Category Archives: United Kingdom

Today decided on a Thai

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Today decided on a Thai.  While I was in the hotel I discovered an open Wireless LAN I could use.  The LAN identified itself as Thai is good.  So looked around the hotel, there must be a Thai restaurant.  Yes there was. Its near Holyrood in the TUN, and is called th Erawan Restaurant.  It was actually a restaurant and bar.  Serving Thai food and has a nice modern bar. 

I decided on a hot spicy Thai salad.  Very nice, but in hind sight I should have gone for a mild non spicy vegetarian meal.

Spent the evening using their free wireless LAN from the hotel.  Think I will be staying in this hotel in the future, though have to request rooms on the West side.

Edinburgh and hotel food

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Not feeling so well after that steak, so decided on a quite day, no drink, little food.  Decided to eat in the hotel, (Holyrood something).  So expensive, and so heavy.  Went vegetarian, with a pasta and mushrooms.  Quite nice though.

Weather great, and the bank have some actual work for me to do.  Seems they want me through October.

Edinburgh and the Mussel and Steak bar

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The happiness of the holiday was at an end, all those Chillies, and the water in Istanbul came to their revenge, but still had to be up early for the flight to Scotland and the bank.

Took it easy on the Monday, a few pints at lunch time in Tiles to watch the Oval match.  Should have arrived earlier, our fortunes took a real rise, over 40 runs in under the hour. In the evening, the security guard was unhappy, he was not looking forward to all the crowing from the English.

Supper off the the Mussel and Steak Bar.  Started off with a kebab, tuna I think, then had a huge steak.  Bit of a stupid thing to do with the dickey tummy.  No alcohol though, very restrained.

Petit Paris

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Mixed day, started sunny, then pissed with rain.  What am I to wear, shirtsleeves, my artic weather gear, my Summer wear.  After work, gave up on guessing the rain showers.  Figured out I was inside most of the time, and it didn’t really take long to dry out.

Started of badly in the evening with Neil, some sob story about leaving his keys in the wife’s handbag, Wednesday being the day she was out at some meeting.  First time he had heard of this.  I admit this all does sound rather familiar, why do wife’s do this to us.  So a few pints with him at the down at  ????????

Then on to Grassmarket and the Petit Paris.  Hey, they remembered me, the French waiter was there and the spiky haired waitress.  Where had I been, it was over six months since I had been there.  I was given a Pernod and some nuts as an aperitif.

So what did I eat,  the Goats Cheese wrapped in filo pastry, followed with salmon and fresh water crawfish.

Then it was back to the hotel.  Quick visit through Whistle Binkies to see what was happening, but no drinks.

Suruchi

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The day started off sunny as I walked into work.  The evening started to rain.  After work I met up with Ed for a drink on the High Street just opposite the Raddison hotel.  Off then for and Indian meal at the Suruchi.   Very hard menu to read, been written in Scottish.

Afterwards we had a drink at Whistle Binkies.

Mussel and Steak Bar

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I have started back at my favourite customer.  Yes they wanted me back and I am here back in Edinburgh as the Festival starts.

Caught the Easyjet up to Edinburgh from Luton on a bright sunny morning, arriving well ahead of schedule.  I managed to wake up in time to see Arthur’s Seat and the Castle as we prepared to land.  I even spied the runway as we turned over the Forth.

On the way in from the airport, I see the RBS buildings are complete, and seem to be occupied. 

Didn’t get out to supper till late, the Petit Paris was full so I tried a new restaurant called the Mussel & Steak, the place was in Grassmarket and I took a fancy to it as I walked by.  They too were full but could accommodate me later. 

Went back and was ushered to a table upstairs.  They do a mixture of seafood, shellfish and meat.  I asked the man ushering me, if the place was related to the Mussel inn on Rose Street.  No relation at all, except he had managed the Mussel inn for over 6 years.  This was his venture.

Started off with some fresh oysters, followed by the fish of the day, blackened bream.  The meal was very nice, and the waitresses were very chatty and amusing.  Responding to my gasping words on being asked how dinner was with, “ we only ask when your mouth is full”.

The downstairs restaurant has full view of the kitchen, while those upstairs are able to see what is happening through video screens and several webcams.

After eating a quick visit to Whistle Binkies,.  Monday is open mike night.  The singing from the audience far exceeded the poor hapless minstrel on the stage.

