Cancelled

 

The last few days of last week were a bit....average. Between Friday and Saturday, we received:

• an eamil advising our internal Athens-Crete flights had a time change
• an email advising our return flight London-Glasgow had been cancelled and we were booked on an earlier one
• an email advising our flight to Portugal had been cancelled
• an email advising our flight to Budapest had beeen cancelled
• an email advising one of our day trip to the Cliffs of Mohr had been cancelled

Ouch.

We've since made the executive desicion to cancel our Budapest/Vienna Christmas market trip - it's just too risky between both destinations being on the quarantine list, and more importantly, it's right before Sarah and Daniel are due to fly home and there's no way we want to impact that. 

Ireland was an unexpected trip to have to cancel - Dublin looks like it's gone backwards with regardss to Covid and since that was where we were flying in and planning to be based, it just doesn't look like the trip we envisaged. All museums and galleries are closed, bars can only be open if they serve food and are only able to have a max of 15 people there at any one time. Doesn't sound like it's a place to be a tourist. 

Portugal....we can change our flight to a later one, but we won't really get to see much if we do that. Given that's on the quarantine list and we're still hoping to go to Greece, it's pretty much a done deal for Cameron and I to cancel :s Saying that, we do fully expect Greece will have to get cancelled. As it is, Crete is on the quarantine list, and with the flight change to that, it'll make it a bit easier to cancel those flights....so here's hoping Athens is still good. And gets off the qaurantine list. Cos if it doesn't....well. 

But there's my udpate on our travel plans for the rest of the year. We have a few local trips booked in - this weekend we're heading to Skye (as long as no new restrictions come through), we're going to the Cairngorms in October, London in November, and then to spend Christmas just outside London, so we do have plenty to look forward to. Just not the same variety. 2020, folks. A year of what could have been.

Last call for summer?

 You went to Scotland for a safari experience?! I hear you cry. Are you mad?!

Probs. But in our defence, we're not likely to travel to Africa anytime sooner (or anywhere else for that matter), so why not? 

The weather played ball, with clear skies and a warm sun, so when we arrived at Blair Drummond Safari Park, we were so excited. We had booked the earliest available time slot (basically opening time) which was also feeding time for the animals in the drive-through safari section. 

Possibly the most awesome animals we drove past were the fabled unicorns and the majestic lions. Especially when the latter stood, holding up his breakfast for all to see. 

We had booked one of the BBQs for lunch so once we parked the car, we shot around to see a few of the animals that hadn't been part of the drive-through experience - zebras and giraffes and elephants. We also tried to see the chimps but none of them were out. 

The BBQs were such a highlight of the day - BBQs aren't in parks like they are back home and while you can get little alfoil disposable ones (which we have but haven't had the chance/guts to use yet), I just can't see it doing the trick. The BBQs on Saturday however, they were the real deal. 

We had bought a fresh loaf of sourdough, got some steak and snags, and brought along some salad bits and wow did that taste delicious. First BBQ in eight months was always going to be delicious though, to be fair.

We wandered through the World of Dinosaurs after we got coffee and fresh donuts - life size replicas complete with robotic movements and sound effects. Pretty awesome if you were a kid - and kinda cool as an adult ;)

Next on the itinerary was Doune Castle - used as a location for Outlander, Game of Thrones, Monty Python, it was built in the 1300's and became a royal castle in the 1400's though never as grand or as organised as Edinburgh or Stirling Castle. It was left to ruin from the 1600's but restored in the 1800's to what we see today. If you want a little more info, you can visit here. 

I forgot to mention! We finally saw a red squirrel! Technically, it's the second we've seen but the first one was more of a blur as it ran across the road in front of our car a few weeks back. This time, we got to admire it as it sat in the tree! 

We see plenty of grey squirrels in our area but the red ones are becoming more rare. Their grey cousins were brought over from North America and have slowly becoming more dominant, so to see a red squirrel - it's just a bit blodoy exciting. There's actually a website you can visit to log your squirrel sighting, be it red or grey, which is an interesting way to see how the sighting trends can shift over the years - though obviously not super accurate since we've never logged ever grey squirrel we've seen and I can imagine everyone else does >.>

So there we have it. Possibly one of the last great warm days here in Scotland but spent well with friends, BBQs, history and animals.

