Mi piace molto ...

We never thought, when we arranged our next lunch date with my cousin and his wife, that we'd choose a day threatened by gales and sleet - but that's always a chance in these uncertain times. The lunch was in our favourite venue, the place we first began these meetings and to which we keep returning: La Lanterna West End, in Glasgow's Kelvinbridge. Because of this, and because I'd been kinda late in bed last night, I decided against going shopping before breakfast and instead contented myself by having time to wash up, do some Italian and have a small coffee before we left.

The wind's been in the East all day, so it was chilly from the word go (and it's pretty grimly cold in our east-facing bedroom tonight, double glazing and all.) We bounced across the Firth, drove into the city centre, parked in Buchanan Galleries (less chancy than the car park in Kelvinbridge) and took the Subway out three stops. The first photo in the collage is taken actually from the bridge over the Kelvin, with Glasgow University tower peeping above the trees on the left; my old school is up on the hill beyond the right of the photo. 

We had a glorious lunch - I had risotto with beef strips and mushroom on a bed of pumpkin puree, with Manchego cheese, and a lovely glass of red from the Lake Garda area to remind me of one of my happy places. We talked non-stop for the two hours - you can just make our Himself and my cousin Roger in the reflection which is the second photo. The restaurant has been redecorated recently - it's small and friendly and I love it. 

And then we had to go. I remarked on how much less aware I was of the weather in among the familiar cityscape of the West End than I am in the vistas of air that we look out over at home, but even there the wind was gusting along Great Western Road and we didn't want to be stranded. We plunged down into the subway station and onto a train packed with students, one of whom gave me his seat. I must've been looking decrepit. The drive home was actually pretty speedy, and we arrived just as our ferry ploughed through the sea beyond the breakwater. The bottom photo gives some idea of what it's like to sit in the car on deck as it sets off - the journey being much more smooth than I'd anticipated because we had a following sea.

I notice just before I take it off that my watch shows I've closed my exercise ring for today - I should note that most of my exercise was taken climbing or descending stairs, because we had to park on the 6th floor ...