Commenting on a recent post, a long term blogging pal of mine (who knows me so well) suggested that I am a cheapskate traveller. I am so proud of this, it is like getting the Leaping Wolf badge in the cub scouts or the elementary swimming certificate at primary school…
Moving on…
…In Cheapskate Travel Part One I took a look at complimentary shampoos and shower gels and such like in modern day hotel bathrooms. Today I turn my attention to complimentary sachets of sauce and mayonnaise etc. in pubs and restaurants. Some people might say that these are not complimentary or ‘freebies’ in the strictest of interpretations but I am going to include them anyway.
The sort of place that I eat out in don’t have tablecloths or silver cutlery, they don’t have salt and pepper pots or side dishes with a range of accompaniments they have little sachets of sauces and mayonnaise and all sorts of exciting little packets to experiment with.
Mostly these are made available in a big heap next to the door so whenever I go to one of these places I make sure that I get my fair share. They really come in useful for days out and picnics and for a few days away at the caravan and stop having to cart lots of stuff around from the kitchen and the fridge.
I especially like the little jars of marmalade and jams that hotels make available for breakfast and always make sure that I take a few away with me from the dining room.
One time we stayed in a hotel in Thetford in Norfolk, The Bell Inn, or rather we didn’t stay there because it was so bad, really, really bad, that we refused to sleep there. Despite my complaints the hotel charged us anyway for bed and breakfast and we went elsewhere for a room only arrangement and paid again. That really hurt I can tell you. My wallet pocket was aching that night.
In the morning we wondered what to do about breakfast and as we had already paid for the rubbish Bell Inn in Thetford, that is the Bell Inn in Thetford in Norfolk by the way, we went back and ate as much breakfast as we possibly could and took away a bag full of marmalade and preserves which came in useful over the next few days on a caravan holiday in Kessingland in Suffolk with my grandchildren.
Every cloud…