shylustig

Some “rose coloured” cafés to have lunch in – When did this trend start?

Interesting. The other day, I decided to explore the trendy Finnieston scene in Glasgow with my partner in crime. Over the last decade, this part of the city has witnessed an explosion of nightlife spots and a diverse range of places to eat, catering largely to a middle-class crowd.

During our exploration, we came across Derby Lane, a pub that doubles as a bar, café, and primarily a restaurant. Intrigued, we decided to have brunch there.

What caught our attention was the ambiance here, reminiscent of what I’ve seen years ago in London, particularly in Chelsea, when I walked by a place adorned with pink roses everywhere – on the outside, on tables, and on the walls. After an internet search, I’ve discovered that whilst in the process of going to Wimbledon, I believe in 2019, the place we stumbled upon was the Maitre Choux, that has now since closed.

Since then, a simple internet search reveals that these establishments have proliferated. I have no idea where this trend originated, but it’s fascinating how these places, whether classified as flower pubs, rose pubs, or girly pubs, have become widespread.

In fact, I believe they have now morphed into something called, rather horribly, Barbiecore pubs!? Who the hell started that tag?

Our brunch experience at Derby Lane was delightful. Priced at £11.00, the vegan breakfast was excellent (btw, I’m not a Vegan), and the service matched the quality of the food. As we enjoyed our meal, we couldn’t help but notice the diverse, young, crowd – I felt over-the-hill! A gang of three younger females had grabbed the window table, and I overheard that they couldn’t understand the concept of something called a “cd”!

I felt even more ancient. . .

The waiter, who seemed well-versed in all things Glasgow, engaged us in a pleasant conversation about just what to do that evening, as we had mentioned going to a choir concert.

He even shared some insights about a Gaelic choir in Govan, which I found particularly interesting. It turns out it’s located south of the river in Glasgow, contrary to what I initially thought – it’s not in the West End.

Overall, it was a very nice experience.

8 of 10

Equally, after running the dreadful Glasgow Half Marathon in October, the Merchant City part of the city was buzzing, and we managed to find a place at the Sorriso Cafe; yet another “rose” cafe.

This was again, completely middle-class and tolerable. Service was outstanding, considering it was packed, and the food was outstanding.

I had a stereotypical, egg and avo concoction, that was passable and was served incredibly quick.

8.5 of 10

Ryte

National November Writing Month – Been busy recently . . .

For those of you who might have missed me – not that you really did – I’ve been dedicating my last few months (a lot of preparation as well) to writing a book this year (and each year, since 2018). Don’t worry, they’re awful!

I once again decided to “enter” NaNoWriMo, the National November Writing Month, a rather peculiar challenge.

The task at hand? Write 50,000 words within the 30 days of November and proudly call it a “book”. This was the third time of 5 years that I’ve tried, where I’ve manage to breach the 50,000-word mark; alleluia!

What makes NaNoWriMo interesting is that it compels you to accomplish two things.

First, there’s the completion of the novel itself. When you start in November, is your choice, but the finish line is non-negotiable.

Second, it nudges you to establish a writing routine, a commitment of one or two hours every day, or even to wake up very early in your day, in order to write your 1600+ words per day! Surprisingly, I believe anyone can do it. Believe me, if I managed it, anyone can.

Now, here’s the catch: I’m not entirely sure if my book is any good. Furthermore, I doubt if it’ll ever see the light of day of a publisher or even self-publication (Ed; You’re being TOO optimistic!).

But, with over 650 million books sold in the UK in 2022, maybe? Just maybe. . .

However, the process does give you a goal, a tangible target to strive for. It’s undeniably intriguing when you have a daily commitment, a permanent deadline to adhere to. Yes, you can (and I did) fall behind schedule, but it’s possible to catch up. I wrote about 15,000 words the final week.

According to their website, over 400,000 took part around the world in the contest in 2022, with over 50,000 completing their novel. Not a bad ratio.