Lake District. Not a thing like Amsterdam.

 Since Amsterdam got cancelled, we reconvened for Daniel's birthday in the Lake District. It was a calm, relaxed weekend and while the rain all Friday and Sunday morning definitely encouraged that, we still managed to visit a few of the sights. 

The Derwen Pencil Museum

My inner art-nerd was SO happy we got to visit here and it was just a joy. The only criticism I had (and one I made well after we'd left) was that there was no information about how they come by the pigments for every colour, or how the process might change for all the different formulas - proclour pencils vs pastel pencils vs inktense pencils etc. 

With that said, there was so much about how the Derwnt brand came to be, the various incarnations of packaging and signature lines, the World's Largest Pencil, and an interesting piece of history where the company was enlisted to create a secret pencil for WWII that held a map and a miniature compass to help allies trapped behind enemy lines escape.

Lowther Castle and Gardens

The grandest castle ruins we've visited yet! Part of the castle is used as a museum about the history of the castle, the Lowther family, and the events that led to it's current situation. The rest....is perfectly preserved with manicured wilderness growing through it. It was glorious. 

The castle is situated on a large estate that is also open to the public (upon purchase of the ticket!), with walking trails, various little summer and tea houses scattered throughout, an amazing wooden castle-playground for kids (big and small), and a cafe. Even better, BYO picnic and dog-watch = dreams.

Hill Top - Beatrix Potter's house

Though we weren't allowed in to the house itself thanks to Covid, it was still a truly gorgeous experience. The house was tucked away in a little hamlet on an out-of-the-way road with very few people around. It was quiet, the weather was calm with the sun peeking out from the clouds every now and then, and the only real sound was that of the birds. The garden was still maintained, the veggie patch still full - artichokes, onions, strawberries, flowers for the bees, rhubarbs, and more that I couldn't name. 

You then walked out of the veggie patch into an apple orchard where a pop up cafe had been set up for afternoon tea (or morning tea, depending on when you visit!) with a pallet-made seating area.

Castlerigg Stone Circle

A circle of stones stand in a sheep paddock on the crest of a hill, overlooking Thirlmere Valley, the mountains of High Seat and Helvellyn, and farmed countryside. It's thought to be one of the oldest stone circles in Britain according to the English Heritage, dating back to roughly 3000 BC, and was one of the first monuments to be recommended for preservcation back in 1883. If you'd like to know more, head here.

Unlike Stonehenge which is roped off from the public, Castlerigg is accessible to all and sundry - all ages were there when we arrived and it was definitely a waiting game if you wanted to get any photos without another soul in them. 

One of the great things about the Lake District was how many dogs were everywhere and how acceptable it was to bring your dog into pubs, restaurants, cafes, etc. We were in our element, watching all the lovely four-legs and envying their owners. 

We also learnt the she-Google (i.e. Navigator Skye) is a tricksy beastie who will occasionally lead the driver (i.e. Cameron) down one-lane roads and narrower country lanes. The last lane she-Google took us down was so narrow that hedges pressed in on either side and would have inhibited the car doors opening had we needed to. It was also a pedestrian thoroughfare for the Castlerigg Stone Circle so a handful of those poor souls found themselves up against a stone fence or pressing into the fence-like shrubbery to get out of our way and allow us passage - even though we were quite happy to meander on behind them. 😅

Islay

 Exactly 3 months after we had intended to travel here, we at last landed on the Isle of Islay. 

We kicked off the journey with a visit to Inveraray Castle on Friday morning - a seriously gorgeous castle that belongs to the Campbell family and is still their residence today.

Then to the ferry at Kennacraig, an hour and a bit away, along windy roads that led us to the two hour ferry ride which ended at Port Askaig (pronounced Port Askay). 30 minutes later, we arrived at our bed and breakfast. Set on the edge of the coast, overlooking the sheltered sea, it was one of a small stretch of buildings between Port Ellen and Port Charlotte, not 100m down from Bruiladdich Distillery. Unfortunately shut to visitors, it still smelt of fermenting barley and was a lovely thing to be near.

