Category: Scotland
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Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries
We’ve come to Dunblane for the weekend, a picturesque Scottish village in Perthshire, about 110 miles southwest of Aberdeen. The village is beautiful with lots of quirky shops and an attractive river running through the middle called Allan Water. There’s also a cathedral that dates from the 12th century. There’s a fake Banksy outside one […]
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An adventure in Strathdon
There are two mighty rivers in Aberdeen: the Dee and the Don. Both start some 80-90 miles west in the Grampian Mountains and flow into the sea at Aberdeen. The Dee is quite well known thanks to Queen Victoria and Balmoral Castle which is in the Dee Valley. The whole area is known as Royal […]
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Through the blue door … River North Esk, Angus
About 50 minutes south of Aberdeen is an outstanding walk along the River North Esk. It starts at the Gannochy Bridge, an 18th-century vaulted arch bridge about a mile north from the village of Edzell. You can park in Edzell and walk from there or there’s parking beside the blue door itself and also around […]
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The Balmoral pyramid
Today is the first day we’ve been allowed to leave Aberdeen after almost 4 months of lockdown. It was Boxing Day 2020 when all of Scotland was put into lockdown. Nearly 4 months later restrictions are starting to lift and we’re allowed to leave the city for exercise and mental health but still cannot stay […]
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Macdui Lodge, Aviemore
When we went to Aviemore we stayed in a pretty cool place so I thought I’d write about it. Our accommodation was Macdui Lodge at Pine Bank Chalets. This was our second visit to Pine Bank Chalets and it won’t be the last. The owners are so nice, the chalets are well-run, and the location […]
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Potarch Bridge
We visited a lovely bridge over the River Dee today called Potarch Bridge which is about 40 miles west of Aberdeen. It was built by the engineer Thomas Telford in 1811-1813. This is the same Thomas Telford who built the Caledonian Canal and many other bridges all over the UK. I do love an old […]
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Loch an Eilein and Landmark Forest Adventure Park
We’re back from our holiday in Aviemore and although we were sad to leave it’s nice to have decent wifi again at the very least so I can see all the photos we took. It’s also nicer to view them on a big screen. My new Samsung phone has a brilliant camera and so we […]
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An Lochan Uaine and the BMW i3
I managed to tick swimming in An Lochan Uaine (green loch) off my bucket list today. It’s an emerald-coloured lochan with a sandy beach about 5 miles from Aviemore. It’s so inviting that even Daniel and Ben ventured into the water, despite the frigid temperature. I’m not sure what the temperature was exactly but it […]
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A Scottish ceilidh
On Saturday night after the Braemar junior games, there was a family ceilidh in the village hall. A ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee), is a traditional Scottish event with dancing and fiddle music. Other countries have something similar called a “barn dance”. We’ve been to a couple of ceilidhs here and they’re wonderful fun. Someone, a caller, […]
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Pap of Glencoe
We walked part of the Pap of Glencoe walk which is a hill walk starting from Old Glencoe Road, just a little bit east of Strath Lodge Glencoe. It’s a rocky, boggy walk with bits that require scrambling on all fours. There are also streams that you need to cross over although with a bit […]
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More pics of Glencoe
The last time I was in Glencoe was more than 20 years ago and I’d forgotten how beautiful it is. Unlike the east coast of Scotland the mountains here are rugged and domineering and make one feel small and insignificant which is comforting. April is a wonderful time of year to tour Scotland because there’s […]
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Oban, Stalker Castle, and Glencoe
We visited the Oban Distillery in Oban today and did the tour. Kids are allowed on this tour which is great because Daniel and Elizabeth find it very interesting and distilleries are fascinating places. As is often the case with these things the process is much more complicated than you think and I’m always left […]
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Pottering around at Glenfinnan Viaduct
We visited the Glenfinnan Viaduct which is a concrete rail bridge built in the late 19th century. It’s located at one end of Loch Shiel, in the west of Scotland, about 17 miles from Fort William. It’s famous for being a film location in the Harry Potter movies: the Hogwarts Express traverses the Glenfinnan Viaduct […]
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Glencoe and Hagrid’s hut
We’ve had a lovely couple of days in Glencoe, Scotland. What a beautiful place! Part of the reason we came here is because we recently read all the Harry Potter books to the kids at bedtime. This is the second time I’ve read them aloud because I did it for Daniel some years ago and […]
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Old things
I love old things. We’re doing some exploring this weekend in a beautiful part of Scotland. I love the landscapes in Scotland: the hills, lochs, rivers, and sea. But I also love the history and the architecture. Modern stuff doesn’t really excite me but old stuff inspires and uplifts me. Old things are unique and […]
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Torridon, Scotland
I didn’t think we could top our day yesterday, in terms of scenery and entertainment but we did. This time we went north to Torridon, a remote village in the Western Highlands. Much of the road there was single track and we saw very few other vehicles. It’s hard to believe we are on the […]
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The West Coast of Scotland
We’re on the West Coast of Scotland. It has been more than 20 years since I’ve been over this way. It’s only about 4 hours from Aberdeen which isn’t far, but it is too far to come for just a weekend which is what most of our trips are. Fortunately we all have a full […]
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The Cairngorms
We’re in the very lovely Cairngorms in Scotland for a short break. I love this place. It’s my favourite landscape: rivers, fields, forest, and hills. It’s so quiet and peaceful with very few people around and is perfect when you want to relax and unwind.
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Edinburgh Christmas market
I’m writing this on the train back to Aberdeen. We had a fantastic day in Edinburgh today. The Christmas markets just began this week and they are wonderful. We went on the ferris wheel and it was a gorgeous day which meant we had spectacular views from the top. There’s an outdoor skating rink there which I couldn’t […]
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Urquhart Castle and Glen Affric
Today we went for a very scenic drive alongside Loch Ness, home of the infamous Loch Ness monster. We didn’t see any monsters but we did see Urquhart Castle, a ruin in a picturesque promontory in the middle of Loch Ness. The castle has seen more battles than most and was eventually abandoned in the 17th century. The […]
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