Driving home this evening in the dark, I had to hit the brakes to avoid an unlit cyclist who shot out of a side road and crossed in front of me.

I suppose it is inevitable that a student town like St Andrews will have its share of irresponsible young cyclists, but this is the third time that I’ve nearly hit an unlit bicycle since the evenings started drawing in this year. Infuriating.

I sometimes think that idiot cyclists deserve anything that hits them, but of course they aren’t insured, so the poor motorist would end up paying to get the dents and bloodstains out of their car.

Friday

Last week ended with Friday spent at the Old Course Hotel for a company confab. While I’d attended meetings and dinners there before, I’d never stayed a night. After an early arrival I checked in to find that I’d been allocated a suite. I’m pretty sure it was larger than the footprint of our house.

With glorious weather, Friday was an ideal day to be in St Andrews. Unfortunately we spent the morning watching speeches and presentations in a windowless room. That said, the speeches were largely entertaining and informative, and the guest speaker, Ellis Watson, was a hoot.

During the afternoon we played a series of team-building games. I’m not fond of that kind of thing — is anybody? — but they passed the time. One game, involving a treasure hunt around the outside of the hotel, was notably more fun than the others, but felt rushed. As a company we employ a lot of intelligent, technically-minded people. Surely there must be team-building activities that stretch the mind, and don’t resemble children’s party games?

Kilts on for the evening dinner. The haggis was piped in, and the food was mostly decent. For my main course I had a mushroom-free alternative to the veggie option, which was mushroom risotto. I think the meat eaters were more satisfied with their dinners. Pudding was a selection of Scottish cheeses, which was a good change from the usual sweet end to a meal.

After dinner we had music from Miami Vince, a local “yacht rock” band. Live music is significantly better than a DJ — while I’ll dance to neither, a band provides something more interesting to look and and to listen to.

As usual, when I’m surrounded by people who are drinking, I find I have no desire at all to consume an alcoholic drink. Off to bed before midnight; I understand that others stayed up somewhat later.

Saturday

On Saturday morning, Kate and Beth joined me at the hotel for breakfast. Served in the top-floor Road Hole Restaurant, the views were magnificent. We’re used to breakfasting at the Fairmont when my parents are in town, and comparisons came to mind. It held up well, but (from a veggie-choice point of view) I think the Fairmont works slightly better for me. Odd that neither the Fairmont nor the Old Course seem capable of producing a decent cup of tea.

Following brek, Beth and I hung around the hotel, exploring the corridors and having a walk outside, before heading up into town, with a couple of teammates, to meet Kate for a Chinese lunch at The Dining Room. After we’d bought a supply of buttered brazils from Burns sweetie shop, we met Polly and Will in Church Square, before going on to look around the Bell Pettigrew Museum, a Victorian-style natural history museum at the university. Beth enjoyed filling in an activity sheet, and we met one of Beth’s contemporaries from her toddler-group days.

Sunday

Polly and Will were heading back down the country this afternoon. They joined us for lunch; I made some pizzas and a big salad. This satisfied Beth; she greatly enjoys home-made pizza, and ate more that I could believe. She didn’t want her Auntie Polly to leave, and tried to lock them in! Hopefully we’ll see them again next month.

We spent the afternoon watching another old Midsomer. Still white.

Off to the Fairmont for afternoon tea. Five of us: zephyravictrix, ormsweird, kateaw, Beth, and me. From past experience, their afternoon teas — at £13.95 — are impressively large and excellent in quality. In preparation, we had a mid-morning brunch at home before heading up to the Fairmont spa for a swim; a good way to build an appetite.

So we were jolly hungry when we got to Kittocks Den at 3pm. In expectation of a mountain of sarnies, and more cakes that we could eat, with leftovers to take home, we ordered five afternoon teas. After a ponderous wait, a rather measly three-tier plate arrived. After complaining about the number of sandwiches, the server brought us a second plate of sarnies, and brought us a fifth scone as there were originally only four.

It was a snack rather than a meal. The food was excellent, but we felt that standards had certainly slipped in terms of value for money.

Until we received the bill. It turned out that the waitress had assumed their afternoon teas serve two (as opposed to being a hearty meal for one), and had assumed that Beth would share from ours rather than wanting a portion to herself. So we ate and paid for two afternoon teas, rather than the expected five.

Next time I must make myself clearer when ordering…

How veggie-friendly are the chip shops in St Andrews? I thought I’d ask them what they fry their chips in, in light of my unhappiness with the Tailend (documented in the standrews community at http://community.livejournal.com/standrews/22479.html).

Chip shop	Fat
Tailend	beef dripping
KFB	beef dripping
Pizza Connection	beef dripping
Empire	vegetable oil
Marmaris	vegetable oil
Fritto	vegetable oil
Dolce Vita	vegetable oil

Did I miss any chip shops?

Of the three that fry in beef dripping, only the Tailend claims to serve “veggie” fried food.

My favourite for chips is Dolce Vita. Mmm.

Tea out at the West Port on South Street. We were joined by Rebecca and theworldofhelen, ioevri1’s two house guests. Good food and good company.

We’re used to eating there in the hubbub of Saturday lunchtime. Pleasantly peaceful on a Monday evening!

As members of the spa at the Fairmont, kateaw and I attended the spa members’ event this evening. It should have been a Christmas party, but was delayed into January. It took the form of a dinner/dance — there was a hot buffet, followed by a ceilidh.

As vegetarians, we aren’t surprised to find restricted choices with buffets, particularly if the veggie main course is something we’re not keen on, but we can usually fill up with potatoes and vegetables. Tonight didn’t work well for us. The veggie option was a goats’ cheese tart, containing Mediterranean veg, and the vegetable side dish was… mixed Mediterranean veg. I’m not particularly keen on peppers, and Kate can eat neither goats’ cheese nor aubergines. And the potato dish contained bacon, which is just evil.

Mind you, the puddings were good.

Then Kate and I escaped before the dancing started. With my aversion to dancing, and Kate’s gammy leg, we’re not likely to hit the dance floor. Still, it was good to get out, and meet a few of Kate’s aquarobics chums.

[Poll #1671179]

We listened to Black Sabbath’s Heaven and Hell on the way home. Quite my favourite Sabbath album; Dio is the Sabbath singer for me.