England and Scotland - June 2 to July 17, 2006

On The Road Again????  Our flight from Dubai was at 7.45 am so it was a very early wake up call.  We arrived at Heathrow Airport and after picking up our Peugeot 307 we set off heading north to Scotland.  Rob drove to Warrington, south of Manchester and we stayed overnight.  The jetlag saw us wake early so we hit the road by 8.00am and headed to Blackpool.  Rob’s parents used to go to Blackpool for holidays and as we had heard all about the town, we decided to check it out.  What an amazing place.

This Place Is Unique.....  Blackpool is a holiday destination for thousands of English holidaymakers.  The esplanade runs along the beach for approximately 4 kms and is just “chock a block” with fun parlours, seaside guest houses, cafes and restaurants, a theme park and three piers of amusement parlours.  There is also a scenic railway along with other rides – maybe a miniature “Luna Park”.    Along the whole of the esplanade, carnival character illuminated lights hang from the lightpoles, and at night they all light up. There is nothing in Australia that could compare with Blackpool.  It was quite tacky but absolutely unique. 

A Quick Visit.....  From there we drove through the Lakes District in Cumbria.  This is such a beautiful part of England and even though we had been there before, we had to return.  We had lunch in Windemere and then drove through the villages and onto Arden in Scotland.  We arrived late afternoon at the Gardeners Cottages, our accommodation for the next week.  On arrival we were met by Andy and Avril who own the cottages.  Click here to look at their website. We had booked Luss Cottage but as we were the only one’s staying here, we were upgraded to Lomond Cottage, a two bedroom cottage and just a bit bigger than Luss.  A short walk down a  track from the cottage took us right to the banks of Loch Lomond.  It was a nice feeling coming back to the cottage each day to relax.

Our Destination, Scotland.... Scotland is a beautiful part of the United Kingdom.  The scenery is quite dramatic and stunning with picturesque towns, rugged coast line, spectacular lochs and deep forests, plus the wilderness of the highlands and the towering mountains.  Everywhere you look it is picture postcard territory.  Liz has found her quaint cottages everywhere in Scotland, along with lots of sheep grazing and the long haired cows.

Off Exploring.....  We spent our first day just driving along the banks of Loch Lomond on the west side.  Loch Lomond is the largest freshwater expanse in Britain.   It is huge with sailing, boating, fishing and boat cruises being very popular with the locals and holidaymakers.  We couldn’t get over the number of caravans on the roads.  The caravan parks are in ideal positions and they cater very well for the travellers.  We travelled onto the towns of Drymen, Aberfoyle and the Scottish Wool Centre where a Scottish bagpiper plays his pipes to welcome you.  Of course, the shop is full of woollen jumpers, cashmeres and plenty of Scottish souvenirs.  It was then onto Callander further up the road and again this town was alive with Sunday visitors which made it difficult to find a parking spot.  We came home via Strathblane and visited the church cemetery to place some rhododendrons and bluebells our friend Anne’s parent’s grave - a very peaceful spot within the church walls.   

It is the start of summer and all along the roads there are wild rhododendron bushes and all in full bloom.  The rhododendron bushes are nearly a noxious weed.  We have never seen so many just growing everywhere.  The fields and woodlands are covered in a carpet of wild bluebells.  Each day has been a full one with so much to see and do. 

A favourite place for us was Inverary, not too far from Arden.  The town sits on the banks of Loch Fyne.  The old  19^th century Inverary Jail built in 1820 and the new prison built in 1848 was interesting to visit.  It depicted life in prison during these times and was well worth a visit.   There are so many small towns that are so picturesque – one being Tarbert a small fishing village south of Inverary. Here we stopped for tea, shortbread and scones which are a favourite pastime of the Scots.

By Train This Time.....  One of the highlights of our week was the train trip to Fort William.  We travelled along lochs and through wooded forests and little streams and then across the highlands and moors which were so barren in parts except for walking tracks.  There were many hikers walking these tracks in such remote areas.  Every now and again the train would stop at small railway stations to pick up and drop off people.  At one of these stations, an American couple decided to get off the train and buy a coffee.  All of a sudden the train whistle blew and the distraught couple were left running along the platform after the train with their bags and personal belongings still on the train.  It did not stop and the couple had a three hour wait for the next train.  There were many small station stops but no one dared to step off the train for fear of being left behind. Fort William is on the Loch Linnhe and at the foot of Ben Nevis 1344 metres in height and the highest mountain in Britain.  It is a popular places for hikers and of course there are some very good outdoor camping and hiking shops in Fort William.  From here you can take ferries to the outer isles.  It was quite noticeable that Gaelic was spoken up here more so than down south and all the street names were written in Gaelic and English.  Life moves at a different pace in these quieter parts of Scotland away from the bigger cities. 