This year’s venture delved into the realms of historical science fiction blended with a touch of a murder mystery! The narrative revolves around certain urban myths that weave their existence in the fabric of Glasgow, Scotland.

Whether it turns out to be a masterpiece or a literary oddity, only time will tell.

Ha!

Ryte

Halloween is over so soon . . . Vegan Sweets & My Own Private Idaho

This is my first time in writing for some time, I can only say is, don’t buy another house and don’t travel too much, it’s so time consuming you don’t have much time to do blogging!

It’s only been a week since Halloween, but maybe that’s why I’ll start on this subject. And it’s interesting, as I live in a nice area called the West End of Glasgow and was asking someone the past few days, what if one of the brats here would actually ask for vegan sweets?

Vegan candy! And believe it or not, a person near and dear to me recently told me that this has actually happened (below).

Apparently, one of those person’s colleagues has children who were demanding it in a particular area in Glasgow in the West of Scotland; and when they were not provided with it, they proceeded to storm away from the specific house whilst trick-or-treating!

I don’t know if this is true, but good God can’t you file this case under first world problems?

Maybe so, maybe not.

But I digress. Halloween is actually a famous anniversary near and dear to me.

Because it’s 30 years to the day (Halloween 1993) when the late, great, River Phoenix, an actor from the 80s and 90s, actually died. The place of death being the infamous Viper Club in Los Angeles. That was or is now owned or at one time was owned, by Johnny Depp.

So several months ago, on this 30 year anniversary year, I decided to go to a screening of Phoenix’s greatest role, that of a male prostitute in My Own Private Idaho, to see just how good it was. Remembering that I actually saw this classic over 30 years ago in 1991 at the GFT (Glasgow Film Theatre).

I can only say that not only did this not disappoint, but was actually better from what I remember. Between him and Keanu Reeves, they did something that normally young actors don’t do – they didn’t posture during the film.

Anyway, anyone that hasn’t seen the movie should be told that it’s about two hustlers in Portland, Oregon & Italy, both male prostitutes who develop a friendship. One being very rich, the other being a grifter played by Phoenix.

The one part I had a problem with all those years ago, was the theme involving a Shakespearean storyline. I don’t know whether this was King Lear or whatever but I never thought that it worked. On second thought, it works perfectly, and sums up the dilemma that both of them must resolve.

In addition, Reeves was surprisingly outstanding (his character was caught between his lo-life style, and his soon to be rich life), but it was only a few years later, after he had made the dreadful Johnny Mnemonic, that the press and certainly the music press, started referring to him as Olivier. This being an obvious dig at his limited acting ability, which is utter nonsense, as only a few years later he then starred in the Matrix franchise.

The last scene involving Reeves was a fitting ending to the movie by Gus Van Sant. If you can see it, particularly on the big screen, go for it or if not, rent it or whatever on Amazon.

CB.

A Greggs Drive-Thru – A surprise in Clydebank, Scotland

They must be doing something right here, as it seems that Greggs is going from strength to strength.

Right now, there are about 14 of these in the UK, and they no doubt have intentions to open more. They, to me surprisingly, started 80 years ago in Gosforth, near Newcastle; and now have over 2,000 restaurants in the UK.

My partner in crime suggested that it would be new to go here, and so we did. The menu is the same, the shops though, being purpose-built, are more spacious and seem brighter and fresher than those you would find on the High Street.

Not that it was important, but I chose a chicken baguette that was simply fine and at a much cheaper price in a “normal” sit-in restaurant.

And though we parked and sat outside, the number of cars / trucks that used the drive-thru in the 20+minutes that we were there, was astounding.

Tips in Restaurants? Is it out of control now?

I had a recent journey to a mid-level café / restaurant in the West End of Glasgow, and immediately noticed that the prices had increased significantly (above).

It seems like the days of having a lunch for under £10 are simply over with, but it just wasn’t that; they also had a tip added to my bill, whether you liked it or not (as I saw no disclaimer indicating that it was voluntary?). It was ONLY 10%, but it seems that the precedent has now been set and I eagerly await when the 10% becomes 15%, and so on, and so on, etc. Something that has happened across the pond in America the last few decades.

