Friday, February 22, 2013

Trip To Glasgow

Brock spent the day with Lisa, his - and our - trainer, who runs a dog sitting service from her home. So Brock had fun with three other dogs, two cats and six ponies, having walks and training sessions before coming back to us at 9.30 pm - exhausted and happy.

Meanwhile, Rob and I went up to Glasgow for an outing. We started off with coffee at an independent Italian cafe, followed by lunch at The 78, a vegan cafe/bar in Kelvinhaugh Street. The interior is decorated with wood and tiles, music posters and comfortable furniture. There was a fire burning in the fire place near our table, which was very welcome on this cold day.

The food is excellent: Rob had the Quesadillas with refried beans, vegan cheese, marinated tempeh & jalapenos served with salad.....£5.25 and chips £1.60. He was a bit worried about the vegan cheese because all of the brands we have tried at home have been horrible, but this one was really tasty. The chips were cut from whole potatoes in their skins and were perfect, and the bean filling in the wraps was nice and spicy. Rob also had a pint of cider, while I had a bottle of Peroni.
 I ate Chilli and maple glazed tofu with caramelised sprouts, quinoa & winter slaw salad.....£6.50, which was equally delicious.
The bill came to around £20, and the service was very friendly - highly recommended! I wish this restaurant was near to me as I would want to eat there every day. They also have live music nights, which sound entertaining.

 
After that we  headed to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and wandered around the Egyptian section and the art galleries and the gift shop.
  

We had a look around the shops, including The Princes Square Shopping Arcade, which has cafes on the top floor, then several floors of designer shops. It has a beautiful Art Deco feel to it with wrought iron work everywhere.

 We also stopped at The Lighthouse, Scotland's Centre for Design and Architecture where we were interested to find an exhibition about sustainable materials for architecture. 
 (The two photographs above are taken from The Lighthouse's website.)
After some more window shopping, we had dinner at Roma Mediterannean Restaurant. The restaurant has a low ceiling with subtle lighting, and individual 'booths' with bench seating. The food was quite good, but the meal was spoilt by a rather miserable waitress service. I ate vegetable risotto, followed by an ice cream with chocolate centre and chopped nut coating. Rob had vegetable calzone, then amaretto cake. With two soft drinks and two espressos the bill came to around £40. 

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Brothers Water Circular Walk in Cumbria

Rob, Brock and I went for a walk around the small lake in the Hartsop valley in The Lake District called Brothers Water. Directions for the walk can be found here. It is only 2.4 miles and easy going on a track and road.

There was still a lot of snow on the mountains, which made for a spectacular view. The mountains in the area include High Hartsop Dodd, Middle Dodd and Hartsop Dodd (the latter is, I think, the pointy one). The stream in the first photo is Goldrill Beck.








Sunday, February 10, 2013

Loughrigg Fell, Ambleside

Rob, Brock and I went to Ambleside this week, and had a walk up onto Loughrigg Fell. When you reach the top, you get wonderful views of Windermere (lake) and into the high mountains of Fairfield Horseshoe. The walk we followed can be found here on the AA's website. (Click on the photos to see a larger version.)







Sunday, February 03, 2013

Duchess' Bridge Walk, Langholm

Rob, Brock and I decided to make the best of the sunny weather yesterday, and went for a short walk around Langholm, Scottish Borders. Directions for the walk can be found here. (As always, just click on the photos for a larger version.)

Rob and Brock crossing the Duchess' Bridge over the River Esk.

 

A view downstream from the bridge.


Brock and I say hello to a horse.


Brock enjoying some time off the lead.



The first sign that Spring is on the way: snowdrops emerging.


On the return leg of the journey, you get a view over the pheasant-rearing pens and fields to Mid Hill, beyond.

Langholm is a picturesque small town, with a riverside car park, picnic and play area; a selection of small shops, hotels and a cafe (which serves very good coffee). There is a monthly Producers' Market on the first Saturday of most months, where you can buy locally sourced meat, crafts, pies, cakes, biscuits, preserves etc.

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