“Half memoir, half travel, A Yank Back to England...is an absolutely wonderful book, not only about going home again but also about love and family and tradition and the passage of the years.”
—Michael Dirda, Pulitzer Prize-winning literary critic (Washington
Post)
To see the entire quote, click here.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

At the Beetle & Wedge, part 2

I glanced at the menu the waiter had left and nearly fell off my chair.
“That coffee is five bloody quid! Five quid!” I was almost yelling.
“Calm down,” said Frances. “It's a whole pot, and these cookies are delicious. Try one!”
I was not to be placated. “Are you going to drink it all?”
“I don’t know yet, probably not.”
“That’s what I thought!”
“There’s plenty for two. Let’s get another cup.”
“They’ll charge another fiver for that!”
I was having a rare but full-fledged cheap moment. After Frances finished a couple of cups, I polished off the rest with the cream. I was not about to leave anything. Frances divided the rest of the pastries between me and Kate, who was just back from flirting with the bartender.
“These are delicious! And don’t say they ought to be. Just enjoy them, and relax.”
“Relax!”
“Yes.”
“Probably want a bloody tip as well,” I mumbled.
“Don’t worry about the tip,” said Frances expansively. “I’m sure it's included.”

3 comments:

Stefanie Grace said...

Some country pubs put their prices up, just because they are "a good ole English country pub"! Ridiculous! Well done on grabbing all of the cookies etc - I hope that they were included!
And thanks for visiting my blog! Come back soon! :)

http://stefaniegraceblog.blogspot.com

Vago Dish said...

It sounds expensive and quite the hooks... in the pocket book...

:)

Christine said...

Interesting blog, you read like a novel!