Category: Travel
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A wood-fired hot tub
The wood-fired hot tub at the glamping bus is an absolute treasure. It’s made entirely of wood and looks a little bit like a giant whisky barrel. On one side is a log burner immersed in water. It takes several hours to heat up the tub but once hot it retains the heat for a…
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Glamping in a bus
I’ve got lots of bus photos to share today. First, the chicken bus again because I think it’s ingenious. Just inside the front door is a gate to stop the chickens from escaping. Also up front and where the driver sat is a good storage area for food and straw which provides handy access and protection from the elements.…
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Peeing in the driver’s seat
We are glamping in a bus and it’s heaven. We have our own wood-fired hot tub in a peaceful rural setting of wheat fields and rolling hills. It doesn’t get much better than this. Teetotal me even enjoyed a South African organic red with no added sulphur. This is my kind of camping. Here’s our bus:…
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Photos from Madrid
We wandered around El Retiro Park in Madrid yesterday. I took some photos on our walk there and in the park. I have been to Madrid before, some 12 or so years ago now, and I remember this park and the glasshouse. The glasshouse is beautiful but completely empty. I suspect if they put plants in there…
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Temple of Debod
The Temple of Debod is an ancient Egyptian temple in one of the parks in Madrid. It was moved from Egypt to Madrid in 1968 to save it from the threat of construction of a dam. It was built in 200 BC. We went and took some photos there at sunset last night. It doesn’t…
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Madrid bike tour
We went on a fantastic bike tour today of Casa de Campo Park which is the largest park in Madrid and absolutely enormous. We barely touched the surface of it. Bravo Bikes provided bikes and a very knowledgeable and friendly guide. I can’t fault them at all and it’s one of the best meetup activities I’ve…
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Haddo House and Country Park
Things didn’t go quite according to plan today. We booked the nearest car-club car this morning but it had a flat battery. We’ve been members of the car club for two years now and this is only the second time this has happened. Fortunately there was another car-club car nearby and so they switched our booking…
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Gardens and woodland walks at Crathes Castle
Most weekends I find myself craving for some fresh country air and a walk through the woods or up a hill. Today we satisfied my craving with a trip to Crathes Castle and a walk on one of the woodland trails there. I keep telling Ben we need a country house where we can spend…
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Burn O’Vat
Someone recommended Burn O’Vat on my Scolty Hill post from last week and so we decided to check it out today. It’s a WOW place. How have I never discovered it before? It’s at the Muir of Dinnet Nature Reserve which is about 34 miles west of Aberdeen. There’s a terrific visitor centre there. The main attraction is the Burn O’Vat…
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Scolty Hill
Next to the village of Banchory, which is about 18 miles from Aberdeen, is Scolty Hill. Desperate to get out of the house and into the countryside I suggested we go there after lunch and walk to the summit. It was a superb outing. The walk is about 1.5 hours and not too strenuous. There…
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Pennan
Our day didn’t start so well today. The power went out overnight in the place we were staying which meant I didn’t get a cup of tea at breakfast. NO TEA! The horror! What’s the point of getting out of bed if there’s no tea? Consequently we left fairly early and went to Pennan. I was…
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I swam in the North Sea in winter
A couple of years ago I swam at Balmedie Beach. It was March and so I just missed out on being able to say I swam in the North Sea in winter. We’re currently staying at a secluded spot up on the Fraserburgh coast an hour or so north of Aberdeen and so I decided to…
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Newburgh seal colony, Scotland
About 16 miles north of Aberdeen is a little village called Newburgh. We went there for lunch today, to the Newburgh Inn. The food was terrific. I highly recommend it. They put on a typical Sunday roast pub lunch but there were a couple of options for vegetarians. I had a chick pea and sweet potato…
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Highland Safaris, Aberfeldy
We went on a Highland Safari today and it was the highlight of my week. It was sensational. The sun came out, there was snow on the ground, the views were superb, and I felt like I was on top of the world. We went up into the hills on a guided tour in two…
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Queen’s View and Pitlochry Fish Ladder
It snowed today! We went to Queen’s View which is apparently one of the most photographed views in Scotland. It was beautiful in the snow. Sister and family: Me and family: Sister and father: Ben got his obligatory “bored in the snow” photo. I got my usual “excited in the snow” photo. Afterwards we went…
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Red Deer Centre, Aberfeldy
Just outside Aberfeldy is a red deer centre where you can feed some deer and get up close to a barn owl. We took the children there this afternoon and it was wonderful. I’ve never seen deer up close let alone hand-fed one. It looks like Daniel is feeding his hand to the stag in this…
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Beatrix Potter Exhibition, Dunkeld
There’s a Beatrix Potter exhibition in the village of Dunkeld in Perthshire. Dunkeld is one of the oldest towns in Scotland and apparently Beatrix Potter’s family rented a house nearby and spent many holidays there. The local wildlife likely inspired some of the characters in her stories. Dunkeld is cute and the Beatrix Potter exhibition is…
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The Birks of Aberfeldy
The Scottish village of Aberfeldy is renowned for being the inspiration for Robert Burns’ poem, The Birks of Aberfeldy. A birk is the Scottish word for a beech tree and the Birks of Aberfeldy is a forested walk along Moness gorge. We did the walk this afternoon and met Robert Burns along the way. He’s…
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Perthshire for Christmas
We’ve taken off a bit early for the Christmas holidays; we’re spending it in the very lovely Perthshire. Here are a couple of pics from the drive today. We just managed to squish everything into the Co-Wheels car, including Creeper. There was a dusting of snow today which made the landscape look beautiful. Perthshire is…
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Castle Fraser
My aunt and uncle have left now – I thoroughly enjoyed having them here. We went to Castle Fraser on Thursday and I’m only just getting around to posting the pics. I haven’t been there for over a year and it was wonderful. The walled garden is one of the best I’ve seen with a very…
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