May 3 - Outing to Broughty Ferry, Pat & Finn arrive

Wednesday (May 3) was another beautiful, sunny day. Again, we breakfasted on bread, cheese, and salami.

Pat called to let us know they had landed in Glasgow, and expected to be in Liff around 2 PM.

We drove into Dundee, which is the fourth largest city in Scotland with a population around 150,000. It has two universities. In the 19th century it was the center of the global jute industry. Since the 1980's biomedical and technological industries have emerged. With the decline of industry, the city has been trying to reinvent itself as a center of culture. Several years ago they embarked on a 1-Billion Pound plan to regenerate the waterfront, and next year a branch of the Albert & Victoria Museum is due to open at a cost of 80-Million Pounds.

We stopped to have a look around the M&S (Marks & Spencer) Food Hall. Thought it would be very up-market, gourmet, but it was nothing special. We did manage to find some crackers we had been wanting to go with our cheeses.

We were tired of pub food, and read that the number one restaurant in the area was a tapas restaurant in the seaside suburb of Broughty Ferry. In the 1800's it was a prosperous fishing and whaling village,  and became a haven for wealthy jute barons and ship owners who built luxury villas on the hills. As a result, Broughty Ferry was referred to at the time as the "richest square mile in Europe". In recent years it has become very popular with lots of cute pubs, restaurants, and shops.

We thought the village was charming, and reminded us a lot of certain suburbs of Melbourne.

Ron dropped me near the restaurant, Sol & Sombra. He had to find a parking spot and walk several blocks. Meanwhile, I had discovered that the main restaurant was up very steep stairs, but went into the downstairs pub, and the young man said it was no problem to sit there. The owner of the restaurant came over, and we ended up chatting. When he asked where I was from and I said "The States", he said, "Well, we won't hold that against you." I told him my grandfather was from Edinburgh. Turned out he is married to a Polish woman and had just driven back from Poland, having a little adjustment to driving on the right.

At the bar some crusty old characters were chatting, and a young French woman joined in the discussion. They were talking about Nietzsche and his sister, and how she had manipulated him, his letters, etc. to make it appear he was anti-Semitic. One of the men was very rotund with white bushy beard and white hair, and suspenders. The point of mentioning this is that I found it very interesting to hear a philosophical conversation in a pub. Ron used to love that as a young man. But, you don't tend to hear this in bars in the States.

Ron arrived, and the owner explained that there was no menu. They would bring us an assortment of cold tapas, followed by hot tapas. He asked if we had any food allergies or things we didn't care for. They first brought small bowls of olives and kikones (large corn kernels, lightly fried and salted). Next came a small round of cold tapas including mancheggo cheese, sopressata, bread with goat cheese and red pepper, couscous, and mayo aioli.  

Cold Tapas

 Next came hot tapas, including gambas ajillos (shrimp in spicy oil), the following dishes pictured

Patatas Bravas (Crispy potatoes with spicy oil)

Chicken Brochette

Paella

All this food and MORE. We are accustomed to choosing our own tapas from a menu, but based on good reviews of the restaurant, we trusted the chef's selections. Overall, most dishes were tasty. Some we didn't care for, and some were mediocre. At the end of the meal, Ron said, "If this is the #1 restaurant, I don't want to try #2). Oh well, it was something different - and we didn't expect this area to be a culinary paradise.

After lunch we walked down Grey Street, one of the main streets. I couldn't make it all the way back to the car, and sat on a bench in the courtyard of a building owned by the Presbyterian Church. Ron came back to pick me up.

When we arrived back at Lossiehall (our house) in Liff, Pat (a dear friend from Australia) and her 10-year old grandson, Finn, were already there. We had left a note that we'd be back shortly and to enjoy the garden. Thankfully it was a nice day. They were tired after a long journey - Melbourne to Hong Kong; Hong Kong to London; London to Glasgow - and then 2-3 hour drive to Liff.

Ron and Pat relaxing in living room

Ron served the spaghetti and Finn asked if we could play Pictionary, which we did. Ron and I teamed against Pat and Finn, and somehow (despite my horrid drawings) we won. So, we called it a night about 10 PM.