A Wild, Windy and Wonderful Day

We blew into the capital for celebratory belated treats for Mr C's birthday. First stop the Dower House to deliver some cake to ensure Lady Findhorn's sugar levels did not go on a downward spiral. HL and Mr C pulled up a sandbag to reminisce about their last meeting at El Alamein - no, they did not quite have to battle alongside Monty - the four of us met on a camping trip in the Western Desert in 2010. In fact it was Her Ladyship who persuaded me to Blip, though I took a few years to succumb. It was great to catch up - they have promised to venture South of the border at some point, and we hope they do.

Next stop was the National Museum of Scotland. I nearly used the last Dodo, 350 years old, for my blip, but then we had our wonderful Michelin star lunch at 21212. Even then I couldn't decide on a blip - the Smoked Salmon pudding of Barley, onion and sweetcorn. Prune and macadamia, or the wonderful pudding of chestnut, cinder toffee, glazed meringue, blackberry brûlée and crem stem but chose the above which is egg, scampi, halibut, scallop, crab, walnut and soy sauce Mayo. As you see, it looks a bit more complex that that. The flavours were as wonderful as the presentation. We had a glass of Guner Veltliner, Mehofer which I'd never tried before - it was refreshingly mineral with some depth - I quote the menu here! - but it was really good, dry, and tasty. It was such a treat to sit in a tasteful room (any noisy talk was muted by the thick carpet, curtained walls and high ceiling), eat wonderful food with a glass of delicious wine and have time to enjoy each other's company.

After such a good lunch what better way to finish the visit than a tramp up Calton Hill. The great view over the city blew us away - or maybe it was the gale force wind.