628a. Tue 29/1/19: The Black Horse, Luton

Beer: Peerless Boston Red 4.5%

Pre-match. The decision to come to The Black Horse rather than The Brickies seems a good one; we get sat down in our favoured seats.

I’m in first, and exchange a couple of words with Pete S before staking a claim to the stage area tables. The Peerless is going down very nicely. Overhead, the corrugated roof is surely making the rain, or sleet, or whatever precipitation is hurling down from the heavens sound louder than it is. When Fish Bros come in, they’re sodden. Before that, however, my efforts at buying my head in a book are a little undone by one of the locals singing Tomorrow from Annie. In his version, 

“Tomorrow, tomorrow;
I’ll love you tomorrow…”

is admirably simplified to

“Tomorrow, tomorrow;
Tomorrow, tomorrow…”

631. Wed 30/1/19: La Dolores, Madrid

Beer: Mahou 5.5%

A Madrid mainstay for Stephanie and I, the Plaza Jesús triptych of bars is down to two since the fishy place, who were very generous on the gratis tapas front, closed. La Dolores seems on fine footing though. It never changes, and it’s always busy. We’re lucky enough on this visit to grab our preferred seats at the end of the bar.

Outside we hear the constant whirring of police helicopters keeping an eye on the ongoing taxi drivers’ protests on Puerta del Sol. There are no tellies in here to screen the rolling news. The décor in this place seems evocative of the 19^th Century – which rules out televisions. Prices, however, are very much cutting edge 21^st Century: E2.50 for a .33ltr glass.

La Dolores fills steadily. One group sit near us – three Scottish blokes, apparently here on business. They talk of Brexit – a subject it’s been nice to get away from for a while this trip (other than in The Darling, Cuenca, episode #615). Taxi protests aside, the ambience of the holiday has been upliftingly bright in comparison to the grindingly dreary UK.

629. Wed 30/1/19: Museo del Jamon, Madrid

Beer: Amstel 5%

First, pre-booking in, beer in Madrid. Our digs for the final couple of nights in Spain are in an aged block near the station. Fine location, the apartment is far from luxurious – but it’s fine. Anyway, we can’t book in until two – and our favourite Museo is just up the road.

Nothing changes much here: part bar, most part pork product supermarket. These places are cheap and cheerful and entirely devoid of pretension.

The news on the telly is of taxi strikes in Madrid and Barcelona (cabbies here standing up to Uber). Good for them – although their blocking the arteries of the capital concern us a little bit as we consider our getting to the airport in a couple of days… though we should be fine.

We have a couple of little beers, then go back down the road to our apartment.

596. Sat 19/1/19: The Bricklayers Arms, Luton

Beer: Vale of Glamorgan Brewery Dark Matter 4.4%

LUTON TOWN           4-0       PETERBOROUGH UTD

The bubble will burst; we’re football fans, we know it will, but not today… another fantastic performance from a rip-roaring Hatters side who are looking anything but rudderless since Nathan Jones p*ssed off to Stoke.

Brickies is packed but bearable. Looks like they’ve made a little more front bar space by removing a table or two. Anyway, whatever tables remain are populated by Arsenal fans: Anthony (who took some stick for his allegiance in episode #594) and the usual mid-bar gaggle best identified as the Luton Labour Party… serving Luton but dedicated to bloody Arsenal. Individually they’re fine, but as a group, if Arsenal are on the box, they’re annoying…shouting at the telly and that. A display, in the company of proper football fans – who actually go to the ground to see their team play – of polyester Prem fandom. They should be embarrassed… but they’re clearly oblivious. This is how most fans watch their football these days – gawping at green screens.

Doesn’t matter too much to us, not really, we’re used to the pub being packed after the match… though, frankly, and though this place is lovely on a Friday night, I’d consider giving it a miss entirely on a football Saturday – possibly dependent on whether Arsenal are on the box after the match.

Pic, of the beer laden shelf, right under the telly, features lens steam-up. It’s gotten freezing outside.

628. Tue 29/1/19: La Abadía Cervecería Artesana, Toledo

Beer: Buenventura Lager 4.8%

Back for a final visit to our Toledo quirky beer bolthole.

We’re looking to dial in the HUGE Town v Portsmouth match, back at the apartment, later. We’ll sit in, drink wine, have snacks. We’ve been to Consum to get those bits in, and will have a little siesta beforehand.

Service is slow, late afternoon at La Abadía Cervecería Artesana, but “El secreto de Puente Viejo” is back on the box so we’re happy (photo of scene therein: translation: “I will tell you that you have come to see her. I thank you very much for the visit”).

Stephanie points out the section of the display which includes bottles of Newcastle Brown which, under the lights for however many months/years has turned piss/Watford yellow.

In the event the live stream plan comes to nothing – and we end up watching the Jeff Show on Sky Sports. Town win 3-2 – in a game which, inevitably, is later described as a classic by those back home.

We’re Madrid bound, for the final leg of our holiday, in the morning.

