Why I Didn’t Buy An Ice Cream
The ice cream outside this restaurant on Piccadilly looked good and it probably was.
Why I Didn’t Buy An Ice Cream
But on enquiring, they had pots to serve it without the cone.
In Italy, where this type of ice cream selling is common, they’ve never not had some pot for the gluten-free!
Match Three – Birmingham 2 – Ipswich 2
Birmingham City is one of the easier away grounds to get to at a weekend, as to get to the ground it’s a ten minute walk from Bordesley station.
But yesterday, I decided to try to use the buses, so I was told to get a 17 from outside Moor Street station. I managed it easily to get there, but coming home, I would have had to wait fifteen minutes for a bus, so I virtually walked it back into the centre, before I got a taxi from the Coach Station to New Street station.
The dangerous roads were no better.
I know most away fans, these days go by coach or car, but surely, as Leeds do, they should organise a taxi queue after the match for the lost. Birmingham City might do, but the stewards had no idea.
As it was I missed my 22:10 station and had to wait for the 23:10. At least though, I was able to buy some gluten-free sandwiches and a drink in the Marks there and New Street is not the dismal, dirty and draughty station of the near past.
Late Night Sandwiches
I actually had a choice of two types. When did a coeliac last have a choice of gluten-free sandwiches at 23:00 anywhere?
The Virgin train was the pick-up-the-stragglers service from Edinburgh and made it home a few minutes early, so I was in bed at a reasonable hour.
The football was another scrappy match, but at least we scraped a draw in the last minute.
Two Coeliacs At The Football
At the football last night, the stand wasn’t full and we could sit where we liked.
I ended up sitting next to this guy about my age and as one does we got talking.
It turned out he was another coeliac, who like me bad been diagnosed in later life. In his case, it had been twelve years ago at Ipswich hospital.
We swapped stories about bread and recipes, but what surprised me was that he’d never seen or heard of Nakd bars. So I gave him a piece of my half-time snack. Quite a few of my non-gluten-free friends in London eat them, as they tick so many boxes and they are pretty easy to find in most supermarkets.
A Stroke Of Genius
As I walked through the centre of Birmingham, I came across a very crowded square.
It was Genius giving out free gluten-free toasted sandwiches.
What a good marketing idea!
I don’t actually eat Genius bread any more as my local Waitrose doesn’t stock it and I do like Marks and Spencer’s new gluten free breads. They also keep longer in the bread bin!
There’s a gluten-free bread war out thereand the only beneficiaries will be those like me, who have or wish to avoid gluten.
Is Romeo’s On The Up?
I’ve been to Romeo’s Gluten Free Bakery a few times, but last time, which was a few months ago, it wasn’t a good experience. Compared to some of the bad meals I’ve had in the past, the food was very good, but the service to say the least left a lot too be desired.
As I passed today, I noticed they had a board outside and it would appear they are selling sandwiches.
Is Romeo’s On The Up?
I think the time has come to give it another chance!
Lunch In Vozar’s In Brixton
I went for lunch today to Vozar’s in Brixton, which is a gluten-free restaurant, that also sells Celia lager.
Note that I took the last pictures as I walked back to Brixton Underground station after the excellent lunch.
A Snack On The Caledonian Sleeper
The Caledonian Sleeper is in some ways a hangover from years gone by, but the train was busy. Quite a few people like me had been to the Commonwealth Games.
I decided to see if they had anything gluten-free. The cheese and oatcakes looked promising, so the steward checked to see if the oatcakes were safe. He produced the box. I can’t remember the make, but the box said proudly that they were made without wheat.
So I gave it a try and this is what I received.
A Snack On The Caledonian Sleeper
It was very nice, even if there was a bit too much wine for my taste at the moment. But at £8.50, who cares?
As I slept well held by the suspension of the Mark 3 coaches and didn’t need to go to the toilet until just before Euston, there can’t have been much wrong with my supper.
Nightmare on Princes Street
Princes Street in Edinburgh may be a famous street, but the new trams haven’t improved it, with their unsightly poles and wires everywhere.
