Tag: Dogfriendly

Pandemic Pondering #81

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Family4 Comments

A pandemic 1st for @theoldmortuary. A Day Out.

Today we went to the Eden Project in Cornwall to have a socially distanced meet up with some of our family.

The Eden Project opened to the public recently for the first time since Lockdown.
https://www.edenproject.com

The Eden Project has got socially distanced tourism spot on. You have to book a slot, so it can’t be a spontaneous visit but beyond that the amount of control is so deftly handled, once you are in, it is easy to forget the restrictions of the pandemic, without ever flouting them.

On arrival there are ample public toilets, water stations and a take out coffee shop. The hosts who welcome you have the same welcoming charm as London 2012 Olympic Volunteers, and that was considered a Gold Standard of hosting. Hand sanitising gel is available as soon a you reach the welcome concourse and throughout the site.

Only the outside area is open during this pandemic opening. Visitors are guided to wander through areas that can be overlooked by anyone dazzled , quite rightly, by the magnificence of the Tropical and Mediterranean Biomes or the Science of The Core in more normal times. This is a fabulous chance to experience the outside with restricted visitor numbers. The peace is magical.

Instead of biomes we got intimate with bees.

And wandered down Cornish lanes.

Flower meadows and single specimens slowed us down. This was the most tranquil visit we have ever made to Eden

Fragrance is everywhere. Once we had meandered our way down to the Biomes more toilets were available and another take- away coffee stall, again social distancing was imposed with a gentle reminder.

A great time was had by all.

And for Miss VV, her first experience of being, very gently, escorted out of a venue as the last woman standing.

The Hutong Cafe, Plymouth.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Food ( but this is not a food blog), Home Towns, Interior Design, Interior design inspirationLeave a comment

My dogs are urban dogs, they like a circular walk on tarmac with plenty of green space to run around on and a dog friendly cafe for a bit of a nap. I’ve been trying to recreate that for them in Plymouth. Today I struck gold for all of us.

We parked at Devils Point and had half an hour of fabulous sniffs and running about before descending the steps into the Royal William Yard to call in at Ocean Studios before taking the road back to Devils Point.

The Hutong Cafe just outside the grand gates of the Royal William Yard used to be a pub. Now it’s a stylish cafe serving great coffee.IMG_9451I’m not the main coffee addict at theoldmortuary.design but I do know a good cup of coffee when the bubbles on the crema reflect beautiful oily-looking copper colours on the  top of a simple black coffee. So there we go, top marks for the look of a black coffee, top marks for flavour. My piece of cake was great too , but as usual I’m really more about the style of the place.

Hutong has great style. Easy on the eye, industrial retro , done impeccably, which is not always  as simple as it looks.IMG_9452

Style is also about the ambience  of the place and Hutong gets it right. Dogs are welcome either outside or inside, nearer to the front of the cafe.IMG_9459George, one of the owners, was welcoming when we arrived and he and Owen the barista  were involved in conversations with everyone in the cafe at some point during my visit. Later I met Jack , George’s brother and co-owner, who is equally engaging. George and Jack have great plans for the future of this cafe and they were a pleasure to natter to. Chris the chef made a brief appearance to smile , completing what seems to be a winning team. A cafe this good is a great addition to the area and a fabulous place to take the most dedicated of coffee lovers.IMG_9457