust with the wheat beer banana notes and I’m genuinely not sure I’ve had this exact beer style before. Richard opted for some wine and he enchanted the receptionist with his grape chat.

We then sat for hours trying to work out how to get the missing images from this blog sorted. That’s nearly resolved now. This blog is sometimes something of a headache, but I have to persist for my two loyal blog readers. And my own memory actually, I like to be reminded where I’ve been.

We opted to have breakfast at the hotel and there was a decent selection available. He’s Richard getting ready for his coffee and Coco Pops.

The bread selection.

I liked those little edible containers (well, I ate them) for the honey and jams.

And the butter machine.

The cold meats and salad items. Sometimes the ham served at breakfast isn’t entirely appetising, but the ham here was so delicious that I might have had about a kilo of it. I exaggerate, but only slightly….

One of my several plates as I’m quite greedy. The Germans do breakfast perhaps as well as anyone in the world, so I was entirely happy with this whole offering. The breakfast area is also spacious and stress-free, so that helped with the calm and laid-back start to the day.

I really quite liked this hotel, although it felt a little soulless for an Ibis Styles and I’m not sure why they picked that branding for this Accor hotel. But, the rooms were clean, the staff were friendly, the welcome drink selection was generous, the prices were reasonable and so I could forgive the lack of a welcome gift. And if Richard is reading this, he’s probably still wondering how he missed his wafer with his McDonald’s coffee and I couldn’t possibly comment.

September 29, 2025
Friedrichshafen – Zeppelin Säule

This monument looked rather interesting from behind, looking out onto Lake Constance. It wasn’t immediately obvious what it was, but it transpired to be the Zeppelin Säule, or Zeppelin column, which commemorates the life and work of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838-1917).

The town that really owns the whole Zeppelin story is Friedrichshafen. A Zeppelin was basically a giant flying cigar, a rigid airship filled with gas (usually hydrogen), powered by propellers and steered like a slow, majestic whale in the sky. Invented by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 1900s, these rather incredible contraptions were engineering marvels for their time and became a bit of a science experiment alongside something of a cruise in the sky. This is the sort of thing that Richard (who was present whilst I took photos of this monument, although he was on the phone to someone as he struggles to live in the moment) would have loved to travel on, especially if there was a business class section with free champagne.

Now, the issue with these things is that they were filled with explosive gas and kept blowing up, but the principle was good. Count Zeppelin set up shop in the town, building his first airships and launching them from giant hangars by the water. It became the beating heart of Zeppelin engineering, a mix of optimism, innovation and the occasional fiery mishaps were something they hoped to get over. For a while they did, but the 1937 Hindenburg disaster put an effective end to the whole enterprise.

The lighting adds to the whole set-up, it feels like a fitting tribute to a man who designed an entirely new form of transport. I’m not an expert in balloons floating across the Atlantic, but I suspect that if the concept had been developed that they could have made it safer and more reliable, but with the advent of the aircraft it was perhaps always a bit doomed….

September 29, 2025
Friedrichshafen – Restaurant Spitalkeller

When Richard and I visited the rather lovely German town of Friedrichshafen a few weeks ago it was evident that he really fancied another McDonald’s, but I insisted we had something slightly more authentic. I had visited the town a few years ago, although I appear to have forgotten nearly everything about it other than it had a lake, something which felt sub-optimal. We walked to this restaurant from the hotel which was a good 40 minute stroll, so I pre-alerted the local ambulance that Richard might need some medical assistance on his arrival.

Anyway, back to this restaurant, which I feared might be quite busy and it did have that appearance from the exterior. We were greeted promptly and offered a seat outside, which I helpfully rejected as I didn’t need to look at some lake whilst being bombarded with insects. The waiter looked somewhat surprised that people wanted to sit inside, but Richard comes across as very English (I try to be seen as a bit Polish to give me that mystique of being vaguely European) and so I suspect that they weren’t surprised as he looked a bit new money.

There was some hammering in the background from what I assume was the kitchen and that was the authentic sound of schnitzel preparation, so that was me won over. Richard debated what wine he would get, as he’s getting good with knowing his grapes now, whilst I went for a reliable wheat beer.

Our mains came with salad, which was brought over first in what Richard suggested was the standard European way. I wasn’t convinced and so I left my salad until the main event arrived, I didn’t want to fill up on leaves.

Firstly, the drink, which was the wheat beer from the Meckatzer Löwenbräu brewery and this was very acceptable with a depth of flavour and the expected banana notes. This is one of the beer styles that the Germans seem quite competent at in my humble opinion.

Next, the leaves. They were fine as they had some dressing, but I won’t dwell on such matters. And, so, finally, the turkey schnitzel and I went for the large option as I’m really quite greedy. This was rather lovely, the meat was tender, the outside was crunchy and the whole arrangement had a depth of flavour. The chips were firm on the exterior and fluffy on the interior, with the lemon being the icing on the cake. Well, the fruit on the schnitzel I suppose.

