Cambridge minus nippers

This warm weather is invigorating.  So much so that on Wednesday we sent the boys off to school, dropped Emily at Sunnymede and then headed to Cambridge.  The weather wasn't great last time we visited and the morning's blue sky was looking promising.  Only problem - as we drove high cloud appeared from nowhere and by the time we arrived an hour later the sun was well and truly hidden! Grrr.

Still we had a nice time wandering around minus kids.  We bought some indulgent homemade chocolates that didn't quite live up to our high expectations of deliciousness.  We had coffee without having to screech instructions to naughty nippers.  We wandered here and there without much of a plan.  It was peaceful and the city streets of Cambridge were surprisingly quiet.

Travelling with the kids is fun, but the occasional day without them is not bad either :)

Spring weekend

Here's what we got up to this weekend.  And how nice was it to see blue sky, feel the warmth of the sun and shed the thermals and coats.

Just hanging around Billericay........

 And then a little trip to Waltham Abbey

Silly billies

Guess who bought a wig?!?

And while we're on the topic of being silly, here's something really really silly that we did in Edinburgh.  It was so very silly that I've ummed and aahed about posting it, but anyway here goes, it all revolves around this......

Now - this had nothing to do with me, but I'm pretty sure that after disapproving, tutting and generally distancing myself from the caper I ended up finding it the funniest by far.  In fact by the time a castle staff member arrived to examine the item that was causing such a fuss I had lost it completely.  So of course I got noticed straight away, oozing guilt, tears streaming down my cheeks, barely able to stand.  I did manage an explanation of sorts - visit to joke shop, fake dog poo purchase, very sorry etc.

Luckily for us said castle staff member thought it was pretty funny too.

After a quick poo pick-up the wee prank was over as quickly as it had started.  We all had another good old snicker and snort and then carried on with our tour of the castle as though nothing had happened.  J

Very silly I know, and something not to be repeated! (except for when we might have tried it again on Princes Street the next day)

Scotland Day 10 - Peebles

Our last day in Scotland.  We left Culcreuch Castle and set off to Peebles to visit family friends Dave and Louise.  It had turned misty and the scenery had a typical Scottish look.....

Peebles

We had a quick look at Traquair House. Dating back to 1107, Traquair was originally a hunting lodge for the kings and queens of Scotland. Later a refuge for Catholic priests in times of terror the Stuarts of Traquair supported Mary Queen of Scots and the Jacobite cause.

Traquair House

Moss covered tree

We had a lovely dinner with Dave and Louise and then off to the Premier Inn for our last night.   Back to Billericay tomorrow after 10 glorious days touring, exploring and experiencing marvellous Scotland.

Scotland Day 9 - Culcreuch Castle

We stayed 2 nights in the stables at Culcreuch Castle.  The room itself was literally a converted stable and wasn't terribly exciting.  The castle however was gorgeous, with an open fire in the sitting room, a restaurant in a dungeon and an elaborate dining room on the first floor.  

The castle was built in 1296 by Maurice Galbraith and was the clan seat of Clan Galbraigh from 1320 to 1624. It has changed clans and hands many times since the 1600's and has been operated as a hotel since the early 1984. Culreuch is a rectangular tower house (stone structure built for defence as well as accommodation), with three stories and an attic and topped by a parapet and slate roof

Culcreuch Castle

Steve sampling a kipper at breakfast.  He said he enjoyed it but wouldn't be having another tomorrow.

A very salty smelly kipper. 

Any place with grounds like these is a bonus for the kids (and by default the adults J).

Grounds of Castle Culcreuch

One of the wee roads leading to the castle

Our main plan for the day were hampered by a road closure.  Navigating around that was easier said than done and revealed one of the limitations of using a SatNav.  Interestingly I just recently spoke to friends Ben and Sharon who are on their way over here as I type.  They're spending 10 weeks driving around the UK and Europe and have opted for map reading over a SatNav.  Initially I thought they were crazy, but I reckon in the case of road closures, detours, diversions etc, maps would have the edge.  Plus you get a much better sense of context and distance with a map.  Still, having said that, I won't be trading ours in just yet J.

By the way - it's lambing time in Scotland.......

Little cuties

So, with detour, our 8 miles to Loch Lomond turned into about 30, and we didn't end up spending that long there.  Instead the highlight for the day was Glengoyne whisky distillery - and I don't even like the stuff!

Glengoyne Distillery

Thanks to our keen as mustard tour guide I now know the following about the production of whisky:

• whisky is made from three ingredients - yeast, water and barley
• the barley is soaked in water until it starts to germinate, at which point it is referred to as malt
• the peaty, smokey flavour of some whiskies is caused by burning peat (as opposed to coal) to dry the malted barley
• a single malt whisky contains whisky made at a single distillery, double malt whiskies are rare and contain whisky from two different distilleries.  
• Blended whiskies contain a mix of whisky from three or more different distilleries and can not take the name of any of the distilleries.
• To call a whisky a Scotch Whisky it must have been aged in an oak barrel in Scotland for a minimum of 3 years.
• The whisky at Glengoyne is aged for a minimum of 10 years in red oak barrels made in Spain.
• The barrels are used to make sherry before being used to store whisky.  This is to remove excess tannins that would taint the taste of the whisky.

Steve took the wee taster tour and had samples of 10 and 18 year old whisky at the start and end of the tour.  Needless to say he enjoyed his tour immensely!

Scotland Day 8 - Skye to Fintry

Leaving Skye we headed south towards Loch Lomond, passing through Fort William on the way.   This shot was taken near the hotel and shows the Outer Hebrides some 26 miles away across the North Atlantic Ocean

The scenery we passed through was lovely, although I had memories of Scotland, and Skye in particular, being brilliantly green. Apparently there hasn't been much rain over the last month or so, and the grass was decidedly golden.  Not that it detracted from the scenery in any way.

Back thorough Portree, no soup this time J.

And down though the Grampian mountains.......

to Culcreuch Castle!

Scotland Day 7 - Exploring Skye

The owner of the Duntulm Castle Hotel is called Kevin and he is a very, very accommodating person. Not only did he cook us all breakfast but went so far as to cut up Emily's toast into nice bite-sized pieces for her! He also very kindly provided us with an excellent itinerary for the day.

Starting off from the hotel (which, by the way, is next to the ruins of Duntulm Castle that was once home to the Jacobite-supporting MacDonald clan) we headed for the gravesite of Flora MacDonald.

Our hotel and the ruins of Duntulm Castle

Flora was instrumental in saving Jacobite leader Bonnie Prince Charlie after his disastrous defeat at the battle of Culloden. Disguised as Flora’s housemaid he managed to rejoin a French ship that had been sent to rescue him. Flora died in 1790 (probably from hypothermia) at the age of 68.  And how gorgeous is that photo of the lovely old lady trying to warm Daniel up because he said he was cold!

After Flora MacDonald it was on to more flora –  but this time of the mossy kind. Fairy Glen is a weird and wonderful collection of ridged hills and mini-cliffs and bluffs and this place kept us all entertained and active for a good hour. There was something very tantalizing about climbing these small moss-covered peaks. Each little mound looked more inviting than the next and so the roller coaster running began. We must have run up and down at least 10 of these little hobbit hills! Emily was a champion and was first to scale the rockiest and most challenging of the peaks.

What made this place even more interesting was the silence.  We all stopped running for a second and not a sound,  the moss absorbs all noise and was like a soft squishy blanket under our feet.

Running amok at Fairy Glen

Baaaaaa

The soft spongy moss that covered the hills

Continuing on with our loop, we headed to the West Coast town of Dunvegan for a bit of seal spotting.  We did see two things flopping and jumping about in the water, but whether they were seals or otters is still up for debate.

From a distance the beach looked like white sand, but on closer inspection it was full of interesting little bits of coral.  Have included a picture to show just how interesting J

By this time we were a bit hungry, so stopped at an interesting little cafe in the village of Portree.  It reminded me of a typical Sydney cafe and I had a yummy soup.  All was good as we headed back up north towards the hotel.  That is until I started feeling a bit ble, which got steadily worse until it culminated in an emergency stop with a massive soup vomit on the side of the road.  Hmmm - not good.

Managed to get back to the hotel, headed straight for bed and oh goody, had vomit number 2 at 11pm and probably should have had another one at 1am, but fought off the seedy feeling until I finally fell asleep.  Boo Hiss - I am beginning to re-think my tough "I don't get sick" stance, because when I think about it - I've been a bit sickly over here.  Plus I have a tickly little cough that just won't go away (sniff sniff).

But phew - felt ok in the morning. Good thing too as it was a big day of driving ahead.

Scotland Day 6 - Isle of Skye

Carrbridge to the Isle of Sky is 198 miles, which isn't really that far, but some of the roads are single lane, as in a single lane only, not a single lane each direction!  This can make progress a wee bit slow.

We broke up our journey with a visit to Culloden, the site of the 1745 Jacobite trouncing at the hands of the Government redcoats, and then lunch at the top of a hill overlooking one of the many lochs.  Daniel decided to test out his balance on the hand rail designed so people DON'T fall down the cliff.

And then it was on to the beautiful Eileen Donan.  We met tour guide Richard inside who went out of his way to make the kids visit special.  He was born and raised in the local village and was obviously proud of his heritage and the castle and his passion and enthusiasm were obvious.

It was all very atmospheric and moody and the only let down was than damn green scaffolding all over the castle.  Might have to see if our lovely neighbour Ian can help me photoshop it out!

A short drive later and we crossed the bridge onto the Isle of Skye and continued on to our hotel right up on the northern tip of the island.

Scotland Day 5

I can’t believe today whizzed by so quickly.

We’re staying at the Dalrachney Hotel, which looks like this…….

We started the day with a breakfast to die for. We’ve had our fair share of holiday breakfasts and not all breakfasts are created equal! While they may look virtually identical on the plate today’s breakfast was a cut above the rest. Everything tasted extra good and the mushrooms were so inspiring Jeremy and Emily will be having them tomorrow.

A new family recently bought and moved into the hotel and they’ve only been here just over two weeks. We’ve spoken to the Mum and son and they’re at the start of a grand adventure. The hotel has been busy and they’ve been thrown in the deep end. The learning curve is steep and the workload high. I take my hat off to them and wish them every luck on their exciting, challenging new journey.

After breakfast we visited a tiny village with the unusual name of Boat of Garten. Just outside the village was a nature reserve and woodland area that is home to native osprey.

That little speck perched on top of the tree is an osprey!

Then it was on to an adventure park – the Landmark Forest Adventure Park to be precise. It was only a few miles from our hotel and built in the woodlands that are abundant in this area. Attractions include a woodland walk, roller coaster, raft ride (luckily you didn’t get wet on this one as today was pretty cold), a harnessed 8m skydive, various tarzan style rope walks and the Bamboozeleum - a collection of optical illusions.

The kids loved this place and our 5 hours passed by very quickly. Steve and I both conquered the Skydive and Ropeworx attractions, although I give myself extra credit doing these because I’m scared of heights J. Both of these had, much to Daniel and Jeremy's disgust, a height restriction of 1.5m (only just scraped in myself!).

Scotland Day 4

After breakfast we walked 1.4 miles to pick up our hire car for the rest of the trip.  Although the walk was really just about getting to Hertz, the beautiful sights continued.  Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures as we were lugging all our stuff, but Princes Street was looking stunning and we noticed new churches, statues and monuments.  It is hard to convey exactly how much is packed into this city and it's hard to do it justice with words and photos.  Edinburgh is a place you have to experience to fully appreciate all it has to offer.

We did stop briefly here to check directions and Steve grabbed a coffee.

All around the city are different themed photographic displays.  The snowflakes are part of one on patterns in nature.

Our hire car is an Audi A3 (not what we were expecting but hey - we'll take it J) and we headed out of Edinburgh and up the A9 to a wee village called Carrbridge, and here's a photo of the old bridge over the river Carr, taken from the new bridge over the river Carr.

We had a fabulous dinner at a local hotel, met 3 Uno-playing Aussies doing a similar trip to us, but in the reverse direction.  It was nice to have a chat - one was a journalist with the BBC, one a deputy head teacher at a London primary school and the other a building manager for an international bank.  They were nice guys and were very patient with the kids million questions.  Plus there were dogs in the pubs which is a touch we love J

Edinburgh Day 3

Beautiful, brilliant and breathtaking - Edinburgh is all three.  No matter where you look, the sights are stunning. Churches, monuments, statues, and historical buildings abound.  The cobbled streets are full of character, so too are the rows of terraced houses and apartments - with their sand stone bricks, white windows and multiple chimney stacks.  As you can probably tell - I absolutely love Edinburgh.

