BigAllan

Today's our day for exploring around Edinburgh. It has been clear skies, but cold. The hop-on-hop-off bus systems in these cities are fantastic, we used it today to get a good overview of the city getting out past the botanic gardens and down to the port in Leith. Did you know they have the tallest palm tree in the world growing here? imagine that a tropical plant in this place. Did you know they also have the tallest greenhouse... We found a real gem in the National Museum of Scotland, a beautiful collection of buildings and amazing collection of natural history and Scottish history. I've always marveled at the number of inventions and scientific breakthroughs the Scots have made, and they are all here in the museum. However, the most amazing feature of this museum is ... read more

Perigord Noir, one of the five regions located around the Dordogne River is a rich tapestry of agriculture, timber, outdoor adventure, prehistoric sites, medieval sites, warm inviting people, delicious food and foie gras - have you ever realised that you have allowed too little time for too much to do?? Let's start at the top before I forget: Arrive at Balcon et Foret (Balcony in the Forest) with our hosts Sandra and Baudouin at lunchtime Day 1 Afternoon 1: Climb to Castle Beynac Walk down to Beynac for dinner at La Petite Tonnelle Day 2 Morning: Visit Montignac Visit Lascoux II caves. Drive through St-Lyon-sur-Vezere, Les-Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil, La Roque Saint Christophe, Salat Afternoon: visit La Roque Gegeac and go for a ride on the Dordogne via Gabares Get dressed up for dinner in La Roque Gegeac at ... read more

The drive down from Bordeaux was much quicker than expected, thanks to the fabulous highways and 130km/h speed limits. Well worth the tolls. First experience driving on the left - glad for the quiet Easter weekend roads. Donostia San Sebastian is a fun city. We’ve hit the Pintxos bars in the old town straight up and found everyone to be relaxed and helpful and very patient with the fact that we don’t speak Spanish, let alone Basque. We are staying in the Londres Hotel, a fabulous beachfront hotel with views on to La Concha Bay, it takes a leaf out of English holiday making style, fantastic friendly service with a great conservatory style bar well stocked with gin and GH Mumm on ice, perfect for elevenses and every hour there after... This town has become a ... read more

We've taken these two days to go back and cover some ground that we really wanted to see. Highlights have been Stirling Castle and the Falkirk Wheel, the old Closes of Edinburgh and Edinburgh New Town. Stirling Castle and the surrounding region were put in our minds by Mel Gibson in Braveheart, but to the Scots the tussle with the English over the centuries and events like the Battle of Bannockburn are etched in their minds like it was yesterday. The grand hall has been renovated to replace the original style hammer beam oak roof structure and return the palace to the way it would have been used by King and Queen. The Historic Scotland guide could tell us all about its history, even down to the pride he had over James V in 1528 as ... read more

After an easy morning across London and flight to Edinburgh its straight into a car - and beautiful sunshine in Scotland!! No, I'm serious, the sun was out. So we've gone the long way around back to my old digs of 1997 in Kincardine village on the River Forth, home while I worked at the power station. This is a small miner's village, the mines operated from the '50s to about 2002 but it still describes the village. My old pub, Garvies is still the same just a different owner. The place was buzzing because the locals were warming up for the trip into town to watch Scotland play Gibralter and the word obviously passed around quickly "...there's some Australians 'ere in th' barrr" (imagine it with a thick Scottish accent). We've taken the long way ... read more