Web address https://www.musselandsteakbar.com

Wambrook

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On a whim, we drove to Somerset on Friday afternoon, and took Jean out to the local pub for a meal.  Had a good meal, though was rather slow in the preperation.

Stayed the night, and in the morning Rosemary and Jean drove into town to buy lunch. 

Jon Lewis

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Drove over to Richard Gleed’s in Essex (Cambridge 1972) to meet Simon Potter and Jon Lewis.  Jon was back from South Africa for a UK holiday.

Had a lovely day, nice lunch and walk around the garden of Hugh Johnson the wine critic.  His garden, with a beautiful arboretum backs onto Chris Bolts house.

We also visited a couple of churches, so cool in the exceptionally warm weather we had that weekend.

Derbyshire

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We joined the Berkshire branch Cambridge Society for its 7th and our 5th annual weekend, held this year in Derbyshire.  The event is always a good chance to catch up with people, an inspiration to flagging grey matter and a challenge to stamina.  It was, as usual, brilliantly organized by the dedicated few (Catherine, Peter, Rob and Ann amongst others) and they had laid on the sunshine, too.

We started on Friday in a leisurely manner at Bolsover Castle with our own private “journey to heaven” through the Little Castle.  It culminated in two staggering painted ceilings depicting disparate views of heaven.  Other highlights some 17th century wall paintings which continued the vaulted ceilings of one room, totally defying the idea of how such people did not understand, nor could paint, perspective.  Outside, there was a highly unexpected 17th century indoor riding school and a sadly recently vandalized, slightly risqué fountain.  Spent the afternoon at Cresswell Crags, a limestone gorge full of caves.  We looked behind the scenes in its museum and enjoyed a tour of one cave and a viewing of pre-historic cave paintings in another.  One painting was a very obvious deer, but others needed more imagination/better eye-sight than we had.

Friday evening saw us wined, beered (Catherine, a bioscience consultant, had persuaded the hotel to lay in a barrel of Old Speckled Hen) and dined in our Matlock Bath hotel.  Afterwards we were all suitably briefed on the next day’s activities by Catherine and the local geology by Peter.

Saturday, we were at Ilam Hall where we chose to go on a 12-mile walk following the Manifold river, across the top and back down to Ilam via the lovely Dovedale, where we could admire Early Purple orchids.  We stopped at a cave and at a pub in Wetton en route and also admired a gorgeous Charolait (or was he a Limousine?) bull at a farm.   Surprisingly, both of us could still move the next day and it was good to be walking in such lovely countryside with so few people about.

An inspiring evening talk by landscape archaeologist Mark Edmonds, while we supped on our Old Speckled Hen or G&Ts, made us realize there was masses more to see in the dales and the peak district.

Sunday we had a walking tour, led by the local jailer, of nearby Cromford village, including the jail, and the Arkwright Mill.  Cromford, a lovely village, was very much built to support the mill and the first Mr Arkwright had used various cunning ploys to entice his workers.

A brisk walk back to Matlock Bath for a huge buffet lunch and a tour of a lead mine, which was much smaller and less deep than we expected.  Quick pan for fools gold and then a retreat to car for the drive back home.

On-line pictures to follow soon.

Newcastle and Edinburgh

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Visited Newcastle on Tuesday for three days, working on the Farsi project. I managed to get to Gateshead by 9.10 am. without breaking many speed limits.

Took the opportunity to catch a train to Edinburgh on Wednesday evening and met up with Ed and Mary.  The excuse was Mary’s leaving drink.  She has finished working with Walker/Elevon/Arelon/Cedar.  We met for a drink at 7.00pm in the Cafe Royal, went on for a Mexican meal at the Blue Parrot Cantina, then a bottle of Veuve Clicquot at the bar of Jon Marshals best friends, sisters brother in law’s wife’s husbands best friend or some such nonsense.

Finished there for a beer at the mobbed Igloo and finished off in Whistle Binkies at 3.00am Thursday morning.

Able to catch the early morning train back to Newcastle for a full days work, and then drive back home.

Panic set in when I left for Newcastle for Edinburgh,  realised I did not have my car keys, so phoned the office to organise a search for them.  After organising the Gateshead office to search my desk, coffee room, reception, and calling the taxi company, the keys were found in the door lock of the car.