Bartimaeus

We had got water, lunch and stocked up with groceries and wondered if we should stay longer in Doncaster or move on. The persistent noise from the building works near to the mooring jetty was unappealing – noisy for a Sunday, and much more intrusive than the chimes from the Minster.

So we set off and carried on to the quieter spot of Barnby Dun. In the evening Bryn shared with us that he was on training for a few days at Conisbrough. We shared that we had been very near there the day before but not any more. He was staying next to a train station, so with a few options in hand we decided to back track the next day and try to meet up.

This stretch had been pleasant, so we were happy to repeat it, admiring on the way a good range of birds: plenty of heron, cormorant, grebe, duck and swallow viewings to be had. 

We got to Doncaster and had a look around town. Many shops were shut, it being a bank holiday Monday, but we now knew the distance to the station and had identified some possible venues. We thought the food hall with a variety of international styles on offer looked promising. Getting to Doncaster from Conisbrough was a very short train journey, less than 10 minutes – it would take us longer to get from the moorings to the station than his train jourrney. Now we just had to wait for his working day to finish, as he definitely doesn’t get off on a bank holiday. It was good to find the Sunday builders did seem to be off.

We picked him up about quarter to seven and headed for the food hall, only to find it had shut at six o’clock. We remembered the Cantina – it was open but the barmaid said it was no longer selling food but she directed us towards streets with restaurants nearby. We plumped for the Hoi Choi, which did a wide selection on an ‘eat as much as you want’ fixed price basis. It also had two for the price of one cocktails and mocktails. What’s not to like? Shane didn’t fancy two cocktails and decided on the house  beer. Bryn chose two virgin porn star martinis, which he remarked seemed to be an oxymoron. I ordered a maitai and a margherita which were very different flavours. Bryn’s came with ‘shots’ and we wondered if they had forgotten to give him virgins, but he slugged them back sharpish and said they just tasted like lemonade.

Shane was happy with his choice and we had a lot of clinking to say cheers with all the glasses. We also enjoyed the spectacle of a birthday firework dessert coming to the table next to us. They had finished eating and had obviously enjoyed their evening so we awaited eagerly the arrival of our first set of four dishes each.

It was a complete coincidence that father and son had chosen their frog t-shirts. I was not completing the set. We did all enjoy our meal but filled up surprisingly quickly. Afterwards we had time before Bryn’s chosen train to show him the highlights of Doncaster at night. Bryn admired the gargoyles at the Minster.

There was a concerning delay to his train but we were sure we could solve things if they cancelled and we enjoyed seeing the BSL interpreter for all the station announcements. His train came and he got back in good time. It was well worth the trip back to Doncaster. It felt like a holiday Monday for us.