I want to get off the bat early that driving around Scotland is stunning. Even in the depths of winter words and pictures do not do justice to the pure beauty you will see. We couldn't even imagine what it would look like come Autumn. I'm very lucky that this is the second time in my life I have had this opportunity and I implore anyone to at least once in their lives hire a car and do it. Petrol isn't cheap, but you can't buy memories. You can though pay 30p to go to the toilet - one of my favourites that is.
We arrived in Glasgow after our night stop over still very low on energy and for some reason a bit cranky - well mainly me! After my life coach slowed me down and had a good chat with me we had another of those moments where we work out what we really want from this trip. I know I keep saying it but the more we travel together the more we are getting this right. We don't want big cities...some are must dos yes - but we have done the major ports. We want towns, villages, communities - places that we haven't been and experiences we will only get once. So like all our great decisions in 10min we cut short our Glasgow and Edinburgh stays to throw in a drive to find Nessy and see the highlands.
I recommend the Bus Sightseeing Tour in Glasgow. I have avoided these my whole travelling life as I thought them very touristy. How wrong I have been. What a perfect way to see the city and to learn. I loved the culture and the city's sometimes dark and sometimes colourful history. Kate loved listening to Neill Oliver and was extremely affectionate afterwards??? Something about Scottish accents??? We jumped off the bus at one of the stops to see the Necropolis - an ancient Victorian cemetery on the top of a large hill above the cathedral. It would have been something Kate and I could have spent hours exploring, however it was the coldest day I have ever experienced. Despite layers and layers nothing prepares you for -2 degrees. Puddles were frozen over in the middle of the afternoon. We jumped right back on the next bus after a quick walk and a couple of pictures. Kate was still so smitten (by me of course) I even convinced her to try her first Hagis ball. It was deep fried so cheating a little bit but she was very brave. I actually really liked it and want to try it myself when I get River Cottage Bonnie Doon up and running. A warm cuddle in bed to warm up was cut short by an episode of SVU. Despite even me seeing this episode twice I knew I had lost Kate and rolled over to enjoy an early night.
A couple of nights and we were off to our Airbnb in Stathpeffer, north of Inverness. I won't bang on about the drive again but just wow - do yourself a favour. Living in Melbourne, even Victoria, you just get no appreciation for how old things can be. Castles still stand proud and erect that predate the dark ages. Pubs still serve beer (or in our case Devonshire tea) built 200 years before my relatives stole bread and were thrown on a boat. The lakes - or Lochs I should say - are majestic and reflect the horizon like pure glass. A couple of little tourist stops and we arrived. Our trip to a local water fall was right in my wheelhouse and to make it better if I wasn't smarter I could have sworn the river flowed with black gold Guinness. The flip of this is the worst most expensive crappy two course meal ever. I'd of fathered one of Berg's 'pull aparts' and at least that wouldn't of cost $50! It was just junk but it got us thinking...this was a fine dining place in Inverness - are we just that lucky back home that nothing can possible compare? I've travelled a lot, not everywhere but a lot, and there is almost little doubt left in my mind that Melbourne - from fine dining to cheap take away - does the most consistent high level of food anywhere.
Travelling highlight...with a kitchen for the first time (that was suitable) Kate made me a chicken pesto pasta. My goodness I forgot how much I love home cooking. We bought supplies so I could even make bacon and eggs for breakfast! Travelling lowlight...on the second night in the house above our little residence was an 11 year old girl's bedroom - who was having a sleep over with 5 or 6 of her friends. Not an ideal set up. I at least know which Jonas brother is hotter and what the boys from 1D are doing now. I did get to wake up early though and watch a live Big Bash game so take the good with the bad.
Just a quick note for people planning a big road trip anywhere - if you want to keep a track of it I found an awesome app called TrackMyTour. Below is a link of where we are up to. It's great and will provide a great memory for us alongside this blog.
https://TrackMyTour.com/L4vXN
We made our was down to Edinburgh with a stop at Stirling Castle. It cost £14.50 per person to enter so we took a picture of my awesome dog's namesake Robert the Bruce and just decided to tell everyone we went. As we are driving parking in major cities is an issue. Our last 10min in the car in Glasgow weren't fun so we have decided to be more prepared and ask in advance. Edinburgh has this really cool Park and Ride set up. You park at a station the surrounds the CBD for 50p and catch a cheap train in - the one we chose an 11min train to the centre of town. I'd forgotten how confusing old town Edinburgh streets were but we found the hostel without Kate getting too disappointed in me!
I sound like a bit of a shill but I know a lot of my boys at cricket are getting to an age where they will start to do the world trips like me and the older guns have done. If you come to Edinburgh stay at Budget Backpackers. It has everything for a travelling couple like us, and a young dumb full of *** lads ready to explore. Top 3 hostels I've been in.
For the second time in my life I did the Edinburgh free walking tour with Kate. As we set off my memory flooded back and despite all my instincts at one point I became 'that guy' that answers the questions. Kate thought it was very sexy that I knew. I didn't tell her that I'd remembered the answer from last time. Tristan if you're reading this it was the part about "walking home pissed". As the tour went on hanging this, castle that, I learned a couple of mildly interesting things - there was only one main event we wanted! At the conclusion of the tour your are taken to the cemetery when JKR wrote large parts of her books and used the head stones for character names. As soon as Paula took her tip off us we rushed (very slowly and carefully as a million people before us have eroded all the grass and turned the area to mud) to the tombstone of the Dark Lord - the true hero of the story. I felt a chill being in the great man's presence. A couple of doors down a blank tombstone had been graffitied over with the name Sirius Black which Kate and I both found so funny we had a nerd-gasm.
Our leaning continued in the afternoon as we found the Devonshire tea might not be as popular as we think it is, never walk past a pulled pork bap joint as they close before dinner time and cafe does not mean what we think a cafe is.
As I'm finishing up we have just crossed the border back into England on our way to York. We were driving along the picturesque eastern coast which I ignored to write this and now are inland to see some more sheep (see what I did there Chiz?). A couple of nights in York and then 4 with Dean, Becka, Town Mouse and Nessie in Crosshills. Have had two beers since Boxing Day so I am in a bit of trouble when I come across those four unfortunately! I'll write a blog of our adventures as we head down south Monday.
Until next time, Mighty out!
