North Berwick: Tantallon Castle

When my niece Katie visited me in the winter of 2011, she found & chose a castle to visit: Tantallon Castle. I had never heard of it before and was glad to visit it. We had a devilishly hard time getting out to it - there were no busses (or none we could sort out, anyway), so we walked, and eventually reached the castle, not long before closing time. For a more detailed account of that trip see these posts:
http://www.mairiglasgow.blogspot.com/2011/12/tantallon-castle-north-berwick.html

and:

http://www.mairiglasgow.blogspot.com/2011/12/tantallon-castle-itself.html

So, Heather and I thought we'd have a much better time of it, it being the summer and all.
But no!
The busses to the castle ran very infrequently. We decided to have lunch first, and then we called a taxi to take us to the castle. AND IT NEVER CAME! By this time, we were able to make one of the infrequent busses, and thus finally reach the castle! They don't make it easy on you!

Walking along the beach in North Berwick

Eating outside!

Inside a wee chapel

Tantallon Castle!

A view of Bass Rock

Heather looking cool in her shades! 

Chapels, gardens and abbeys

More adventures with Heather. It was nice just to take her around to some of my favourite spots in Glasgow and environs.

In the University Chapel:

In the University Chapel

Beautiful dog & deer carvings.

 In the Botanic Gardens:

In Paisley Abbey:

These are carvings made in the late 19th century in an area of the abbey that was restored. 

Scottish outings with Heather!

Heather arrived on the 27th of May, by bus, coming up from London. Unfortunately for her, her bus was over an hour late! Once she arrived in Glasgow, though, I think things got a lot better!

Having dinner & playing Harry Potter Cluedo with Rachel & Carlos

The wee coffee shop next door to my flat

Eating at 'The Chip' - the posh restaurant where I worked for four years (The Ubiquitous Chip).

Pudding at the chip: chocolate cake, crowdie ice cream and other yummies.

One of the things Heather was really looking forward to was a visit to Glasgow Cathedral. This is in the Blacadar Aisle, which features in a lovely medieval murder mystery series that Heather and I have read. I would recommend them! The author is Pat McIntosh, and the first of the mysteries is called "The Harper's Quine".

Of course, just wandering about near Glasgow uni was exciting too.

But nothing can beat the thrill of a Patsy dinner! This was my last - for now at least! - and Heather's first! Lovely!

Heather at Patsy Dinner!

Pecan Pie!

Strawberry milkshake cheesecake!

Malteser cake!