Day 8 (7/5/16)

We spent the better part of the day in an 'In Doc' (Indoctrination) meeting.  We got to meet the other new members and families that are stationed here in Plymouth with us for the next 3 years.  We also got information about the services available on base, Ron's training schedule for the next 3 months, and a brief overview of the Royal Navy.
Lunch was provided and I had my first Pasty.  They are a big deal here and Devon (the county Plymouth is in) is credited for creating them....although there is debate as to whether they were originally created in Devon or neighboring Cornwall.  The best way to describe it is a hand-held meat and potato pot pie.  The ones we had at the meeting were beef, but in town there are many different varieties offered at local shops even vegetarian.

After the meeting was concluded and Ron changed out of his uniform we headed out to take the kids to a park.  Ron made me drive, even though I didn't want to given my incident from the day before.  I got us to the park without incident, but I hated every minute of it.  I have no confidence, especially being in an unfamiliar place.  It is so overwhelming considering I am on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car.  Then you add the fact that the streets are narrow especially when there are cars parked along the kerb (yes that is how it is spelled here, not curb).  And to complicate it even more, you don't have to park facing the direction of the traffic flow.  So, sometimes you are heading down the proper side of the street and the parked cars on your side are facing you, causing you to question whether you are on the correct side or not.  Ugh!! I better start looking into bus passes.

The highlight of our day was dinner.  We decided to try a pizza place called 'The Stable' that had been recommended to us by several different people.

It is a seat yourself restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating and is located in the quaint Barbican section of town.  We headed for the upstairs, outdoor seating, but without sweaters we got chilly pretty quickly so we moved inside still upstairs.

There is a bar both upstairs (seen here) and downstairs.  I assume
during busier times both are open.

Ciders are very popular here, much more so than beer and they
had quite a selection.

There are menus on the table for you to look over and decide what you want to eat and drink, then you head to the counter to order.  They give you a number and deliver the food to your table once it is ready.  All the pizzas are individual sizes, so everyone gets to have what they want.....no compromises necessary.  I chose the Margherita pizza, a simple cheese pizza with basil.

Each pizza arrives on it's own pizza board with a pizza cutter.  The crust is a thin cracker style crust with a good crisp to it.  The pizza was delicious.  I just wish it had more basil on it.

Ron ordered the Barbican Blaster, which is spicy chopped pork, Naga chillies, garlic, red onion, basil leaves, field mushrooms, fresh tomato sauce and mozzarella.  It looked amazing.

He wasn't familiar with Naga chilies when he ordered the pizza, but as a lover of spicy food he went for it.  About halfway through the pizza his mouth was on fire.  A quick google search revealed that it is one of the hottest chili peppers ever measured and in 2011 it was considered the hottest chili with a rating of 1,382,118 Scoville Heat Units. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naga_Viper_pepper). Even after learning that fact he was a trooper and finished the pizza.....although I think he probably regretted it the next morning.

It was absolutely delicious and we'll definitely be back. (My mouth has been watering just writing this post.)