Music trumps tartan every time...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Over Lake Noise
Cloudland Blue Quartet - April in Bolivia
Lou Reed - Rock'n'Roll Heart
Lou Reed - The Bells

12,071

Another cold and frosty morning...

Good autumnal trees...

At lunchtime a walk along towards Dalry - in the opposite direction from my usual Fopp-centric wanderings...

Ephemeral jetstreams captured...

While taking this seldom seen view of the triple spires of the cathedral...

...a passerby asked "what's that your taking a picture of?"...

"The cathedral" I retorted and made to walk on, when I sensed my inquisitor coming after me and then heard a cry of "Hey, Davy!"...

T'was none other than old musical cohort of Acoustic Youth, Charnelhouse, Call Me Clive and Crazy Wisdom fame, Mr Malcolm Logan...

A good catch up chat ensued...

A serendipitous meeting indeed as, had it not been for the fact that I had failed to bring my wallet with me on my walk and hence been unable to extract any CD purchasing funds from a nearby hole in the wall, I would not have been taking that picture at that point in time...

No doubt a full catch up soon - or, as is the way with people not seen for a while and chanced upon, no doubt months and years will pass before our paths cross again - but we have each other's e-mail addresses so, no excuse really...

Back toward town and more pics of spires, tramwires, towers and monuments under the perfectly blue sky...

In the evening, a five o'clock meet up with the Exec Producer...

..and a walk through the increasingly Christmassy city centre...

Up the mound and into Cafe St Giles for a warming drink...

Steamed Milk with Caramel Syrup for your correspondent - Mmm, mmm...

Then, down the Royal Mile and to Blackfriars St, to the formerly known as Black Bo's, Blackfriars Bar for some, it must be said, rather over priced, specialist beers...

A call to my mum to see how she is faring post op - all going swimmingly it seems and she is upbeat on matters, although she recognises it'll be some time till she's back to normal...

Onward down to Jeffrey Street and Igg's Spanish Restaurant for a meet up with chums Debbie and Sid for a six course, six wine "Degustacion Menu" extravaganza...

My first (and very probably last) experience of langoustines was the first item on offer - I just felt sorry for these two wee beasties on my plate - their little bodies gave up so little sustenance, it hardly seemed worthwhile for them to have been taken from their watery home and killed for me...

Trying to put this out of my head, I kind of enjoyed them, grilled with tarragon butter, greens and herbal dressing...

For you wine afficionados out there, the accompanying snifter was a fruity flowery white, a Zoe Albarino...

Next up, with a glass of Catalonian Cava Blanc de Blancs Brut, was Calaspara rice with piquillo peppers, wild mushrooms and Manchego "foam" - it was like being a judge on "Masterchef" - extremely tasty indeed...

A grilled sardine with a cauliflower cous cous and green olive tapenade followed - this was so yummy that even your olive avoiding correspondent could not but partake in everything on the slate before him...

The fish did however overpower the chosen vino bianco chum of Puerto Madero (also the name of the port area of Buenos Aires apparently)...

The next two dishes were so good, I forgot to picture them...

Ah, remember the days when people just ate their food, instead of photographing it and putting it up on't t'interweb?

Or indeed just did everything else too, instead of photographing it and putting it up on't t'interweb? 

Well, those days are gone, get over it!

Anyway, courgette stuffed with escalivida, a traditional Catalan dish of smoky grilled vegetables - and topped with manchego cheese was superb - just not enough of it though...

This was partnered with my least favourite tipple of the evening, a Jerez which replaced the advertised Amontillado - a rather strangely whisky-like and so, for me, rather unpalatable, manzanilla...

On to the main dish of the evening, a five and a half hour slow-cooked confit of melt in the mouth young lamb with Romesco (Catalonian nut and red pepper-based) sauce and patatas al pobre (Andalucian "poor man's potatoes")...

Wowee - this was unbelievably good and what a way to finish off the non-sweet dishes of the night...

The wine re this course was the best of the night too - a Rioja - Montecillo Crianza...

Of course there was indeed a sweet delight awaiting us, pannacotta with crema catalan licor, wild berries (that just burst with flavour into your mouth) and a cheeky wee stick of home made chocolate to top things off...

This was accompanied by a desert wine - a designation of wine of which I am not a big fan - a Serrata from Alicante...

Coffee followed and, of course, throughout the evening, the chat had been excellent and entertaining...

Off to a nearby pub for a nightcap and more chat, with some accompanying folk music being offered up in the background by a trio of pensioners in the corner...

...before exiting into the night, diagonally opposite from the site of the first Reptile Records store (1991-1995) - now one of those dreadful tartan tat gift shops - which, to be fair, probably does a lot better here than we ever did...

But music trumps tartan every time..

A walk down to Princes Street and a bus home under the moon...

...and home to find the last two of the Lou Reed catch up purchases arrived at last...

Quickly ripped and onto the cans...

To bed with the recently departed Mr Reed...

Highlight of the Day : A Spanish evening with chums...