In addition, during a trip to my local gym recently, I came across the video below whilst on the treadmill:

This, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_fMkXHYh6c, was a very fine critique of this phenomena and how some, if not many, are now simply fed up with this tradition. As well they should be(!) with now takeaway workers at a your local drive-in fast-food joint in America, now demanding them!

In addition, it’s not just the above video, but I ask you to go to YouTube and do a search for information on this topic; your results will come up with a myriad of different videos relating to this very theme.

My own opinion that has served me for a long time, is that tips should ONLY be optional, and the new system of adding these to your bill automatically, especially when they have not told you before, is simply outrageous and should be immediately banned by parliament.

I don’t make tips on my online job and neither do I expect them.

A walk around Moulin, just north of Pitlochry in Perthshire Highlands

As I am actually part-living here in the Highlands nowadays, it’s giving me the opportunity to do more “things” here, without the need of hurrying back down to Glasgow after each trip – what a relief!

First, forgive the photos as I had set the camera to the RAW format for some reason, and then had to convert to JPEG.

Moulin is basically a sister “city” to Pitlochry just to the north, and is a wonderful wee walk to go around the north side of the town, whilst walking around the periphery of it. There is also a possibility to use this path to walk the nearby Corbett of Ben Vrackie.

What is interesting here, is not only the Moulin Hotel, but the attached brewery.

It wasn’t open at the time of our Sunday walk, but is during weekdays. I’ve had the beer in the hotel bar, and it’s well worth the effort to come here.

Following on from here, we went west and then headed a bit south, with us winding up in the Pitlochry Golf Club restaurant. I thought it would be empty – it wasn’t! (Ed; Is there anything else to do here on a Sunday?) – How dare you! Of course there is.

What I found quite interesting here, is not only that the course was 18 holes (I thought it would only be a 9 hole course), but that it also has a 6 hole pitch & putt course, that is ideal for children or for people who wish to work on there short game; something that is quite progressive and something that I feel golf must do, to make the game more accessible these days.

In addition, I noted from an information board that Pitlochry was once called the “Switzerland of Scotland”; this was something COMPLETELY new to me!

Tomintoul, Highlands, Scotland – A quick hot chocolate

I’ve been here in Tomintoul before several times; one after seeing a cheap deal on Wowcher or Groupon, and the second time, when I did the Speyside Way with friends, and used the youth hostel here for several nights accommodation. Well worth it!

Whilst there in the youth hostel, I was told that not only did the village have many more people years ago, but that it was a Gaelic speaking one. He also noted that the pronunciation should be, “DAW men dowl”. Finally, he stated that many of the existing houses are now AirBnBs, and the village tends to come to life in the summer when more people are living there.

It’s an interesting place, with not only a distillery for Tomintoul whisky just before the village, but it also has a very basic, grid street system.

We came here for a quick hot chocolate after seeing that the hotel we had stayed at years ago, the Richmond Arms, was not only open, but was advertising their wares with a street sign.

I noted that the village square is still there, and has a “designer” hotel, a village shop, pub restaurant / hotel, The Glenavon, and a tourist info / museum building, that provides much needed info on this area.

For those interested, there is the nearby Glenlivet Estate (yes, the same name as the whisky!), where a myriad of activities take place.

Kids? Families? Should there be flights only for Adults?

Naturally, everyone should have heard this before, but there was a recent Tiktok post, where in my opinion, an obnoxious, rich, American, sitting in first class, bemoans the fact that at times people ask her to swap seats in order to be by their children or families?

Really? In first class? And that’s why I did not really take this so seriously, as it seemed that Ms Peters, was merely rubbing it in, that she had enough dosh to afford first class to begin with.

