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Day 23: Amsterdam, Aachen, Landgraaf
We can just call this Bruce Springsteen day really. Started in Amsterdam, checked out, and it was a simple single tram to the central station. Grabbed a muffin and a coffee, thinking that would work for breakfast while there would be something on the train to Aachen. Nope, no food to be found, just seats, not even a great amount of luggage space so once the train started filling up I had to be reminded that suitcases can go in the space between seat backs. I tried not to look too enviously at the older lady who had packed a sandwich, so apparently it’s a real thing, and the KLM…
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Day 22: Amsterdam
My full day in Amsterdam, and where I realise that I didn’t really have my act together planning this bit. After possibly not enough sleep, I made an earlyish start for the Rijksmuseum. I figured I could wander down the street my hotel is on and there must be somewhere I could get breakfast, as this also worked for getting the direct tram to the museum. As described yesterday, I really don;t know which establishments actually serve food or coffee in this city, which was made abundantly clear when I headed towards a large stand on the corner, to find that it sold all manner of chicken, from eggs by…
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Day 21: Edinburgh, Amsterdam
Apologies dear reader, I’m checking in late for this one, for reasons that will be explained. Kicked off my last morning in Edinburgh doing some final shopping, picking up bits and pieces, and figured I should go for one last full Scottish breakfast before heading to the continent. Found a nearby place called the Ginger Coo Cafe, sadly, but they did provide a decent amount of food. Then it was pack the last few bits and head for the airport tram. I retired my toiletries case in Edinburgh. It has served me well since at least 2009, maybe even 2005, but was quite large and I’m travelling with just essentials…
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Day 20: Edinburgh
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 free delivery to my hotel so at least I could arrange that. But they only take cash, which had me wandering down the road, first to the post office, but my card wasn’t compatible, and then to a cashpoint a bit further down. I did manage to get a set…
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Day 19: Edinburgh
Basically 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 tours don’t stray far from Princes St. Was able to grab breakfast at a little local cafe, a “triple” bun with egg, bacon, and haggis, and a decent serve at that, with coffee (a decent flat white), and paid less that 10 pounds. There seems to just be the one…
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Day 18: Fort William, Edinburgh
Welcome 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 last attempt by the bnb host to feed me until I exploded. I went with the porridge this morning, because have you really been in Scotland if you haven’t had porridge? Then came the usual cooked goodness and fruit and yogurt, enough to see us through the morning. There was…
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Day 17: Fort William
The 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 a middle sized town, big enough to have at least two whisky shops, a bookshop, a chemist, a couple of cafes, several restaurants, and some other assorted stores. I popped into one of the whisky shops, as it had a number of independent bottlings in the window, and inside were…
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Day 16: Islay, Fort William
We 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 3am, nor 5am, and I was still running on time when I got up at 6.45am. This ferry was one of the older, less shiny ones in the CalMac fleet, so instead of lovely carpet and wood veneer, it was lino and melamine. But it fit our car, and floated,…
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Day 15: Islay
The 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 it works better in bourbon barrels but they do spend a lot of time using sherry. After several full days of whisky, plus cheese and spicy foods, and some ibuprofen, I found myself with a bit of reflux so I passed on doing any tasting. I was content just to…
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Day 14: Islay (and Jura)
That’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 so minutes to Port Askaig. Now there are 20 minute walks, I do these all the time with the dog back home, but 20 minutes in Islay involves no more than 50 metres of straight track, and if it’s straight it’s also likely to be a 10 degree incline or…
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Day 13: Islay
First 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 their Very Young for about 25 pounds. I’ve had a lot of Ardbeg since then, of many expressions, and while I’ve enjoyed some more than others I’ve never had one that I haven’t found something good in. I’ve also never had an Ardbeg like the 4 that I tasted today.…
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Day 12: Oban, Islay (Kiells)
In 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 to run out of money around this time. Then south we went. Time was on our side, so we had the opportunity to stop for a coffee in Tarbert, a little town by the sea (tarbert/tarbet translates as isthmus, so there are several scattered throughout Scotland). First was a coffee…
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Day 11: Portree, Oban (Connel)
Was 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 was some sort of special Tuesday, but breakfast was not to be: nowhere serving hot food appeared to be open at 8am in Portree today. Not even at 8.10am, when I grabbed a bread roll and some cheese slices from the Co-op supermarket. While Skye is indeed beautiful, I’m leaning…
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Day 10: Portree
The 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 it is “meh”. P has been poking me to have some, so I’ve said I will if he does (he’s a vegetarian). Anyway, the breakfast was good, even if the cafe had a weird Spanish name and hints of Spanish food on the menu (we’re quite a way away from…
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Day 9: Inverness, Portree
A 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. So every day I’ve been getting a text message to tell me my roaming has been activated for another day. Except today, the messages all said they couldn’t process payment. I’m not full of cash, but know that my accounts can handle $5. Tried another account, no luck. A third,…
