Should our readers wonder where we’ve wandered off to over the next month or so, rest assured we have not forever abandoned our realm of Gourmandistan, nor our two lovely British Shorthair cats. We have simply absented ourselves once again to Great Britain, this time on the coast of the North Sea in Alnmouth, a town about halfway between Edinburgh and Newcastle upon Tyne.
While we certainly hope to do some cooking, we are at the moment unsure whether we’ll be posting on this site. Our energies may instead be spent photographing birds, following Hadrian’s Wall, warding off gusty winds and rain and avoiding kippered herring, supposedly a local specialty. We may end up being inspired by smoked fish, but our explorations will probably have to wait for our return to our own and most likely better-equipped kitchen.
The cats will be waiting. We hope you will as well. (However, if you want to follow our ramblings in real time, we’ll be posting for family and friends here. It may not have recipes, but we’ll try to be amusing.)
Gourmandistan 
Safe and fun travels my friends.
Nice cat.
Merci! (He has some serious faults. But I’ll not share them.)
Looking forward to your return, Michelle & Steve! Meanwhile, I wish you the most relaxing and hopefully inspiring holiday, and that not only in terms of culinary discoveries (including herring perhaps?)! Sabine
Thanks, Sabine! It hasn’t started well. After a long, long day at our local airport and a short though harrowing abortive flight, we’re back at home … with the departure date pushed back 2 days. Sigh.
Oh no. Sounds terrible. So good luck again. Hope you´ll make it there next time!
I’m afraid I’m one of those who agree with Hadrian’s legionaries…it’s close to the arse of the earth…good luck and try kippers from Craster:)
I think I’m with you Roger 😉
Oh you guys. We have to tick Scotland off the list. And we always go to arse end of nowhere on vacations. 😉
What an interesting change from the usual home environment : hope the autumn behaves . . . have a wonderful time . . . and pray, what is wrong with kippers ? Expertly smoked at that!
Thanks, Eha. We’ve got plenty of rain gear packed as we know cooperating weather is probably not likely in Northern England/Scotland. 🙂 Now, if only we could get there… We spent the whole day at the airport, then took a short plane ride only to be turned back due to mechanical difficulties. And now we can’t get out again for 2 days. Developing nations probably have better air travel than the US does these days. Oh, and kippers? I dunno. I’m just not wild about smoked fish. But I’ll definitely give them a try … if I ever get there!
What! No kippers? As long as you don’t mind ponging up the kitchen they’re great. Have a great time on holiday, hope the weather is better for you than it is down here. Yes, Spot the Brit, obsessed with our not very dramatic weather changes.
We did have “Chubby Marys” in Michigan last year, bloody Marys with smoked chubs for garnish. I know Craster is bound to do it better than that was. 🙂
I’m not sure Craster aspires to such dizzy heights of sophistication. 🙂
I bet your cats will be jealous. Do get in touch if you come through London 🙂
Thanks, MD. I am gonna get there one day!
Enjoy the trip. You will be very close to us here in Dublin. Though, I will be away in the US and France over the next couple of weeks. Small world.
It is a small world! May you have smoother travels than we have so far (we’re still in KY…).
What an adorable kitty! I had forgotten you mentioned a while back that you have two of those most curious of cat breeds, the British Shorthair…. What are the names of your fur children?
I hereby present an official request that they make increased appearances in future posts to satisfy the your feline-loving readers!
Bertie and (wait for it…) Jeeves! They are quite cute, despite some of their more awful habits.
Love it! Do they sleep on their backs (like my friends’ British Shorthairs)?
No, but we did have a Scottish Fold once that sat up like a person! Jeeves actually mostly sleeps in an old colander on the kitchen counter. Which, needless to say, isn’t very hygienic. https://instagram.com/p/yqNKwlSaJ8/?taken-by=michtur
Aren’t cats just the most curious, quirky little weirdos… I can’t imagine life without (at least) one. You’ll probably get a laugh out of this – http://gu.com/p/4c4hv?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Have fun and be sure to share some photos when you come back
I can’t get enough of your cat, so beautiful. Enjoy the travels! xx