Tag Archives: Turkey

Ordinary, Scones

Rumblin’ Tum

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Nowadays, Ardrishaig, on the shores of Loch Gilp, has a population of about 1200, but before the opening of the Crinan Canal in 1809, it was just a tiny fishing village. The nine-mile-long canal joins Loch Gilp to the Sound of Jura and cuts off a long, hazardous journey around the Mull of Kintyre. Ardrishaig is at the eastern end, and Crinan is at the other.Internal view of the Rumblin' Tum in Ardrishaig

Over the years, we have sailed through the canal several times. It’s a lovely experience. However, the charms of the canal were best eulogised in the comedy TV series “The Vital Spark”. Dan McPhail, chief engineer aboard the Vital Spark puffer, famously sang:

Oh! The Crinan Canal for me,
I don’t like the wild raging sea,
It would be too terrific to cross the Pacific,
Or sail to Japan or Fiji.
A life on the Spanish Main,
I think it would drive me insane,
The big foaming breakers would give me the shakers,
The Crinan Canal for me.

Internal view of the Rumblin' Tum in ArdrishaigFrom the title picture, readers can see that when we pulled into the car park in Ardrishaig, it wasn’t the Rumbling Tum that took our attention but the Ritz. Tea at the Ritz? We were excited.External view of the Rumblin' Tum in

We were crestfallen, however, to find that the Ritz wasn’t even a café but had converted to some sort of bric-a-brac shop. Argh! All thoughts of finely cut cucumber sandwiches under extravagant chandeliers were dashed as if on the jagged rocks of the nearby loch. Our rather raw emotions were somewhat salved, however, when we realised that, almost next door, there was the Rumblin’ Tum.  “Tea at the Ritz” would have to be “Tea at the Rumblin Tum“. Not quite so splendiferous perhaps, but of course this is Ardrishaig, not Piccadilly.Logo of the Rumblin' Tum in Ardrishaig

Squidged

We got a warm, friendly welcome and were soon sitting down to our fruit scones. A scone at the Rumblin' Tum in ArdrishaigThere was no shortage of fruit, but unfortunately, a little too long in the oven had baked them hard. The jam came in a long sachet affair that we had to squidge out directly onto the scone. It didn’t do anything to improve the overall situation.  No topscone for the Rumblin’ Tum, but they do have lots of other things on offer.

Emboldened?
Sometimes, the ornamentation says more about the owners than anything else

Far from the west coast of Scotland, news that President Erdoğan of Turkey has just thrown his chief political rival, Ekrem İmamoğlu, into jail is disturbing. Over the past twenty years, Erdoğan has been systematically dismantling the secular legacy of the country’s founding father, Atatürk. This latest move is deeply unpopular and hopefully can be reversed. The thought occurs to us, however, that the bully boys of the world, for some reason, are feeling emboldened.

 

PA30 8DX          tel: 01546 606039             Rumblin Tum

///tribes.eagle.scooters

Ordinary, Scones

Mint Café

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You know how it is … you go into somewhere like Mint Café in Stirling for coffee and a scone and by the time you come out the world has changed. Okay, Syria to be more precise but who knows what is going to happen next. The hellish Assad regime has fallen and people are rejoicing. Mint Café signHowever, within a day of the Russians stopping their bombing of the country, Israel, Turkey and the US have started. All trying to protect their own interests but hardly an auspicious launch of a new era! There are all sorts of tensions mostly caused by slightly differing interpretations of the same religion … clerics have much to answer for! Nowhere are these tensions more evident than on the Turkish/Syria border with the third longest wall in the world separating the two countries.  Only the Great Wall of China and the US/Mexico wall are longer.Internal view of Mint Café, Stirling

Anyway, purely by accident we are here in Mint, a Turkish café. But why? Well, we were hoping to pick up a set of bagpipes in Stirling but having been unable to contact the guy who was renovating them, we decided to pay a visit to his shop. 

a light fitting in Mint Café, StirlingJust our luck, when we arrived, it wasn’t open. The word on the street, however, was that he normally opened a bit later in the day. What to do? Our solution was to go away and come back later, hence you find us here in Mint. Not only are we here but we are the only ones here. The place was deserted … just the Turkish owner busying himself behind the counter, and us. It seemed to be a place that specialised in cakes but there was a bowl full of scones on the counter … yeah, the day was taking a turn for the better!

