Category Archives: United Kingdom

Curry at 9 Cellars, Edinburgh

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Tonight was curry night.  Joe Zamir, Ed Aldridge, Gordon Chrumka,  and Joes son Jason Zamir and I tried a new curry house called 9 cellars on 1 York Place, Edinburgh.

Not the usual type of curry house, the menu was quite short, but had unusual dishes. There were none of the usual Madras or Vindaloo dishes.  I thought my lamb hock was pretty good.

The Indian curry house was below ground in a number of cellars.  I believe we were seated under the pavement.   Despite there being a large party, we were able to sit in our own little room.  Service was a bit odd and slow, with the odd fast patch; like being asked what we wanted to eat within a couple of minutes of getting the menu.  Not the normal efficient waiter, but a pretty fit continental girl. 

Other than the big party and us, there did not appear to be anyone else, though that could be hard to tell from all the cellars.

Edinburgh

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Another day completed.  Decided not to take a walk, weather looked like it could drench me at any moment.  So had an unusually quiet evening watching the box in the hotel.  Eventually went out for an almost alcohol free evening mean at the Petit Paris.  Yes I know, how boring, two days in a row.

Very nice starter of thinly sliced scallop marinated in olive oil, lemon and chervil, followed by pan fried Monk fish with a few mussels in a Saffron cream sauce.

Good news, have heard that the ADSL line at home is now active, and the modem/router should have been delivered, except Selina did not hear the delivery man, or was still asleep.

Edinburgh

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After months of on time flights, FlyBe has reverted to late flights.  This morning the flight was over an hour late leaving Birmingham for Edinburgh.  Edinburgh was quite sunny today, but rather cool.

Supper was at the Petit Paris on Grassmarket, now open on a Monday for the summer season.  Amazing the number of tourists now around, back in the dark months the Petit Paris barley filled its upstairs dining room.  Now even on a Monday at 6.30 both upstairs and downstairs were full.  As proven last week, my regular appearance at this small French eatery does not guarantee a seat.  Today they were telling the several people to come back in ten minutes.

I started with a spinach and courgette soup. It was very nice and thick.  Main course was from the low cost plat de jour menu, and was sausage, bacon and lentil casserole.  I think I might add that to my repertoire of weekday meals.  Finally I had their gorgeous crème Brule.  All this was washed down with a half litre of vin de rouge.  They have a web site at http://www.petitparis-restaurant.co.uk

Afterwards met up with Ed and had a pint at Bannermans on Cowgate.  Although there was a band playing, I think we watched the music videos from Kerrang on their TV screens.  The we tried the Bo Bar which had rave reviews.  Definitely an arty student type of bar, though as a student I am not sure I could have afforded the prices.

Selina back from Liverpool

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I was determined I would not be caught in any traffic, so up at 5.00 and arrived in Liverpool at 7.40 for Selina.  Packed and way by 9.30.  Now the problems, accident on the M6 delayed us by 30 minutes, than another accident on the other lane of the M40 caused our side to be stopped while the air ambulance took away the injured.  Arrived back just after 12.00 

Calton Hill

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After work I took a walk up Calton hill.  Quite a good view of Edinburgh and the castle and The Crags.  On Calton hill is the Observatory where the signal for the castle one o’clock gun originates from.  There are also a number of monuments, including an incomplete Classical style folly.

You will all be glad I was away before sun set!

Arthur’s Seat

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Well I am still commuting up to Edinburgh every week.  Now the clocks have changed, and the evenings are lighter, I thought I would take the time to visit Arthur’s Seat.  I was well impressed with the area.  The walk to the top was a bit of a scramble towards the end.  After the seat I walked down and then along the top of the Craggs.  The view of Edinburgh was magnificent, though rather hazy in the late evening sunshine.  I shall make an effort and walk up there every week, and visit the seat after a cold front has just passed through.  (That should be when the view is at its clearest)

One big disaster though, my favourite restaurant, Le Petit Paris, was unable to seat me for supper.  They could have taken my later, but I was on a tight schedule for drinks with Ed, so ate at a Tapas Bar.

Edinburgh and Rosemary

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Nice week in Edinburgh.  Rosemary flew up on Monday and back on Friday for £31 with Flybe.  
She took quite a few tours in the old town, Ghost tour, the Castle (I have still to hear the one o’clock gun), the Royal Mile where she visited the law courts.  She visited the street under the law buildings where Iain Rankin set a scene from one of his Rebus books.  On the Rebus visits we went to the Oxford Bar for a drink.

We met up each evening for supper, once with some colleagues from work, twice at the Petit Paris, and once for Haggis, Tatties and Neaps in a local pub.  Unfortunately the weather was poor.  First time in Edinburgh I have had rain fall while I was out on the street.  So bad one day we had to move hotel rooms because of a leaking roof in the Apex International.

Edinburgh yet again

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Well another week in Edinburgh with a mixture of rain and sunny days.  Going home though was rather a bind.  Started off by having to check my luggage in, this was the first time ever I had not taken my bag as hand luggage.  Plane though was larger then usual, and the trip back to Birmingham was well ahead of schedule. 

Having two buses to meet the plane must have caused severe confusion for the ground staff. The second bus which I boarded had to wait with its doors locked and us on for 15 minutes while someone was found to open the doors to Arrivals.  At least I did not have to wait for the luggage to appear on the carousal.

Next to the car, and as I looked for the fascia to my new MP3 car CD player, I tried to turn the interior light on.  Oh no, it was already on, battery was flat.  As I walked back to the NCP office, I thought luck was with me, I met an NCP man with a battery pack going to start someone else.  I will be with you in 10 minutes he said.  Thirty minutes later I stopped a car park bus and they radioed for him.  On my way he said.  Another 10 minutes and he was with me.  To be fair he had been called back to the multi story to help the police arrest a man breaking into cars.  Soon the car was running and I was away.

Getting Ready for the New Year in Edinburgh

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I was back up to Edinburgh after the Christmas break.  Flight up was in the clear sunshine; view from the window was poor though because of the de-icer which ran off the fuselage and froze over the window.  Saw enough see there was a small covering of snow over the Pennines, Lake District and any high hill.  It was cold in Edinburgh, -6 Celsius.

The City was starting its New Year celebrations; the whole place was shaken with large explosions.  Not sure what was happening as I was in the middle of my Curry.  There were more rides in the gardens, and the place was full of people.  Lots of barricades were going up for the Royal Bank Street Party in Princes Street.

Lord of the Rings – Return of the King

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Managed to squeeze three hours in to see LOTR in the evening while I was in Edinburgh. Lasted a whole three hours and 10 minutes excluding the credits.

Most of the film was good, excellant battle scenes, and the city of Minas Tirith looked so similar to the picture I have in a painting from Joan Wyatt in a middle earth album. The ents though are far superior in the film.

The film was a bit slow at the end as Frodo leaves on the elf ship, The corruption of the Shire by Saruman and Wormtongue is not depicted in the film.