retiredmartin
Martin
Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.
July 2026
August 2026
September 2026
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- spoons
- cask
- bass
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All posts (720)
October 2025. Sfântu Gheorghe. Romania. “Not ANOTHER Top 100 pub, Retired Martin !“. Yes, I know I promised that I’d maintain a one in, one out system, so let’s boot out Derby’s Ye Olde Dolphin, which I read has lost its Bass pump. It may be back. I like having the odd non-UK pub on… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS –...
October 2025. Sfântu Gheorghe. Romania. A week in Romania seemed a bit of a risk with Dad and Mrs RM’s folks on the decline; most of our trips have been a 5 day blur. But you need the extra time to tackle Transylvania’s problematic transport. And so it proved, as Bran Castle, inspiration for the… Continue reading...
October 2025. Brasov. Romania. Four nights in Transylvania, longer than we’d normally spend in one place but Pension Casa Timar was to prove the perfect base to explore the land of impalement and Pale ale*. Brasov is an odd place to negotiate, the rail station in “Tractor District” a mile north of flashy new town…...
October 2025. Brasov. Seven days, five cities, 3,568 calories worth of apple strudel. Romania is a gem, easy to negotiate, bar the painfully slow rail network. 2:34 hours on the train to Brasov (pop. 237k) in the centre of the country, your gateway to the lands of Vlad the Impaler and Count Dracula, neither of…...
October 2025. Bucharest. The last of the Bucharest posts, you’ll be delighted to know. If nothing else, Mrs RM will find them useful when she comes to her own more forensic blog and wonders “Where was that fancy meringue ?”. This was Tort de Bezea, one of numerous upmarket cafes in the snappily named Sector…...
October 2025. Bucharest. We concluded the quartet of Bucharest taprooms at Hop Hooligans in the (relatively) genteel suburbs east of the University. Yes, a gorgeous looking home for Romania’s best known (more Vocation than Brew Dog) purveyor of murk. The bars themselves didn’t change that much, but Hop Hooligan,...
October 2025. Bucharest. More cultural and culinary highlights from our 3rd day in Bucharest, as we leave the unprepossessing surrounds of the Ironic Tap, and stumble upon this oddity; “Don’t go in there” I warn Mrs RM. Mrs RM goes in anyway. This western edge of central Bucharest (Lipscani St) isn’t that edgy, but...
October 2025. Bucharest. The Young Boys of Bern had told us that Bucharest’s Ironic Taproom was an essential visit, and as Mrs RM wanted a blog post called “four essential craft bars” it was easy to drag her from the seedier part of the Old Town, past the majestic Stock Exchange, to the less than… Continue reading...
October 2025. Bucharest. Mrs RM had devised an ingenious plan to get me to trudge round Bucharest in the drizzle taking photos of Instagrammable sights on our 3rd day. Her blog posts will no doubt cover this stuff in fine detail. Simply mark the points of interest with strawberries which get eaten by bears after…...
October 2025. Bucharest. Friday was the Big Tourist Tick Day in Bucharest, and Mrs RM had targeted Caru’ cu Bere as the must visit Romania restaurant. And not just because it was close to Ground Zero and it was raining. Chat GPT had told me to go to Caru’ cu Bere (Ale Wagon) as well,… Continue reading Caru’ cu Bere....
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