Scotland's Best Coffee Stops

As I have reported before, we spend time in our business driving around Scotland for meetings, so have collated good knowledge on the best stop-off points for coffee and home baking.  One particular favourite of mine is Mhor Bread in Callander.  We used to stop there on the way to visit a west coast luxury hotel.  Now I can only manage it on the way to our annual family holiday on Mull.  Mhor is run by the brilliant people from the Monchayle Mhor Hotel and looks, feels and tastes like a 1950s teashop.  There is also a Mhor Fish down the road that does fish and chips, though I have only HEARD that it is good. Never tried it.
This place is really worth trying and Callander is a good stop-off point on the way west.  YUM

Scotsman Steps

My daughter and I made a real discovery yesterday.  We took a shortcut to the city centre from beside the Scotsman to avoid a demonstration at Waterloo Place.  So we nipped down the Scotsman Steps and cut across the East Gardens to reach Hanover Street.  The steps have been transformed into a wonderul array of different marbles.  Having looked this up, I see it is a form of art installation.  Really stunning and worth a visit in their own right!  Here is a link to some information:
http://www.edinburghguide.com/news/edinburghcitycouncil/8400-scotsmanstepsrestoredinmarble

and here is a picture!

National Museum Scotland

I went to a lovely party last night, launching the new corporate spaces at the National Museum of Scotland following its £46 million facelift.  The museum looks completely beautiful and there were four caterers demonstrating how fabulous they are, so people could experience what an event could be like.  The best, by far, was Heritage Portfolio.  They decked an area out entirely using herbs - the smell was amazing!  And the delicate china cups of gin and tonic (v strong) were genius and beautiful, though I had to make sure I did not drink too  much!  What a great place for an event.  They can now do massive gala dinners in the atrium and there were hundreds of people at the party, so for a big event in Edinburgh it will take a lot of beating.   The picture is a generic one of the new gallery - that is not me at a party for one!