A taste of Germany?

We were all up and out of the house by 8.30am this morning, for the drive south to Southampton! It was foggy for the first part of the journey, but the sun broke through before we reached Oxford, and we had a very pleasant journey.

We stopped for coffee, became embroiled in the usual traffic jam on the M3, and made it to Mike and Abbie's flat by about 11am. We were able to have a lovely cuddle with Hugo and Trixie, but I don't think they were as keen as we were! Poor Hugo put up with our cuddles but he much preferred Mike!

We had decided to eat at a German pub but Mike wanted us to go to another couple of pubs first. We drove right into Southampton itself and could see a cruise liner moored up, as well as a ferry going to the Isle of Wight with cars driving up the ramp and onto the boat. It was lovely, and buzzing with people out enjoying the warm sunshine.

We parked the car and went to the Dancing Man Brewery which overlooked the Solent. Mike had suggested eating here but the food was very expensive indeed, so we had declined! People were sitting outside but we took a table in the quirky interior of the pub.

An Instagrammer's dream!

Sophie and I chose a half pint of "Big Bad Stout" which I liked, but Sophie hated! It was a bit sweet!

We sat and sipped our drinks and lots of people came in and then took their drinks outside to the sunny terrace. I have to say, most people were drinking and not dining, although the bar menu of burgers and sandwiches looked reasonable. Maybe we should have stayed here!

From The Dancing Man Brewery, we walked to The Duke of Wellington, an old timbered pub situated along a back street. Again, people were sitting outside in the sunshine, but we took a seat indoors with our drinks.

Mike wanted to go to a pub called The Red Lion, but he was extremely coy about it, as if it was a real "spit and sawdust" place, so we said we'd rather go straight to the German pub as we didn't have much time. We'd bought a parking ticket for three hours which limited the amount of time we had.

It wasn't a long walk away and was on the main street leading down to the docks, so the pubs on the way were busy with lunchtime drinkers. Southampton's football club were also playing at home this afternoon, and there were some very merry people about!

We found Steingarten Bar and went in. There were long wooden trestle tables to sit at and lots of German steins lining the walls. Sophie, Abbie and I found somewhere to sit while Keith and Mike went to the bar, bringing back dark beers for Sophie, Keith and me, a lager for Abbie and a wheat beer for Mike.

Sophie went up to order our lunch - a combo platter for us, and Abbie and Mike, and a schnitzel for Keith. She wanted to swap the fries for country-fried potatoes but they said they couldn't, so she ordered them as a side... hmmm!

The pub gradually filled up and we had a group of men behind us who were very loud, which was annoying but I suppose it was the atmosphere in the pub, a sunny Bank Holiday weekend and the prospect of a big football match that excited them!

The food arrived and I think we were all a little disappointed. Sophie and I shared a pork schnitzel, a chicken schnitzel, and different types of German sausage, but the pork was very dry and the breadcrumbed coating fell off! We were given a small bowl of fried potatoes with bacon and onions, but the food wasn't really as good as we were hoping for, and I didn't think it was as authentic as the food we've had in Germany.

Mike and Keith had another beer and then we decided to head back to the car and visit The Witch's Brew pub, as we all love going there. Unfortunately, it didn't open until 4pm, so we went to The Stile Inn opposite which had obviously just undergone a refurbishment, as the smell of fresh paint was really strong!

The new landlord introduced himself and was astonished when we said we were visiting from Northampton! He was playing pool with a bloke who could easily have been an extra from Lord of the Rings, playing one of the Orcs! He was a huge man!

We sat and had a drink and then, as the time was getting on, we took Abbie and Mike back to the flat, had one last cuddle with the cats and left. The journey back was fine and we arrived home at about 6pm. It was time for a drink and a loll on the sofa with Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves!