Edinburgh (RTW) – Month 10 (it's been a while!)

Well 4 months have past since my last update so I think you all need a update. I will warn you this may be a big one!

Farnsborough Airshow



Ok so we went back down to London and this time we stayed with our friends Phill and Bron and their lovely wee daughter. This was the weekend we went to the Farnsborough airshow which is ever 2 years and one of he biggest in the world! So Saturday rolled around and Katherine, Phil, Meaghann, Phill and I all piled into the car and were off to the airshow. We finally arrived after some traffic and had to get a bus from the carpark (rugby pitch) to the airshow. It was Amazing!!! There were so many aircraft there I was in heaven! We saw spitfires flying, Catalinas, the Red arrows which were amazing. I think the most amazing flying display was when the new Airbus A380 took to the skies. This thing can do really steep banks and can fly so slow that it seems it is suspended in the sky. For such a big aircraft it can do so much stuff which just blows your mind. We also saw displays from the new Eurofighter, Apache,
Tilt Rotor aircraft and also a Vulcan bomber which they said would never fly again. We finally got home after a long and enjoyable day and we rested well that night. The next day we were off to Legoland in Windsor which was soooo cool they had some great rides and we got very wet and you get so cold when you are wet in the English summer. They had different cities from around Europe all done in lego and it was quite amazing. Phil and I also had to buy some lego and a great day was had by all.


The Edinburgh Festival

The weekend after Farnsborough the Edinburgh Festivals kicked off. We were planning on spending quite a few nights out and seeing heaps of shows. The festival was amazing and we saw some great comedians and some not so great comedians. We went to the Ballet, a play and I don’t really know what genre it would fit in but we saw the Bangkok Lady Boys which was really good and entertaining but also quite disturbing at the same time. We also got to meet Frank Woodley in the street which was very cool.

Jacobite Steam Train and the Highlands

Ok so by this stage Katherine’s sister was with us and after spending 4 nights in a row at the festival it was time to take her up to the Highlands of Scotland. We drove upto Fort William and had a fantastic Indian meal the night we arrived. The accommodation was nice but the lady that ran it was a bit off putting. Put it this way we arrived late on Friday night and asked if it was ok that we parked or car underneath the washing line she said it was fine and we didn’t have to move it. The next day we went out (will tell you in a sec) and when we arrive back she was very peeved off at us that our car was parked under the washing line as she had to put a tarp over our car so her washing didn’t get dirty and our car wasn’t facing the right way. Anyway enough of her. So on the Saturday we took the Jacobite Steam Train from Fort William to Mallaig it is one of the best train journeys in the world. You might remember the viaduct from such films as Harry Potter. That’s right we went on the Harry Potter train! It was a great journey and we glad that we did it. We had a great time up in Mallaig and climbed to the top of a hill above the town and looked over towards the Isles of Skye, Rum and Eigg. The train trip back was nice. The next day we had a mammoth drive ahead of us. We decided to drive up to Loch Ness and go to Urquhart castle. Anita did find Nessie and on the way back the scenery was beautiful as all the heather was out and the hills were covered in purple. We stop off at the highest distillery in Scotland and had a wee dram to warm us up….ok so I might have had to finishes the girls drams off but I was very warm afterwards anyway.


Paris

Well we finally booked a flight to visit Paris and what a trip we had. We got the train into town after we got in (not all that cheap but cheaper than a cab) and dropped off our stuff at our tiny tiny hotel that was a bit dodgy but in a great location about a 15min to the Eifel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. We first off we went to a newsagent to get a museum pass for €30 which gave us access to everything except for basically the Eifel Tower and the Moulin Rouge. So first stop was the amazing ad unbelievably large Musee Louve. So we quickly saw the Mona Lisa, Wing Victory and the Venus de Milo, we also saw some amazing stuff from Egypt and Mesopotamia. After that we had our first French meal and it was great. We then continued to go to Musee d’Orsay and saw paintings from Monet, Van Gough and Renoir to name a few we then moved on to Musee Rodin and saw the famous statue, the thinker. We then moved onto Napoleon’s Tomb which was amazing we saw his tomb and church and also the hat and coat he wore in battle. Next to tick off the list was the Eifel Tower which we went to and met some Canadian’s there quite random although we did have our hockey jerseys on which may have helped. We then climbed up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe back to climb the Eifel tower at night and look over Paris and that was day 1 complete. Day 2 started with some lovely pastries for breakfast then we went to the Musee Picasso and saw some of his famous work which was very interesting. When then moved onto the Notre Dame and saw the famous flying buttresses the stained glassed windows and the wonderful architecture. When then went down to some of the underground section on the Notre Dame and saw the ancient city walls and settlements. We then skipped a 2hr line and walked straight into the St Chappell chapel and saw the amazing 14th century stained glass windows. We then walked some markets went to the Pantheon and had a wonderful dinner before we headed to the Moulin Rouge a see a show. The show was sooo worth going to and would highly recommend going to see a show. It was better than any of us expected we really enjoyed it. We had a great flight back and just make sure that you buy a ticket for the train back to the airport.



Edinburgh Festival Final Night

Just before we left for Australia it was the final night of the festival where they was a huge fireworks display to live music help in the Princes street gardens with the castle as a back drop. The fireworks lasted about 1 hour and it was amazing being so close to the fireworks. It was kinda funny having our big camera and a tripod. We had a local tell everyone to give us room as we were “professional” photographers. So we got some great photos.


Australian Holiday

September saw us go back to Australia for the first time since we left down under. I must admit it is a bit weird going to Australia for a holiday but hey now we know how everyone feels when they come to the land of Oz. So our first stop on the way was Hong Kong, it took us a long time to get there. First we had to fly to London then Helsinki and then to Hong Kong. The flights were not good at all. The seats were hard and for a frills airline you get no pack so no eye shades etc. which really sucks when you are seated near the toilets and the lights stay on the whole trip! Needless to say we were very tired by the time we got to Hong Kong. All of our bags arrived except for my guitar but it kind of worked out alright as it came the next day and was at the airport for us to pick up when we left HK. We arrived at our hotel after a bus trip from the Airport and it was very nice with a nice view. Anyway after we had a wee sleep we caught up with one of Katherine’s friends from work who just happened to be in Hong Kong while we were there and she is a local. So she showed us around and took us to a few of the local markets which were really good. She also took us to a Dim Sum for lunch which was awesome! We had steamed bbq pork buns, dun tart and chicken feet and tried some new stuff including fish stomach…..interesting. Later that night we saw the Hong Kong Island light show where the whole island is in lights to music. The next day we got some more bargins at the markets and later that evening we went up to the Summit on top of HK Island via the train. We had a lovely meal a Bubba Gump looking over the island and Kowloon lighting the night sky which was lovely. We then went back to the airport to board our Qantas flight back to Brisbane. The best flight of the whole trip was our flight back to Brisbane it was the only airline where we got a vanity kit with eye mask for sleeping…..priceless.

After arriving in Brisbane we were met by Katherine parents, my parents, Lindsay and the kids. It was great when we came through the doors and the kids ran up to meet us. After our wonderful welcoming I went and picked up our dog Gator it was so great to see him and have some time around him. The next 6 days were very busy seeing our friends and family and running errands to make sure we could come back to Scotland. After Brisbane we flew down to Adelaide for a wedding for a couple of days and see my grandma for her birthday. We had a great time and it was a wonderful wedding. It was on the banks of a lake and the reception was in a 100yr old shearing shed. We had a fantastic time in Australia and it was great to catch up with everyone.

Well we left Adelaide and heading back to the UK only to stop off in KL for 3 nights before getting back to the grind. We arrived in KL and were told that a limo was waiting for us and we were whisked away to our hotel. We were welcomed and were directed to the 32nd floor to a private check-in. We paid a bit extra for the Traders club and it was so worth it. We had a larger room with our own lounge room and had a view that over looked the Petronas Towers. Every morning we got a free breakfast which included cold stuff, hot stuff and an egg bar. We could then grab some bottles of water for the day, each afternoon we got a free afternoon session with drinks and food and then there was 2hrs of free cocktails each night (as much as you want) with food to boot. KL was amazing we went to the markets and got some great bargains, went up the KL Tower and got a great view of KL at night. We went out to the Royal Selangor factory which was actually really really interesting and so some of the original money from Malaysia. We also went out to the Batu caves which is a huge Hindu worshiping site made from Limestone caves. There were 262 steps up to the top and we were absolutely stuffed by the time we got up there. I didn’t really help that it was about 35 odd degrees. There were all these monkeys everywhere and some started to eye Katherine down but soon moved along once someone gave them all this food. We had a great afternoon back at the hotel for cocktail hour before heading out to the airport and getting our flight back to the UK.


Oban, Mull, Staffa and Iona

Arrived back in Edinburgh on Thursday, back to Work on Friday and that night we drove up to Oban with some of Katherine’s uni friends. We stayed in a lovely wee B&B just outside Oban. The next day we went down to Oban docks and then caught the ferry to Mull, once we got to Mull we caught a bus to take us down to the ferry on the other side of the isle. We coarded a wee boat about 15 people and made our way out to the Isle of Staffa the boat was rockin’ and rollin’ all over the place and we where very lucky that the boat could make moor. We explored the isle and it has a magnificent cave on the isle called Fingal’s Cave. It is made from the same mysterious stuff that made the Giant’s Causway in Northern Ireland. It is amazing and was the inspiration for Felix Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture. Our boat then dropped us off at Iona and we had about 1.5hr to explore it we went to the famous Iona abbey and saw where St. Columbus planted his first church. It is a very spiritual place and we would have loved to have spent more time there. We then made our way back to Oban. We had a great meal that night in the oldest pub in Oban. The next day we went to the distillery and had our first try of cask strength Whiskey, it was smooooth. We then went to see some ancient stone circles near Oban on the way back through the Highlands to Edinburgh.


Ávila, Segovia and Madrid – España

Another week another country, so we headed on down to Spain for the weekend and as soon as we got in on Friday night we grabbed the car and headed to our hotel for the night. It was on the north side of town a bit out so we stayed in a 4* hotel which was lovely and cheap. The next day we jumped in the car early and headed off towards Avila didn’t take too long on the motorway but the toll to use the road was €7.50! anyway we got to Avila and it is an amazing town with probably the best city walls in Europe they are hundreds of years old (started in the 11th century) and are still in immaculate condition. We went into the cathedral which was beautiful and also walked along the top of the walls. The walls just keep on going and going and going. Anyway after Avila we headed to Segovia and this is one of our fav towns in Spain. It is a tiny town with a massive cathedral, an Alcazar (castle) and a Roman aqueduct that was built in the 2nd-1st century BC, oh and it is still in use bringing water to the town from 18miles away! The streets in the town are so small that in some cases they have carved out a bit in the wall so the side mirrors on cars can fit through. Our hotel was amazing on the edge of the town (which is so small you can walk everywhere) and looked out to the Spanish countryside and we could also see the Alcazar. We went up to the cathedral and looked through this amazing building it is huge and very very ornate and pretty. After cathedral we went down towards the aqueduct and stopped in a bar for a drink and chorizo, we then moved onto the aqueduct and saw this amazing structure and the best thing is it is over 2000 yrs old and is still in use. That afternoon we took a lovely stroll around the outside of the town and saw a wonderful sunset. That night we went to the Jose Maria the most famous restaurant in Segovia for local food, I had a traditional Chocinillo which is roasted suckling piglet; Katherine got a leg of lamb literally. They both were amazing!!!! Later that night we went walked around the town and enjoyed a long lie in. Then next day we went to the Alcazar in the morning and later in the day we went to Madrid the long way over the mountains very windy. We found our hotel and then it took us a while to find a place to park as none of the hotels have parking no it is a nightmare. Anyway we found our way, dumped our stuff and started to have a look around town. We went to the old Plaza Mayor and had a look around the old city. That evening we had a nice dinner and hit the sack. The next day we took a guided tour around the old city which was really good and we learnt a lot about Madrid like it was founded by Arabs etc. We continued a look around the town and saw of all things a guy playing the wine glasses. Before we left to go back to the UK we went to the palace and have a look around. It was so lavish and we saw the Strata Varian quartet which was great to see. After that we quickly headed back to the Airport and back to Scotland.


Oktoberfest – Munich

Weekend after Spain we were off to the world famous Oktoberfest in Munich where we caught up with Katherine’s brother. First stop was our B&B which was in this guys flat a couple of stops from central station. First stop was the rat house and to grab a Brezel and some sausages. I think I made a record that day of 5 sausages in 5 hours. We then west to Oktoberfest which is like the ekka for big kids it was awesome. We had a few steins of beer and some great Schnapps great food and a great time. We went to a few beer gardens and to the Carousal bar which has been at the Oktoberfest for over 100 yrs. We met some great Germans and had a few drinks which them. All the locals wear the traditional dress and it is great we actually felt a little bit out of it not wearing the Lederhosen and the other kit. Anyway the next day we walked around town and went to the largest technology museum and saw some amazing things from mini brick factories to hand crafted glass ornaments being made to some of the aircraft used in World War 2 including a V1 and V2 rocket. It was really really good. That night we went on a Beer Challenge and met some great people from all round the world including Canadian, Americans and some lovely Mexican girls. We had a great night and I’m sure we will stay friends with the people for a long time. It was a really really fun night with Beer, Jagermeister and karaoke. The next day we went out to Fussen and visited the Hohenschwangau castle and the fairytale castle Neuschwanstein. The guy that built Neuschwanstein was an absolute nutter King Ludwig II. The castle was never finished and is absolutely amazing. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone that is going but if you ever go to Europe or Germany you HAVE to go it is amazing!!!!!


Anyway tomorrow morning we are off to Amsterdam so stay tuned…I know I keep saying this but I’m going to keep this updated more than I currently have been over the past few post. I hope you are all well and look forward to hearing from you all soon.

Dan

Edinburgh (RTW) - Month 6ish

Ok it has been a looong time since my last update so here goes what have we been doing for the last 6 weeks.

Blair Athol

Blair Athol Castle

So 6 weeks ago we had a friend come and stay with us and we decided to go up to Blair Athol for the day and have a quick sqiz around. We first went to Blair Athol castle which is this beautiful white castle and has some beautiful gardens and peacocks. The weather was beautiful and balmy getting up to about 17! We then went on a walk up to some lower falls and climbed around the rocks and had a ball.

