Overall I have been doing quite well. I think the good weather we have been having lately has helped. If there's one thing I have learnt over the past year, it's been the effect that weather has on me! At the back of my mind for years (since my teens), I have known that I do better in a warmer and sunnier climate, but the reality of this is really marked/highlighted for me the past year or two. I just feel so much better mentally and physically when it's sunny and warm. Hot, humid... nope. Warm, sunny... yes. Of course trying to find a reasonable place to live in the world that is not hot and humid, but is sunny and warm for most or all of the year is like looking for a needle in a haystack. If I ever found it, I would probably find it also is a war zone or has tornadoes or earthquakes or something.
I went to Diss in Norfolk on Friday. My family and I wanted to eat in a vegetarian/vegan restaurant and where I live there are none. The nearest ones are in either Cambridge, London or Suffolk. Les Amandines in Diss,which is in Norfolk... it was a long way to drive.
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| Les Amandines Diss - Courtesy of Tripadvisor |
Once inside the restaurant, you have the option of sitting inside or in their atrium/covered courtyard area. We opted to sit in the covered courtyard as the weather on Friday was beautiful: sunny and warm. To decorate there are plants and strings of lights and bunting, a stone floor and rustic tables & chairs. The other part of the restaurant that is inside seemed cosy; there was one area with a sofa that looked as if it would be nice in winter. From a disability perspective, the negative is that there are some random steps (1 or 2 at a time) throughout the building as it is old and the toilet is up a flight of stairs (not sure if they have a separate disabled one, best to check if this is important).
The menu has sandwiches/paninis and a couple of platters, specials, soup and cakes. On the specials' board there were items such as a vegetable chili, spinach and ricotta canelloni, creole pate, and a hot soup, as well as desserts such as raspberry and almond tart with ice cream or steamed syrup sponge. The main meals like the chili and canelloni come with a salad and other accompaniments. It was all very tasty and fresh. The salad was, as to be expected in a vegetarian restaurant, very interesting compared to in regular restaurants. Their 'fizzy' drinks (soda) were a lot nicer and healthier than Pepsi/Cola etc, as they were using the Rocks drinks range and you could have either sparkling water or still water added.
My sister and I had the vegetable chili - it was really delicious and came with a very nice side of rice (I don't know what seasoning they used on the rice, but it made plain wholegrain rice taste yum!). The downside being that they used a lot of onion, and as I am allergic to it, I felt very daring eating it! It would have been nicer if they had included a more varied assortment of vegetables (some aubergine and courgette would have been a good addition). They did say, afterwards, that if we come again, to call up and they will make me something without onions which was kind of them. My sister, who is a vegan, had a vegan cake with vegan ice cream, which she said was very nice and I had a courgette and lime cake, which was superb! My parents had the cannelloni followed by the almond and raspberry tart - it all disappeared!
After we had eaten, we went into the health food store and picked up a few bits, including a bottle of Rocks Blackcurrant and Apple concentrate so we can make our own 'squash' drinks. I managed to walk into Diss and have a look in a few stores. There is a really nice bookstore that has a cafe/tearooms overlooking the lake, which I would like to try another time: Diss Publishing Bookstore (http://www.disspublishing.co.uk/).
Here are some pictures I took of Diss:
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| Diss, Norfolk |
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| The lake at Diss was naturally created in the Ice Age |
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| Cute Mother Duck and Duckling |
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| The white building on the right is the cafe or tearooms part of the Diss Publishing Bookstore that overlooks the lake - very pretty! |