620. Sun 27/1/19: Ceverceria Tornerias, Toledo

Beer: Amstel 5%

It’s early evening in Toledo and nothing seems to be open away from the central drag: tourist shops aiming to sell us leather rucksacks, Lord of the Rings things and knives. Knives knives knives knives knives, La Mancha likes a knife… occasionally the odd sword, sometimes several dozen.

We stumble upon this place having ruled out another hostelry at the sight of Cruzcampo signage. This bar is fine, Amstel on tap and Athletico Bilbao v Betis on the telly. A large group of lads hold court on a table in front of the set… will they be loud/boisterous? No, turns out they’re fine; and they’re leaving.

It’s warm and bright and faintly soporific here.

Atletico go 1-0 up. On the oversized Amstel pump bar decal a fly has gotten itself stuck, and died, on the brand name bearing roundel.

624. Mon 28/1/19: Bar-Restaurante “Santa Fe”, Toledo

Beer: Mahou 5%

Through an archway just off Plaza Zocodover. This is a perfectly comfortable, clean and bright tapas bar… not nearly as good as Bar Restaurante Plaza (episode #623).

Still, their tellies are tuned into “El secreto de Puenta Viejo”, the top Spanish period drama we first enjoyed in Albacete (episode #600).

We enjoy that. Meanwhile, behind the bar – and furiously flitting around the restaurant – there’s one member of staff on duty, and she’s rushed off her feet. We consider leaving but, just in time, she gets to us – smiling breathlessly – and we get our order in… and, while she’s there, pay up so we can leave immediately afterwards. Not that, you understand, it’s a bad place – we’ve been to lots worse – but there’s no telling when this poor lass will be available to wait on us again.

611. Sat 26/1/19: La Barrica de Miguel, Cuenca

Beer: Mahou 5%

We’re up reasonably early to do the Cuenca tourist trek – up the hill – to see the cathedral, the hanging houses et al… it’s a beautiful bright crisp day; lovely. Some stunning views too. I get some reasonable pictures up there – but this is a pub blog – photographs of beautiful towns have no place here, just terribly boring/formulaic pics of the pubs therein.

We get slightly lost on our way back down the hill. We’re attempting to track the route the bus will take tomorrow, taking us back to the mainline station (miles out of town). Cuenca is pretty ancient, many of the streets are one way, so it’s not as easy as finding the stop on the other side of the road to where we got off.

We find our bearings eventually, and locate a bus stop going the right way, which turns out to be just a couple of minutes away from our digs, and then go to the above hostelry.

It’s quite nice in here – one room, long bar with stools, no room for dining… it might’ve opened out round the back, but I didn’t see. Beer is fine. Octopus and olive tapas. Lovely.

Atletico Madrid v Getafe is playing out on the telly. It’s 1-0 to the home side. More importantly Steph’s phone buzzes to inform that the Town have gone up 1-0 at Southend. Atletico score a second – come on you Hatters!

603. Thu 24/1/19: New Cafetal, Albacete

Beer: Mahou 5%

We do the tourist bits in Albacete. There aren’t many, but that’s fine. We walk around where the festivals take place, and imagine these sizeable areas must be quite something… when the festivals are taking place. We walk around the bullring and find statues of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza and some windmills. We go through the vintage arcade, I avoid eye contact with the man in the knife shop who, Steph reckons, doesn’t like me taking photographs. Albacete is famous for knife production/sales. Albacete knife museum closes at 2pm. We get there just as the curator is shutting up shop.

We’re keen not to cover exactly the same tracks as yesterday evening, and so end up here. It’s more a cheap coffee and eats gaff than a pub, the posters advertise a myriad of meal deals. It’s somewhat dark and dingy in here. It’s 2:30pm. The radio is on loud.

An ancient old boy with a red feather in his cap drinks wine at the bar. He sneezes often and loudly. He bickers persistently, but reasonably amicably, with the barstaff who seem to know him well. Steph reckons that his usual table seat is being occupied by a young lady. I’ve my back to the tables so largely miss that stand-off, but when she gets up to leave – he’s straight in there.

The Mahou goes down reasonably well. The stodge heavy free tapas with every beer keeps well filled, increasingly tired and sober.

616. Sat 26/1/19: Taberna Mesón Puerta Valencia, Cuenca, Spain

Beer: Mahou 5%

The Brexit infused drama of the evening was in Mesón Darling (episode #615); nothing to see here, which is nice in comparison. This place is half bar, half restaurant and halfway up a flight of stairs at the foothills of Cuenca old town. It seems like a place which, in higher season, would be popular with tourists.

As an advanced party of that horde, we find the place reasonably quiet and laid back (boring compared to the Darling down the road/steps). The bar is pretty well populated, but there’s room at tables – some are taken up with diners but, though we’d obviously move if the table were required, we’re find sitting at a table.

The free tapas are good – porky bits and chips, something for both of us. Cadiz are on the telly. They’re losing… they’re in the second tier… aren’t they? We have a discussion over whether the Segunda Liga is the second flight – or whether they have a daft system like ours, where League 1 is actually the third tier. We don’t fall out… but I think I’m right.

We stay for a bit. It’s nice here. It’s sanctuary from Mesón Darling. We’ve liked them both – if we were staying another night we’d return to them both again too. But we’re not. We’re Toledo bound in the morning.