This morning got off to a late start and an indirect stroll to the museum. Indirect because the sun was out, the sky was blue and everything looked fabulous.

After our castle detour we arrived again at the brilliant Scottish Museum.  Not only is the building itself stunning but the displays are interactive, informative and fun, a winning combination for any museum.

Our hour and a half whizzed by and we would have stayed longer except we were having lunch with Deb who I nannied for 28 (yes 28!!) years ago.  And even better - her "baby" Andrew and his fiancé Rachel were there too.  Lunch was delicious and seeing Andrew and Deb was a delightful trip down memory lane.  We even took a stroll around the corner to 155 Mayfield Road,  I'm just mad I forgot to take a picture of Deb and Andrew before we left.

155 Mayfield Road

And then, because we hadn't had enough exercise, we hiked up to the Royal Observatory, which gave a whole new perspective of the city.

And then it was back to the apartment to collapse in a heap and along the way saw this magnificent row of houses just catching the afternoon sun....

Edinburgh Day 2

Today was all about Arthur's Seat and the Salisbury Crags.  

View of Arthur's Seat and the Salisbury Crags taken from Observatory Hill

Arthur's Seat is the main peak of the group of hills which form most of Holyrood Park, described by Robert Louis Stevenson as "a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue of its bold design". It is situated in the centre of the city of Edinburgh, about a mile to the east of Edinburgh Castle. The hill rises above the city to a height of 250.5 m (822 ft), provides excellent panoramic views, is relatively easy to climb, and is popular for walking. To one side of Arthur's Seat lie the Salisbury Crags - a series of 46m cliffs formed from steep dolerite and columnar basalt.

After hiking up and around Arthur's Seat we wandered back into the city and watched a fudge making demonstration and of course bought some.  I am now officially no longer a non-fudge person, thanks to the dark chocolate and sea salt winner!

We also happened across the statue of Greyfriars Bobby - the Skye terror who faithfully sat on his master's grave for 14 years.  And right at the end of the day we discovered the Scottish Museum, we only had 20 minutes there before closing time so are heading back there tomorrow.

Edinburgh Day 1

Edinburgh is every bit as beautiful as I remember.  It has been a long time since I last visited and even longer since I lived here. The castle, the cobbled streets, the old buildings, even the apartment we're staying in are testimony to the history and splendour of this gorgeous city.

We spent today exploring the castle and the city centre.  Our apartment is about 500 metres from the castle and we headed there via the Grassmarket - an historic market square - that from 1477 to 1911 was one of Edinburgh's main markets for horse and cattle. It was also a setting for public executions!  Today it is a thriving entertainment and residential area, with pubs, clubs and local retail shops lining the cobbled market square.

Pictures taken at the Grassmarket with the castle in the background.

A bit of window shopping along the way.......

Bottom left - interesting name for a shop!

Here we are out the front of the castle, one of these pictures is not like the other.......

And a few quick snaps of the castle and the snow-covered hills before we went in....

The castle provides magnificent views of the city...

And has canons galore, including the medieval bombard Mons Meg.  Manufactured in the 1400's Mons Meg weighs 6970kg, is over 4m in length and in her heyday was capable of firing 51cm, 180kg cannon balls distances of up to 3.2km. Legend abounds surrounding the origins of Mons Megs, with evidence to suggest she was built by order of Philip the Good , Duke of Burgundy, in 1449 in the Belgian municipality of Mons and later given as a gift to James II of Scotland.


After the castle we wandered along Princes Street......

And then up 287 narrow stairs to the top of Scott Monument......

Scott Monument - a 61m Gothic monument built to honour Scottish Author Sir Walter Scott.

The kiddies had a play in the flowers......

And then we wandered up Carlton Hill at the east side of the city and home to the headquarters of the Scottish Government. The hill also includes several iconic monuments and buildings: the National Monument, the Nelson Monument, the Dugald Stewart Monument, the old Royal High School, the Robert Burns Monument and the City Observatory.

Calton Hill provides magnificent views back to the city and I love the shot of the kids peeking out of the columns of the Scottish Monument.