Prior to Covid changing everyone's plans, we had arranged for a driver to take us round to some of the distilleries, tell us some of the history, and just generally be our desi so we could all not worry. Despite having to reschedule, he kept in touch, provided so much help and support and was just such a genuinely lovely guy, we were thrilled to be able to meet him in person on the Saturday. Dougie drove us around for 9 and a half hours, giving us drams from his collection, from all the distilleries who were shut or who we were unable to visit. He took us to historical sights, sweet talked a local cafe into doing takeaway lunch for us (they only did takeaway for dinner), answered all our questions, showed us how to cut peat at his peat bank... it was such a great day. 

Some interesting facts for you.

There are nine distilleries on Islay, and while they weren't all open yet, we at least managed to visit them all.

Bruichladdich

Kilchoman

Laphroaig

Ardbeg

Lagavulin

Bowmore

Caol Ila

Ardnahoe

Bunnahabhain

Islay has very few shops - it's major attraction are the distilleries scattered across the island, so come Sunday morning when we checked out at 10am and all we wanted was a coffee? Yeah no. We had to wait til lunch and even then we only had one option which was less than enthralling. In fairness, it may have had a bit to do with Covid and recovering from that, but this was our experience.

Ferries to and fro are dog friendly so getting to sit on the top deck and dog watch / walk past with our hands loose by our sides in the hopes we would get a wet nose or the chance to pat them....life goals ;) 

I don't like whiskey. Love the smell of it, but the taste.....it buurrrrnnnssss. I did manage to try 7 drams before needing to call it quits though! And only started pulling faces after the 6th, so I think I did quite well :D For comparison, Cameron managed 16 and finished most of them 😅

It was definitely worth the wait, especially to finally celebrate Cameron's birthday as he had wanted - 3 months late.

The busiest first day out of quarantine

 FREEDOM!

It was only two weeks of isolation but leaving the house Saturday morning was SO EXCITING. The sun was shining, the air was brisk but hinted at warmth, the birds were singing and we were loutta there!

Months and months ago, we had booked tickets to take part in a geospatial game that involved 'talking' to people and solving the whodunnit - much like Cluedo. Initially it got rescheduled (Covid's fault), then we thought we would be on the Isle of Skye (just bad luck that it got moved to the date we already had something booked), but then with our enforced quarantine, it just so happened that we were able to make it. 

It was the perfect activity for a sunny (cool) summer's morning, wandering around the suburb of Paisley, 'encountering' people, solving the crime. We ended up coming second overall, losing by 3 minutes - a precious 3 minutes we had wasted easily trying to figure out a couple of questions that had been unclearly worded. Nuts.

After dropping the car and Daniel back home, Cameron, Sarah and I headed to a nearby cafe that had recently reopened under new management for coffee and cake. Or lunch, in Sarah's case :P while the coffee was forgettable, the pastries were EPIC. Can recommend their cronuts - Epicures by Cail Bruich is where it's at! I'll try the coffee eclair next time and report back.

Cameron left us after he'd finished, and Sarah and I finally wandered the local gift and homewares stores nearby, something we'd been wanting to do since we arrived but not yet had the chance. That was dangerous and wonderful and we'll be making repeat visits before we head home.

When we did return to the flat, it was to run in, grab our shopping lists and bags, and then out again - we wanted to smash out the grocery shopping so we could head into town and have a wander. Again, something we hadn't really done too much of in the past few months. 

We now have shopping down to a fine art; one trolley, divide and conquer, one person unloads, the other person packs, and split the bill 50/50. Winning :D 

The new art to unpacking is pile all the shopping bags into the elevcator and while Sarah parks the car, I ride up and unload the bags by our front door - and then Cameron helps me cart them in. Teamwork. Fridged and froze all the necessary items, grabbed a bit to eat, and off we trundled to the subway.

We wandered the mall, observed social distance though so many others did not, turned down new roads and alleys, discoverd more murals, visited with books, tried on shoes, and bought dumplings for dinner. 

By the time we got home, the sun was setting and we were KNACKERED. Worth it to be allowed outside again.