The biggest problem is crossing from one side to the other, as there aren’t enough crossings and you have to walk up and down between them to get across. I mentioned this to the young lady, who gave me the directions for the Kelpies and she said the trams had made it worse for some reason. I had wanted to cross to a Tesco to get my copy of The Times, but by the time I got to the crossing it had become blocked by buses. No wonder Scots seem to jaywalk much more than us Sassanachs. It’s the only way they can get across.
I then saw a Marks and Spencer on the other side, so as I knew they had papers and gluten-free sandwiches, I decided to give them a try.
Marks and Spencer on Princes Street, Edinburgh
Firstly, I had to walk back about a hundred metres to find a crossing.
Then, I couldn’t find any gluten-free sandwiches, as they’d already sold out at nine in the morning. But then there is no other shop selling gluten-free food near the station.
So I thought I’d try the Marks and Spencer in the station on my way to the Kelpies at Falkirk.
But they didn’t have any either. I have complained.
So I bought my paper and hoped I could find something in Falkirk.
Reasons To Go Virgin Or East Coast
I went up to the Commonwealth Games on the 08:30 Virgin out of Euston arriving on time at 13:01 give or take a minute or so.
The best thing about going Virgin before 09:00, is that you get a proper breakfast, which includes a gluten-free option. I had plenty of tea, some delicious scrambled egg and smoked salmon and a glass of juice.
I didn’t get my gluten-free roll though!
As I was meeting someone in Glasgow, who’d come through from Edinburgh, I could have gone up with East Coast and then across to Glasgow with her.
But it would have meant an earlier start and I had to see the builders.
I think it’s true to say that if you’re going to Glasgow or Edinburgh from London, it’s probably better to go direct. But even so, the distance between the two big Scottish cities isn’t great, with the fastest trains taking between fifty minutes and an hour.
So as Virgin run twenty trains a day up the West Coast and East Coast run eighteen and the fastest trains take about the same four hours sand a bit, it’s very much a case of you pays your money and takes your choice.
The trains are different with Virgin running tilting Class 390 trains and non-tiliting diesel InterCity 125 and electric Inter City 225 trains. My preference is for the non-tilting trains.
The only certain thing is that in the next few years, train routes between England and Glasgow and Edinburgh will gain more capacity and will get faster.
As an example, over the last year, Transpennine Express has introduced new faster Class 350 electric trains to and from Manchester. I thought I heard several northern families in Glasgow, who looked like day trippers up for the Games.
A Transpennine Class 350 In Glasgow
So is this illustrative of how fast, comfortable, high-capacity railways change our lives?
The biggest changed will be Network Rail moving to in-cab signalling, which will allow running over 200 kph on both the West and East Coast Main Lines. This could bring the journey time from London to Scotland much closer to the magic four hours, using the current trains.
When I went to Edinburgh recently by easyJet, security problems meant that I took five and a half hour from my home to Edinburgh city centre. So a four hour journey will be fast enough to give the planes a run for their money. But not everybody goes between London and the major Scottish cities and possibly the biggest beneficiaries of a faster service will be those who have easy access to intermediate stations like York, Peterborough, Preston and Carlisle.
The biggest problem will be track and train capacity on the East and West Coast routes. On the West Coast, there will probably be a further increase in the Class 390 fleet and on the East Coast the Class 800 and 801 are coming.
As with so much on Britain’s railways, the elephant-in-the-room is freight, which is increasing substantially. So will we see extra routes and tracks opened up to held the freight through, just like we have with the GNGE between Doncaster and Peterborough via Lincoln. Of course, we will!
Perhaps, in Scotland, we might even see the return of freight to a Waverley line extended to Carlisle.
Then there is the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Program, a project that seems to have lost its way a bit recently. But the main aim of getting about a dozen services every hour between Edinburgh and Glasgow, with some taking just over half-an-hour must be a goal for Scotland.
A Marks And Spencer Gluten-Free Baguette
This was my lunch today.
A Marks And Spencer Gluten-Free Baguette
The baguette was from Marks and Spencer and was just warmed through in the oven, before filling with bacon.
I can’t remember, when I last had a baguette that was this acceptable. If it looks small, it’s because there was another bit, that I’d already eaten before the photo was taken.
This new Marks and Spencer’s product certainly makes it easier to cope with a visitor, who needs gluten-free food.
The Anonymous Widower 