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/influencer-applauded-refusing-swap-seats-124505416.html

At the time, the above video had over 900,000 views, with the blogger, an Audrey Peters, toasting the camera with a glass of champagne or Sekt. Her caption read:

“when a family asks me to switch seats on the plane so they can sit together”, followed by a raised eyebrow emoji.

The video now has over 175,000 likes; so apparently she has struck a nerve somewhere.

But I take her point.

But just how would this work, if there was ever to be be flights for “adults” and flights for “families?

Several observations:

At times, this is exactly what we have already, where flights at school holidays are almost exclusively for families.
What if you booked only for adults, and then later added children? Would they be booted off?
Would there be a very strict vetting process, presumably based on passports, so that the age restrictions would be stuck to?

Since I started to do this post, I’ve come across an unbelievable amount of websites, blogs, rants, deranged anger, etc – all about this type of topic. And it is always divided into two parts:

I hate kids!
You don’t have children!

You’d think in this day and age, we could have some form of tolerance – nope!

So a solution; let there be a list of passengers with their ages, that is constantly updated, with seat locations, so those in Category 1 (above), can choose seats / flights.

Secondly, let the airlines have completely segregated flights, where there are indeed, age restrictions – one for families (and children), the other for adults, and let the market work.

I know many would not want this, but I’d believe the two above options would still be in the minority of flights, and hence the vast majority of travel would still be what we have presently.

Yes, you can ski in Scotland – A trip to The Lecht ski resort, Aberdeenshire

Since living in Scotland the last few decades, I’ve only been skiing two or three times, the last at the Glenshee Ski area in north Scotland. The snow was a bit wet in late March, but the skiing at the top was perfect and it was sunny.

Ditto that for a recent trip this month to The Lecht ski area in northeast Scotland. Whilst I am still recovering from a recent illness, the other half took full advantage of the conditions (and it seemed that EVERYONE in Aberdeenshire also did!); the place was packed!

The conditions were sunny, slightly windy, with a temperature of about 0 – 2 degrees – perfect.

I stayed predominantly in the café; a typical, dreadful one, with the usual suspects of food – stale sandwiches, God-awful chips, and something that looked like chili? And with a side order of a queue of 30 minutes, as there were only about two people serving & cleaning, I had an awful time. Though when I finally found a seat with my egg sandwich, I was just fine.

As I get annoyed just so quickly nowadays, I noticed the typical behaviour of dreadful families, who only consisted of two or three, who were not only hogging a table for eight, but had also brought their own food! I naturally was furious; but PLEASE patrol this Lecht staff, as it is completely not on!

With more snow falling in north Scotland whilst I write, who knows, maybe in the next week or two, I’ll do some sliding.

3 alternative hates in a café / restaurant in the UK –

1) Doors that are left open –

This is infuriating, it seems that this always happens; even when it is cold outside. The owner simply always has to get up (usually from behind the register or serving counter), if a polite and gullible customer hasn’t, in order to shut the damn thing!

You hear the noise from outside, and most definitely feel the cold weather (especially if there is a cold wind); this makes me furious! Please, either make a better door or fix the one you that you have – this is all totally uncalled for.

The picture above, shows one such door in the Scottish Highlands, where during a recent visit of about 30 minutes had to be attended to at least a half a dozen times – this is just not on.

2) Butter packets that are as hard as a rock!

This is another one that I hate, as you’ve just been handed a great British fry up, and when you try to spread this stuff on your toast, it disintegrates as if a bomb went off!

Why do they do this? It is just SO easy for them (the café) to have this pre-warmed so that it’s actually possible to use it!

My remedy is that the tea pot that I’ve ordered with my breakfast is where I usually place the butter on or against, so the butter is at least manageable to use.

3) Filthy Salt and Pepper Shakers:

I regularly use both the salt and pepper, but first of all, I always look to see if their lids are closed, and then normally clean the tops.

They’re simply always disgusting! And yet another reason to think just what the café owners / restaurateurs are doing during the day? It does NOT take that much time to do this; to make sure that the tops of these are tight and that they have been cleaned in the last decade – exasperating!