Morar and Isle of Skye

Highland Coo

A week later Katherine’s parent come over for a visit so we decided to take them up to Morar and across to the Isle of Skye for the day which was amazing. We drove for about 4-5 hours to get up to Morar and we were staying in this lovely new B&B but if you glanced away for a second you would have missed the turn off to this place on the B road. We didn’t have any mobile reception which mad things difficult considering P&M were coming up after us. We were getting a bit worried when they hadn’t showed up at 11 and it was dark so you couldn’t see the turn off. I just happen to be driving up the drive-way as they were coming around the corner of the B road so it was amazing that that happened. Anyway the next day we drove over to the Isle of Skye and drove up to Dunvegan castle up the north up the Isle of Skye. On our way up to the castle we were lucky enough to see some Highland Cattle right next to the road and got some great photos of them. The gardens in Dunvegan castle were amazing and very very lovely. Dunvegan castle is owned by the MacCloud clan and still is today what people actually live there. On the way back to Morar we climbed up to Dun Beag Broch which is a really old Scottish fortress. Some Brochs day as far back as 100BC! The next day we went to Loch Morar and it is one of the most beautiful Loch’s I have seen and also the beach with sand! We had a great time climbing up to a rocky handland 1/3 of the way up the lock which is huge! On the way back to we went to Edradour distillery which is the smallest distillery in Scotland and it is a very very cute distillery and also one of the only distilleries in Scotland that doesn’t use peat in the malting process so doesn’t have that smoky flavour.

Loch Morar

Balmacara

Elien Donan Castle

The next weekend Katherine and I went up to Balmacara which is just before your get the bridge across to the Isle of Skye opposed to Morar which is where you get the ferry. We stayed at a lovely B&B and had a great time. On the sat we decided to go up to Applecross which is a tiny wee village and you have to go through this massive mountain pass to get to it with switchbacks and one lane roads. We saw our fist deer and they were so close to the road. In the afternoon we went back over to sky and went to the Talisker distillery and had a look around. It was very cool and the most commercial distillery we have been to. On the way back to Edinburgh on the Sunday we stopped off at Elien Donon castle which is probably the most photographed castle in Scotland. You have probably seen it as it has been in such movies as Highlander, The World Is Not Enough and Elizabeth: The Golden Age to name a few. We also had to go through some of the wonderful highlands where there is nothing for about 1hr drive which was quite worrying as we had not a lot of fuel left, but we made it home.

Doe a deer, a female deer

Kirtcudbright

Threave Castle

Ok try saying this place! We went her on Nab and Nat’s 2^nd last weekend in the UK before they flew back to Oz. We decided to go to the Dumfries as it was half way for both of us. The Dumfries is in the South West of Scotland and it is a beautiful place in Scotland and there are some wonderful castles around here and some lovely towns. We were staying in a lovely B&B called Marks farm and the first bit of the farmhouse was built in the 14^th century. On the Saturday we drove along the Queensway and also through the forest along the little goat track which was recommended to us by the local tourist info girl and she also said we would might get a flat…..guess what we did. Along the Queensway we climbed up to Murray’s monument and also up to a waterfall. We also saw some Wild goats and some Red Deer which are the largest mammal in the UK. On the Sunday we went to Threave castle which is on a island in the middle of a river and you have to get a tinny across to it. It was really really pretty. We then went to Caerlaverock castle which is the first castle we have been to which has water in the moat. It was so cool to see this fairytale fortress castle.

Caerlaverock castle

Edinburgh – free weekend

Well we had a free weekend so we decided to do some shopping for Christmas and all and also I happen to get an early Christmas and Birthday present. I got a new PRS 513 guitar and a Vox Valvetronics VTX amp. It was too good of a deal to pass up with 5 years of free service and 12 sets of strings for the next 5 years.

London

St Paul's Cathedral

Ok so last weekend we went down to London which was really amazing. Our flight was 2 hours late to begin with which wasn’t a great start and we got to our dinky room about 12:30. This was the dinkiest little place we have ever stayed the corridor was as wide as a person and the room could only just fit a bed, basin and wardrobe and that was it literally. There was a toilet and shower on the floor which was shared with the other guests. So on the Saturday we went to the Tower of London which was really amazing seeing all the different towers and artefacts that they have there. They still have the actual axe that was used on Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII 2^nd wife. Due to 3 of the tube lines begin down we walked all day. We went from the Tower of London to St. Pauls cathedral where went to the Eucharist and down to the Crypts. It was so big and ornate with gold of the roof etc. We then walked across the Millennium Bridge to the Globe theatre then we walked past the London eye, Big Ben, Westminster, Buckingham Palace and finally to Harrods. That night we went and saw Wicked which was amazing but I would thoroughly recommend seeing the Wizard of Oz movie before going to remind you of some of the stuff in the movie. On the Sunday we went to Madam Tussaud’s which was a lot better then I expected and had a nice relaxing day going there and also the Camdon markets before heading home.

The Gerkin

Next weekend we are off back to London to go to the Farnborough airshow and also to Lego so keep in touch. I will try to keep this updated more regually but we will see how we go. I hope you are all enjoying the winter (Scottish summer, temps about the same) and will talk to you a bit later.

Cheers,

Dan

Edinburgh (RTW) - Month 4 and a half

Ok well it has only been a couple of weeks but I thought I should send an update anyways.



Southern England


Well a couple of weeks ago we decided to go down to London and as I had to work on Monday and Tuesday we happen to have a hire car for the weekend so we decided to drive around while we didn’t have to pay for a car. Ok so our flight left at 6:25am from Edinburgh, we got up and left home at 5:30 as we were already had our boarding passes and we had to just drop off 1 bag to go underneath. We arrived at the long-term car park at 5:45 so still has 45mins to go. Bus didn’t arrive to pick up from the car park until 6:00 which mean we got to the airport at 6:05. Katherine and I sprinted to the BA bag drop desk to drop our bag off. We were told that plane was on final call and that the bag couldn’t go underneath the aircraft. The 4 of us roared upstairs to security, while we were in the line we quickly put some of our gear in P&M’s bags so our bag could squash down. Meaghann’s bag was pulled aside to test some hair stuff and she was “you can have it”. The guys was “it will only take a couple of minutes”. My bag had to be rescanned as I forgot to take the laptop out and I had a liquid which was over 100ml so that had to be chucked out. M&P quickly raced to the gate and told them we were on our way. We quickly raced out of security splitting groups of people in the process and got our passports and boarding passes out. The gate wasn’t that far off which was good and as we got to the gate they didn’t even want to look at our stuff. It was like we were running a marathon and they were our coaches as the last turn waving us through and tell us to get a move on. We jumped down the stairs and bolted across the tarmac to the aircraft. As soon as we got on the place the doors were closed behind us……..We had made it…..JUST! Anyway it was a great flight down and we got breakfast on the plane, yay! Well we got down to Gatwick picked up the car and drove to my mates place where my parents me us with up for 30mins before they flew back to Australia which was nice and we got some goodies which only lasted the weekend…….well it was pointless just bringing back a wee bit of rum so Phill and I had to finish it off on Monday night.



Anyway we headed out to Stonehenge with Katherine, Phil, Meaghann, Phill (not a typo…..ok so I know a few people call Phil) and me! It was really nice and the weather held up for us which was grand. We had a great time out at the henge and had a nice pub meal on the way although I must say that I don’t really enjoy the English ales as much as the Scottish ales. We went back to Phill and Bronwyn’s had a great meal, watch some TV played with Amelia and went to bed.

Next day we went to Windsor castle had a look at the Queen’s pad and must say it isn’t too shabby at all. Got back to car and had a parking ticket on the windscreen but it was worth at as the car park we got was in a great spot. Right outside Windsor castle! We dropped Phil and Meaghann off at Heathrow as they were flying back to Eddie on the same flight as Phil’s parents. Katherine and I then went to meet some cousins of mine that live in Surrey and they took us to the little town where half of the movie The Holiday was filmed and based. We had a night meal and ale in the pub where Cameron Diaz meets her beau. We then walk for a nice walk around the town and the surrounding woods. After that we went back and had a drink with Rob before heading off to Swindon to stay with some for cousins. Swindon very interesting especially when the GPS takes you through the Magic Roundabout! That’s right it is a round about with 5 little roundabouts on the edge of it……..just google it. He had a nice meal and a good sleep on the floor.


I then went to work in Surrey the next two days while Katherine got to trip around London seeing all the sights and really enjoying herself……..That night we went back to Phill and Bronies had a great me and Phill and I got to jam which was great fun as it has been a long time!

We then flew back to Eddie and made sure we were at the airport in ample time.



Inverness


Well last weekend we went up to Inverness and it was amazing!!!!! We drove up Friday night and it is quite a ways up there but we got up there in time to have some food with Phil, Meaghann, Stan and Nancy. The next day we went to Cullodan battle field which was the last battle in Scotland and also to Cawdor castle which is still lived in today. We had the best weather and it was a great day. The castle was cool as it has a draw-bridge and seeing it being lived in was really cool. The grounds were amazing and we had a beautiful picnic there. Oh yeah the castle also has its own golf course…not bad huh.


In the afternoon we briefly went to Fort George which is a fort the English built after winning at the battle of Cullodan and it was quite impressive. That night we went for a drive down some of Loch Ness to have a look at Urquhart Castle and at night it was amazing! The next day we went back to the Loch and had a look around Urquhart castle and also the little town around there. It was really nice going to Loch Ness and we did find Nessie!!!! We have a picture or here believe it or not! That afternoon we spent driving down the rest of the lochs out to Fort William and then back to Edinburgh via Stirling…….a HUGE drive one that we all underestimated just a wee bit.


Anyways this weekend we are not really doing anything at all but I will keep ya posted with the new adventures we have and the people we meet.


Dan

Edinburgh (RTW) - Month 4

OK so another month has passed as we are still enjoying our time here. Katherine finishes up her contact today than has 2 weeks off and starts her new Glasgow contract after that. Me well I’m still plodding along at Bodycote but I have been down to Manchester and next week down to London for work. So I hear you asking yourself I wonder where they have been the last month, well I’ll tell you…….Manchester, Prague, Brechin (Scottish Highlands) and Lake Geneva (Switzerland/France).

Manchester

Ok so we went down and visited Nab and Nat one weekend to actually have a look at what there was around Manchester. After the 4 hr drive we had a few drinks a few laughs and headed off to bed as we had a big day ahead. Well we didn’t really stay in Manchester we decided to go down and have a look at where Wedgewood was made and then made our way towards Nottingham………that’s right we went to Sherwood forrest! We had fun climbing up the inside of a tree that we probably went spose to but hey, we saw a 1000yr old Oak tree (which is held up by steel supports) which was cool but have to feel for all the other trees that don’ have help. Later that night we went to Pau Brasil which was great. It is a all you can eat and you have a green/red disc. You put it on green if you want meat and red if you don’t. They come around with meat on big skewers and then just cut off however much you want…….so cool and it was awesome to have lamb!!! The next day we roamed around Manchester and just happened to be there for St. George day parade. It was quite good and then weather was typical English weather……WET. Later Phil, Meaghann and Katherine all went back to Edi but I stayed on for work so Nab, Nat and I went to the Man City vs Portsmouth match which was really good and we really enjoyed it. There was quite a few soft goals though.

Prague

Well Katherine and I decided to go to Prague for our Wedding Anniversary this year. So we flew our early Sat morning (we had to be at the airport at 5am!) when we arrived we caught a shuttle to town which dropped us off at the castle. We did a quick tour around the castle and soon ended up at Lobkowicz Palace. This place was amazing it is still owned by the family and they have some awesome stuff, like for example the original manuscripts of Beethoven’s 5^th symphony which was written for them and the Halleluiah Chorus manuscript that Mozart we wrote. After that we screamed down to the Charles bridge and did the touristy thing along it and then shot through to the town square where the astronomical clock is (we missed it by 5 mins). We then headed on down to Wenceslas square and had a look at some of the shops. I of course had my Czech sausage on our way to a nice park were we stopped watched some of the dogs playing and just relaxed in the sun (yes there was SUN and lots of it it was GREAT!). We then moved on to check in at our boutique hotel. Well when we got there we found out that there was no room at the inn and they had changed us from their very romantic boutique hotel to a Best Western…….we weren’t very happy! But he we were on our anniversary so we didn’t let that get us down, we checked in and then went back uptown to do some more touring around. We had a wonderful dinner in a wee restaurant in the Jewish quarter; we finally saw the clock on our way back to our hotel. The next day we were up early and climbed up to the top of the astronomical clock where we got a great view of Prague. We went up and sat in another park and went to the local markets which was fun trying to buy stuff speaking Czech. We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed it we left later that night and arrived back in Edi around 10pm.

Brechin

Well my folks arrived so we decided to take them, Phil and Meaghann and Jim and Sandra to Brechin for the weekend and stay IN A CASTLE!!!!!!! That’s right we stayed in a castle with 800 aces of land it was soooooo peaceful and amazing. We absolutely loved it and we ate in whenever we could as there was a huge dinning room, a drawing room with a real fire place, 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. There was a deer farm on the property and horses and forests to explore as well. The weather was unbelievable and so beautiful. The first day up there we sent for a drive and took mum and dad to a whiskey distillery which they loved and drove around a few wee towns. We came back and mum cooked an amazing roast lamb. The next day we just roomed around a bit and then on our way back we went up to Dunnotar castle which is on the sea on top of a rocky outcrop. We then drove down to St. Andrews and walked the 18^th as they don’t play golf on the old course on a Sunday so we were very lucky. Dad was over the moon and we had photo on the famous stone bridge. We also stopped off at Carnoustie on the way and had lunch for mother’s day, who would have thought mum would be drinking Moet out of the bottle!!! We had a nice drive home but was exhausted when we got there.

Geneva

Ok so for the May long weekend the 4 of us decided to go to Geneva and meet Brendan there. Now we didn’t really know what to expect (probably a good thing) and we were blown away by what we found (but I’ll get to that later). So we grabbed our car and decided that maybe we should get a GPS as we were staying about 5km out of town……in France. Well it was a jolly good thing we did as the streets in Geneva are so confusing and it didn’t help that we had to drive on the other side of the road. So the first day we walk along Lake Geneva (only a little bit as it is massive!) saw the giant bidet (water fountain) walked up and saw St. Pierre Cathedral and then went to our unit. Phil wasn’t feeling the best so the 4 of us went on with out him (we suspect he had food poisoning). So we decided to go for a drive and we ended up down the other end of the Lake at the foothills of the alps looking at Chillion Castle after tripping around the castle we headed back towards Geneva and stopped off a Montreux. It was heaps of fun as they had just had a huge Marching Band comp so there was all these different Marching bands going down the streets and cheering and tears etc.etc. We ended up having a meal in a traditional Suisse restaurant where we shared fondue while looking over the Lake to the French side. After dinner we headed off home and to sleep.

Well the next day Phil was good but Meaghann was sick but anyway we pushed on. We went into town to a little bakery to grab some breakfast which was quite interesting as the lady only spoke French or Italian. Ordering was ok but when she short changed me 10 francs that was a little bit harder and a nice bloke came and rescued me. Anyway after brekky we were off to the United Nations Building and where on a tour with our great leader Katherine. The tour was very interested and I actually sort of know what they do now. After that we dropped of Phil and Meaghann as they had to work on Monday, and then there were 3. So the three of us choofed off around the lake again but this side on the French side. We stopped off in Evian where we all had our Evians (good thing Brendan brought some Euro…..different currency) and then headed off towards the alps. The alps were amazing and we only got to one little medieval village which you may have heard of cause of their cheese…..Gruyères. WOW what a village it has a amazing view all the streets are cobbled it has a great spring and the water is beautiful, there is an amazing castle and a horror museum (forget about that). We also saw some Suisse guys playing those huge wooden horns. All I can say about this place is it is amazing and I want a holiday place here. After leaving Gruyères we went and had dinner in Ouchy which is a part of Lausanne. We had traditional Rösti and I had Suisse chocholat mousse for dessert. I was amazing! After that we headed off home and to bed. The next day we walked around town and then back to the airport to go home. Both Katherine, Brendan and I said the same thing……….this is our favorite country! That is all I have to say.

Well last weekend we really didn’t do much at all. We went down to Newcastle to visit a mate and went shopping to get new clothes. So that’s really it for now. In the next edition you will hear about adventures from London to Inverness.

Anyway until I chat to you next time.

Dan

Edinburgh (RTW) – Month 3

So it has been a month since my last update and quite a few things have gone on. First of all I’m in my 3^rd week of working and absolutely loving it. Alright I’ll get the bad story out the way first. Our little rover 25 we bought of a dodgy bloke turned out to be a bit of a dodgy car. It overheated and the engine needs to be replaced. This all happened when Katherine was on her way home on a Friday night, she got half-way and the engine died on a small motorway. Some nice boys came over and help her move it off to the side of the road. We called the AA and got towed back to Edinburgh for the measly sum of £200. We then quickly booked a hire car for the week so Katherine could still work while I quickly looked around for another car as the engine replacement was going to cost us more than what we bought the car for. I quickly found a nice 1998 Citroen Xsara turbo diesel for £1000, we get more miles to the litre, runs nicer and it is a little bit bigger as well. About the same size as a corolla from a few years back. I’m still waiting to here from the Trading Standards about the rover as we might be able to get our money back (figures crossed).

Dublin

Anyway now that we have put that behind us I can tell you about the little weekend trips we have been on. Easter weekend we decided to go to Dublin and have a look around. We got a bargin of a flight on the way back only costing us £0.49 + taxes. We set off late Friday night and got into Dublin around 11pm after the huge flight of 40min. Our cabby was a great introduction to Ireland as by the time we got out he had rambled off about the history of Dublin I think as we were only getting every 10^th word or so. Anyway we got to our hotel and sneaked in our 4^th person. We went for a bit of a stroll that night down to Temple bar and had a bit of a look around. The next day we were up at the crack of lunch and off to Temple bar for breakky. We then walked our way down through the old medieval part of Dublin down to the Guinness brewery. We had to stand inline for about 2 hrs before we got in. Little did we know you can pre-order your tickets online and walk straight thru. The brewery was great and we all poured our perfect pint and then ate our way through it. That evening we went to a traditional Irish pub where they had Irish dancing and a band.

The next day we went on the Jameson old distillery tour which was great as we got to have a nip of jameson afterwards which was nice and enjoyable. After that we went on a great tour around Dublin that I would highly recommend. It is not your everyday run of the mill tour but more a specialised one. We went on the Unofficial U2 tour. If you go on it it is the tour that actually takes you out of Dublin a wee bit and to where all the members of U2 grew up, some of their current houses, the school where they met and the old and new studios. After that we had an interested dinner at a little noodle bar (wasn’t that good) but if you wanted we could have got a Thai red curry on chips!

Visitors

Well the weekend after our tour of Dublin some friends came up from Manchester, we took them out to Stirling where we went up the Wallace monument which is amazing both in the stuff inside it and how many bloody stairs you have to climb. It seems like everything that was built always had tight little stairs that corkscrew up. We got to see what they believe is William Wallace’s sword. IT IS HUGE!!!!! We got a great view from the top of the moment and going back down was just as challenging but a lot quicker. We then made our way up to Glenturrent whiskey distillery. Many of you may not have heard of it but it is one of the major whiskeys that is used in Famous Grouse. It was an entertaining tour and each tour we go on we always learn something new. Oh yeah we got a dram of Grouse as well. Later that night we went on an Auld Reekie tour: there tag line – Probably the scariest tour in the World! Scariest part of the tour……..paying! It was pretty cool as they had actual torture devices that had been used and man they were nuts back then. Part of the tour we went into the underground vaults and apparently one was haunted by a poltergeist. Well we were laughing as then night before after a few drinks one of us a slip of the tongue and Poltergeist turn in to Poultry ghost……so we kept of think little chickens were going to start pecking us……Any way that was that weekend gone.

Wirral and Wales

Last weekend we went down to visit Nab and Nat where were up the week before. It took us quite a while to get down there……we were expecting about 5hrs but after the girls had picked up Phil and then me I was in the front directing…after a few pints Big Mistake. I ended up taking us West near Glasgow and a wee bit north…..We finally got there after a few stops and 7 hours. The next day we went on a drive to North Wales and Snowdonia and the country side was amazing there were castles built into sides of mountains protecting the coast line and ones that just seem to pop-up from nowhere. We went for a walk at Snowdon up to and into an old Keep which was beautiful. We finally got back to Wirral in time for a magnificent sunset which was just beautiful. Nab and I had a short jam which was interrupted by the next-door neighbour. The next day we headed up to New Brighton a seaside town and went to an old English arcade which was great fun…..we played some games and ate rock (a hard lolly). We then headed back to Edinburgh which only took us about 5hrs with a few stops.

Anyway that’s it for me this week/month. This weekend Katherine and I are off to Prague!

Will talk to you all when we are all a wee bit older.

Until next time

Dan

Edinburgh - Month 2 (RTW)

Well I finally have a job!!!! I don’t start for a couple of weeks but I have got an offer to work for a company called Bodycote. I will tell you more about it once I have started working there.

Ok so what have we done since last time I hear you ask. Well we have gone to the Edinburgh Castle, Glasgow and Linlithgow.

Edinburgh Castle.

So we walk from our unit 15mins and we are now walking along Princes street looking over the gardens and up to the castle, unbelievable. Once we got up and through the gates to the castle we started to have a look around. The history that this place has is amazing walking up the coble stone roads towards the top of the castle. Up the top of the castle is Saint Margaret’s Chapel which is the oldest building in Edinburgh. It is still used for military weddings. It is very small but very very beautiful. We went and saw a guy who took us through the highland weapons and also how to put on the traditional feileadh mhór –philimore (which is 1 bit of material which is 60 inches wide and 7 yards long). Highly recommend visiting this wonderful castle.

Glasgow

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Katherine had to go to Glasgow for some training for work so the rest of us decided to go up for the weekend. So while Katherine was at her training Phil, Meaghann and I decided to go around and have a look at some of the historic sites around Glasgow. We went and had a look at some ruins of a Roman Bath dating back to the 2^nd century AD. The baths were right in front of a block of units. We then went for a bit of a drive and to a Roman fort. Well we started walking up a dirt road which just lead up to a farm after walking a couple of kms we got to the top of the path. In front of us there was a structure that looked to a water tank (It had a dome on top) which we later learned was an Iron Age fort. We then climbed over a barbed wire fence and walked through the bog up to what we think and believe is the roman fort. We decided to walk out through these fields looking behind us making sure there wasn’t a bull or mad farmer chasing after us. We then went up through a forest trying to find an old Roman wall. After walking for about 45min walking up this path we decided to turn around and go back to the car. We ended up walking along side the wall almost the whole time only we didn’t really know about it cause it now looks like a mound of moss covered dirt running up the whole length of the path. We also ran into a White-Tailed Deer.

We then met up with Katherine after her training we went to the Hunterian Museum. This museum was amazing if had some much stuff ranging from dinosaurs to medical stuff. The best thing I love was that they had a Tasmanian Tiger and also a Egyptian mummy in a sarcophagus that has never been opened. The next day we all decided to go to the Glasgow Science Centre and had a good play with all the different exhibits.

Linlithgow.

Well last weekend Phil took us to Linlithgow to visit the town where he works. It is about 30min drive from Edinburgh. It was great we went to the Linlithgow Palace which is where Mary Queen of Scots was born. The Palace is in great nic and you can walk all around it. It also has great views over the Loch there. We also went through the church next door to the Palace where she was baptised. After that we went to a local pub had a great meal, walked down High street and then went back to the car. Linlithgow is a beautiful wee town and a great place to visit.

Anyway I will keep you all up to date on what we are all doing. I hope all your families and friends are doing well.

Cheers,

Dan