Today’s music: Happy Birthday by Altered Images.
Today is the day of our collective fancy dinner. Perhaps a little explanation is needed.
Hugh, Mark, Mike & Pete met at Sheffield University in 1973. We lived together in Manor Park, a public housing estate on the other side of the city from the uni. Hugh is the oldest, with a birthday in March. The rest of us are in August. We are all 70 this year.
Certainly a good excuse for a get together and for the choice of today’s music.
We met for breakfast again at Cafe Fame, although it was initially closed due to the Spiderman shoot.
We’re not good at collective decisions, but eventually plumped for a trip to Loch Lomond.
Pete & Sharon are now used to trips going tits up. A major bridge closure and then grid lock traffic got us to Balloch on the Loch over an hour late. And it was raining.
Sharon & Pete traveled with Margaret and Mike. Hugh drove the other car.
A pub lunch (The Waterhouse Inn) bolstered spirits and Fiona booked us all on a boat cruise. We got Sharon on board okay and we all enjoyed the scenery. It was a bit tough for us because we could see much of what we would have walked in the first few days of our hike.
The problem with offering movie companies incentives to film in your city is the disruption it brings. Right in the heart of Glasgow’s CBD almost every street was blighted by closure. The implications of which for one-way systems, driving and satnav were astronomical. It was exasperating for Mike as we found ourselves in queues of cars attempting u-turns, and worse.
Dinner was to be at Margo. High end cuisine, recommended by a mate of Mike’s and The Guardian newspaper. The occasion and the venue deserved dressing up so an iron and board were procured at the hotel.
Dinner was fab. Terrific food and wine, knowledgeable and welcoming staff. We stayed as long as we could as waiters and chefs eyed their watches. Eventually we had to leave.
But all good things come to an end. We wandered home slowly in the busy Glasgow night. Sad goodbyes to Margaret & Mike as they split for Voco Grand hotel. They will drive back to Manchester tomorrow.
For the rest, a slow walk & wheel to Motel One. The ladies turned right for the lifts. Hugh, Mark & Pete turned left for the bar.
A lot of Talisker whiskey later, after much reminiscing, it was clear that, like at Margo, the staff wanted us to leave. “Sorry lads. The bar’s closed.”
We feigned surprise to no avail.
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