Lounging

To lounge: defined by the OED as the act of passing time indolently, idly, without care.

Apt then that on one of Will’s last nights in Bristol, we escaped to our favourite haunt - Deco Lounge on Cotham Hill - to drink strawberry juice (her), dark ale (him) and hot chocolates (both), to play Scrabble and, of course, to lounge. 

Deco Lounge has, this year, become my home away from home - a cosy safe haven of a place, filled with rustic wooden tables and mismatched church pews. They serve brunch all day, as well as the most warm and crispy fish and chips (with peas mushed to perfection), and their hot chocolates are to die for. They serve every comfort food under the sun and I love their glass cabinet full of old books and eclectic monochrome photographs punctuating spare spaces on the wall.

Mostly though, I like the place for its welcoming, homely atmosphere. For the fact you can play Scrabble with your best friend late into the night. For the dark, cool entrance and the light and airy conservatory at the back. The place is such a multi-tasker - we held our translation study group here, and I have spent many an unhurried evening with Will here, met friends here, worked on essays alone with a warm mug of milky coffee and a comfy corner seat.

I’m always a little sad to leave. And if that isn’t a marker of one’s favourite cafe/restaurant/bar in town, I don’t know what is.