Europe 2010

OK, where did we last leave this story? I believe it ended with our entry to Edinburgh and the vast lack of right hand turns there in.

So, what’ve we been up to since then I hear you ask? Well, it goes like this. The day we spent in Edinburgh involved a walking tour of the city and a visit to the castle. What can be said about Edinburg? Well, the city is absolutely beautiful and everything is on the side of a hill. The walking tour was hosted by a very enthusiastic student from Manchester called Mark and took us to every corner of the old town from the Mercat Cross where thieves/shoplifters had the ear lobes nailed to the wall for 24 hours, to the cemetery where Greyfriar’s Bobby (small pooch) spent 14 years sitting by the grave of his dead master. Having finished the tour we headed to the pub. Surprise! This was the sight of our first haggis tasting in Scotland. And it was damn good. With our guts full of, well, guts we embarked on the mammoth stair climb to the castle. An impressive little shack to say the least. The view over the entire city was second to none and the place was so steeped in history it made your head spin. It came as a surprise to us that Robert the Bruce came up with the first S.A.S.-like invasion force when he took the castle back from the 1500 English residents with a band of only 30 skilled men. Go you Scots!

Anyway, the day we spent in Edinburgh was massive and it called for a nice, relaxing night in a nice, relaxing establishment. Thankfully this was made available to us courtesy of the parents of one of Jen’s hairdressers (go figure). Morris and Senga own a pub in the nice little seaside town of Kircaldy and they were most happy to put us up in the 2 bedroom apartment above the pub where their son current lives. The beers were flowing (even if Jen poured them) and I’m not entirely sure we actually paid for a round all night (apparently £10 gives you three beers 2 x £5 change) but their hospitality was awesome and a great night was had by all.

The next day saw us embark on a mammoth drive from Kircaldy to Dingwall. On our way up the coast we stopped in at St Andrew’s golf course (for all you golf nuts out there) which apparently has the best ladies bathrooms in the UK. Drove past the Leuchars airforce base but the were no interesting planes sitting on the tarmac so we kept rolling. Straight on through Dundee up to Aberdeen where we managed to exchange our GPS unit which had unceremoniously crapped out a few days before. Across the bridge in Inverness and finally into the fine wee town that is Dingwall. After spending the best part of an hour looking for a B & B that was actually open in the town we gave up and went for the rooms at the National hotel. Apparently Susan Boyle was staying there that night too but she spared us her company (thank god). We found out during our search for accommodation that the reason for most B & B’s being closed was the Ross County (Dingwall’s football team) were playing against Celtic in the Scottish FA Cup semifinal and that most of the residents had headed to Glasgow to watch the game. Ross County ended up winning 2-0 in a massive upset. Woooooooo!!!

As it happens, there are a few distilleries on the way to and from Dingwall and we made full use of their presence. Visits to the Glenfiddich, Arbelour, Glenfarclas and Glen Ord establishments proved highly successful. According to Jen the car smelled a bit funky afterwards but I reckon she’s pulling our collective leg.

Right, so now we’ve seen the highlands and it was back to Glasgow for us. Fortunately this involved another lengthy drive past Loch Ness and through some of the most amazing countryside any of us have ever seen. The photos are going to have to explain it to you all because I can’t find the words to describe it.

Yes, we did manage to find the Loch Ness Monster and we’ve got the photos to prove it!

In to Glasgow and with all due haste to the pub. After a few beers and a pub meal it was our turn to extend the long arm of Australia’s diplomatic influence. As it happened there was a table of deaf people sitting at a table next to us who had been at the Ross County vs. Celtic game that very afternoon and we managed to have a conversation with them about life, the universe and football for a good hour. I think both parties enjoyed the night.

And so off round Glasgow we went. A short stroll from the backpackers took us up Buchanan street to George’s square where we jump on the hop-on-hop-off bus around the town. It took us past all the major sights for Glasgow (except Ibrox) and the running commentary gave us the necessary grounding in the where’s, when’s and why’s of everything.

Which brings us to today. A nice short drive toward the coast and a ride on the ferry to Belfast. The plan is to, ummm, we’re not quite sure but I’m sure we’ll come up with something.

Given the absence of Al’s laptop (hopefully getting fixed tomorrow) our wee updates may be a bit sporadic but hopefully I’ve given you enough to read in the interim.

Gee, there’s only 6 ½ weeks to go. That’s a shame.