I’ve always had a soft spot for Turkey since hitchhiking to the country in 1970 and experiencing the hospitality and kindness of the local people. Our host was no exception ,,, he made us very welcome. A scone in Mint Café, StirlingHe soon had us sorted with a scone and some coffee. Rather odd presentation but the scone was nice and warm with a very pleasant texture. It came with butter, jam and a dollop of ‘scooshie’ cream. The coffee was great but the rest maybe not so much. Ten out of ten for effort but some way short of a topscone.A wall hanging in Mint Café, Stirling

Afterwards, we made our way back the bagpipe shop. Hallelujah, it was open!

Lifestyle notice in Mint Café, Stirling
It’s not working

Turned out that our man was uncontactable because he had lost his phone. He had a new one but didn’t want to use it in case he found his old one?? And, in spite of having had the pipes for almost three months he hadn’t even started on them. He apologised profusely and promised to get on to it straight away. He would even deliver them to our house! Chaotic is the only way to describe his business operation but the workmanship is excellent so we remain ever hopeful of a delivery before Christmas. Internal view of Mint Café, Stirling

Being here in Mint made us feel a little closer to Syria. Bashar al-Assad and his family have successfully escaped to Russia. Presumably with him being an ophthalmologist he saw his downfall coming 😃. Sorry! The brand spanking new Syrian government has an uphill struggle ahead but hopefully they can magic up some real stability for the region.

FK8 1BJ           tel: 01786 357541           Mint Café TA

///bucks.agent.sculpture

Ordinary, Scones

Shieldbank Coffee Shop

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Destination unknown

You know how it is … sometimes you set out with a certain destination in mind and then end up somewhere completely different. No … maybe it’s just us then. We do it quite a lot? A wrong turn meant we found ourselves in the pretty, former weaving village of Saline, in the Kingdom of Fife. Been here many times before, so we weren’t lost … just not where we thought we would be. Complete change of plan. Seeing a sign for the Shieldbank Coffee Shop, ‘third left then follow road for one mile’, we thought we would cut our losses and head for there. Shieldbank 04

The road goes from Saline to Blairingone and, were it not for that sign, we would never ever have been on it. As it turns out, however, it was the first ‘walking and cycling friendly’ road we have ever come across. A speed limit of 40mph along this lovely country road is all it takes. Can’t really see the police mounting speed traps but everyone seemed to be abiding by the rules anyway. Great idea. The good folks at Shieldbank don’t exactly go big on publicity and it certainly doesn’t jump out at you, tucked away among the trees. Shieldbank 06The weather has been hot and this morning saw some very severe thunderstorms and torrential rain. When we arrived they were still mopping out the café after their worst flash flood in over twenty years. The last thing they wanted was us arriving. They told us so! In spite of everything however we could not have been made more welcome.

Mopping scones

Shieldbank is actually a riding club where they specialise in horseback gymnastics. People like us have difficulty just sitting on a stationary horse. We view the whole concept as just plain ridiculous. However, for those who relish somersaults and handstands on the back of a galloping horse .. this is definitely the place for you. Shieldbank 03For the less adventurous (us) there is the coffee shop. Vic Beasley is the man in charge and responsible for handcrafting everything. He made the café itself three years ago and all of today’s jam, cakes and scones. There wasn’t a great selection on offer. Vic had been preoccupied with mopping duties, on his fourth change of clothing so we thought we should maybe cut him some slack. Nothing was too much trouble however, he provided a scone while we waited for him to prepare us a brand new carrot cake.

Vic is one of these guys who proclaims to hate people and would dearly love to be left alone on a mountain top. However, we don’t think he would last five minutes without a good blether. Shieldbank 01Everything he gave us was excellent, including the scones. Not quite topscones but pretty close.

A nice touch in the cafe is the ability to look through a window directly into a stable. Great for kids. Interesting place, particularly if you are the horsey type. Although hard to find, it was definitely worth it.

Vanishing warships

Talking of things ‘hard to find’ … after the botched military coup in Turkey, fourteen warships, including a frigate, have been reported ‘missing’! What is it with disappearing warships? Before the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, fourteen warships were promised to be built on the Clyde if we voted ‘no’. They have disappeared as well. No doubt they will  reappear just before Indyref2. Then disappear again along with all the other promises.

Because they are trying to fill the bottomless Trident pit and keep the US in the manner to which it has become accustomed, perhaps the government cannot afford anything other than weapons of mass destruction? Apparently, HSBC, Barclays and RBS (the bank that we own) all help fund both the British and Russian nuclear deterrents. What’s that all about? With only one Scottish MP voting to renew Trident … Scotland really really really wishes it is one thing that would disappear.Shieldbank 02Anyway, we wish Vic and his venture every good fortune and now that we have found it we might even go back. Hopefully when it is not flooded.
KY12 9LN       tel: 01383 852621        Shieldbank Coffee Shop