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.
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 Versatile Potato
I bought a pack of Marks and Spencer’s gluten-free cheese crackers today.
Here’s the front and back of the packet.
The back with the ingredients is interesting as it says they are a potato based snack with Gouda cheese.
The Second-Best Sandwich I’ve Ever Made
These pictures show the gluten-free salt-beef sandwich I’ve just made using Marks and Spenver’s brown, seeded gluten-free loaf, some slices of salt beef and a tomato.
It is not the best sandwich I’ve ever made. I made that a few minutes earlier and it was so good, I just had to make another.
This gluten-fee loaf is really the best, I’ve ever tasted and it makes superb toast too!
An Aladdin’s Cave For Coeliacs
Marks and Spencer may have its problems, but the display for its gluten-free bread and cakes in Islington, is bigger than the whole gluten-free area in the Waitrose next door.

An Aladdin’s Cave For Coeliacs
I just bought a loaf and some cheese biscuits.
I have a feeling that despite the Islington M & S not being one of their bigger stores, I might find that in a few months time, I’ll go there first and then buy the things they don’t have in Waitrose.
I can only rarely buy clothes there, but I do use it as the delivery point from the web site. I don’t know about others, but I’ve had no problems with shopping on their web site.
Praise For Marks And Spencer In An Unlikely Place
Marks and Spencer may not be in the best of health these days, with even their boss saying the results aren’t good enough in this report on the BBC.
He might like this story.
I have a small waist, which needs a thirty-inch-belt. They are hard to find and for the last ten years or so, I’ve always bought them from Paul Smith. Usually at their flagship store in Covent Garden.
Yesterday, I went to get a new one and I found a nice one in brown. I got to talking to the stylish assistant, who came from Bordeaux. He felt I was wearing a very nice pair of chinos.
They were only from Marks and Spencer.
I did buy one of the three pairs I have in a store, but the others were from their web site and delivered to my local store at the Angel.
Their web site worked for me!
Marks and Spencer Get The Labels Right
I suspect that many groups like sports and social clubs and places of worship have their proportion of coeliacs. But as I threw the case away from the Marks and Spencer’s quiche, I noticed it was clearly labelled.

Marks and Spencer Get The Labels Right
And it was labelled in three places.
This is good and if it stops one person being glutened by eating the wrong quiche, it’s worth it.
Another idea would be to put one of the little flags like I saw in Poland in the box, so at a buffet the gluten-free food could be clearly labelled.
Quiche, Scotch Egg And My Favourite Salad Vegetables
This was my lunch and the Scotch egg and quiche came from Marks and Spencer.
It must be at least fifteen years since I’ve had a Scotch egg.

Quiche, Scotch Egg And My Favourite Salad Vegetables
But it was a good one.
If you’re worried I don’t get enough greens, I had a salad nicoise for supper.
A Pair Of Poison Free Quiches
Last week I had an excellent quiche from Marks and Spencer.
Today, at the Angel they had two different types; cheese and onion and Lorraine.

A Pair Of Poison Free Quiches
There is no provenance on the quiche Lorraine, but the ones with added poison are made in Yorkshire. So what with the Tour de France in the county next week, are they upping the anchors and moving across the channel?
But it was so nice to have a choice. I’ll have some of the Lorraine for lunch tomorrow and put the cheese and onion in the freezer for a very rainy day, when it’s too much to go to the shops.
I Never Thought I’d Eat A Supermarket Quiche Again!
I’m probably not a real man, as I quite like quiche. But coeliacs don’t get much chance to eat one from a supermarket or chain store, as let’s face it, they only think we like food made from cardboard. But after their sandwiches on Saturday, I just had to try Marks and Spencer’s new gluten-free quiche.

I Never Thought I’d Eat A Supermarket Quiche Again!
It was pretty good. Let’s hope that their new gluten-free foods are still being made in a few years time.
I gave my fitness trainer a piece and she said it had a touch of the home made about it.
But then I’ve never made or rolled pastry in my life.




