... a lovely Saturday, and some memories

It's quite a rare thing for Dave and I to have a weekend when we have nothing planned, so on Saturday, once we'd had a lie in, we decided to go to Largs as it was quite a nice day. Largs is a seaside town in Ayrshire, where both myself and Dave went with our families when we were little, and both of us have fond memories.

My overriding memory of going to Largs is of my mum, and my sister's dad taking me, Hazel and her siblings to Nardini's . We went once a month, and we had our ice-cream sitting in(there is an icecream shop for take away, If you sit in, there is table service), and each of us was allowed 3 scoops or a sundae. The building is beautiful on the outside, and on the inside is full of Art Deco splendour. To go there as a child felt very special, partly because it was expensive(we didn't have much money when I was little, Nardini's is quite fancy), and a proper treat, and partly because it actually is world famous, there are pictures of big stars who went there inside, so it felt grown up. We'd get dressed in our 'for best' clothes when we went, and I remember always think that my mum looked properly glamorous, which she didn't have time to do most days with 5 children to look after!

Lots of people sitting outside, Spring is coming! It is quite posh for a cafe, no?

Of course, there is also the fact that the ice-cream is amazing! Dave had never had some, so we went to the shop part (we'd have had to wait for a table to sit in, as soon as the sun comes out, Largs is mobbed) and got two scoops each, and ate them on the waterfront. I had Cherry Mania and Heavenly Chocolate, while Dave had mint choc-chip(his favourite flavour) and Italian cookie. It tasted as good as I remember, which made me happy! The stuff is magical - creamy and rich, and with strong, real flavour, and big chunks of the mixed in bits!

Yuuuuuuuuum!

Having taken a trip down my memory lane, we took a trip down Dave's. When they went to Largs as children, Dave's family went to the sweetshop, which is also quite famous! It has rows and rows of big tubs of sweets, which you still order a quarter(quarter pound) of. It makes me a bit sad if I have to ask for 100g of something, it's just wrong somehow. My two favourite kinds of boiled sweet are Winter Mixture and Rhubarb Rock, and yesterday felt more like a rhubarb rock day!

Sweets in hand, we went to the Amusements(for the Americans, this is what the little places on seaside town with slot machines are called here) and used two pounds(both of our families had the ' you can have a pound's worth of goes' rule it seems) winning, and then losing on those machines you drop 10 pence or 2 pence pieces into, in the hope that it pushes some over the ledge.

Largs shorefront- can you see the old couple sitting together?

Afterwards, we walked along the shorefront, and I took some photos, and then we got lost trying to find which of the residential streets we'd parked the car on! We drove's to Dave's parents' house, In the beautiful evening light, and I managed to snap a few clear photos, even though the car was going quite fast! These are is my favourites!

Isle of Arran, behind Isle of Bute, from the north of Largs

Leaving Aryshire, entering Inverclyde, Looking on the Isle of Bute

At Dave's parents house, we had a cup of tea, which they are as fond of as I am, and then went out for Indian food, which was yummy.

All in all, it was a really lovely, relaxed day, full of chat and sharing memories. I think these need to happen often! Next time we're going to sit in so that Dave can have the full experience, and I may even get properly dressed up, as my mum would!