Last full day in Edinburgh, so spent almost 17,000 steps making the most of it. First stop of the day was the tram down to Haymarket, basically the closest laundromat. They apparently do pick up laundry from my hotel, which reception failed to advise me late night when I asked them where the nearest laundromat was, and they also do […]
Read moreBasically a day of wandering around Edinburgh, seeing pretty things, buying a few things for me and others, and eating things. Kicked off with a bit of a wander through New Town, and by new, we’re talking only built up around 250 years ago. It’s a chunk less touristy than the Old Town, there are odd spots but generally the […]
Read moreWelcome to day 18, basically where the Scotland part of this trip starts to wind down, with Edinburgh being the last stop. It kicked off again with waking a little too early, even with the hill the room got bright quite early. Snoozed until it was time to pack and do all the showering things, before heading down to one […]
Read moreThe day started with our lovely bnb host attempting to smother us with food; with a big breakfast of muesli, a rack of toast, and a cooked breakfast. Oh, and some fruit and yogurt. Stomach was sufficiently bolstered for a big day ahead. We took a wander through Fort William as many of the shops were now open. It’s about […]
Read moreWe were up early to get the bnb tidied, everything packed, and the ferry back to the mainland. Which meant that I barely slept, as I kept waking up, seeing it was bright outside through the rather thin curtains, and scrambling for my phone to make sure I hadn’t overslept. I hadn’t overslept when I did this at 1am, nor […]
Read moreThe last full day in Islay, a day of just bits and pieces. Today was Ardbeg day, so just about everyone here for Feis Ile headed to the south end of the island for that. So we headed west, first stop the no-longer newest distillery on Islay, Kilchoman. This distillery generally produces a peaty, a little oily spirit, for me […]
Read moreThat’s better, back to my usual readership of maybe 3 people, nothing like a good bit of drinking to thin the hits. Today’s entry might even get me down to 1. We kicked off with a trip on the ferry to Jura, well first with M, P & G trying to kill me by suggesting we walk the 20 or […]
Read moreFirst full day on Islay, an island of whisky, peat, and history. We did a bit of all three. We kicked off the day at Ardbeg, a distillery currently thriving but went through some challenging times through the 1970s to the late 1990s. Last time I was here they had not long restarted distilling, and I bought a bottle of […]
Read moreIn which driving is done, a ferry is caught, whisky is drunk, purchases are made; also introducing Margaret the supergrass. Following a fairly decent breakfast at the Oyster Inn, we headed south, first to fill up with fuel and then to get cash, as, according to guides to Feis Ile, it isn’t unknown for electronic banking to fail, and ATMs […]
Read moreWas a busy day of stops and travelling, so I set my alarm for just after 7am, and of course was awake at 6am. Google told me that Cafe Arriba, place of yesterday’s full breakfast, would open at 8am, so figured that I’d be right to grab breakfast there once I packed and sorted everything. I don’t know if today […]
Read moreThe morning kicked off with my first full Scottish breakfast of the trip, basically all the good stuff: black pudding, bacon, potato bread, flat sausage, beans, egg, mushrooms, half a tomato, and toast. Happily, no white pudding to be seen, it’s been a while since I last tried this, but having had it several times, the best I could describe […]
Read moreA bit of a long day, with a bunch of driving, walking, and dealing with painful customer service. I’ve been getting around with Optus international roaming, at $5/day it’s a bit expensive but has convenience. They also recently changed it from the kind of clunky charging by the week or day, to now charging by the day with auto activation. […]
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