Robert Hampton

Another visitor! Stay a while… stay forever!

30th September 2015

Frühstück, Mittag- und Abendessen
Posted by at 9.05pm | Out and About | No responses

For past travel blogs, I have done a chronological account describing what I got up to. It was exhaustive – practically every minute of last year’s Berlin trip is accounted for – and exhausting to write. This time I’ve decided to try a different approach by writing a series of posts, each themed around a particular aspect of my visit.

First topic is one close to my heart (and stomach): food! If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen some of these pictures already.

I was fortunate to have Boris with me as a guide. No wandering around looking for somewhere suitable to eat, as happened when I was in Berlin alone. Boris knew the places to eat and as a result I enjoyed some delicious meals.

We had breakfast in Schweinske, a chain of restaurants found across north west Germany. From the breakfast options, I opted for Die große Sause, a delicious offering of bacon, eggs, ham and cheese, alongside bread rolls with jam and honey. It was delicious, so much so that I had the same thing again the next day.

Breakfast

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10th August 2009

Gym won’t fix it
Posted by at 8.08pm | In the News | No responses

If I had a personal trainer, I’d be making an indignant phone call to him right about now:

“In general, for weight loss, exercise is pretty useless,” says Eric Ravussin, chair in diabetes and metabolism at Louisiana State University and a prominent exercise researcher.

Actually I’m not particularly peeved about this information. I joined a gym six years ago (almost to the day, in fact!) and although I haven’t lost much weight, I feel healthier generally, so I’m happy overall.

The bad news: apparently the best way to lose weight is to… well, eat less. Bugger. Hampo likes his food.

10th June 2009

Loaf, the universe and everything… and a mouse
Posted by at 7.50pm | In the News | No responses

Don’t click the link if you’re about to eat — especially if it’s a sandwich:

A man got the shock of his life when he opened a loaf of bread and found a whole mouse inside.

North Antrim Magistrates Court heard how a man purchased a Hyndman’s malt loaf from a supermarket in the Ballymoney area before Christmas 2007.

When he unwrapped the loaf he discovered the small lifeless mammal embedded in the base of the bread.

The judge fined the company, D Hyndman and Son Ltd, Maghera, £1,000 plus costs for placing unsafe food on the market.

It would have been a much better story if the mouse had actually been found embedded in a lump of cheese — there would be a whole poetic justice angle to the story.

Meanwhile, the Guardian is not taking this story seriously — there’s no liveblog, for one thing — but does have a helpful round-up of other food horrors. The tale of a chicken’s head amongst some nuggets is a long-standing favourite of mine.