Food and Yet Even More Food

I woke this morning at around 3.30am - it was the yellow sodium street lights flooding into my bedroom which did it. I'm used to total 'can't see your hand in front of your face' darkness back home in France but having a street light right outside wasn't conducive to a good night's sleep. In an effort to force myself back to sleep I read a product list of a food company which was on my brother's bedside table - hare, teal, venison, alligator, ostrich - you name it and it was on the list. Far from helping me go back to sleep, it made me wonder who in Scotland eats alligator steaks and hare!

Steve and Debbie

We're just about to get ready for yet another meal out, this time with my relatives in Glasgow. In the past few days, I have had more lunches and dinners than you could shake a stick at - starting with  a very pleasant stay in Steve and Debbie's new home tucked away in the rolling hillsides of West Yorkshire, the undoubted highlight of which was my dinner with Steve on Wednesday night where he had arranged for some old colleagues to 'surprise' me when they turned up in the 200 year old pub where we were having a quiet pre-dinner drink. Terry, Pete and Phil wandered in and within minutes it was like we'd just finished a shift in BT and were sitting in a London pub, discussing our day. It was great to see them - thanks Steve - really appreciated it.

Then it was a three hour train journey to Glasgow and as we drew into the city's Central Station, I tried to think when I'd last entered Glasgow by train. It must've been about thirty five years ago and the thing I noticed was that as the train crawled into the station, things looked pretty much the same as they always did - a bit grimy and run down. Even the station hadn't changed a jot - ok - some new stores dotted around it's periphery but the basic structure was just as it always had been. No St Pancras makeover for this city's main station!

Last night it was dinner with my three sons in Paisley. It looked like Tim wasn't going to make it but he decided to drive up from his Lincolnshire air force base at the last minute and was able to join us at Carlito's Italian Restuarant in what used to be the biggest town in the UK until they finally decided to make it a City. Now Paisley, or rather it's inhabitants, have an unfortunate tag applied to them - they say when Paisleyites move house, they're such a mean lot that they even take the wallpaper with them but I didn't see any evidence of that yesterday - all Scottish people seem to be incredibly friendly and the five Indians running the Italian Restaurant (how does that work?) were great with us, sitting patiently as we overstayed our welcome and sat around after all the other diners had left.

And so to today, Friday. The weather in Glasgow, just as it appears to be across the whole of the UK, is wet and windy. Not good because we were planning to walk to meet my aunt and cousin for lunch but if it stays like it is, my tame taxi driver (my brother) will have to get his car out of the drive once again and ferry me to yet another eating establishment.

Since I left France on Tuesday morning, I seem to have done nothing other than eat in restaurants and drink in pubs. My poor body is suffering and I still have three days to go! I never thought I'd say it but I can't wait to get back on J's diet!!!!