Glasgow day

It was time for another lunch with my cousin and his wife - a lunch date that almost didn't happen, for various reasons, but which was all the more welcome for that. Today we returned to the place where we began these lunches, the Italian restaurant in Kelvinbridge which was then La Parmigiana but is now La Lanterna West End. We were on time, despite slightly worrying parking involving a full car park, a side street and an anxious search for a parking payment machine/notice/deterrent, none of which was on display.

The meal was just perfect. Himself and I stuck to the set lunch menu simply because it had so many faves on it; my extra shows what I had. The two smaller photos are a starter of caponata and a risotto of king prawns, courgette and tomato; the left hand photo my choice of dessert - a glass of vino santo with cantucci - which I had in memory of my mother. (She'd be horrified to read this!) When I was 15 or so we spent a family holiday in Riva del Garda, and my almost-teetotal-because-she-didn't-like-drink mother discovered this sweet Italian wine, enjoying a glass with a coffee one evening to such effect that she couldn't help me to put my rollers in. (In these days I had a Helen Shapiro hairdo)

After over 3 hours of eating and talking Himself and I headed into town on the Subway to buy shoes (both of us). It was while I was waiting for Himself in Tiso's that I saw the poster in the main photo and instantly recognised exactly where it was, leading to an enthusiastic discussion with one of the salespeople of the merits of the hills of Arran. The photo in question shows the upper reaches of the White Water above Corrie, looking towards the col between Goatfell and North Goatfell and the instantly recognisable gendarmes on the Stacach Ridge. The photo was large enough to make me long to be there again; it was the last hill we climbed before Himself's knee got so bad and was probably the last straw ...

We got home at 7.30pm, and now it's once more after midnight and I must be mad doing this when I have to be up for the shopping in the morning. Night!