The service was friendly and engaging, with the environment being calm and free from flies. The rhythmic banging in the kitchen added to the atmosphere and Richard was in agreeable form. He went for croquettes as he likes the ones in Asda alongside a Wiener Schnitzel as he likes veal, he was very pleased at the kitchen’s culinary prowess (although he thought the croquettes needed to be more like the ones in Asda).

This was a really delightful restaurant, the prices were reasonable, the service was efficient, the food was decent and I was satisfied with the beer selection. NB, Richard now gets these blog posts emailed to him and he has insisted I feature him more in them, hence the extended mentions of him.

September 29, 2025
Wizz Air (Memmingen to Budapest)

This flight was from just over a month ago (I’m catching up slowly with posts), at the end of the trip that Richard and I had around Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein. Richard was departing on his business class flight back to London Heathrow, whilst I was taking a more circuitous journey (because of my £9 Wizz Air flights) back to the UK. The first stage of that was flying to Budapest.

For anyone with either the time or inclination to zoom in, my 15:55 flight to Budapest is visible on the screens. This is very much a provincial airport, it felt quite organised but it’s limited on the amount of space that they have.

The airport was first constructed as a military airfield in the mid-1930s, being destroyed by air raids in March 1944. After the end of the war the site was used as a refugee camp and it was used by the US military until 1959 when it was handed over to the Germans, who were here until 2003.

In 2004, the airport started commercial flights and they’ve been adding bits to the building ever since. There’s a large new terminal expansion currently underway with a focus on budget airlines as Wizz Air and Ryanair use the airport extensively.

Joy of joys, it was a bus gate.

We were on board the bus for quite a while, but safe in the knowledge that it was unlikely the aircraft would go without me.

Boarding the aircraft and it was registration HA-LGQ, which I don’t think that I’ve been on before. The aircraft was pretty much full and the boarding process was all efficient. It was made slightly less efficient that there was someone in my seat and she was adamant that it was hers, until she thought she’d better check my claim with another passenger who told her she was in the wrong place. I find it quite easy to locate my seat as there’s a bloody sticker above the seat with the number on it, but there we go.

The seating Gods had given me an aisle seat and the flight was, yet again, organised and efficient. The crew members were engaging, the flight arrived on time and I’m always delighted when it’s uneventful as that means nothing has gone wrong.

As this was with my Wizz Air multipass, the flight was £8.99, another bargain arrangement. The flight only took ninety minutes and it’s a handy time to arrive into Budapest requiring neither a very early start, nor a nighttime arrival. I rather liked Memmingen as a place and it’s the gateway to southern Germany and indeed Munich, so I’m hoping that I’ll be back here again at some point.

September 28, 2025
Horsham – St Mary’s Church

This is St. Mary’s Church in Horsham, and in a fit of excitement I’ve already written about the font, the Hoo monument, the memorial to Charles Eversfield and Percy Bysshe Shelley.

A model of the church.

Some motivational messaging in the churchyard, I rather liked this little series of stones placed in the walkway.

The externally attractive building itself has a twelfth century core, with the church being designed in the Decorated Gothic style. The medieval structure likely replaced a late Saxon or early Norman structure, with later extensions in the fifteenth century and then the Victorians faffed around with the whole structure and there was a bit of a Gothic Revival to the arrangements at this point. Much as I comment a little negatively about some of the Victorian restorations, the church was literally falling down in places and so they did save it for future generations.

The church’s interior underwent significant reordering during the Victorian era, the Oxford Movement had their way here in trying to push back towards the Catholic traditions. Some of this work was done by Samuel Sanders Teulon, one of the leading English Gothic Revival architects of his time.

And looking back along the nave.

The pulpit is from the 1870s, another Victorian installation for the church.

The impressive and beautiful altar.

Just as an aside, a boy called Jason Murray smashed part of the east window in 1867. This is something that churches have contended with for years, even though I frequently see it mentioned that vandalism and social chaos is a problem almost solely of today’s society.

This is a really lovely church, not just the heritage and history of it, but also the relaxed environment that was evident here. I was welcomed by a church volunteer who gave me lots of information about the history of the building and that added positively to my visit. It certainly felt like a church that was community driven and proud of their offerings, with the building open every day of the week.

September 28, 2025
Norwich Market (2025 Edition) – Week 31 and And Eat It

And the moment has arrived, the last visit of the plan that James and I had to visit every food stall at Norwich Market. This week was And Eat It, which we visited when we did this whole market thing in 2023. We visit the stalls in random order, it was rather chance that the two dessert type stands were at the end of our list.

There’s a tempting selection of cakes which are all clearly priced and well presented. It was all spotlessly clean as well, shiny glass and dry surfaces.

The selection of ‘brookies’, which are brownies in a cookie. The stall accepts cash and cards, with a small discount for purchasing three at a time. There’s been a small increase in price over the last two years, around 50p for each item, but that’s in line with all of the other stalls.

I don’t want to linger when referencing the service as the stall holder was talking to someone else they knew and so I did feel a little in the way. But, it is what it is, the stall has been going since 2011 so they’re clearly doing something right. And the stall holder smiled, made eye contact and served us promptly.

