At the weekend, Paul and I headed off to Rochester to escape London and spend a relaxed weekend with friends Hayley and Will. We managed to pack a fair bit in, from discovering historic Rochester to buying lots of pappadums, sampling Hayley’s delicious cooking and rocking Rock Band like no one has even rocked it before.
Here’s a brief overview of some of the things that make for a great afternoon out in Rochester, should you be tempted to meander that way (don’t go knocking on Hayley’s door uninvited though – she’s my friend, not yours…)
A Soviet Submarine
Whilst walking from Strood station, we noticed a rather unlikely looking vessel moored on the River Medway. Decorated with a Soviet hammer and sickle, it certainly had us doing a double take – but no matter how many times we blinked and cleaned our glasses it was definitely there. A subsequent session on Google revealed that this was the Black Widow submarine, which operated until 1994 and could hold 22 torpedoes when fully armed. A far cry from its heyday, the Black Widow now has a hole in her and is listing to one side. She’s still a pretty impressive sight though – especially if you weren’t at all expecting to see a vintage Russian war vessel in the middle of Kent.
Rochester Castle
I hadn’t been to Rochester Castle since Year 7, on a school trip during which I recall us having to dress up as monks. This time there was no monk action – we just had a quick wander around the outside of the keep, which is still impressively intact. Hayley informs me that you can go up to the top should you wish too, although it’s a pretty steep climb. Instead, we contented ourselves with admiring the imposing houses nearby, and inspecting the big cannon which points out across the river.
Rochester Cathedral
We nipped into the cathedral for a quick look – there was a service going on in one part of it which we didn’t want to disturb (although we were glad to have caught the choir). A huge building, the cathedral is beautifully decorated, and contains a variety of interesting plaques for those who like to soak up a bit of local history. A leaflet is available to guide you around some of the more notable sights, if you have a bit more time to spend – and there are even helpful volunteers on the door willing to answer any questions.
Shopping in Rochester
Whilst the retail-challenged boys slipped off to the pub (where we later found them doing a crossword together, how sweet) Hayley and I hit the shops. There are a good few interesting homeware shops and even more charity shops – one, Demelza, turned out to be a real treasure trove, with some lovely vintage clothing at almost giveaway prices. We also visited an Aladdin’s cave of an antiques shop and a well-stocked wine store, where Hayley managed to pick up an unusual oak-aged chardonnay.
On our walk in to Rochester, we visited the Reena Food Store. This was hugely exciting for me, as there is nowhere near us where we can purchase authentic Indian ingredients – so we filled up several bags with store cupboard staples and snacks. From rasmalai to pani puris (both of which apparently contain gluten – I’m gutted) the shop stocked all the Indian treats which I find it pretty hard to track down outside of Tooting/Drummond Street.
Hayley’s House (AKA CookEatHappy HQ)
After our adventures in the main town it was back to Hayley’s house for food, wine and Rock Band. Hayley is the brains behind the cookery classes at CookEatHappy – so it was no surprise that she’d planned a detailed menu to spoil us with. We began with pappadums, served with her homemade pineapple and cumin chutney, tomato and red onion relish and tindoori raita (all incredibly moreish. Still thinking about them now, in fact). Then, whilst the boys and I headed upstairs to test out our Rock Band skillz (a tip from me to you – the drumming gets easier when you ditch the sticks) our gracious hostess set to work on the main course.
For the main, we ate kori gashi (a hot chicken curry with a thick coconut sauce), lemon and cardamom brown rice and cabbage with mustard seeds. This was followed by Hayley’s homemade berry sorbet and some squares of dark chocolate, perfect for rounding off the meal.
But the gastronomic excitement didn’t end there. Hayley made us a brilliant the breakfast the next day, including a whole loaf of gluten free poppy seed bread for me (no one had ever made me gluten free bread before). This was served with bacon and maple syrup, sparking an addiction which now sees me desperately wanting the week to go faster so that it can be Sunday, henceforth known as maple syrup day, once more.
We had a truly lovely weekend (even if it did flash by extremely quickly) and would thoroughly recommend Rochester to anyone looking for somewhere to visit. I may be a bit biased, but I would also thoroughly recommend checking out the CookEatHappy website – Hayley has some great curry making classes coming up for you to get stuck into. And hell, who knows? She might even throw in some Rock Band tips, too.
