So Valentine’s Day was just a week ago now and I just wanted to share with you what I got up to for it. Me and my boyfriend Liam actually celebrated on the 13th February as the 14th was on a Monday and we were both working. So we decided to do an afternoon out in Winchester as we had a reservation booked for later at a French restaurant there (more on that later). It was a miserable rainy day to say the least, but we still had a lovely afternoon and evening. There is something about Winchester that just feels magical whatever the weather. We set off in Liam’s car and got to Winchester about 12ish we stopped off for coffee and tea at Coffee Lab which was Liam’s suggestion I’d never been there before but it was a cool collective coffee place that had black accents everywhere. They started playing some old school songs and the likes of Artic Monkeys. We sheltered from the rain and brought our books to read. I’m currently reading Miriam Margoyles book, I absolutely adore her and I am enjoying reading her stories of her life (she has many stories to tell and I’m awe of her honesty and well she’s just hilarious!) Me and Liam have recently got into reading and quite enjoyed going to a cafe to read with a nice coffee. We also often enjoy reading with a nice alcoholic beverage as well such as a wine for me and a rum for Liam it makes it such an enjoyable experience and time away from social media (If you read my previous post “I don’t know about you but I’m feeling ’22” you’ll know my intentions for this year is to try and read more and get away from looking at my phone). I’m so far achieving this goal of mine although I do have my days when I lax, but otherwise I’ve become a right old bookworm lately and I’m loving it! Let me know if you would like me to do some book reviews in future!
After we had finished off in the coffee shop it still hadn’t stopped raining still and we were still a couple of hours early for our reservation at the French restaurant. So we decided to seek shelter in a pub this time! We were looking on google in the coffee shop trying to see where we could go just for a nice drink and we ended up in The William Walker pub. This was a nice little cosy pub that had aspects of diving in it that felt quite cool. There was paintings on the walls of Krakens and the toilets felt like you were on a submarine with its piping and lights. The pub is named after the famous diver William Walker, he also did work on Winchester Cathedral saving it from collapsing. I had an Old Mout cider which I don’t normally opt for now, but thought I needed something refreshing and Liam opted for a non alcoholic beer as he was driving.
Our last stop of the day/evening was our restaurant reservation at the French restaurant Brasserie Blanc which serves a classically French menu devised by celebrity chef Raymond Blanc. We always walked past this whenever we were in Winchester and really wanted to go ever since (probably Liam more than me but we are both equally foodies). The restaurant has a really nice vibe to it. We are that couple that looks at the menu beforehand and normally know exactly what we want, but it all looked so good we were still deciding when we sat down. We already decided that we wanted to try the escargots, because when are you ever going to do that apart from if you’re in a French restaurant or in France. So we shared them for starters and had mussels for starters too accompanied by a glass of Merlot for me! I’m very much a red wine or white wine girl now and hardly reach for rose which is what I always used to drink. I think I like red wine in winter and white/rose for summer now. I decided on pork belly in the end and Liam had the Coq Au Vin (which is chicken in a red wine sauce). Both beautifully presented and absolutely delicious highly recommend if you go to Winchester.
Thanks for joining me on this part of my scrapbook and learning what I got up to for Valentine’s Day 2022! Did you get up to anything special this year? What is your favourite thing to do for a romantic evening? Please leave me any comments below and any suggestions what you would like me to write about next are more than welcome!
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Charlotte's Scrapbook 