Great Grog

They certainly live up to their name - if you like a nice slurp of vino tinto (or even vino blanco if you're that way inclined!), then this is the place to go. A great selection of wines of all colours, affordable prices, some tasty grub, and perhaps the most garlic-smothered olives anywhere in the world!
http://www.greatgrog.co.uk/winebar.html

La Favorita - Italian Restaurant

With a hunger for mediterranean delights, we decided to visit La Favorita (http://www.la-favorita.com/) on Leith Walk, after having passed it dozens of times walking down the road and occasionally checking out the menu. First impressions - it was packed! Looks like Saturday night was a bad choice and the place was heaving, with many families with kids there too, so it wasn't exactly a chilled place to eat. Plus, we were seated near the toilets/baby-changing facilities, which were frequently visited and often the door wasn't closed afterwards.

After having opted for a simple mozzerella, tomato and basil salad we had mains of a calzone and pasta with a creamy pumpkin sauce. The calzone was around the size of a rugby ball and came covered in a tangy tomato sauce. Inside was a scrumptious combination of tomatoes, cheeses, and various other veggies. Truly my type of food, but far far FAR too much of it! How come portion sizes have increased so drastically in restaurants over the last few years!?!?!

The sauce for the pasta was quite sweet and lacked much other taste, but as there was plenty of calzone going my girlfriend opted for some of that to make up for it. Dessert wise (which nearly busted our guts!) we opted for a standard tiramisu, which can never disappoint, can it?

So, I'd recommend you try a slower night and maybe dont have a starter and dessert if you want to give the calzone a go!

Camping - Berwick upon Tweed

Getting fed up of the population of Edinburgh doubling during the festival, we decided to take a weekend away camping in nearby Berwick-upon-tweed. We decided on Ord House Country Park (http://www.ordhouse.co.uk/), which was rather grand for a campsite! It didn't cater too much for tents as the caravans had taken over the place (and are obviously more lucrative for the owners), but each tent pitch was well maintained and there were even hedges separating each pitch, so loads of privacy!

The weather was good on the whole apart from a spattering of rain overnight. Berwick-upon-tweed is a beautiful historic city, but it small enough to walk around in a day with time for breaks. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of plaques etc detailing the various historical bits of the city, and the tourist information was a bit lacklustre, but it was an enjoyable place.

Whoops!

Well, looks like I haven't updated this for a looong while. Excuses are that I've been busy and I also lost my password! I'll get round to updating with some more places around Scotland shortly, honest!

Glasgow Comedy Festival

We thought we'd go and visit Glasgow for the weekend, to check out a bit of the Glasgow Comedy Festival and also so sample some of the delights of the fair city. On friday night we dined at Cafe Cossachok, (http://www.cossachok.com/) a russian restaurant with a small but very friendly venue. Although the selection for vegetarians was small, the food was delightful and very different from what we're used to - a pancake stuffed with mashed potato?!? Sounds like a stodge-fest but was actually really light and creamy.

Saturday was spent checking out the parks and shops, with afternoon drinks at the Arches (http://www.thearches.co.uk/), a funky club/venue situated in the old railway arches of the city.

In the evening we saw the chucklesome Jeremy Hardy who was charmingly funny as usual. We did feel like we were the youngest people there though!

Kalpna (Indian Restaurant)

On friday we went to a vegetarian indian restaurant called Kalpna (http://www.kalpnarestaurant.com/). Atmosphere was ok but the tables/chairs were a bit too 70s. The food was yummy, but my main course (Butter Masala - was a bit like an indian fajita!) was served on what looked like a serving tray, which to be honest felt a bit weird. At the end of the meal I asked for an espresso (great caffeine injection!) but the waiter apologised about the lack of specialist coffee making facilities there, so I had a normal coffee and a baileys for the girl I was with on the house - nice :)

We then slumped on a nice leather sofa at Biblos down the road...

The Stand Comedy Club, Edinburgh (Sunday)

Every Sunday lunchtime, the Stand in Edinburgh offers 2 hours of free improv comedy - and last Sunday I went along to see it. Being free I thought the comics can't be that good, but also being free they can't be that bad either! And they weren't! Sat there with a cheap plate of yummy nachos and a pint of decent cider - I was pleasently entertained for about 2 1/2 hours, even though none of my improv suggestions were actually used. Highly recommended! http://www.thestand.co.uk/shows.htm