There Was A Young Man Called Manuel...

The freaks who we met last weekend... but even scarier!

There Was A Young Man Called Manuel

Whose customers regularly gave him hell,

But when asked for advice,

Didn't think twice

So now I think he's really rather swell!

That, ladies and gents is my ode to the wonderful Manuel who came to our aid last week when we were looking for somewhere nice to eat in Belfast. He recommended a restaurant called The Ginger Bistro on Hope Street, just a wee stagger in new shoes from the Europa where we had ensconced ourselves for the night. The food was absolutely gorgeous, the wine flowed freely and my god we were highly entertained by a table of our fellow diners, two of whom we immediately christened Lou and Andy due to their shocking resemblance to the boys above. The fat lad came in first, an XXXXXXXL beige polo shirt beaten onto him like spray on spandex - he had multiple moobs and more spare tyres than Quikfit - and a pair of denims with no belt. Yes, I almost did a little sick in my mouth and Hubs nearly got whiplash from trying to take a sneaky look at him. 10 minutes later, in strolled the other half of this freakyshow... a short-sleeved lemon shirt with epaulettes, pocket for the biro, grey Farah slacks, Deirdre Barlow specs (he really should have gone to SpecSavers), complete with beard & bald spot. It was quite the table of horrors - they all were either (a) teachers, (b) social workers or (c) civil servants. And that is why I always sit facing the room... it's how you get to see all the fun stuff!

Freaky diners aside, we had a great weekend in Belfast. The Europa has been done up since I was last there (on my hen... I kept having flashbacks and some of them were none too pretty!) and is all glossy and lovely apart from the shitehole that is the Lobby Bar. God it's the most depressing tip ever and one drink was plenty. The room was lovely, with one of the comfiest ever hotel beds we've stayed in - shame I couldn't fit it in my handbag - and great views. We dumped the bags and went for a wander around town. There was a ferris wheel in the grounds of City Hall so we had to take a trip, seeing as we got engaged on top of a ferris wheel in Paris. It was great fun altogether and well worth Hubs' money! We managed quite a bit of retail therapy for a hell of a lot less than at home... always fulfilling.

Funniest thing ever was seeing a 24 hour Tesco that only opens from 1pm on Sundays - what is it with Norn Iron and their allergy to working on the Sabbath? Although, it's probably a good idea because I was on a spendy roll and would have probably squandered the mortgage in the process!!