I went for the lemon meringue which was well presented and looked appetising. The base was a little drier than ideal, but there was a depth of flavour to the whole arrangement and the lemon punched through. And a little bit of meringue on just about any cold dessert is a good idea to add texture and taste. This cost £3.50 and I thought that it was reasonably priced.

James spent some time preparing his perfect photo composition and he was content with his fudge based sweet treat. We then had to have a long debate about who will be the winners of this whole round of market visits, but more on that soon.

As for this visit, I was trying to push for a little more engagement so I could have a final post of the year packed with positivity. But, the service was prompt, the stall had some tempting options and I enjoyed the sweet treat, so all was well.

September 28, 2025
200 Years Ago in Great Yarmouth : King’s Arms For Sale

In my erratic series of posts from Norfolk newspapers 200 years ago this week, I noticed that the King’s Arms in Great Yarmouth was being advertised for sale in the Norwich Mercury. The text reads:

“KING’S ARMS INN,
Great Yarmouth.

To be Sold by Private Contract,

All that Old-established and well-known INN, called the KING’S ARMS INN, with 3 Cottages adjoining, situate near the North Gates, in Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, now in the occupation of Mrs. Mayhew, with good arched Wine and Beer Cellars, extensive Yards, Stabling, Standing for Carriages, &c. &c.

The above Property has long been distinguished as being one of the best situations for an Inn in the borough of Great Yarmouth.

The Estate is all Freehold, and the only out-going is an annual Land-tax of £2.

N. B. — An excellent Weighing Machine for Hay is attached to the Premises.

For price and further particulars apply (if by letter post-paid) to Mr. Samuel Sherrington, Priory, Great Yarmouth, or Mr. Miller, Union Office, Norwich.”

I rather like that this pub is still there, although it was mostly rebuilt in the early twentieth century and then had to be repaired after extensive damage during the Second World War. To this day, the pub retains its large beer garden and I visited it a few times during the partial lockdown a few years ago.

Here’s what it looked like at the turn of the last century, the area to the left has nearly all been lost, but the area around the pub remains looking pretty similar. Mrs Mayhew, who was mentioned as the landlady in the advert, remained running the pub until 1830 and it was up for sale a couple of times in the years that followed so it’s possible that it never actually sold.

September 26, 2025
Horsham – St Mary’s Church (fifteenth century font)

A whole post about a font? Well, I’m like that and it’s my blog 🙂

But, it goes back to my fascination here about just how important this bit of stone has been to so many generations of local people. This was a Catholic church when the font was installed here and no-one has destroyed it, pinched it, smashed it up or anything in-between over the last seven or so centuries.

The marble font dates to around the middle of the fifteenth century and the stem underneath it is Victorian rather than being original. There’s a decorative rosette on every side and it’s fair to say that the font has seen some wear and tear.

And here’s a Francis Frith photo from 1930 showing the font in situ in the church, although it has shifted slightly over the last century.

September 26, 2025
Horsham – St Mary’s Church (Hoo Monument)

The Hoo Monument is located in the Chapel of St. Nicholas in St Mary’s Church in Horsham, is one of those intriguing medieval creations that manages to be both grand and slightly melancholy, as well as looking perhaps a little out of place now.

It’s a chest tomb of Purbeck marble, built for Thomas Hoo (an ancestor of Anne Boleyn), who evidently wanted to make sure no one forgot him and anyone who warrants all this marble certainly should be remembered. The monument has weathered centuries of polite neglect, losing its inscriptions, brasses and decorative details along the way, but it’s still here at least.

It’s a reminder that Horsham was once wealthy enough to indulge in a bit of ecclesiastical splendour, and that death, in the 15th century, was best met with a marble chest, some vaulted stonework and a strategic position near the altar.

Although it has been knocked about over the years, it is a survivor and it has had to get through the Reformation and Cromwell’s puritan army that went around smashing things up. It’s also just a little bit in the way near the altar, so it’s done well to survive the Victorians faffing about with the building as well. I think Thomas would be rather pleased with the whole arrangement……

September 26, 2025
Horsham – St Mary’s Church (Memorial to Charles Eversfield)

This really is a fine memorial located in St. Mary’s Church in Horsham and certainly one that stands out. It’s the memorial to Charles Eversfield (1683-1749) of the local country house known as Denne Place which he had inherited at the age of 12.

Eversfield was an MP between most of 1705 and 1747, representing Horsham between 1705 and 1710, then Sussex between 1710 and 1713, then Horsham from 1713 and 1715, then 1721 and 1741 before representing Steyning between 1741 and 1747. These were mostly rotten boroughs, Eversfield simply had the wealth and influence to ensure that he remained in the House of Commons.

This would have been an interesting time to be an MP, the English and Scottish union took place in 1707 and the whole Commonwealth debacle (or whatever you want to call it) had been resolved by this point. There’s more about Eversfield’s time in Parliament at https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/eversfield-charles-1683-1749.

September 25, 2025