Do you go into bars on your own?

I travelled on my own quite a lot when I was younger and, probably although not necessarily more alluring both on business and for pleasure. I did go into bars, restaurants and cafés, but was quite careful about which ones I chose. I always felt more confident when I was in a country where I spoke the language reasonably fluently. These days, I'm rarely on my own but have no problem going into such places if I am solo, especially if I'm a familiar customer. It's like the advice about walking along a dark street at night – look confident and self-assured and you are less likely to be bothered.

I have to admit to feeling very slightly flattered when I was in a pub on my own not all that long ago for the purposes of writing a review. Two young men – young enough to be my sons – started chatting to me and we had a very pleasant conversation. Then both of them, but separately from each other, gave me their mobile numbers. Bless.

absent - you pulled!!

I always rather liked that bit in Mrs Doubtfire where the son discovers that Mrs Doubtfire is really his father in disguise and Robin Williams remarks that he doesn't go into old lady bars or anything. I think old lady bars would be quite a good idea.

I did have some pleasant 'encounters' , of course. I sat next to one lovely man on a flight from Paris to Nice, when I was working in Monaco. He invited me to have dinner with him at The Carlton, Cannes, and then he would ring me whenever he had business in Nice and we would have dinner together.

Oh Greatnan JEALOUS!!! I would love a little flirtation before I die - I'm off to Wetherspoon's tonight after Slimming World- doesn't have the same cachet!!!

Susie, I made up for lost time after I got divorced at 39 and went to work in Monaco. I was married at 18 to a man who was born elderly even though he was only five years older than me, and didn't like me to wear fashionable clothes, contact lenses, or have fun at parties. I kept right on flirting until my late 50's, when I decided I was bored with hearing the same chat-up lines and retired to live in splendid seclusion in France.

I go into bars if I'm meeting someone and I'm quite happy to eat on my own in restaurants though I've never had the experiences of the above GNs

Used to do a lot of business travel and consequently dined etc alone. Never got propositioned that I recall. Maybe I have perfected the non-verbal signals that say "I want to be alone" .
Favourite passtime (apart from eating and reading) was to try to guess purpose of other groups e.g trainee insurance salesmen, group of academics entertaining a visiting speaker.
When working for W Water, I could always spot one of "my boys" as they came through the door of a hotel.
Although once in the training centre I said to a nervous looking chap "have you come for interview" and he said "no the excel course"

I travel on a fairly regular basis for my job, and if alone always book myself into hotels with restaurants so that I am able to eat without wandering around in a strange town. I have no problem with dining alone, but will often take a book or my newspaper. Still manage to do a lot of people watching though!

I was the same as you two. Only got propositioned once. By an MP when I was staying at the London st ermins!

I wonder if it was the same MP that I knew quite well - he was a well-known womaniser. (He died some years ago).

Were his diaries published?

When Mr glamma and I lived abroad I often went on walk about when he was at work loved people watching and improving my language skills with the locals became good friends with a lot of locals but never chatted up,I enjoyed the people watching and would spend hrs listening to the tourists complaining about the heat and the sun whilst I sat under a nice umbrella enjoying a coffee and they baked in the mid-day sun.

Can't remember who he was. I have NO interest in politics whatsoever. In fact I agree with Pythagoras 'abstain from beans' it was over twenty years ago!

Beans????

Beans were used for casting votes, so Pythagoras was telling people to avoid politics.

Gransnet - how I love it when up pops a brief historical note whilst grannies are chatting about bars! Grannies are great!!

jeni I think you will find that it was much more than twenty years ago that Pythagoras advised against beans! (only joking!)

Just for the record nothing of note in Wetherspoons last night - or any night I should think.

When I lived in America for a short time I used to watch people dining alone and wonder how they had the gumption to dine alone. I asked my friend how he felt about dining alone before he met me and he said "Well it's like this, if I had to wait to find a partner before I went out to dine, I'd be a hermit by now" When I returned to the UK permanently I too began to go out and dine on my own. I now find that there are quite a few people who are in the same boat and you usually get the odd wink if it's a man. Nowadays I tend to do what I want when I want it because life is too short to wait around for someone to accompany me. With this wonderful age, I find that I no longer care what other people think of me or what I do. It's very liberating, and fun!!

Like Phoenix I used to take a book down to dinner and indulge in people watching. I am grateful, though, that I no longer have to experience those horrible Sunday evenings alone in a hotel when you had just left home and had a hard week's work ahead. Always fine once you got to Monday and got stuck in!

If you are dining alone on a weeknight most people would assume you were away from home on business.
Possibly most weird experience was in a hotel that was previously a workhouse in , I think, Wakefield or possibly Barnsley. I was working on the Saturday and while the restaurant was busy on Friday night (lots of mature people eating huge 4 course meals - soup, starter etc etc) the staff informed me i was the only person in for breakfast. Cogs whirr. I am the only person in the hotel that night. Presumably (maybe) someone in staff accom, somewhere near by...?
I felt a tad nervous and given that the door did not lock, put wardrobe in front of it.
There was also a Sunday night in a conference centre in Leicester, previously a convent. Woke briefly to very strange sound of leaded window panes being shaken by earthquake. Oh the joys of business travel.

My travels these days are always purely for pleasure . I often have a little book of Sudoku with me, or a book to read. I am always struck by the number of couples sitting together and not exchanging a word.
When I travel in other countries, in the Far East, the Caribbean, or Egypt, I do get asked by waiters, taxi-drivers, etc. 'Where is your man?' I manage to reply politely.
I think it is true that you can give out 'Touch me not' signals. I turned off my signals many years ago and my white hair and lack of make-up reinforce my lack of interest.
I used to go on Solo's (their apostrophe, not mine!) weekends and holidays and it was amusing to see people desperately scanning the opposite sex and the opposition. I did meet men on several of these holidays and one or two developed into long term relationships. I always suspected that some men were married if they did not want to give a home phone number or address. I wonder where their wives thought they were - fishing or golfing weekend, perhaps. This was in the era before mobile phones- it must be much easier for them now.

You "young" older Ladies seem to know how to be safe AND have fun when
roequired!

I say",Make the most of what you have while you still have it"!

Please excuse my intrusion into your conversation!

Thank you.