Pound Stirling, So This Is Where The Name Came From.....  Stirling was another bigger town we visited about 35 mins from Arden.  We drove to Stirling Castle naturally built on the highest part of Stirling.  From here we took a Hop on and Off double decker bus to travel around all the sightseeing spots.  This was a good way of seeing Stirling.  We visited the William Wallace Monument, a Scottish hero who fought at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.  As we stepped off the bus in front of us was a hand sculptured statue of William Wallace.  It was Mel Gibson of “Braveheart” fame.  And by the way, the Pound Stirling is so named because the coins, long ago, where minted in Stirling.

Oban was our next town to visit.  It is situated on Oban Bay and from here you can take the ferries to the outer islands.  It is a busy little town with many tourists and locals everywhere.  We were here on a Thursday and during a weekend, it would be very crowded.  Another town worth visiting. We have been so lucky with the weather. Each day it has been  between 20 – 23 degrees.  We can’t believe our luck – neither can the Scots.  They are all out and about in very light clothing and some even sunbaking and making the most of it.    

Glasgow, A Big Crowded City.....  Another day we caught the train from Baloch, our nearest town to Glasgow.  It took about 30 minutes.   We have only one complaint and that is it costs 20 p “to pee”, and when you don’t have 20 pence, it becomes a problem as there are signs saying “no change”.   In the end Liz asked a worker emptying a vending machine who begrudgingly gave her the precious 20 pence.  He was then houndered by poor souls looking for change.  From then on we adopted a saying.  "Keep your 20 p's for a P" which proved to be very useful for the rest of our time in Scotland.  Glasgow was busy with lots of young people coming into the city to watch  England play their first match in the World Cup.  There were pubs with Scottish (or maybe English) supporters drinking beer and enjoying themselves in the beautiful sunshine.  We got the impression that the majority of Scots would prefer the English team to drop out of the World Cup as Scotland did not have a team qualify for the event.

On The Move Again.....  It was time to move on after our week on Loch Lomond.  We headed further north east to Pitlochry passing through Dunkeld, and Perth ended up in a small village called Strathmiglo approximately  35 miles out of Edinburgh.  Hillview Cottage B & B was owned by a delightful couple George and Sandra Logan who made us very welcome and served the best English and Scottish Breakfasts.  We tried our first haggis and black puddings for breakfast.  Not bad at all and we also enjoyed a couple of evenings chatting over a glass or two of Aussie red wines.  George and Sandra were a very nice couple that made us feel so welcome in their B&B.

The Old & The New..... Edinburgh is a must to visit so we caught the Park and Drive bus into the city and walked our legs off.  The Edinburgh Castle is so impressive on the top of the hill overlooking the city.  We spent over 2 hours wandering around this massive castle and became information overloaded with the history of Scotland. They are currently setting up for the Edinburgh Tattoo which is in the square just in front of the castle.   What is interesting is that this square is not all that large but looks much larger when viewed on TV.   We spent time wandering around the old section of Edinburgh (600 years old) including the Royal Mile and Grassmarket where we had a late lunch and watched the world go by to rest our weary legs.  From there we ventured across to the new section of Edinburgh (300 years old) and spent the remainder of our time looking around the retail and commercial section of this beautiful city.   Edinburgh is a "must see" on any Scotland itinerary, whereas Glasgow, whilst it has some very nice buildings, has lost a lot of its character due to poor development planning.

The Home Of Golf....    St. Andrews was our next stop.  This was one of many reasons to visit Scotland.  The Old Course was busy with visiting golfers who had booked 12 months in advance and paid 125 pounds (AU$325) to play this amazing course.  Liz thought it looked fairly easy (not the large deep bunkers)) compared to Huntingdale Golf Club, but its reputation suggests that it is a lot more difficult than on first appearance.  The other courses of Jubilee and the New Course were interesting and very visitor friendly.  As we left St Andrews we noticed a new golf course under construction, St Andrews course number 7, the sign read.

Our Only Game.....  Another highlight of our trip was our game of golf with Robert and Christobel, cousins of our friend, Anne from Barwon Heads.  Christobel invited us for dinner with their family and the next day we had a really fun game of golf at their club in Haddington.  This was to be our only game of golf in 14 weeks so of course, our competitive spirit came out and we played an aggregate stableford, plus a single stableford match in perfect weather.  Rob J. and Christobel won a tight match, but ran away with it at the end of the day. 

Moving On.....   It was a goodbye to beautiful Scotland and a hello to flag waving England who are caught up in the World Cup furore.  We decided to have two days exploring the Yorkshire Dales and we found a beautiful B&B in the charming town of Richmond called Victoria House. It was in a perfect location to tour and stop off in some of the country villages to enjoy an ale in their village pubs.  England was playing their second match againist Trinidad/Tobago which they won - thank goodness or "the Poms" would be in the depths of despair.  Our last day in England was a return visit to York and the old area of the "Shambles". 

We say good bye to England and Scotland and we fly to Paris to begin our European adventure and our life in Montone, Umbria, Italy.   

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